The role of women in the conquest of the West it has gone unnoticed by history. In a society of demure morals, a slip in a woman was something unforgivable and practically blameworthy throughout her life. Nevertheless the role of women in the conquest of the west it was very important. The first thing they provided was stability, the role of wife ensured cleanliness, food, children and their education, a companion, lover, friend and even servant. In this article that we have titled Women in the West: Heroines of Legendlet’s dust off history, those women who left the traditional archetypes and wrote their names in history.
Women in the West | The Role of Women in the West
When the President Jefferson bought Louisiana in 1803, What he wanted is to extend the American borders to the Pacific. The problem was that the area of land was very widebut it was uninhabited, the only settlers were small colonies of different native indian tribesand therefore the true owners of those lands.
In order to achieve faster colonization, it was give away acres of land to all those families who wanted to settle in these complicated lands. The opportunity to be owners and from there begin to prosper, turned this call into a resounding success, people from all over the country competed for a piece of land where they could settle.
as help, the West had the railroad, as well as some basic infrastructures that allowed the cities that were in the Atlantic Ocean to be linked by roads with cities on the shores of the Pacific.
In this stage, the woman was a key piece. Many families with children came west looking for an opportunity, but as with everything in life, beginnings are never easy. The first settlements were small groups of houses.
These houses were often far apart from each other, with which any attack by rustlers or Indians who inhabited the area, had to be repelled with whatever means were available. This is the main reason why many of the women of the far west knew the handling of weapons.
Often the husbands had to go out with the cattle, spending several days away from home and the house had to be protected. There was also most elegant womencity ladies who have ended up in Western cities, following in the footsteps of their families, who saw new horizons for commerce.
This was the situation in the far west of women, not as innocent as the movies make it out to us, but they were very tough, brave women, of firm convictions, family, home, good wife and good mother.
Women in the West: Heroines of Legend | Ellen Nellie Cashman
Ellen Nellie Cashman, was born in 1845 in Queenstown, Ireland. With the opportunities that the United States offered, Ellen, her mother, and her sister Fanniedecided to change their lives and more considering that Ellen’s father had passed away.
They settled in different cities, such as New York, San Francisco, until Ellen’s sister Fannie got married, a circumstance that caused Ellen to move and settle in Snowfall.
in nevada soon found work as a cook, in an area where mines abounded and miners’ camps dotted the horizon. Elle came to work for different mining camps, with a lot of effort she managed to raise enough money to open your first businessan inn for gambusinos (small-scale and experienced miners).
In 1874, a group of miners had been isolated in the mountains, they were sick with scurvy and no one ventured to rescue them. But Ellen Nellie Cashman, Along with six other men, he headed to British Columbia, looking for the sick to care for them. The walk lasted 77 days but they all managed to get there thanks to the fact that the expedition was led by Ellen Nellie Cashman.
Ellen intended to open restaurants wherever a mine had appeared, but their goals were not to get richIf not the opposite, their ends were altruistic. So in 1879, he opened the delmonico restaurant, in Arizona, it was the first restaurant owned by a woman.
Secondly the deal that Ellen provided to her clients was what made her famous, the attention that it offered to the miners more humble and poor made the community admire her as an exemplary citizen.
With the Tobstone silver minesEllen rode the RussHouse. At Tobstone, Ellen looked out for others so much that she quickly became a very dear person in your new community. He even arranged for the Saloon to hold religious services on Sundays.
Helped through collections with any worthwhile cause, as was the case with the Salvation Army or even the internationally known Red Cross. She sought support, encouragement and words of comfort to the most repudiated women in female society, to the prostitutes.
This is how he acted his whole life, even when he moved to Canada. where he also had mines in his name. Ellen never married or had children, but when his sister died of tuberculosis, She was the one who took care of her nephews, their education and bringing them up. Until her death, she acted as a good, pious and very kind woman, earning the nickname of «angel of mercy», «border angel” either “tombstone angel».
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