Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

About This Item:

Title: Volume 050-2 - April 1996 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 16 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2014-03-05 07:25:32 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 04:06:00 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 04:06:00

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

Page: of 16  

Susan G. Butruille, Women’s Voices from the Oregon Trail. Boise, Idaho, Tamarack Books, 1993. Susan G. Butruille, Women’s Voices from the Western Frontier. Boise, Idaho, Tamarack Books, 1995, These two books do not pertain to Nevada County history; J] mention them here because I like them. And I hope that others will like them also. Both books are a little unusual. The text, which is like the text in all other books, is frequently interrupted by quotations printed in bold face. These quotations are from letters or diaries, from songs, or from other books. There are recipes which give some idea of what food was used at the time of the great migration; the author warns the reader not to try them. In addition, the text is frequently interrupted by small line drawings; many times they show squares of which quilts are made. At other times, there are pictures of displays in the National Frontier Trails Center in Independence, Missouri. The latter are unfortunately not always very clear. These two features give the books an intimate character, which adds to the charm of them. The first of the two, Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail is divided in two parts. The first one deals with the history of writing the book, followed by a chapter on the Oregon Trail in general. The next chapter deals with the women who emigrated at the time, before they made the great trek. There follows a chapter on the decision to undertake the journey, decided upon by the men and hesitatingly accepted by the women. The next chapter discusses housekeeping during the trip. This was, as life at home was, still ruled by the “Cult of Domesticity”. More on the role and feelings of women during the trip is found in the next chapter. The last chapter in this section is devoted to the arrival in Oregon. The emigrants did not have a “home” to go to. How they coped was mainly determined by the change which had converted the meek “lady” from “back east” into women who could take care of themselves. The second half of the book describes a trip in modern time from Independence, Missouri to Oregon. But this description focuses on the women on the trail. This is a nice addition to similar trail descriptions by Greg Franzwa and Aubrey Haines. The second book, Women’s Voices from the Western Frontier is more general in scope. It covers the area west of the Missouri River, and the time span from the Forty-niners to the end of the nineteenth century. It discusses Indian women in detail, and the problem of “freedom” for white women. It discusses women who were “free” and could live with their freedom, and women who had to pay for their freedom (prostitutes or “sporting women”). There is a discussion of the problems of establishing a home in the West and of typical female occupations, such as quilting. The pressure and hardships for women in the West were sometimes too much for women. There is a chapter devoted to mental breakdowns. Of course, there is a chapter on women’s suffrage and the role love plays in men-women relationships. The book closes with a discussion of “rituals and celebrations”. I am aware that this review does not do justice to the books. But I hope that the review will encourage people to read them. By the way, I noticed them in local book shops. vdP. NEVADA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY The Board of the Society for 1996: President Calvin Palmer First Vice President Cynthia Sosa Second Vice President Bedford Lampkin Membership Secretary Jim Rose Recording Secretary Gay Conner Executive Secretary Paul Hinshelwood Treasurer Barbara Weaver Past President Bedford Lampkin Directors with terms ending 1997 Nevada City Anne Brooke Grass Valley Mel and Judith Ciphers County-at-large Connie Baer Directors with terms ending 1996 Nevada City . David and Louise Beesley Grass Valley Calvin Palmer County-at-large Ron Sturgell Directors with terms ending 1998 Nevada City Roman Rozynski Grass Valley Alan Aspey County-at-large David Comstock THE NCHS BULLETIN Administrative Office: Nevada County Historical Society P.O. Box 1300 Nevada City, CA 95959 Subscription Fee: $12.00 per year Editorial Office: Peter W. van der Pas, Pacific Library 212 Hill Street Grass Valley, CA 95945 LIBRARY AND MUSEUMS Searls Historical Library 214 Church Street, Nevada City (916) 265-5910 Open 1-4 pm except Sundays & holidays Firehouse Museum 214 Main Street, Nevada City Summer: 11 am to 4 pm daily Winter: call (916) 265-5468 North Star Mining Museum Allison Ranch Road, Grass Valley May 1 to Oct. 15: 10 am to 5 pm Winter: call (916) 273-4255 Video Museum and Theater Central Ave., Memorial Park, Grass Valley Summer: 11 am to 4 pm except Wednesday Winter: call (916) 274-1126 PUBLICATIONS NCHS Books P.O. Box 56, Cedar Ridge, CA 95924 (916) 273-6220