Women in the West
Women in the WestWomen in the West
Women were few and far between in the early west, and all came for differing reasons. Some women like Nellie Cashman were coming west looking for a husband or for quick wealth by herself whichever came first. Others such as Belle Star traveled the west in search of mischief and for the thrill of being a desperado. But no matter the reason they came, they all endured the same sort of dilemmas, whether married or single, a desperado, or a female miner.
Belle grew up in the south and road off to the west following a newfound love. Where as Nellie moved west with her sister, both Belle and Nellie were searching for a marriage and a new life, and though they shared similar problems they both ended up living very different lifestyles. When hard times came Nellie had to support herself, thus she signed on as a cook to a departing party of prospectors. “Nellie did the cooking and soon began to help with the mining.” (Seagraves P.123) Hard times fell upon Belle when she had a child and her newfound lover did not want a wife or child, so Belle retreated back to her parents, where eventually she left her child so she could also run wild in the west once again.
Both women traveled across the western United States while Belle rode with the men, carried a gun like the men, and helped in the men’s thievery, Nellie only rode with the men, and mined with the men, but never carried a gun. Nellie never had children, but K.Muller,she always considered the men she helped care for her children; on the other hand Belle had numerous lovers and two children. Belle was unable to stay in place for long periods of time (much like Nellie) so Belle’s parents raised her children for most of their lives.
Like Belle, Nellie gained respect wherever she went, not for being a mysterious devious woman who demanded it, but for being kind and for helping any one around her that needed it, and for her no non-sense attitude. Both Nellie Cashman and Belle Star came to the west in search of love and a new life, and both found a different type of love than they expected, for Nellie it was mining, and for Belle it was being an outlaw. Their lives were so different although in that time society would have viewed them as being equally devious and “improper”. Both shunned by society but loved by those close to them.