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...
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