Women and the Wild West

By Jarilyn Vargas

As a woman, you would have already had an unfair chance at life. Living in a man's world, you had no say or any opinion of your own. If you were to disregard the social normalities of being pristine and proper, you would be ridiculed and/or laughed at. You got the worst treatment though, if you were a woman of a racial minority. Not only did your gender force you to act a certain way, but your race made others discriminate against you. That's why representing these women's stories is so important. They were put so low on a ladder in a society that forbade you from climbing, and with their bravery were able to reach the highest points.

Polly Bemis (1853-1933)

Being born into a poor farming family in China, Polly was sold to a gold mining site at the age of 16. There, she was smuggled to America and then bought by a man who took her to Warren, Idaho. It is believed that she was bought to be a concubine. While Warren had a predominantly Chinese population, by the 1870s, Chinese people were extremely discriminated against. This led to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited Chinese immigrants from entering the states. With her previous owner disappearing, the earliest record of hers is from 1880. She had started living with a white man, Charlie Bemis. In 1892 Charlie was shot in an altercation, in which Polly acted as his doctor and brought him back to full health. They moved just outside of Warren on the Salmon River. Polly later managed the boarding house that Charlie had opened in 1892. After her house burned down and her husband's death in 1922, Polly moved back to Warren. She proceeded to a life where she held children in her house to be closer to the only school in Warren. She explored modern areas with friends and had many first-time experiences. Having an extremely unfair start in life, Polly managed and stayed kind to herself and others.

Clara Brown (1803-1885)

Being born the daughter of an enslaved woman, Clara herself was likely enslaved from birth. Her enslaver sought better opportunities West, and her mother died soon after the rough journey to Kentucky. Clara used religion to comfort her during difficult times. It is believed that she had heard Jarena Lee, a free black woman, preach at a religious service that her enslavers often visited. At 18, Clara married another slave and gave birth to four children. One of her daughters, however, drowned at the age of 8. Her enslaver then died in 1835, and because the children didn't have the passion to run the farm, they sold Clara, her husband, and children to different slave owners. She wouldn't reunite with any of them except her youngest daughter, but only 47 years later in 1882. Clara's new enslaver died in 1857, in which his children helped emancipate her and she became a free woman. After the Colorado Gold Rush, Clara moved to Central City, CO, which was just barely a mining site. Because there were few women, Clara was able to make a name for herself by doing her laundry business. In times of need, she worked as a nurse and midwife. She earned respect and financial respect, in which she used most of her money for charities and donations. She donated to spread the Christian religion and to build more churches, as well as helping newly emancipated slaves find homes after the Civil War in 1865. By the 1880s, her wealth had depleted due to her generosity and Clara had been getting too old to take care of herself. Thankfully, in her time of need, she had support from her community. Neighbors often provided care for her and when they heard of her last living daughter in Iowa, they raised money to send Clara to her. There, Clara proceeded to live with her daughter until the end of her days. She was the first woman to be voted and accepted into the Society of Colorado Pioneers in 1884, making her a founding settler of Central City, Colorado.

Annie Oakley (1860-1926)

Born Phoebe Anne Moses in Ohio, Oakley's life started poorly. At the age of six, her father passed away and though her mother remarried, the new husband also died suddenly. Her mother was left to take care of her and her siblings. However, due to the poor financial state of the family Oakley was sent to multiple new families, the Edington where she learned how to sew and help children, and later an abusive family. At eight years old, Oakley learned to hunt, and at fifteen she went to compete against Frank E. Butler in a shooting competition. Oakley won and, impressed by her skill, Butler married her. The couple toured around the country, performing as marksmen. At first, Oakley was just an assistant, but after Butler's partner fell sick, Oakley took his place. She became the star of the shows, shooting items out of the air and even shooting cigarettes out of her husband's mouth. Butler fully supported her fame. She chose not to wear flashy outfits and stuck with casual clothing to make herself authentic to being a great markswoman. On the tours around the world, Oakley showed men that women could handle firearms just as well, if not better than men, and showed other women to use pistols for protection. She empowered these women to learn a man's skill against them if so threatened, and she was passionate about this empowerment. With World War 1 starting, Oakley wrote to the Secretary of War to fully fund getting women to fight and offered to teach all soldiers how to shoot properly. These offers, however, were rejected. Around 1925, Oakley and Butler completely stopped touring, and both died three weeks apart in 1926. Oakley proved to the world that women can do a man's job just as well and better.

Not Only These Ladies

It is important to consider that these were not the only influential women of the time. There were many more, such as Belle Starr, a notorious outlaw who dominated male fields, or Letitia Carson who built her own life in Oregon. All these women, the outlaws, the pioneers, the markswomen, and the wives should be researched and talked about more. We should be representing these women in a society that only sees the creation of an organized society made of men. People tend to look over the fact that women have taken a huge part in our world today, that when you mention anything an influential woman has done, they are shocked and in disbelief. Let their stories be heard and spread, as their bravery and motivations allowed for a huge stepping stone for what we as a society are today.

Belle Starr(1848-1889)