A Sense of Adventure

 I am sorry this was scheduled and never published...it is kind of out of order now, but it deals with the "Guidebooks" that lead pioneers to go west in the first place...kind of fit it in your mind with where we have been! :)

One thing that Guidebooks did do was to open a woman's sense of adventure, appealing to the need for someone with female qualities who could "soothe and socialize the men" and insure that social stability went West.

One of the prevailing debates of the period was whether the West was a symbol of progress and growth, or whether it was the collapse of social stability and civilized values.  It was believed that women could be the deciding factor in changing this new country from the "wild west" to a socialized part of America.

The perfect pioneer lady, with her gentle ways, courage and heroism, could shape the West both morally and culturally.  Without the stabilizing effect of family, without the domestic life that a woman could provide, it was believed that the West would never be a place inhabitable by anyone other than wild men and Indians.

The public opinion began to appeal to women who wanted to make a difference, who heard the call to go West with a purpose.  Most women who made the early journeys were middle class women from families that had already moved from the East to the wilderness of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee - many had been children when their parents had made the move.  They were neither rich nor poor, but they had the middle class attitude of "a woman's place" being with her husband.

 Contrary to what was written in Guidebooks, many women believed that the West would transform them into robust, hardy creatures and give them the toughness to perform crucial duties of a western pioneer woman. Unfortunately, the West was no place for a fragile woman - they needed to be healthy, strong and hardy before they began the journey West.

Since the West offered isolation and loneliness,  women also had to have a strong sense of self and leave most of her life behind in the East.  This, of course, was easier for those who grew up in the Ohio Valley wilderness than for women from the cities of the East.

Next time - more practical reasons for going West...