Before many of the American settlers came in the west their was the Native Americans. To be specific tribes like the Cheyenne and the Arapaho. The women in these tribes would normally be tasked with things like butchering large animals, like bison, tanning the hides, sewing bags or other cloth objects out of it, and setting up and packing up the camps. Now these groups of women were influenced when the American settlers came, since many of these trappers and traders wanted to marry a native women, in order to gain influence among the natives in the surrounding areas. These native women would then in turn gain power and access to new goods that previously, were unavailable to them.
Now for the women that trekked across the west. Thousands of women were motivated to move west by the Homestead Act in 1862. This act gave single women the right to claim their own land. Others set out to become teachers to educate those that moved westward. Many victorian women that moved here, had to learn new skills like farming and ranching.
Though some had to become thing not ranked as highly on the spectrum. Some women had to go to boomtowns in order to earn money. Where they worked jobs such as laundresses, waitresses, dance hall girls, and even prostitutes.
On the African American branch their was the story of Biddy Mason. She was a slave for a Mormon convert, first she went to Utah then the Southern California. She then sued and won freedom for herself and her daughters.
Now for the women that trekked across the west. Thousands of women were motivated to move west by the Homestead Act in 1862. This act gave single women the right to claim their own land. Others set out to become teachers to educate those that moved westward. Many victorian women that moved here, had to learn new skills like farming and ranching.
Though some had to become thing not ranked as highly on the spectrum. Some women had to go to boomtowns in order to earn money. Where they worked jobs such as laundresses, waitresses, dance hall girls, and even prostitutes.
On the African American branch their was the story of Biddy Mason. She was a slave for a Mormon convert, first she went to Utah then the Southern California. She then sued and won freedom for herself and her daughters.