Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
New York: Schocken, 1982
Description
An expanded edition of one of the most original and provocative works of American history of the last decade, which documents the pioneering experiences and grit of American frontier women.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Bonneville_Dam
More than a quarter of a million Americans crossed the continental United States between 1840 and 1870, going west in one of the greatest migrations of modern times. The frontiersmen have become an integral part of our history and folklore, but the Westering experiences of American women are
Through the diaries, letters, and reminiscences of women who participated in this migration, Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey gives us primary source material on the lives of these women, who kept campfires burning with buffalo chips and dried weeds, gave birth to and cared for children along primitive and dangerous roads, drove teams of oxen, picked berries, milked cows, and cooked meals in the middle of a wilderness that was a far cry from the homes they had left back east. Still (and often under the disapproving eyes of their husbands) they found time to write brave letters home or to jot a few weary lines at night into the diaries that continue to enthrall us.
In her new foreword, Professor Mary Clearman Blew explores the enduring fascination with this subject among both historians and the general public, and places Schlissel’s groundbreaking work into an intriguing historical and cultural context
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equally central to an accurate picture of what life was like on the frontier.Through the diaries, letters, and reminiscences of women who participated in this migration, Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey gives us primary source material on the lives of these women, who kept campfires burning with buffalo chips and dried weeds, gave birth to and cared for children along primitive and dangerous roads, drove teams of oxen, picked berries, milked cows, and cooked meals in the middle of a wilderness that was a far cry from the homes they had left back east. Still (and often under the disapproving eyes of their husbands) they found time to write brave letters home or to jot a few weary lines at night into the diaries that continue to enthrall us.
In her new foreword, Professor Mary Clearman Blew explores the enduring fascination with this subject among both historians and the general public, and places Schlissel’s groundbreaking work into an intriguing historical and cultural context
Show Less
LibraryThing member Lakenvelder
Diaries of Women as they progressed the Journey to either California or Oregon. You rad about the fires the made, the Indians, river crossings and the amount of deaths . Very sad but also very intriguing.
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
What was the journey like for the women who migrated west to Oregon and California in the mid-19th century? Historian Lillian Schlissel analyzes diaries, journals, letters, and memoirs of dozens of women who made this journey to form a picture of the journey from a woman’s perspective. Most of
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the women were young adults, quite a few were pregnant during the journey, and most were less enthusiastic about the journey than the men in their family. Schlissel breaks down her account by decade, allowing readers to see how the experience changed over time as the later travelers benefited from more settlements and sources of support along the trail than the earliest travelers. The book includes dozens of illustrations (photographs and maps), transcriptions of four representative diaries, and a table categorizing each of the women whose diaries are referenced by date of travel, age during the journey, marital status, number and ages of children, etc. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1982
Physical description
262 p.; 24 inches
ISBN
0805237747 / 9780805237740