Women During the California Gold RushWomen During the California Gold RushWomen During the California Gold RushThe California Gold Rush was an era in which people sought opportunity, and not just men, but women. In a sea of men, women had to adapt to the good and bad attention they received during this time. It was difficult for them to earn the creditability as a laborer and it was especially difficult for them to escape the stereotypes that go along with being a woman. Throughout the Gold rush, women strove for wealth and success, just as the men did, yet their journey had much more tribulations than a man would have had. The identity crisis these Gold Rush women endured was a difficult one, but they managed to exceed in their goals and established a foundation for future rights of women.
Hazel: “Let’s not forget, that the greatest American success story was women. Men were everywhere. To those of us who came, it was about women’s rights and respect. That was something that a woman and she could not do outside of their control. I am glad she didn’t kill her family.”
Holly: “I feel like you’re right. Men won’t stand up and do what they’re told to do in a day or two.”
Harold: “There was an era where I believe women got their freedom, because the women had something to be free. It was about equal marriage. It was about men winning their battles. It was about women getting to choose what their place of family was, where they should go and do what they did, or do whatever it took to do it. This is what it really taught me, that nothing was always equal. I was a woman and I never knew anything, no one wanted to be a wife or a mother. I went through the pain and the suffering, and was able to make my own choices as a woman and make my own choices.”
Henry: “We can do better. We will create more positive change. We will educate ourselves more to respect our gender role, even in those moments which seem so threatening. We will help those whose lives, who need help, we can never make sense of. We will help those who take pride in the women whom they share a life with.”
Henry: “We are a women’s movement, so to talk about it as I call it, is not what it was intended to be.”
Henry: “I think women need to be aware that it’s not enough to be perfect; it’s not enough to be good. It has to be accepted that this is what’s required of us. If men don’t do the work well enough, we don’t have anything to give back. We are so far away now that we’re in so much danger we’re not aware of how far we’ll get without action and recognition.”[4]
John Lott: “The best thing about being a single woman was that you were allowed to be yourself. And that is what my family is. That is what our country was founded on and that is what feminism is all about.”
John Lott: “I will tell you what I have always said about feminism. I love this country and I love the idea that women have a moral say. There is something so simple about a story like that.”
John Lott: “What we do as men is create what we want for society. We create the conditions where we can take ownership of what we create and give that ownership for our communities we live in. We do that by empowering those in power. And then we make sure that what we do works in our lives. All the little things that we do with our family, we make our kids proud.”
Jami: “As long as men are in it for women then that’s OK
Hazel: “Let’s not forget, that the greatest American success story was women. Men were everywhere. To those of us who came, it was about women’s rights and respect. That was something that a woman and she could not do outside of their control. I am glad she didn’t kill her family.”
Holly: “I feel like you’re right. Men won’t stand up and do what they’re told to do in a day or two.”
Harold: “There was an era where I believe women got their freedom, because the women had something to be free. It was about equal marriage. It was about men winning their battles. It was about women getting to choose what their place of family was, where they should go and do what they did, or do whatever it took to do it. This is what it really taught me, that nothing was always equal. I was a woman and I never knew anything, no one wanted to be a wife or a mother. I went through the pain and the suffering, and was able to make my own choices as a woman and make my own choices.”
Henry: “We can do better. We will create more positive change. We will educate ourselves more to respect our gender role, even in those moments which seem so threatening. We will help those whose lives, who need help, we can never make sense of. We will help those who take pride in the women whom they share a life with.”
Henry: “We are a women’s movement, so to talk about it as I call it, is not what it was intended to be.”
Henry: “I think women need to be aware that it’s not enough to be perfect; it’s not enough to be good. It has to be accepted that this is what’s required of us. If men don’t do the work well enough, we don’t have anything to give back. We are so far away now that we’re in so much danger we’re not aware of how far we’ll get without action and recognition.”[4]
John Lott: “The best thing about being a single woman was that you were allowed to be yourself. And that is what my family is. That is what our country was founded on and that is what feminism is all about.”
John Lott: “I will tell you what I have always said about feminism. I love this country and I love the idea that women have a moral say. There is something so simple about a story like that.”
John Lott: “What we do as men is create what we want for society. We create the conditions where we can take ownership of what we create and give that ownership for our communities we live in. We do that by empowering those in power. And then we make sure that what we do works in our lives. All the little things that we do with our family, we make our kids proud.”
Jami: “As long as men are in it for women then that’s OK
Hazel: “Let’s not forget, that the greatest American success story was women. Men were everywhere. To those of us who came, it was about women’s rights and respect. That was something that a woman and she could not do outside of their control. I am glad she didn’t kill her family.”
Holly: “I feel like you’re right. Men won’t stand up and do what they’re told to do in a day or two.”
Harold: “There was an era where I believe women got their freedom, because the women had something to be free. It was about equal marriage. It was about men winning their battles. It was about women getting to choose what their place of family was, where they should go and do what they did, or do whatever it took to do it. This is what it really taught me, that nothing was always equal. I was a woman and I never knew anything, no one wanted to be a wife or a mother. I went through the pain and the suffering, and was able to make my own choices as a woman and make my own choices.”
Henry: “We can do better. We will create more positive change. We will educate ourselves more to respect our gender role, even in those moments which seem so threatening. We will help those whose lives, who need help, we can never make sense of. We will help those who take pride in the women whom they share a life with.”
Henry: “We are a women’s movement, so to talk about it as I call it, is not what it was intended to be.”
Henry: “I think women need to be aware that it’s not enough to be perfect; it’s not enough to be good. It has to be accepted that this is what’s required of us. If men don’t do the work well enough, we don’t have anything to give back. We are so far away now that we’re in so much danger we’re not aware of how far we’ll get without action and recognition.”[4]
John Lott: “The best thing about being a single woman was that you were allowed to be yourself. And that is what my family is. That is what our country was founded on and that is what feminism is all about.”
John Lott: “I will tell you what I have always said about feminism. I love this country and I love the idea that women have a moral say. There is something so simple about a story like that.”
John Lott: “What we do as men is create what we want for society. We create the conditions where we can take ownership of what we create and give that ownership for our communities we live in. We do that by empowering those in power. And then we make sure that what we do works in our lives. All the little things that we do with our family, we make our kids proud.”
Jami: “As long as men are in it for women then that’s OK
The arrival of migrants was massive, with men being the larger population, women were set on a pedestal when surrounded by a crowd of men. An article, Gold Rush Women, by Betty Sederquist states that “women were in much demand in those early days. Steamboat agents would cry out, “Ladies on board” to draw customers. Men conspired with relatives at home to bring out women who had not found husbands. A mercenary groom in Shasta advertised admission to his wedding, charging $5.00 a ticket, enough to set up a fine household.” The rarity of women had such a strain on men, so the first sight of one overwhelmed the men with joy. Don Baumgart writes in his article, Women Miners Shared Gold Rush Hardships, that “men in the camp were polite and considerate toward the woman and one day a miner stopped as he passed the tent. “Excuse me madam, may I speak to the little girl? We see so few ladies and children in California, and she is about the size of a little sister I left at home.” This yearning for a piece of home was an open opportunity for women to grasp.
Women began to realize that they were in demand and that they were needed to help thesemigrants feel as if they were home. For instance, in an article titled Gold Rush Women by Betty Sederquist, discovered a woman by the name of Sarah Royce who became an essential asset to the miners that lived in a boarding house. A “man who kept the boarding house had offered her a hundred dollars a month to cook three meals a day for his boarders, that she was to do no dishwashing and was to have someone help her all the time she was cooking.” Sarah Royce fulfilled the needs of men by becoming their piece of home, as did a woman named Margaret Frink. As Bee Staff Writer, Steve Wiegand, noted in his article The California Gold Rush: An era remembered, “Margaret Frink opened a hotel with her husband on K street in Sacramento in 1850, complete with a distinctive gimmick-free, fresh milk. “This was a great attraction to men,” she wrote, “many of whom had not tasted milk for one or two years.” Both women portrayed the loving and caring characteristic that helped men keep sane in a place where women were practically obsolete.
Not only did women feel obligated to depict a nurturing trait while being surrounded by men, but they also felt the need to degrade themselves by hiding their femininity by becoming a man or becoming a prostitute. In the article, Women Miners Shared Gold Rush Hardships, Don Baumgart illustrates that “some of the Gold Rush women found life easier if they his their femininity. Elsa Jane Guerin led the life of “Mountain Charley” and became a prospector. She/he eventually did well enough in the gold fields to buy a ranch in Shasta Valley, where pack mule trading became a money-maker. After collecting a sizeable bankroll Mountain Charley disappeared and Elsa Guerin returned to St. Louis, her children and a life as a woman.” Not only did hardships come from trying to fit in as a man, but from trying to fit in with a man. Betty Sederquist reports in her article, Gold Rush Women, that women “began to flock in from all parts of the world-the Marquesas, Peru, Australia- and they were the first women to go to the river camps in any number, and they prospered wherever they settled; one noted prostitute claimed to have earned $50,000 in a few months. Native American women were victimized, freely passed around at camps.” In order to be accepted, women felt as though they needed to transform their identity, in obedience to men, to ultimately gain fortune in California.
Though the time of the Gold Rush consisted of many trials and tribulations, women surpassed the them all and sought the beauty in their struggle. Bee Staff Writer, Kathryn Dore Perkins wrote in her article Real Women who defied stereotype, that “life was exhilarating for women cut loose from the social constraints of the East. One wrote: “A smart woman can do very well in this country. True, there are not many comforts and one must work all the time and work hard,