Great Achievements of Women of the Wild West

Have you ever wondered where we would be without the women of the Wild West? The most obvious we would be extinct, because there would be no reproduction of offspring. Women were needed for this reason, but there was so many more contributions that they made. Women were important in founding this great land. The women traveled with their men in hopes of getting free land out west, but it was a different story when they arrived. The winters were bad, rain was often lacking, and therefore, the crops did not grow. As a result, food was not plentiful. Many of the settlers almost starved to death. Women had to provide and support their families by cooking, cleaning, planting food, making clothes, washing clothes, mending clothes and, above all, taking care of their children. Women in the Wild West should receive more recognition for what they have done in the Wild West from providing for their families, standing up in tough times, and leading an expedition thorough the country. Women should receive more recognition for providing for their families in the Wild West. Women worked in the fields along their husbands. “Before marriage he used to kiss my foot-prints, but now he harnesses me with the ass to the plough and makes me work” (Varigny and Ward 9). They planted corn, beans, wheat, and tobacco. After a long day in the fields, the women came inside to fix supper and tend to their children before bedtime. More often than not, men are the ones who get the credit for settling the Wild West, but the women remain forgotten. They need credit too. Perhaps women’s work, like housecleaning in the 21st century, was taken for granted, “with no permanence and little reward” (Garceau 99).Women should receive more recognition for mak... ... middle of paper ... ...you be? Where would this country be? Works Cited Garceau, Dee. The Important Things of Life: Women, Work, and Family in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, 1880- 1929. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997. Net Library. Web. 1 Jun. 2010. Roberts, Cokie. Ladies of Liberty: the Women Who Shaped Our Nation. New York: Harper Audio, 2008. Google. Web. 1 Jun. 2010. Sabin, Edwin L. Boys' Book of Indian Warriors and Heroic Indian Women. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Company, 1918. Google. Web. 1 Jun. 2010. Stratton, Joanna L. Pioneer Women Voices from the Kansas Frontier. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1981. Print. Varigny, C and Arabella Ward. The Women of the United States. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1895. Google. Web. 1 Jun. 2010. Western Writers of America. The Women Who Made the West. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1980. Print.