NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State
University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
March 5, 1998
Tom Isern, Professor of History
North Dakota State University
©1998 Plains Folk
Early this century the Daughters of the American Revolution placed twelve statues in locations across the countrystatues of pioneer women on historic trails. The one I've passed many times is the Madonna of the Prairies in Council Grove, Kansas. The statues are identical, which only emphasizes an obvious truth: They are stereotypes no more lifelike than the faux-stone of which they were cast. Plus, they have clunky shoes.
A few years ago Glenda Riley, the premier historian of women on the plains, wrote that "descriptions of frontierswomen have been couched in legend, stereotype, and hyperbole." Like the Madonna of the Plains, she said, "frontierswomen traditionally have been portrayed as Gentle Tamers, Pioneers in Petticoats, Saints in Sunbonnets, Madonnas of the Prairies, Pioneer Mothers, Light Ladies, Calamity Janes, and Fighting Feminists"anything but complete people.
Want to meet the real women of the plains? Check out "Leaning into the Wind: Women Write from the Heart of the West." It's a new book from Houghton Mifflin Company, edited by Linda Hasselstrom, Gaydell Collier and Nancy Curtis. Their idea was simple. They sent out calls for manuscripts via publications across the plains from Colorado north. They received the submissions from women in the region, selected from them, sorted the selection, and published it. Which was a lot more work than me telling about it, of course.
The images that come through this collection are too various to characterize, but two powerful themes are women's roles (what work and play they should do and what they shouldn't) and the relationship with the land. I'll give you a sampling.
"Sometimes I rebelled," writes June Wilson Read from eastern Wyoming. "My parents believed that girls should work inside and boys should work outside. The outdoors looked more exciting." But Linda Velder, a confessed "old tomboy" from South Dakota, counsels, "When a man marries he wants a wife, not a hired hand. If you continue to dress as you do and usurp his role, you will be treated like a hired hand." Elaine M. Oster of Colorado is exasperated that a man filling out a form refuses to record her occupation as "farmer," insisting it must be "farmwife."
Nancy Curtis of Wyoming thinks, "Ranching is a job perfectly suited to women. I can't imagine two more similar occupations than cowboy and mother." "What can I say about working women on the plains?" says Terry L. Schifferns of Nebraska. "I did have chickens once, but to be honest, I was glad when my dog ate the chickens." I really like this woman.
"I am at home where weather is a big deal," writes Laurie Kutchins from Wyoming. Then Karen Obrigewitch concludes, "We are place-bound because we are not whole anywhere else and because there are familiar graves here." These women get right to the point.
For pure sense of place, the poets win. "It's six o'clock and sunrise," we hear from Janelle Masters in North Dakota, "and somewhere the grouse are dancing."
"If I had not come to these high plains," muses Patricia Midge Farmer from northeast Wyoming, "my mind would have shrunk to a small, civilized size."
Judging by "Leaning into the Wind," the plains are in little danger of excessive civilization. Apologies to the Madonna of the Prairies for that remark about the shoes.
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Source: Tom Isern (701) 231-8339
Editor: Barry Brissman (701) 231-7866