19963 - Women of the West

Course Overview

The folklore of the American West is a tale of rugged, sometimes heroic but often uncontrolled men seizing a wild country and making it their own. Often overlooked and underappreciated, the women stood shoulder-to-shoulder with those men. Whether native to the area or immigrants to this new life, women birthed children under arduous circumstances, ran farms and ranches for absentee partners, and even became prostitutes when their partners died and their children were hungry. Some women came willingly while others left their homes and years later still longed for a previous life. They could shoot a rifle, manage a cattle spread, and decorate a dugout with wallpaper. Some became famous, like Annie Oakley, or infamous, like Belle Starr. Others simply did what women do. They survived and taught their daughters to do the same. Meet the Western woman behind the man, next to him, and sometimes out front.