I really hate Jane Austen. Well, I never met her, so to be precise, I really hate the female characters in her books. By the same token, I’m not a fan of Scarlett O’Hara or any other petty, selfish, simpering, manipulative, and weak women in literature (or real life for that matter). Nope, give me Calamity Jane or some nameless, rough-handed homesteader with a baby on her hip and a shotgun leaned up against the front door. Knowing this about me, you can imagine what a fun weekend I just had as a part of the Grand Encampment Museum’s Pioneering Women Symposium. My Friday evening and Saturday were filled with satisfying discussions and presentations about strong, courageous, determined women written by equally as solid and interesting women.
Both presenters and audience members celebrated how vital and influential women were (and still are!) in shaping the west. Women who came pushing handcarts or as mail order brides or soiled doves, looking for husbands or adventure or freedom. We heard about women who worked ranches and those who served as doctors, actresses and Pinkerton detectives. My most favorite presentation was about Lora Webb Nichols, who spent most of her life in or near Encampment. Not only was Lora a ranch daughter, then wife and mother, but she also was an artist – a photographer and diarist– and the lifetime of diaries and the thousands of pictures she’s left us give us such a beautiful and articulate glimpse into the lives and life of Wyoming in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
I wish everyone in America could be required to attend a symposium like this. I’m thinking that if everyone were so eloquently reminded of the hard work and sacrifice it has taken for our country to get where it is today, then maybe it would be easier to put aside the petty, the simpering, and the selfishness long enough to get us back on the right track.
