Women in
the West

Women who migrated to the West at the end of the nineteenth century faced many challenges. Perhaps most obviously, the journey itself proved long, dangerous, and sometimes deadly for migrants and homesteaders. When they reached their destination, women and their families typically found scarcely better conditions. Life in the West was lonely and filled with grueling work. Women toiled as hard, if not harder, than their husbands. Many immigrant women, particularly Chinese women in cities like San Francisco, found themselves locked into virtual slave conditions as prostitutes. And for the American Indian women already living in the West, the arrival of white migrants presented new difficulties.

Yet life in the West also presented opportunities. Martha “Calamity Jane” Cannary Burk embraced the adventure. Other women and men looked forward to the chance to start over and build new lives. Life in the West also allowed some women to pursue reform causes. Women led temperance movements and successfully agitated for suffrage.

The following documents offer insight into the varied lives of women in the West. As you read, consider the challenges Western women faced, and consider whether these challenges were exclusive to women or whether men shared them as well.