Darkmistress's Full Review: Lillian Schlissel - Women's Diaries of the Westwar...
I wanted to read Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey from the moment I heard a snippet of it read on 10,000 Maniacs Unplugged. When I spotted it a couple of years later I didn’t buy it for no reason I can now recall. I do recall kicking myself for years afterward for not grabbing it the moment it fell under my nose. So the next time it fell under my nose I did grab it (the kicking bruises were becoming unsightly.) I then trekked home with it and tossed it into my to-read pile which threatens to topple over someday, crushing me. One day not too long ago I ran across an epinion by Solleks about the Oregon Trail game and it reminded me of the book which I promptly unearthed to read (at significant peril, mind you.)
How could I have denied myself this book for so long!
I read a lot of history, but not a lot of American history. Basically, in comparison to the Plantagenets, it pales. I had American history rammed down my throat by years of the American educational system as an endless stream of dead white guys and dates. I’m just not interested.
There are a few dead white guys in this book. Some of them died of drowning, some of Indian attack, many of cholera. All after dragging their wives and families most of the way across the continent. The first major revelation I found in this book: most of the women did not want to go, they went because their husbands were going and they didn’t want to break up the family. After that the "oh yea" moments were pretty regular (like "oh yea, this was the Victorian era. Going to the bathroom would be tricky.") I was given a glimpse of the westward expansion that was pretty much ignored when I studied history. By and large I was given the "this land was empty and the trip was fraught with danger of Indian attack" line, you know, the male story. The women’s diaries make it pretty clear that the red man wasn’t the big enemy, disease was. In fact, the natives often saved the day when food was low and the big strong men couldn’t manage to hunt up some dinner.
The one thing that initially bothered me about this book was the lack of actual diaries. A good half of the book is analysis. As I worked my way through that portion I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be getting much in the way of dirt. Until, that is, I got to the dirt. The diaries themselves, while interesting, are less informative than the analysis. Think about it. Unless you’re related to the diarist or know some of the main actors it’s sometimes kind hard to follow the action. Heck, I have trouble following the action in my old diary entries and I lived it.
I think Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey would be an good read for anyone who is interested in American history, feminist history, or feels burned by and American history education that started and ended with "this land was empty and the trip was fraught with danger of Indian attack."
I always wondered how the land was empty, but still had people living in it.
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