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Thursday, February 03, 2005
Copyright =
=A9 Las Vegas=20
Review-Journal
STAKING THEIR =
CLAIM:=20
Independent Spirit
New book details =
13 Nevada=20
pioneer women who broke from convention <=
FONT=20
size=3D1>By JOHN PRZYBYS
REVIEW-JOURNAL=20
"More=20
than Petticoats" shares the stories of 13 Nevada women =
who=20
played important roles in the state's =
development.
Sarah=20
Winnemucca Hopkins (1844-1891), was a Paiute who tried =
to=20
educate the wider world about American =
Indians.
Jan=20
Cleere looked for a variety of women to include in her =
history=20
book.
Maude=20
Frazier worked to improve Nevada education.
Helen=20
J. Stewart is known as the "first lady of Las=20
=
Vegas."
|
Behind every great man, the =
saying goes,=20
is a great woman.
But throughout Nevada's rich history, =
great women=20
often did just fine on their own.
They were miners and prospectors, =
farmers and=20
culture-spanning ambassadors. They were doctors and lawyers =
and=20
political activists at a time when such trades weren't =
thought=20
proper for women to pursue.
And even when they had jobs in =
teaching, church=20
work and other female-friendly professions, they were tough =
enough=20
to put any man to shame.
Jan Cleere loves them all. Better yet, =
she loves=20
sharing stories about Nevada's pioneer women with others. =
In her new book, "More than Petticoats: =
Remarkable Nevada Women" ($10.95, The Globe Pequot Press), =
Cleere=20
shares stores of 13 fascinating women from Nevada's past. =
Some -- Helen Stewart, Maude Frazier, =
Sarah=20
Winnemucca -- are well-known standards of any course in =
Nevada=20
history. But Cleere also brings her vivid, conversational=20
storytelling style to tales of several lesser-known, but no =
less=20
interesting, Nevada women.
Cleere, who lives in Oro Valley, Ariz., =
writes=20
primarily about the Southwest and its history. Several of =
the women=20
featured in the book represent relatively new literary =
territory,=20
the author said in a recent telephone interview.
"Frankly, the Internet was a godsend," =
she said.=20
So, she added, were the Nevada Women's History Project and =
the=20
Nevada State Library & Archives, as well as subjects' =
family=20
members and others with firsthand knowledge about them.
Another pressing -- and, perhaps, more =
emotional=20
-- problem was simply deciding who would and would not make =
it into=20
the book.
Cleere said there were more than 100 =
prospective=20
subjects on her initial list.
Cleere wanted to "make sure I had the =
entire=20
state covered." Then, she said, "I wanted some cultural and =
ethnic=20
diversity.
"And, I wanted women that were of =
different=20
backgrounds. We always have our miners, but I wanted =
legislators,=20
educators and artists. I was just trying to find a really =
good mix,=20
and you just keep whittling down and then hope you've got =
the right=20
combination."
The 13 women who made the final cut =
were born=20
before 1900, spent most of their lives in Nevada and, in =
some way,=20
"had an impact on the state," Cleere said.
The book includes a few easily =
recognizable=20
names. There is, for instance, Helen J. Stewart (1854-1926), =
dubbed=20
the "first lady of Las Vegas" and whom Cleere called "an =
absolutely=20
marvelous woman."
Stewart operated a successful cattle =
ranch in a=20
patch of desert that would one day become Las Vegas. She was =
an=20
astute businesswoman who helped to organize the Mesquite =
Club and=20
was the first woman elected to the Clark County school =
board.
Stewart did not want to be here, Cleere =
said.=20
Yet, after the death of her husband, Stewart was "able to =
turn her=20
small ranch into a moneymaking program and knew to sell out =
when the=20
railroad hit."
Even Nevadans who know the story of =
pioneering=20
educator Maude Frazier (1881-1963) -- the first building on =
the=20
University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus was dedicated to her =
-- will=20
be fascinated by Cleere's portrait of the prim-but-tough =
educator=20
rumbling through remote parts of Nevada in her car, taking =
education=20
to children wherever she could find them.
"Can you imagine?" Cleere said. "Now we =
have=20
roads. Those were not even roads she was following. She got =
into=20
that car and took off because she had to find those kids." =
The portrait of Frazier fits in with =
Cleere's=20
desire to reveal the women "as individuals, as people -- =
what their=20
daily lives were like and the difficulties they had to =
face."
Cleere devotes a chapter to Sarah =
Winnemucca=20
Hopkins (1844-1891), a Paiute woman who strived to serve as =
a sort=20
of mediator between American Indians and Nevada's white =
settlers.=20
"Sarah is Nevada," Cleere says. =
"And, of=20
course, this little tidbit is just a small portion of =
Sarah's life."=20
Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins died at age 48 =
and,=20
Cleere says, "I really think she died of a broken heart more =
than=20
anything else."
Why? "It was just that she could not do =
for her=20
people what she wanted to do," Cleere says.
Cleere profiles Ah Cum Kee (1875 or =
1876-1929) ,=20
the first woman Chinese-American farmer in Nevada, who lived =
a hard=20
life that included childhood abandonment by her parents and =
a=20
lifetime spent bucking the constraints of both her native =
and=20
adopted cultures.
Yet, she became a successful farmer =
whose net=20
worth in 1910 was valued at $1,000, Cleere said, "a lot of =
money at=20
that time."
Felice Cohn (1884-1961) was the =
youngest person=20
admitted to practice law in Nevada and the fourth woman from =
anywhere to be admitted to argue before the U.S. Supreme =
Court. She=20
also served as assistant attorney general for Nevada.
Yet, Cohn also was asked to serve as a =
court=20
reporter because, Cleere wrote, it was considered a =
"woman's" job.=20
Prompted, perhaps, by such societal stereotypes, Cohn became =
a=20
notable voice in the women's suffrage movement.
After illness took the lives of her =
husband and=20
three children, Idah Meacham Strobridge (1855-1932) ran her =
family's=20
ranch and mined the Humboldt Mountains.
Strobridge also loved books and opened =
an=20
award-winning bindery. And, thanks to her love of writing,=20
Strobridge became one of Nevada's first -- and one of its =
most=20
recognized -- women writers.
Strobridge "had that gift of writing =
that every=20
writer craves," Cleere said, and left behind volumes =
containing=20
vivid, colorful descriptions of the desert she loved and the =
people=20
inhabiting it.
Anne Henrietta Martin (1875-1951), a=20
Stanford-educated former history teacher at the University =
of=20
Nevada, Reno, developed a passion for women's suffrage =
during her=20
travels in Europe and Asia.
She became a noted advocate for women's =
rights --=20
she once was arrested during a demonstration in England -- =
and,=20
Cleere said, spearheaded the fight for women's suffrage in =
Nevada.=20
Eliza Cook (1856-1947) was one of =
Nevada's first=20
woman doctors at a time when medicine was thought to be an =
improper=20
profession for a woman.
Yet, Cleere said, Cook not only =
practiced=20
medicine but "would go beyond what a (male) doctor would =
do."
After delivering a baby, Cleere said, =
Cook might=20
stay around to wash clothes, cook and do housework for the =
family,=20
knowing how important pioneer women were to their families. =
Cook, who became involved in the =
temperance=20
movement during her youth, also became active in the effort =
to give=20
Nevada women the right to vote.
Cleere profiles the Daughters of =
Charity=20
(1864-present), a Catholic religious order that ran a =
school, an=20
orphanage and a hospital in Carson City.
Most nuns of that time "stayed behind =
their=20
cloistered walls and waited for individuals to come to =
them," Cleere=20
said.
The Daughters of Charity, in contrast, =
"hit the=20
streets of Virginia City running," she noted. "They went out =
and=20
found people who needed assistance."
Even today, Cleere said, "you can still =
see their=20
fingerprints there."
By any measure, Alison Oram Bowers =
(1826-1903),=20
who, with her husband, was one of Virginia City's first=20
millionaires, was a character.
Mining made Bowers and her husband =
rich. Then,=20
Cleere said, "she wanted to raise her status, and her only =
way of=20
doing that, since she had all this money, was to purchase =
everything=20
she could get her hands on."
When their finances soured, Bowers =
became a=20
fortuneteller. She died broke, and her ashes were interred =
behind=20
her mansion.
Mining is represented by two other =
profiles in=20
the book: Ferminia Sarras (1840-1915), a Nicaraguan-born =
woman with=20
a vague past, a penchant for young men and a knack for =
finding=20
copper, and Josie Pearl (1873-1962), a miner who never =
struck it=20
rich but was profiled by legendary journalist Ernie Pyle. =
As different as they were, the women =
were "almost=20
compelled" to seek their fortune in the desert, Cleere said. =
"I don't believe either of them, after =
reading=20
their stories, could have stopped mining. It was in their =
souls, and=20
they just needed to go on to the next strike."
Washoe basket-weaver Dat so la lee =
(birth date=20
unknown-1925) became famous for her artistry, thanks to a =
healthy=20
assist from Abram and Amy Cohn, who owned a Carson City =
clothing=20
store and weren't averse to telling a few tall tales to hike =
the=20
price of her intricate baskets.
Cleere figures Dat so la lee went along =
with the=20
Cohns, because she wanted to provide for her family. "She =
remained a=20
very silent partner, literally, in that collusion with the =
Cohns,"=20
Cleere said.
"So, we don't really know what she =
thought of the=20
stories they made up about her," Cleere added. "It was all =
just to=20
promote her work, which was exceptional."
While the women come from widely varied =
backgrounds, they share "an independent spirit," Cleere =
noted.
"I'm sure they faced fears and =
challenges we=20
can't even imagine," she explained. "They didn't all live =
exemplary=20
lives and some of them did not end up where they hoped to =
be. But=20
they struggled on, and at a time when women were not =
expected to do=20
that."
Which woman became her favorite =
subject? "Don't=20
ask me that," Cleere said with a laugh.
"These women became so personal to me. =
As I wrote=20
each one, I really tried my best to walk in her footsteps." =
"I honestly could not pick one," Cleere =
said. "I=20
just love them all. They became my ladies. I really got =
close to=20
them."
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