Welcome to the “My Place” page
 My name is Scott
I run the Rope and Wire website.
My original idea for this page was to give those living in the country the opportunity to tell others about the things that made their farm or ranch so special.
Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that either no one likes to brag or no one lives on a farm or a ranch. Whatever the case, no one submitted an article so I felt it was high time to try something different.
So for now this will be literally “My Place.” I’ll use this page to post a western blog or short articles. They will either be mine, or possibly one from a contributing R&W community member.
The theme will remain Western but the content will change weekly, or there about.
If you click on any of the links to past blog's, you can return to this page by clicking on the My Place button across from my picture.
I hope you enjoy it but if not, might I suggest you “stroll the grounds.” Read a story or watch a movie.
Thanks for visiting.
Scott
Women, way out West
There has been a tremendous amount of writing about the people who lived and died in the American west during the 1800’s. The old west had its share of memorable characters, mostly men. You know…cowboys, ranchers, rustlers, lawmen and outlaws. That type.
What I’ve recently discovered is that there is relatively little written about the women of that era. The women of the 1800’s were as hearty as any man, maybe even more so. But it seems as if their place was close to the house, keeping the home fires burning so to speak, while the men played a more visible roll out on the range working the cattle or on the lower forty working the land. Outlaws, Sheriffs, and other political types of the day tended to be men. It was for the most part, the men who went to town for supplies, or to the local saloon for some R&R time spent drinkin’ and gamblin’ while the women stayed at home and took care of the mundane, domestic details like cooking meals, washing clothes and takin’ care of the youngsters. Just how exciting can a story be about a woman cooking supper or washing clothes? (Now there’s a challenge for you).
I guess back then, most women weren’t allowed to be at the front of the pack. That was where the man belonged. At least that was the mindset of the day. Women were seen more as domestic servants than equal marriage partners. Kinda’ like an ol’ workhorse. Put it to work in the field but don’t take it to town on Saturday night. So I guess if you look at things from that perspective, it makes a certain amount of sense that writers would pick up on the more interesting characters of the time which means the more entertaining stories would naturally be about the men… But then, not all of the interesting characters were men.
Some women did break out of that “domestic servant” mold but it seems they had to take on “manly” attributes to do it. Cussin’, drinkin’ shootin’ and gamblin’ to name a few, unless of course you would consider a soiled dove as breaking out of the mold, Still a lady of sorts but not cooking and cleaning. To me, that would still fall under the category of a domestic servant, only difference being the type of work, and the fact that they got paid in cash for their servitude.
The “Side Trail” section of my last newsletter highlighted a few of the more notable women of the era such as Annie Oakley, Belle Starr and Calamity Jane to name a few. There were many others but you have to do a little searching to find much useful information about them.
Don’t get me wrong. The women weren’t all “manly” characters; there were some very fine and classy ladies to boot. And every last one of them played an important roll in the history of the old west. But as of yet, I don’t think they’ve been given their just due.
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