Women in the American West / Laura E. Woodworth-Ney.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Finding "her story" in the American West -- Visible in everything, but invisible to history : Native American women in the North American West -- Women of the Southern borderlands, 1600-1846 -- Gender and manifest destiny, 1830-1870 -- Polygamy, prostitution, and women in Mormon and mining settlements, 1840-1890 -- The "new woman," mobility, and western space, 1877-1920 -- War, depression, and the creation of the West, 1914-1940 -- The gendered wartime and postwar West, 1941-1980 -- Late trends and new directions.

This engaging narrative synthesizes more than 20 years of historical writing on the history of women in the American West. Prostitutes whom became landowners. Female soldiers disguised as men. Single mothers claiming 160 acres of land from the Homestead Act (something that married women could not do). These are just a few of the unexpected roles women played in the settlement of the American West. As more historians direct their research on the "herstory" of American history, the full story of these and other women in the Western United States is finally being told. Twenty years after many Western historians first turned their attention toward women, Women in the American West synthesizes the development of women's history in the region, introduces readers to current thinking on the real experiences of Western women, and explores their influence on the course of expansion and development since the 19th century. Women in the American West offers vivid portrayals of women as pioneers, prostitutes, teachers, disguised soldiers, nurses, entrepreneurs, immigrants, and ordinary citizens caught up in extraordinary times. Organized chronologically, each chapter emphasizes important themes central to gender and women's history, including women's mobility, women at home, wage labor, immigration, marriage, political participation, and involvement in wars at home and abroad. With this revealing volume, readers will see that women had a far more profound effect on the course of history in the Western United States than is commonly thought. - Publisher.