Thursday, December 30, 2010

What I Read #113

One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus: In the mid 1800 a treaty of sorts was made between the Federal Government and the Cheyenne Nation. The government would send 1000 white women who volunteered to be wives to Cheyenne warriors. In exchange, the Cheyenne would give the government 1000 horses. This would be "horse trading" at it's ultimate! The exchange never took place. But what if it had?
One Thousand White Women tells the story of May Dodd, a Chicago socialite who takes up with a man beneath her station, is incarcerated in an asylum by her father for "promiscuous behavior." She volunteers to be a wife of a Cheyenne. Along with several other women who have no ties and want adventure, May makes the trek to the West.
Told in May's voice, this story, though fiction, could have really happened. It tells of the fear, the hardships and the joys, and ultimately, the sorrows that this brave group of women endured just to be free.
In this well-researched novel, Jim Fergus has created a "come-alive" work of historical fiction.

Happy Reading,
JE

2 comments:

Mellodee said...

I think that had this event taken place, it would have been a shoe-in for "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!" 1000 women for 1000 horses?? Boy, that sure shows how women were viewed by the men of that time!! Not even 2 for 1, just an even trade!! Wow, that whole concept is just chilling! The precedent it would have set is frightening too. Yes, I understand that they were to be "volunteers", but still!

Considering that it never actually happened, I will assume that they couldn't find 1000 women dumb enough to volunteer! Talk about hare-brained schemes!! :o

Anonymous said...

Gives a whole new meaning to the term "horsing around". Sorry, I just couldn't resist.
Clyde