Initially I gobbled up books on notable mountain men like Kit Carson and Jedediah Smith. When my interest narrowed to the twenty-year period of California's Gold Rush, I read all I could find on the subject and acquired an extensive library of my own. Along the way, it occurred to me that I had read almost nothing about Westering women before the era of wagon trains. I trust my profiles will tell enough about these self-propelled and fascinating ladies to intrigue readers, and make them want to know a great deal more. The collection is an easy introduction to some remarkable women.
Some women think they have come a long way by means of the feminist movement.
But some women have always done their own thing, regardless of the general ideas of a woman's role in the times in which they lived.