Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1872-10-31
BORDER WOMEN.
A picture of Frontier Life.

cOuIo6S 01 Tic lIOuttcN WoAACu1 WnO,
untrammeled by stays and ceremonies,
have, what few of her race entirely
possess, health-not a fictitious and
deceptive rosiness of cheek and grace
fulness of carriage, not whiteness of
hands, and willowy slenderness of
waist, but coarse, awkward, brawny
health. know of no female inhabit-
ing the border wilderness of our coun-
try who has not some of the refinement
which belongs rather to sex than to
race, except the Indian squaw. A wo-
man whose face bears any evidence ofa
relationship with any Of the dominant
races of the world, has something about
her wherever you find her which is
wonanIy and attractive, The border
ers wife does not swear nor chew to-
bacao, nor do any suggestion of immod-
esty in action or word. If might be
allowed to coin the expression, l would
say that the standard of delicacy by
waich the border woman's sensibili-
ties were governed was different and
broader one than in common use. She
associates with men, and very coarse
ones. She is intimately acquainted
with and interested in all their affairs.
She is accustomed to wildness and dan
ger, and learns to be strong OF hand and
nerve and to be cool in sudden emer-
gencies. 1t may be put down to her
credit that while she will run If she
can, she will always fight if she must.
But there are no circumstances which,
even by long habit, can divest woman
of her essential feminineness. l have
been amused to note thata woman, who
was complete mistress of recalcitrant
mustang, and every day brought him
under subsection by mo means dainty
application of the end of his lariat, and
who ruled with a high hand all the
denizens of the corral, would utter the
little cry of her sex and ingloriously re-
treat al the sight of one of the harmless
little lizards which infest the prairie
paths of the Southwest.
In society, women dress for women;
in certain other walks Of life, they
dress for men; and left alone they dress
for themselves. On the border the old
business of the sex, to look pretty, re-
ceives as much attention as it does any
where. There is not much choice of
material-calico is the article. Valen-
eiennes and Mechin, and all the cum
ming variations In name and material
which make up the lexicon of the mod
ern dry goods clerk, even the cant
about "chasten colors and .pretty''
styles are utterly unknown to the belle
ofthe border. As she tits back in high
bottomed chair like man it is easy to
perceive that feet which are not always
course are sncased in brogans, construct
ed with special view to the roughness
ofwayside stones, the penetrating quail
tiles of the early dew, and the gravity
and persuasiveness of kicks admins
tered by them. The neck sunburned,
but not always wanting in proportion
and natural whiteness, is ignorant Of
collar or refinement. Waist and limb
are uncoIfned ty any of the devices
which are supposed to be so necessary
to style, and the hair, combed straight
and smooth, IS twisted into a little
tight knot behind, which compared
.sitil the enormous mysteries which
tor these many years have been carried
ABOUT beneath the hats of fashionable
women, remind ore of the knob on an
Old bureau drawer. In u frontier toilet
there is no lack of the two essentials Of
starch and whiteness. Cleanliness
there is to be sure, but it is a cleanliness
of material and fact, and fails in any
suggestion of daintiness. It's upon the
calico mentioned that the efforts o.
taste are mostly expended. There arr
ruffies there, and bias strips and f1ounc
es. and hundred pretty and fantasti,
devices which is beyond masculine
technology to describe. Yet there ar
no prescribed fashions for these vagarie.
in dress.
The frontier has a comeliHess of it
own. 1t is not the paltry prettiness o
gait and manner; not the charm o
suave words and cultured address
These make us imagine beauty, indeed
where there is none, and procure gentl
thoughts and husbands where there
nothing else to recommend. Frontie
charms, where they exist at all, max
models of stalwart, unframed grace
Health itself is beauty, and that unfash
ionable kind is common enough
There are women here whose hair fall
in troublesome abundance, and vii
not be confined; whose cheeks, II the,
could but know the absence Of the ca
resses of the sunbeams and the bolster
Gus kisses Of the wind, would show tn
clearest white and the bonniest bloom
There are limbs which shuttle slip-sho'
along trails in search of lost animals, G
whose sound strength the owner ha
little thought, and arms which spli
.fire-wood and bring water from tn
spring whose whiteness and moul,
would fit them rather for the adorn
ment of golden clasps and folds of an
cient lace.
The London Field, one of the highes
authorities, says of sawdust: 'sI lite
the horses on it TO the depth of min
inches, raking Of the damp and sole
surface every morning, and spreadin
evenly a little fresh, removing tn
whole four or Ave, times a year. II
advantages appear to be many. {