Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1872-11-15

0oARsk' AWKWARD, RRAwNY HEALTu-rIE BoR-
DERER wIFE-wILDNEss AND D,NcFP ARr
HER coMPANIoNs-DREss OF TIE FRONTIER
woNAN-PECULIAR CoMEIINFss- rRoxrrrR
CHARMS
4 writer in the Kansas Monthly discourses
oi the frontier women, who untrammeled bv
stays and ceremonies, have, what few of her
race entirely possess, not fictitious and de-
eeptive roslness of cheek and gracefulness of
carnage, not whiteness of hands and willowy
slehderness OF waist, bat coarse, awkward.
orawny health. | know of no female in
habltlng the border wilderness of our country
who has not some of the refinement which
belongs rather to sex than TO race, except the
Indian squaw. \ woman whose face bears
any evidence Of a relationship with any of
the dominant races of the world, has some
thing about her wherever YOU find her.
which Is womanly and attractive The bor-
derer wife does not swear nor chew tobacco.
nor do any suggestion of immodesty in ac-
ton or word. If | might be allowed to coin.
the expression, would say that the standard
OF delicacy by which the border women's
senslblllues were governed was a different
and broader one than in common use. She
associates with men, and very coarse ones.
She Is intimately acquainted with and inter
ested in al their affairs. She is accustomed
TO wildness and danger, and learns to be
strong of hand and nerve, and to be cool in
sudden emergencies. 1t may be put down
to her credit that she will run if she can. She
Will always fight if She must. But there are
no circumstances which, even by long habit
can dives. a woman of her essential femme
ness. | have been amused to note that
woman, who was complete mistress of re-
ealcitrant mustang, and every dav brought
him under subiection by no 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 inglorio;iSly retreat at the sight of
one Of the harmless little lizards which in
fest the prairie paths of the Southwest.
In society, women dress for women; in Ger
tain other walks in life, they dress for men.
and left alone they dress for themselves.
On the border the old business Of the sex. To
look pretty, receives as much attention as it
does anywhere. There Is not much choice
of material-calico Is the article Valen-
ciennes and Mechin, and all the cunning
variations in name and material which make
up the lexicon of the modern dry goods
clerk, even the cant about .'chaste" colors
and pretty styles are utterly unknown to
the belle of the border As she tits back
in high-bottomed chair ike man. it is
easy TO perceive that feet which are not
always coarse, are encased in brogans. con-
structed with SPECIAL view 10 the roughness
Of the wayside stones, the penetrating quail
ties of the early dew, and the gravity and
persuaSiveness Of kicks administered by them.
The neck sunburned, but not always want
ing in proportion and natural whiteness. Is
ignorant Of collar or refinement. Waist and
limb are uneonfned by 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 with the enormous
mysteries which for these many years have
been carried about beneath the hats of
fashionable women, remind one of the knob
on an old bureau drawer In frontier
toilet there is no lack of the two essentials
Of starch and whtene>s. Cleanliness there
Is TO be sure, but it Is q cleanliness Of mater
ial and fact, and fails in any suggestion Of
daintinoSs 1t Is upon the calico mentioned
that the efforts Of taste are mostly expended.
There are ruffes there. and bias strips and
| lounces, and hundred pretty and fantastic
| devices which are beyond masculine technolo-
! " 10 ut-tIlpt- lei lntrt are no prescribed
fashions for these vagaries in dress.
The frontier has a comeliness OF its own.
1t is not the paltry prettiness of gait and
manner: not the charm Of suaye words and
| cultured address These make us imagine
beauty, indeed, where there is none, and
procure gentle thoughts and husbands where
| there Is nothing else to recommend. Frontier
charms, where they exist at all, make
models Of stalwart, unframed grace. Health
itself is beauty, and that questionable kind
is common enough. There are women here
whose hair falls in troublesome abundance
and will not be confined; whose cheeks. if
they could but know the Iabsence of the
caresses Of the sunbeams and boisterous
kisses Of the wind. would show the clearest
white and the bonniest bloom There are
limbs which shuttle slipshod along trails in
search Of lost animals, Of whose sound
strength the owner has little thought, and
arms which split frewood, and bring water
from the spring, whose whiteness and mould
would fit them rather for the adornment Of
/ golden clasps and folds of ancient lace.