The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-07-26
WOMEN IN THE NORTHWEST.
They Vote, Serve Jurors, Run for OfHc
and Have All Their Rights.

women who have been recently drawn for jury
duty have violently reproached the judges as the
authors of their tribulators The glamour is
taken out of the woman suffrage when the
emancipated women find that they are subject
TO related duties which are far from charming,
considering that woman has to leave her
household duties and babies and sit hour after
hour In the mephltlc atmosphere or the court
room. Women enjoy voting well enough, but
they don't enjoy being citizens.
The laws of Montana are particularly liberal
to the ladies' Married women have the same
control over their property as possessed By men.
A statute passed at the last session of the Legis
lature gives to each the absolute control and
disposition of individual property, and treats all
property acquired subsequently to marriage by
joint efforts and sacrifices az community prop
erty, to be disposed Of only by joint conveyance
1t treats marriage as life partnership between
equals. 1t is certainly more just ard suoslan-
tial accordance Of equal rights to women tnan
the concession of elective francnlSe' AHe S'''o'e
is beginning to bear its fruits already.
One lady in this town, a splnster with lots OF
business tact and a great deal Of common sense,
has gone into the real estate business on her own
account AID is rapidly amasslns an independent
fortune. dropped into her office day or two
ago, and found her just closing the sale OF some
ranch property, the money value of which
reached far up into the thousands. She buys
and sells rea. estate, cattle, sheep, mines loans
money, and does a general broker business.
admire that ladys pluck and so does everybody
else who meets and knows her.
Female homesteaders are on the increase, too.
The smart girls of the Northwest help them
selves literally to houses and farms, take up
tree claims or desert claims, prove up Oh time,
and become citizens and voters. There IS ono
young girl on a ranch not far from here who was
at time shop girl or book keeper for some
firm in Chicago, and who saved her wages until
she had enough money to come west and buy a
sheep ranch i'll Montana. She started the thing
in good shape, hiring all her help, and has just
Il ho, hrct Inr hn N md a
Job in the East; TO come out and herd her sheep
for her. Another girl Ton the shady side of
thirty fve has milk and dairy ranch further
up the valley, besides a homestead and timber
claim of 100 acres each, which is truly valuable
property at this writing. She is business like
and not afraid to work. She can NOW and stack
hay like an old farm hand can milk COWS or
play herder, can harness team as well as a
man, can shoot and ride like cowboy, and can
do all kinds of ordinary carpenter work. This
lady is not rough ribald specimen OF her sex,
but is simply full of pluck and enterprise, and
wants to take care of herself. She has now 32O
acres of land secured under the homestead and
timber claim acts, and Is about to take advantage
of Uncle Sans generosity and get as much land
as the law will permit, by taking up an add
tional $50 acres under the desert land act. That
lady is voter. and deserves to be one, too.
There is another girl in Meagher county
known in Montana and elsewhere as the Shep-
herdess of the West. She was Miss Jennie Cor
son, but is row Mrs Jacob Severance, having
married prominent wool grower of that name
on the MuSseshell & few months ago. quite q
little romance is attached to her history. She
lived alone on her ranch for some time, drying
her sheep out to Craze during the daytime, and
bringing them home and corraling them at
night for safe keeping. In hunting for some
'1ost sheep" one day last fall she wandered a
long ways from home and fell in with Mr.. Sew
erance, among whose focks she found her lost
lambs. These two soon fell in love- and before
long united their flocks on business principles,
Al. h
resulted in an engagement and finally mar
riage which occurred April Fools day last
They now wander hand in hand over hills and
valleys Of the Musselshell herding their sk6ne
together, happy as the days are Ion tVf!e
are making lots of money.
Mrs. Coleman Puett, one of the pioneer ladies'
of Meagher county "a widow, by the way, who
took up her husbands business on his deceased,
has as fine ranch among the Sweet Grass
Hills as is to be found in this part of the country.
She recently made horseback ride, alone but
well armed, of two hundred miles across the
prairie and through Bad Lands to Livingstone,
where she came to purchase supplies She left
her family at home during her absence She
had a breech- loading rife swung to her saddle
and camped ont every night she was away from
home. The Livingstone Enterprise speaking Of
her visit, ssys:
"The lady is in excellent health and young in
appearance far beyond the years. The story of
lady of over fifty years riding two hundred
miles in one trip Will astonish Eastern readers
but that is the stuff of which the mothers of
Montana are made"
Another girl. young handsome and cultured
Miss Annie Conkln by name, who was for long
time connected with the mechanical department
OF the Rustler newspaper of this town, left here
a morning or two ago for Helena This little
lady is largely interested in mines in the CHur
dAlenes; and is now on the way to Eagle City
and Pritchard Gulch 20 look after her interests
She is also the owner of an extensive chicken
ranch in western Montana and is as full OF pluck
and enterprise as they make them.
But when the girls turned their attention to
politics, not voters, but as capdidatcs look out
for hair and a real red hot time. AT the last
local elections in Montana there were four Rich
monds i'll the field. These four ladies were run
ming for county superintendent Of public instruc-
ton, and. like the other sex, on the straight
out political tickets either as Republicans, Dem
ocrats or Independents. That canvass, when
the girls took the stump against their male com
pettors was one of the most amusing things
that ever happened in this or any other country.
Miss Clark, in Lewis aud Clarke county, is
not only talented young lady, but also fe-
male politician By the grace of the Lord and
the votes of the boys she got there all right and
left her antagonist far IN the rear, dazed and
defeated candidate
In Meagher county two girls were pitted
against each other, and the fight for the position
was quite lively. Miss Darcy was the candidate
OF the unwaShed Democrats, while Miss Nichols
mustered with the Republican boys. In the
fight broomsticks, hairpins, buStles, etc, were
the weapons used and for awhile it was beyond
the prophecy of man to foretel which destruct-
Ave weapon would be the most formidable and
death dealing 1t was hard to tell which one of
the young ladies was the handsomest but at a
distance everybody presumed that both were
lovely. Well everybody voted. as everybody
should, and Miss Darcy won the day, but her
defeated rival claimed, and justly too, that her
defeat reflected in no way personally upon her
self, as Meagher county was, and always had
been Democratic, and that was the reason why
sold Nick (the campaign title of her opponent
came out ahead.
In Gallatin county Miss Hamilton announced
herself as an independent candidate, One of
the Gallatin county papers, the organ and hacker
of Miss Hamilton came out day or two before
the election follows:
Hamilton enters the field against the odds of
regular party nominations. Hamilton has got
sand, and she will stay until the polls are closed
Hamilton should be elected. She says she isn't
e IL