The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-09-08
WOMEN WERE SCARCE.
a Feminine Faes Caused ] Furors In
H5G# C%Aliforniass Eariv naxas

- OWtluluo F&oO S90Sed q EOrofo IN
c~alifornia's Early Days.
There were few women In the Cali
fornia mining camps In the old days,
and the advent OF an emigrant wagon
with a woman In 1t caused a furore,
as is proved by the following incident
from the "reminiscences Of former Sen.
ator William NJ. Stewart: Women
were SO scarce In California at that
time that this was suf1cient to arouse
the whole camp. The boys as we
were called. we're scattered along the
coyote diggings for q distance OF about
four miles, and when anything unusual
happened the words. oh. Joe!' would
be passed along the whole line. When
I saw the feminine raiment / raised
the usual alarm, 'Oh, Joe!' and this
called the attention OF the miners on
Buckeye hills. where l was, to the
c%lothesline which had attracted my
notice. They gathered around on the
hill, nearly surrounding the covered
wagon and Its contents. The rush 81
the boys in the immediate vicinity to
see the wonderful sight attracted those
farther away, and In less than ten min.
utes two or three thousand young men
were anxiously watching the wagon,
clothesline and fascinating lingerie.
In alarm the man that belonged to the
woman inside stuck his head out Of q
small tent beside the wagon. rs.
sured him that no harm was intended,
but that we were very anxious to see
the lady who was the owner Of the
clothes. This aroused her curiosity
sufficiently to induce her to pull the
curtain Of the tent aside so that her
face could be discovered, but not fully
seen. ira
~ then proposed that we make q do.
nation to the first lady that had hon
ored u camp with q visit. / took
from my camp a buckskin bag, used
for the purpose Of carrying gold, and
invited the boys to contribute. They
came forward with great eagerness
and poured out Of their sacks gold
dust amounting to between $1,000 and
$1,000. I then proposed to appoint 4
committee to wait on the lady and
present 1t. The motion was unani.
mously carried, and one Of the gentle.
men appointed on the committee sug-
gested myself 40 chairman. / took the
sack Of gold and went within about
thirty feet Of the tent and made as
good a speech as I could to induce the
lady to come out, assuring her that
al the men about her were gentlemen,
that they had seen no ladies for so
many months and that the presence
Of one reminded them Of their mothers
and sweethearts at home. I told her
that the bag Of gold vas hers on con-
dition that she would come out and
claim it. Her husband urged her to
be brave, but when she finally ven
tured out about halfway the cheers
were SO v%ociferous that she was scared
and ran back.
"She repeated this performance sew
eral times. and I kept moving slowly
back far enough to get her away from
the little tent so the boys could have
q good view Of her. l suppose half an
hour was occupied with her running
back and forth while the boys looked
on in admiration. when I finally gave
her the bag, with all the good wishes
of the camp. She grabbed 1t and ran
into the tent like a rabbit. The next
morning the wagon, oxen, man and
owner of the inspiring apparel were
gone, and we never heard of them in
after life" M ANA S5a