Ginny Morgan's Blog – September 2009 Archive (4)

Glittering Misery

Nancy Hendrickson describes the lives of Army officers’ wives on the frontier.

MARTHA SUMMERHAYES CROUCHED in the bottom of an Army wagon as it bounced towards Sanford Pass. Her husband, Jack, rode alongside, keeping a sharp lookout for marauding Apache. Her three-month-old son lay helplessly beside her. As the wagon lurched through the narrow cut in the mountains, Martha wondered if she could carry out Jack’s instructions — in case he was wounded, she was to use her… Continue

This is part of an article I wrote for a class I taught on What women wore in the West. This part is about Army Wives. They were an amazing lot of women. Had to put up with a LOT of hardship for little pay. Staying in Fashion was not easy!



Army Life

The Women who went west with their soldier husbands had a different set of problems when it came to fashion.

1865 to 1898 were the years of Indian fighting and there was a saying then. “The west was great for men but hell on… Continue

Kate Bighead's Story of the Battle

A Cheyenne woman's account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn



As told to Dr. Thomas B. Marquis in 1921.

Note



IN THE EARLY summer [of 1876], we set up camp near Little Big Horn River. Soldiers were spotted by some hunters to the south of the camp. Some young men went off to fight them and when they returned the next day they carried the bodies of several dead warriors with them. The chiefs then decided the group should move to… Continue

Moving Robe's Story of the Battle

A Hunkpapa Sioux woman warrior's account of

the Battle of the Little Bighorn



As told to Frank Zahn in 1931.



SEVERAL OF US young Indian women were digging wild turnips when I saw a cloud of dust rise beyond a ridge of bluffs in the east. We looked towards camp and saw a warrior ride swiftly, shouting that the solders were only a few miles away, and that the women and children and old men should run for the hills in the opposite… Continue