At Last,These silent voices of Who were the women of the fur trade? Here is the advice given to Kit Carson by the "Maybe you're thinking of some sickly gal from "What a mountain man wants is an Injun About us: Our purpose is to encourage
women from the Wilderness will be heard!
old Mountaineer, "Blackfoot", Smith:
'Valgame Dios! Your shanty is a pore make-
out compared to this hyar Injun Lodge.
Leaky and cold and open to the weather,
and whar's the fire when you come in at night
half froze for a hot kettle of soup?...Why
should you freeze all winter like a starvin'
coyote?... Its time you womaned Kit, and
that's a fact."
the settlements, thin as a rail and pale as a
ghost, pretty as a pitcher and so fufurraw
she's good for nothin'. Maybe so you've sot
you're eyes on some wench to Taos or Santy
Fee. Do you hear now? Leave the pale face
gal to them that knows no better. Put out and
trap a squaw, and the sooner the better."
woman-one who can pack a mule, make
meat, dress robes, make moccasins, cook,
pitch a lodge, ride all day and then give birth
to a likely young 'un after sundown. Look at
me, Kit. I'm warm, I'm comfortable, I'm
happy as a bear in winter quarters, with the
old gal settin' hyar beside me. When I come
home at night, froze stiff with cold and
starvin', I can see the big old yeller lodge all lit
up like a lantern among the pines, and I know
when I go in, thar the old gal will be, with a
good fire burning and the kettle steamin'...My
old gal is some, she is. I wouldn't swap her
for all the beaver in Bent's big lodge. She kin
make a home for me whever grass grows,
and ye can lay kin to that!"
Founding Members
research, learning, teaching and the
preservation of the history and skills of the
women of the fur trade era. Emphases are
placed on women who were married to or
associated with the mountaineer trapper. At
last, these silent voices of women from the
wilderness will be heard by the general public!
Women like Marie Dorian, Mountain Lamb,
Sacajewa, Pine Leaf, Watkuweis of the Nez
Perce, and others whose names and stories
have been lost to history.