Women Brave the West Part 2

Continued from Part 1

In 1908, Mary Endicott Arnold and Mabel Reed - cousins of General John Bidwell of Chico and friends since childhood - traveled across the country. Their adventure led them to sail on a small boat, landing in the coastal town of Eureka.

Understand how extraordinary this was - two young women traveling alone at the turn of the 20th century. Women didn’t have many rights then and rarely traveled. Single, with no chaperones, no experience, and clothes that didn’t fit where they were going, all they had were an eager curiosity and a determination to explore.

No one met their boat. Entering a nearby saloon, they learned a mail carrier would be back soon. Later, discovering what the women wanted, the mail carrier first said he wouldn’t take them. After much pleading, however, he agreed, telling them to severely limit their baggage, handing them four flour sacks to use!

Early the next day, they set out by wagon towards the mountains. They stopped for lunch at a small ranch, a regular stop for travelers. Afterwards, Mary and Mabel learned they'd have to ride the rest of the way. Both had barely ever ridden ponies, much less spirited western horses! Determined to go on and hiding their fears, they bravely mounted their horses, silently praying they wouldn’t fall off.

The mail carrier wasn’t happy. After being silent for hours, he suddenly announced he was in a hurry, that they were slowing him down. Saying he was going to get his dinner and that the horses would find their own way, he rode off!

Up til then, they'd been going up and down narrow treacherous mountain trails. Darkness had settled in. Riding for hours in an endless driving rain - drenching the women to the skin - the wiind whipped through the trees on all sides, mercilessly slashing their faces and arms. Terrified and with little choice, the women continued on.

After two frightening hours, they made it to Hoopa, an Indian reservation near Willow Creek. Soaked and shivering, the young women found the mail carrier inside having dinner in the Indian Agent’s warm, well-lit home. They then learned that the flour sacks filled with their clothes had been left behind! The only clothes they had now were the ones they on.

This was just one of many adventures Mary and Mabel had – both in the West and back East. Who would have thought these two inexperienced young women would succeed in their hazardous journey? Perhaps they were more than the sum of their parts, so to speak. Perhaps it’s a lesson for all of us – to see that the pioneer spirit lies deep within all of us, waiting to be ignited by an idea that fires our imagination and inspires us to act.

Women Brave The West Part 1

By the early 1900’s, the “Wild West” had been written and talked about for decades. Cheap land and wide-open spaces drew thousands of men looking for adventure. For women, however, options were limited.

Two women from New Jersey decided to change that. Mary Endicot Arnold and Mabel Reed - friends since childhood - were cousins of Anne Bidwell, wife of famed General John Bidwell who settled and prospered in the area we know as Chico.

In 1908 - deciding the East was too tame - Mary and Mabel made the hazardous journey across country to visit their cousins. While there, they noticed General Bidwell employed Indians around his property. They were intrigued. Feeling the local Indians were too submissive, the young women longed to see Indians that were “more real”.

While attending a glamorous party at Bidwell mansion, amid the fine crystal, champagne and elegant ballgowns, they met a Special Indian Agent. Longing for adventure, they proposed a radical idea to him. Let them travel further west into the mountains to find some “real Indians!” Skeptical, he finally agreed to help the insistent travelers. Appointing them “Field Matrons in the United States Indian Service, Department of Interior”, they were to be paid $30 a month plus travel expenses (a very generous sum in those days, especially for women).

In a whirlwind, the excited women packed countless trunks and bags for their trip. Shortly, after traveling by coach to San Francisco, they boarded a small ship, it’s only passengers.

With constant rain dogging the entire trip, they finally arrived in Eureka.

What would they find there? Check out Part 2 for more of this adventure.