Ladies of the Southwest: A Series

In my last post, I wrote about my interest in historical fiction, well I have yet another passion which involves learning about the women who settled the old west. We're starting a series entitled "Ladies of the Southwest” which we’ll highlight some of the women that we’ve researched, and how they impacted life as we know it today.

As a typical Texas kid, my parents and I spent many a summer in northern New Mexico and western Colorado. We camped, hiked and took many a drive up roads normally restricted to logging trucks, resulting in my current aversion to road trips or spending time in a tent. In my early career as luck would have it, I would return to New Mexico. I worked for a major government contractor, which had me working with clients all across the great state of New Mexico. My clients at the time ranged from technology companies, Ph.D’s from the National Labs, the US Department of Defense, actors, and the Native American tribes inhabiting that part of the southwest. I love to tell people my office in Santa Fe, New Mexico was conveniently located between the Santa Fe Country Club and the Buddhist temple. Most would think that an odd location for an office but for Santa Fe, it was the norm. Upon spending time in the Land of Enchantment I became ever more curious about why artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, D.H. Lawrence, Ansel Adams, Willa Cather and others were so attracted to the area. Of course if you've ever been to Northern New Mexico, it's the view of the mesa's and Sangre de Cristo mountain range, the spectacular sunrises and sunsets, the clean mountain air, the fragrance of pinon burning in fireplaces, and certainly the red and green chile. 

In one of the most recent books that I read, "Ladies of the Canyons", by Lesley Poling-Kempes, she wrote about the women who settled the Southwest long before the artists showed up. Just to entice you about this book, did you know that the Ghost Ranch, made popular by one of it's best known residents, Georgia O'Keeffe, was actually won in a poker match? A woman by the name of Carol Bishop Stanley, a wealthy woman from New England moved to the Santa Fe area in the early 1920’s and first began running Bishop Ranch and with her then husband. Over the years she and her husband ran various dude ranches in New Mexico. But by the time Carol reached her early 50’s she decided to divorce her husband and develop the Ghost Ranch with help from East Coast friends that were able to entice their friends to visit the Ghost Ranch just around the time of the great depression.

Another woman that I found absolutely fascinating was Natalie Curtis, also from a wealthy East Coast family. Because Natalie was a trained musician and singer, she became enchanted with the traditional songs sung by the Native Americans and began recording and writing making record of the ceremonials songs, which had never been written down. While she was embarking upon this task, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) had a different idea and were forcing the tribes to become anglicized by cutting their hair and only speaking English. Being that Natalie’s family were friends with President Teddy Roosevelt, Natalie returned to the east to personally petition the former President to stop the BIA and continue with her efforts which she successfully accomplished. 

Having read “ Ladies of the Canyons” and a number of other books on Georgia O'Keeffe, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Isabella Bird, Agnes Morley Cleveland and others, I have always wondered what drew these women to such rough and rustic land between the 1880's to the 1920's. While reading Ms. Poling-Kempes book I happened upon a statement that answered my question: "All of these women lived lives that subtly or overly sanctioned the code of the New Woman. Marriage was a choice, not a dictum, and in New Mexico even middle aged divorced women were given a place in society."

Look for more stories about interesting and heroic women who settled the western frontier paving a way for generations to follow.