Author’s Note:

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When I was growing up in the 1950s, women in epic western movies were one-dimensional characters. They were all good (or sometimes all bad.)  While the men were strong and tough and competent, fighting off bad guys, stopping stampedes, and bringing the wagons through, the women cooked. They were dumb as sticks and always had to be rescued. They were always pretty, of course and no matter what happened, their makeup was perfect. Even as a kid, I cringed at the idea women were like that.

As I began studying western history, I realized female pioneers were far more complicated.  Yes, they cooked, and they cared for the children, and they gave birth.  But they also worked side by side with their men doing the heavy lifting. I wanted to write a story that showed women were the equal of men, and frankly, maybe just a tiny bit better. As one character in Westering Women says, they did everything the men did and were somewhat more polite.

Westering Women has been in the back of my mind ever since I started writing fiction.   Still, it was a hard book to write, requiring numerous drafts.  I started with a cast of thousands and whittled them down to a handful of women. The women are the heroes in this story of the Overland Trail. An historian who critiqued a draft told me most of the men were bad guys. So?