1000 White Women

In 1875 the US government held a peace conference with the Cheyenne. Apparently Chief Little Wolf suggested that peace between the Whites and Cheyenne could be established if the Cheyenne were given white women as wives, and that the tribe would agree to raise the children from such unions. In reality, this was promptly rejected and the peace talks ended. This book follows the story as if the government had agreed to such a proposal for peace. The storyline of the book is pure fiction, but based on a lot of history.

In the book, President Grant secretly approves the Brides For Indians treaty. He recruits women from jails, penitentiaries, debtors' prisons, and mental institutions, offering full pardons or unconditional release. May Dodd, born to wealth in Chicago in 1850, had left home in her teens and become the mistress of her father's grain-elevator foreman. Her outraged father had her kidnapped, imprisoning her in a monstrous lunatic asylum. When Grant's offer arrives, she leaps at it and soon finds herself traveling west with hundreds of white and black would-be brides. All are indentured to the Cheyenne for two years, must produce children, and then will have the option of leaving. May, keeps a journal which is the narrative of this book. She ultimately marries Little Wolf and becomes completely emeshed in the life of the tribe.

I absolutely loved this book. It was wild to think of being one of the indian brides and what they would have gone through. As I read the book I was reminded of situations I have been in where I experienced some pretty significant culture shock. Mary realizes that there are good aspects of both the "white" and the Cheyenne society. While living in Tonga and Ecuador, and vacationing in various parts of the world, I have learned that it's not necessarily about things being right or wrong. Often another opinion or custom is just different, and sometimes even better.

The book fully entertained me and gave me a lot to think about. I found myself wishing that Mary Dodd was a real person, and sad when our adventure together ended.

A