Nonfiction

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In Sweetwater County’s early days, there were few choices open to a woman, and it’s not hard to guess the occupation of Anna Wright, who appeared in court in Bryan in 1868 for being drunk and fighting. Wyoming Territory offered women the right to vote, to own property, and to receive the same salary as a man for teaching school. Even after statehood, progress in true equality in the “Equality State” was slow in coming and for the most part uneven. May Bosworth Chambers made a quiet stand for women’s rights in her own home among her women friends, charging them a penny if they called each other by their husband’s surname instead of by their own first names. Bess Crouch defied a long tradition of racism by refusing to sit in the back row at the Green River movie theater. Many women arrived in Sweetwater County as immigrants who had to learn a new language and a new culture, and who sacrificed in untold ways so their children could succeed. A few women defied stereotypes, like Mamie Barrett who fought the Union Pacific and her brothers all the way to the Wyoming Supreme Court to keep her family sheep business. Both World Wars opened up new jobs to women and they have continued their gains in employment. Few, in the past as today, earned celebrity status. Most just quietly did their jobs, whether in the home or the workforce, their contributions for the most part unsung. This book, a celebration of all Sweetwater women, seeks to remedy that omission in a small way.

Dads. Sons and daughters. Work. Wyoming. My editor said to write about anything, and so I did. This collection of columns was first published in the Green River Star at the turn of the new century. Some things have changed for boomers over the years (most obviously, our hairlines and waistlines), and some things have become even more like they were! Back in the '90s most of us were still working, and these columns reflect those concerns as well as timeless topics such as valuing children, raising children with values, and the value of living in a healthy environment. Some have been edited a bit. I have indicated the exact or approximate date each was published, and added a few comments. The one thing I learned about myself in going back over these columns is that I was never at a loss for words. I enjoyed re-visiting the self I was then and finding out how relevant the insights still are today. I invite you to participate in this penetrating look back at what was important—and still is!— to me and to the people who live in the modern American West.