'Women Who Made the American West'

choi

Amanda Foreman, Women Who Made the American West. Wall Street Journal, Sept 11, 2020 (in her column "Historically Speaking").
https://www.wsj.com/articles/wom ... an-west-11599775152
https://www.dramandaforeman.com/tag/historically-speaking/

Note:
(a)
(i) WSJ places the article behind paylock.
(ii) The author reproduces the WSJ article in her website, including the photo of Belle Starr.
(iii) The author, Amanda Foreman, was born in 1968 in London, earned DPhil from Oxford, and is married to NYC banker Jonathan Barton. Mr Barton is a founding partner and Chief Operating Officer at Meru Capital Group, LP (LP stands for limited partnership).

(b) "On Sept. 14, 1920, Connecticut became the 37th state to ratify the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote. The exercise was largely symbolic, since ratification had already been achieved thanks to Tennessee on August 18."
(i)
(A) Constitutional Amendment Process. National Archives and Records Administration, undated
https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution
("Article V of the Constitution * * * provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds [or super-] majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. None of the 27 amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by constitutional convention. The Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution. Since the President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process, the joint resolution does not go to the White House for signature or approval. The original document is forwarded directly to NARA's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for processing and publication.
(B) constitutional amendment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_amendment
(section 2.3.2 United States, section 2.3.2.1 Federal constitution:

(C) Article V of federal constitution calls for "ratified by the legislatures." But how?  It turns out to be varied by states, which chooses its own methids but never through popular votes by voters. See
United States Constitutional Amendment Process Legal Principles for State Legislators. Research Department of the Minnesota House of Representatives, April 2016, at page 19
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/conamendlegal.pdf  
("Research Department of the Minnesota House of Representatives[:] * * * *A list of legislative rules that explicitly require a certain resolution style is included in Appendix 1" which somehow missed Massachusetts)
(D) National Archives and Records Administration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na ... ords_Administration
(1934- ; acronym: NARA; an independent agency; headed by Archivist; The Office of the Federal Register [within NARA] publishes the Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations)
(ii)
(iii) Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni ... States_Constitution   
(adopted in 1920; "Initially introduced to Congress in 1878 * * * [at last passed by] House of Representatives on May 21, 1919, followed by the Senate on June 4, 1919. * * * On August 18, 1920, Tennessee was the last of the necessary 36 ratifying states to secure adoption. * * * Prior to 1776, women had the right to vote in several of the colonies in what would become the United States, but by 1807 every state constitution denied even limited suffrage" when New Jersey amended state constitution that year)
(iv) In 1920, United States was made up of 48 states. The order of admission to the United States are as follows:

47th        New Mexico 1912-1-26
48        Arizona        1912-2-14
49        Alaska        1959-1-3
50        Hawaii        1959-8-21


(c) "In September 1870, Louisa Ann Swain of Laramie, Wyo, became the first woman in the US to vote legally in a general election since 1807, when New Jersey took away women's right to vote. Wyoming was also ahead of the pack in granting women the right to sit on a jury, act as a justice of the peace and serve as a bailiff."
(i)
(A) Laramie, Wyoming
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laramie,_Wyoming
("population was 30,816 at the 2010 census. Located on the Laramie River ['river was named for Jacques La Ramie [1784 – 1821; French], a fur trapper': Wiki] in southeastern Wyoming, the city is north west of Cheyenne" which is capital and most populous city in Wyoming, and about 50 air miles away from Laramie)
(B) Wyoming
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming
("was named after the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, made famous by the 1809 poem Gertrude of Wyoming by [Scottish poet] Thomas Campbell, based on the Battle of Wyoming [July 3, 1778; in Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania' American revolutionaries lost] in the American Revolutionary War")
(C) Gertrude of Wyoming "Tomorrow Let Us Do or Die!" by Thomas Campbell. enotes, undated
https://www.enotes.com/topics/gertrude-wyoming
(D) Joseph Brant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Brant
(1743 (Ohio) - 1807 (now Ontario); table: Nationality  Mohawk)
(ii)
(A) Louisa Swain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisa_Swain
(B) Swain (surname)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swain_(surname)
(iii) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming

Section 2 History: "On December 10, 1869, territorial Governor John Allen Campbell extended the right to vote to women, making Wyoming the first territory and then United States state to grant suffrage to women. In addition, Wyoming was also a pioneer in welcoming women into politics. Women first served on juries in Wyoming (Laramie in 1870); Wyoming had the first female court bailiff (Mary Atkinson, Laramie, in 1870); and the first female justice of the peace in the country (Esther Hobart Morris, South Pass City, in 1870). Also, in 1924, Wyoming became the first state to elect a female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross, who took office in January 1925. Due to its civil-rights history, one of Wyoming's state nicknames is 'The Equality State,' and the official state motto is 'Equal Rights.' "  (footnote omitted).

* Wyoming was admitted to the Union in 1890, as the 44th state.

(d) "No white woman traveled to California until 1841, when 17-year-old Nancy Kelsey arrived with her husband from Missouri."
(i) Nancy Kelsey's maiden name was Roberts. She was born in 1823 in Kentucky and died in 1896 in California.
(ii) She was actually 18. See Nancy Kelsey. Goodreads, undated
https://www.goodreads.com/characters/39804-nancy-kelsey
("Nancy Roberts Kelsey * * * arriving in California on November 25, 1841. 'Where my husband goes I can go. I can better stand the hardships of the journey than the anxieties for an absent husband.' * * * With her baby [1-year-old Martha Ann] on her hip, Nancy, who had just turned 18 a few days earlier, became the first woman, other than Native Americans, to walk on Utah soil")
(iii) Gene Paleno, Nancy Kelsey's diary: Traveling west. Lake County Record-Bee, Dec 16, 2016
https://www.record-bee.com/2016/ ... ary-traveling-west/
("This is part of a series excerpted from Gene Paleno's book 'Lake County History: A Mystical Adventure in Time.' * * * [Nancy's narrative:] I was born in Baren County, Kentucky, in 1823. Three years later, my parents took me to Jackson County, Missouri. I married young. I was sixteen when I met and married Benjamin Kelsey. Four years [sic] after that, in 1841, we started overland to California. You may ask, 'Why did we start so long before gold was discovered?'  I'll tell you why. It was because of his adventurous disposition. What started us on our adventures was a letter that Dr John Marsh [then living in California; sent cold letters urging Americans to emigrate to California, then part of Mexico] sent around the Horn [Cape Horn; there was no rail or any traffic between California and the then US] in 1840 to my husband. Dr Marsh's letter was a wonderful description of this country (California)" )

The Wikipedia page for Nancy Kelsey said her husband and his three brothers were in hot water with authorities in Missouri.
(i) In 1941, California was part of Mexico. See California
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California  
(section 2 History, section 2.4 California Republic and conquest: In 1846, a group of American settlers in and around [City of] Sonoma rebelled against Mexican rule during the Bear Flag Revolt[, who] raised the Bear Flag * * * The California Republic was short lived; the same year marked the outbreak of the Mexican–American War (1846–48)" )

Spain recognized Mexico's independence in a 1836 treaty signed in Madrid, following Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821) and Spain's failed efforts to reconquer Mexico in its wake.
(ii) Wells Fargo Stories. Welles Fargo, undated
https://stories.wf.com/men-founded-wells-fargo/
(A) In this Web page, Henry Wells (1805 (Vermont) – 1878) is on the left and William Fargo (1818 – 1881 (born and died in New York state) ), on the right.
(B) Fargo, North Dakota
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fargo,_North_Dakota  
("Being the most populous city in the state [whose capital is Bismarck], it accounts for nearly 17% of the state population. According to the 2019 United States Census estimates, its population was 124,662 * * * The city is also home to North Dakota State University. * * * [City of] Fargo sits on the western bank of the Red River of the North" which flows north to Canada)
(C) Fargo and Vargo are variants of Varga, a Hungarian surname from Hungarian (language) noun varga cobbler, shoemaker.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/varga
(says varga is "dated")
(D) "In 1841, William Harnden, the nation's first expressman, hired Wells to find a solution for people needing delivery service between New York City and Albany, New York. * * * After working with his customers and learning their business needs, Wells told Harnden there was demand for extending services west of Buffalo, New York; Chicago; and St Louis. Harnden replied, with little foresight, 'If you choose to run an Express to the Rocky Mountains, you had better do it on your own account; I choose to run an Express where there is business.' [innovator's dilemma] * * * At that time, traveling between Albany and Buffalo required riding on multiple train and stage lines over three days and four nights. * * * news of gold found in California [California Gold Rush (1848–1855), 1849 being the peak year]")

William F Harnden
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Harnden
(1812 – 1845 (born and ded in Massachusetts); "started consigning express shipments by rail between Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. With his first consignment on March 4, 1839, he became the first person to send an express shipment by rail. Following the success of express shipping on this route, he expanded his business to ship express to New York City and Philadelphia")

William F Harnden (1812 – 1845). Mount Auburn Cemetery, undated
https://mountauburn.org/william-harnden-1812-1845/
("his singular focus on European expansion of his business resulted in the increased domestic success of his competitor, Alvin Adams (Lot #1488 [of Mt Auburn Cemetery; by] Pine Avenue), owner of Adams Express")

Mount Auburn Cemetery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Auburn_Cemetery
(1831- ; "is the first rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States * * *  was inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris")
shared the name with Auburn, Alabama, both of which are derived from fictional Auburn in the 1770 poem "The Deserted Village" by (Irishman) Oliver Goldsmith.

I do not know why Henry Wells did not take advantage of Erie Canal Erie Canal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canal  
(construction 1817-1825; Length 363 miles (584 km) )
, which connected Albany and Buffalo.
(E) Report On Universal Postal Service and The Postal Monopoly. United Sttes Postal Service, October 2008
https://about.usps.com/universal ... usps-uso-report.pdf
(no need to read)
has Appendix A, which is as follows --
Universal Service and the Postal Monopoly: A Brief History. United States Postal Service, undated https://about.usps.com/universal ... onopoly-history.txt  
https://about.usps.com/universal ... onopoly-history.pdf

Quote:

"The story of the United States Postal Service begins in 1775, when the Continental Congress named Benjamin Franklin the first American Postmaster General." page 2.

"Partly as a consequence of high newspaper readership, Americans enjoyed a high literacy rate – 91 percent of white adults in 1840 [footnote omitted]. But until 1845, high rates of letter postage discouraged casual correspondence. While newspaper postage cost less than 2 cents, letter postage ranged from 6 to 25 cents, depending on distance traveled. In 1840, for example, sending a letter from Baltimore to New York City cost 18.75 cents, representing more than a quarter of a laborer's daily wage of 72 cents.  In 1845 the utility of the mail system to the general public was greatly increased by an act of Congress that simplified and slashed postage rates for letters * * * "  page 4.

(F) Sarah Pruitt, How the US Post Office Has Delivered the Mail Through the Decades; From stagecoach to pneumatic tube, the post office finds a way to get Americans their mail. History.com, Sept 8, 2020.
https://www.history.com/news/post-office-mail-delivery
, which was published 13 days ago(!), said US Postal Service contracted out -- a fact which was born out in

A pneumatic tube means a tire.
(G) About. US Postal Service, undated
https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/moving-mail.htm (About> Out History > Moving the mail> • Star Routes[;] • Overland Mail to California in the 1850s)

Star Routes. USPS,
https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/star-routes.pdf
("Post riders on horseback were the first contractors to carry mail between Post Offices. * * * In 1785, the Continental Congress authorized the Postmaster General to award mail transportation contracts to stagecoach operators, in effect subsidizing public travel and commerce with postal funds. Despite their higher costs and sometimes lower efficiency, stagecoach proposals were preferred over horseback")

Overland Mail to California in the 1850s
https://about.usps.com/who-we-ar ... y/overland-mail.pdf
("Between 1789, when the federal government of the United States began, and 1860, the United States' population grew from about 4 million people to more than 31 million [according to censuses, first of which was conducted in Aug 2, 1790]. Its territory extended into the Midwest in 1787 through the Northwest Ordinance, and reached down the Mississippi River and west to the Rocky Mountains after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.  Until the late 1840s, American emigration to California was a mere trickle, but two events in 1848 opened the floodgates": signing of a treaty that ends Mexican-American War and discovery of gold in California)
(iv) About the Record-Bee. Lake County Record-Bee, undated
https://www.record-bee.com/about-the-record-bee/  
("The Lake County Record-Bee was formed in 1961, when former Publisher (now Publisher Emeritus) Roland R. Johnsrud combined the Lake County Bee (founded in 1873) and the Lakeport Press and Record (founded in 1925). The Lake County Record-Bee is published daily except Sundays or Mondays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. * * * [was] purchased in 2001 by Denver, Colorado-based Media News Group (MNG), which also owns such well-established newspapers as  * * * the San Jose Mercury News * * * and the Denver Post")
(A) Lake County Record-Bee is based in City of Lakeport (county seat of Lake County), California.
(B) Art Nauman (former Bee ombudsman). This is why this newspaper is called The Bee. Sacramento Bee, Sept 29, 2011
https://www.sacbee.com/site-serv ... article2573418.html
("It's been that [the name Bee] since 1857 when James McClatchy founded the paper. An editorial on the first day of publication said: 'The name of The Bee [original name of the newspaper]has been adopted as being different from that of any other paper in the state and as also being emblematic of the industry which is to prevail in its every department. So, the promise was a paper as busy as a bee.' (Quaint, but not a bad marketing strategy, I should think.)" )

Art is short from Arthur.