Western Fictioneers: civil rights

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Spring Dance, Civil Rights, & Kleptomania @JacquieRogers #oldwest #newspaper

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Spring Dance, Civil Rights, & Kleptomania

It's no fun when you're snowed in. Or is it? The folks in the Owyhees, whether in Idaho Territory, Oregon, or Nevada knew how to have a good time. Residents of other communities enjoyed hearing about their fun, especially if romance was in the air. (Remember, everyone knew everyone for a hundred miles around.) Here's an article from The Owyhee Avalanche issued March 6, 1875:

Editors and reporters had no issue with inserting their own opinions in articles, and sometimes it's the best way for us to truly understand the mindset of the community. In the next article, mother and daughter are arrested for kleptomania. I can only imagine that Mr. Brown was pretty fed up with his wife and mother-in-law, but he would've had few resources to help with their illness.

Babies were precious in the Old West so the births were always reported in the newspaper. The Owyhee Avalanche had been in business for ten years, yet here's the first instance of the birth of twins. Isn't it fun how births were announced in those days?

National issues affected those out west, and most folks kept themselves well informed. I find it interesting that all the while the eastern half of the United States wrestled with civil rights issues, those in Idaho Territory didn't have any notion that those rights should be bestowed on the large Chinese population. And few Euro-descendants anywhere considered rights when it came to Indians.