A Mine of Her Own: Women Prospectors in the

From the California gold rush through the midtwentieth century, a special breed of women played an integral and heretofore unrecognized part in some of the most stirring adventures of the pioneer experience: the saintly Nellie Cashman; the copper queen Ferminia Sarras, known for her grand sprees; the former rodeo champion turned prospector; the ex-actress who snowshoed her way to Nome; and many more. Chosen as one of the top ten books of all time by the Mining History Association,A Mine of Her Owntells the definitive story of America's women prospectors for the first time.

Sally Zanjani is on the faculty of the political science department at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her latest book, Sarah Winnemucca, will be published in spring 2001 by the University of Nebraska Press.

List of Illustrations

ix

Acknowledgments

xi

Introduction: Prospecting

1

(24)

PART 1: 1850--1918

Angel and Wild Woman

25

(35)

Ellen Cashman

The Copper Queen

60

(25)

Ferminia Sarras

``Hustlers of No Mean Ability'': Women on Their Own

85

(36)

The Steam Engine and the Lost Breyfogle: Dubious Enterprises

121

(20)

Native Daughter

141

(24)

Ellen Nay

``Hers Were the Only Hands to Assist Me'': Daughters, Sisters, Wives, and Lovers

165

(40)

PART 2: 1919--1950

Queen Mary and the Tugboat Annie of the Desert: The Postwar Era

205

(31)

``Hit Rock Bottom Hard Enough to Bounce'': The Depression Years

236

(27)

``Listen and the Mountains Will Talk to You'': Happy Days and Panamint Annie

263

(21)

The Last Prospector in Rawhide

284

(17)

Anna Rechel

Epilogue: A Century of Women Prospectors

301

(18)

Notes

319

(34)

Bibliography

353

(12)

Index

365

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A Mine of Her Own: Women Prospectors in the American West, 1850 - 1950

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials