Women Homesteaders

9 Locations | Curated by Anna Bailey, Brigham Young University

Beginning in 1862, the Homestead Act gave any head of household over the age of 21 the right to homestead federal land. After proving up (colloquial phrase for the legal process of securing title to homestead lands after meeting certain government requirements) their claims, homesteaders were given patents for their land. Regulations for claims depended on the region and type of claim. Many women took advantage of the opportunity for land ownership; historians estimate that 12% of homesteaders in the West were women. Their origins varied―some homesteaded only miles from where they were born and others crossed the country or even an ocean. While many planned to farm or ranch indefinitely, for others homesteading was an economic investment and temporary endeavor. The terrain and environment of claims varied, even more than the motives of each homesteader, requiring ingenuity and determination. Women homesteaders endured poverty, isolation, strenuous labor, and more in pursuit of a dream for land ownership.

“If you have ever ridden up some mountain canyon when your trail led far above the aspen tops into higher silence… in an open world that seemed so full of God and happiness that you wanted to laugh and sob with the joy of living, then I’m sure you understand why we who have been here must always come back.” Zay Philbrook was one of those eternally drawn to the open mountains of the West.
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Sage Treharne Jones was many things before she turned to homesteading— immigrant, teacher, wife, mother, widow, and postmistress. Efficient and industrious, Sage embodied characteristics necessary to thrive on Utah frontiers in the 19th century.
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Eager to “help tame that Wild West,” Nellie Burgess Sudduth left a job at the Chicago Daily News with plans to establish a homestead. Nellie followed in the footsteps of her father, who had gone to California during the Gold Rush, and headed west seeking independence and adventure.
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Midsummer 1914, Katherine Garetson stood on the front porch of her sister’s mountain cabin and felt herself “whipped and tossed and spattered by a violent storm of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.” Instead of hating the experience, she wished that “everyone could put into his life one storm of the high mountains.” Katherine saw homesteading as an opportunity for adventure as well as property…
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Of homesteading, Kate Heizer wrote, “One inquirer has an exaggerated idea of the difficulties and hardships. Another has a mistaken notion of taking a pleasant vacation while waiting till he receives title to a piece of property that will place him above financial anxiety for the rest of his life.” As for herself, Kate recognized the truth lay somewhere in the middle.
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“They’ll never get me off my land,” vowed Geraldine Lucas. Drawn to Jackson Hole as a beautiful location to retire and by the presence of several siblings, Geraldine became a legendary character of the locale both for her eccentricity and her refusal to sell her land to the National Parks Association.
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“I just love to experiment, to work, and to prove out things,” wrote Elinore Pruitt Stewart in 1913. “Ranch life and ‘roughing it’ just suit me.” Elinore was not born into homesteading, but it suited her and she sought it out in her search for independence.
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“Disregarding whatever pecuniary gain there may be, it is a real inspiration to be part of a modern pioneer colony conquering the wilderness. At least it is an inspiration in the retrospect.” Cecelia Weiss recognized and exhibited the determination and grit required of a homesteader in the desert mountains of southern Utah.
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