In July of 1916,
two young, privileged women from Auburn, N.Y.
embarked on an adventurous trip across the country to work as teachers in the remote,
pioneer settlement town of Elkhead,
Colorado. The fact that neither had any teaching credentials
is one of many indications of the fearlessness and resourcefulness of these
women. The story of Dorothy Woodruff and
Rosamond (Ros) Underwood is depicted in Nothing
Daunted by Dorothy’s granddaughter, Dorothy Wickenden based on letters
written by Woodruff and Underwood during their time in Colorado. The girls were inseparable for 25 years;
became friends in kindergarten, grew up together in Auburn,
attended Smith College,
and traveled through Europe for a year after
college. Seven years after college they
were still not ready to settle down and get married. Something was missing; they yearned for
adventure.[1] It was
the perfect timing, when a friend from Auburn
shared the teaching opportunity in the Wild West. 
Dorothy and Ros
traveled from Auburn to Hayden,
CO by train and were then greeted by their
new employer, Farrington (Ferry) Carpenter, who took them on a four and a half
hour, strenuous trip by spring wagon to Elkhead.[2] The
girls settled into their new home with the Harrison
family who took them in and made them feel welcomed and comfortable. Dorothy and Ros were the first teachers at
the newly constructed school in Elkhead.
It was a two-mile horseback trip that took them an hour and a half each
way from the Harrison’s.[3] The
girls became true “schoolmarms;”[4] they
past their state exams, prepared weekly lesson plans, attended to the
children’s unique learning needs, and learned to discipline as needed. This was amazing for two privileged women from
affluent families who were used to having their parents pay for everything,
having all domestic work taken care of by servants, and spending their days
shopping, traveling, or participating in social clubs. Dorothy and Ros never
complained; they were sweet, considerate and appreciative. Everyone who came in contact with them adored
and admired them. “They valued education for its own sake” and “seemed
genuinely excited by the opportunity of teaching the children.”[5]
Dorothy and Ros
do not represent the average women in America
of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; however, their
one-year adventure to the west took courage on their part to do something out
of their comfort zone. They were raised
affluent and pampered, with no work experience.
Dorothy recalled “no young lady in our town had ever been hired by
anybody.”[6] But they were also raised in a way that
encouraged them to want to change their world and experience more out of life. While all their friends were settling down
and getting married, they wanted to make a difference in some way. Accepting this teacher’s position, in a
remote area of the west, had its risks. These young girls had no experience in
a rough terrain and were far away from their families and friends. A critical difference in their experience
compared to the average woman in America
at the time is this was an adventure for Dorothy and Ros, not a necessity. Their
plans were to experience this for only one year and then go back to Auburn
and their regular life. Most people
migrated to the West for opportunities and to stake a claim for free land under
The Homestead Act of 1862.[7] These people experienced greater hardships
because they had to make this experience work for the long term under extremely
difficult conditions; “most were unprepared for the severe, arid climate and
the intractable farming conditions.” [8]
Dorothy and Ros
knew very little about the lives and experiences of women outside of their
social class.[9] Their trip to Colorado
opened their eyes and helped them to realize and appreciate how fortunate they
were. The women of Colorado
were expected to work outside, take care of the children, and handle all of the
domestic duties. Most were tiny and
skinny and looked older than their age.
It was an extremely tough life. The
Harrisons were unable to maintain their ranch and were
forced to move and start up new in the mountains. During the girl’s visits to their student’s
homes, they encountered many destitute families who had very little to
eat. Dorothy wrote home that she didn’t
understand how they were living. One
family had five children and Dorothy was “terrified by the mother’s
appearance. She is tall and gaunt . . .
I felt so sorry for the poor creature.”[10] The children they taught had to walk up to
three miles to get to school; some in bare feet and ragged clothes.
While Dorothy and
Ros may have been poor examples of the average women during the late 19th
and early 20th century, they were able to experience and observe the
hardships of other women in the West. However,
these hardships seemed more a result of the external environment rather than
the blatant discrimination we read about in last week’s assignment. The
climate, terrain, and remoteness of the area made it difficult for everyone in
the family to cope, not just the women.
Dorothy and Ros
were kind, sweet, and generous women who brought out the best in people. They may have grown up privileged and
pampered but they chose to make a difference in a tiny settlement town in Colorado,
if only for a short period of time. They didn’t have to do this. They could have easily done what was expected
of them; to get married. Their experience shaped them and the community they
served. The girls worked hard, never
complained, and adjusted well to their new lifestyle; they were dauntless!
[1] Dorothy Wickenden, Nothing
Daunted, The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West, (New
York:
Scribner, 2012), 81.
[2] Wickenden, Nothing
Daunted, 99.
[3] Wickenden, Nothing
Daunted, 109.
[4] Wickenden, Nothing
Daunted, 118.
[5] Wickenden, Nothing
Daunted, 113.
[6] Wickenden, Nothing
Daunted, 82.
[7] Wickenden, Nothing
Daunted, 101.
[8] Wickenden, Nothing
Daunted, 102.
[9] Wickenden, Nothing
Daunted, 96.
[10] Wickenden, Nothing
Daunted, 173.
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