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Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past
Americans have long cherished romantic images of the frontier and its colorful cast of characters, where the cowboys are always rugged and the ladies always fragile. But in this book, Peter Boag opens an extraordinary window onto the real Old West. Delving into countless primary sources and surveying sexological and literary sources, Boag paints a vivid picture of a West where cross-dressing—for both men and women—was pervasive, and where easterners as well as Mexicans and even Indians could redefine their gender and sexual identities. Boag asks, why has this history been forgotten and erased? Citing a cultural moment at the turn of the twentieth century—when the frontier ended, the United States entered the modern era, and homosexuality was created as a category—Boag shows how the American people, and thus the American nation, were bequeathed an unambiguous heterosexual identity.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published August 2, 2011
22 people are currently reading
1055 people want to read
About the author
Peter Boag
8 books8 followersPeter Boag holds the Columbia Chair in the History of the American West at Washington State University. He is the author of Environment and Experience: Settlement Culture in Nineteenth-Century Oregon and Same Sex Affairs: Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest, both from UC Press.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 14, 2021
In 1866 a formerly enslaved Black person changed their name from Cathy Williams to Willam Cathay. They joined the 38th Infantry, a segregated African-American male unit. In the late 1800s, Jean Bonnett, who was assigned female at birth, was arrested for wearing “male clothing” dozens of times. They famously declared, “The police might arrest me as often as they wish – I will never discard male attire as long as I live!” In the late 19th / early 20th century there was a significant uptick in newspaper coverage of people who were assigned female at birth dressing in what society regarded as “mens clothes.” Historian Dr. Peter Boag reviews local newspapers to highlight the stories of gender transgressors.
In a sexist society where women were scorned for existing in public without a male escort (indeed the term “public woman” referred to sex workers), it’s often difficult to determine the gender identity of people who were criminalized for cross-dressing. People had different motivations for wearing clothing associated with another sex (finding work, navigating the public, soliciting sex work clients, fighting in battle, going to a party, expressing their identity). Newspapers often referred to people perceived as women wearing pants as “cross-dressers” even though these people might have actually been men or neither men nor women.
“Good looking girls in male attire,” warned the Mountain Democrat in Placerville, California, in 1857, “are dangerous counterfeits.” Reports on gender transgressors were “typically written and edited by male journalists who worked with tidbits of racy information” who “fabricated entire stories” and neglected the cover the “subject’s own feelings.” (41). Journalists would refer to gender transgressors who were assigned female at birth as “What-Is-It” or “man-woman,” or “man-girl.” (57) and to people assigned male at birth as “Nances” or “Miss Nancies,” derogatory terms for effeminacy.
Because anti-masquerade laws made public gender non-conformity illegal, reports of arrest often made the newspapers. People who were arrested would often have their personal details blasted by the press, jeopardizing their safety and employment. In response, many people arrested for crossdressing refused to divulge personal information, or said that they only dressed the way they did as a joke. On December 11, 1901 21-year old Edgar Edwards was arrested in Austin, Texas for wearing a “lady’s suit” and refused to disclose and information except their name. We should read this refusal not as a lack of self-awareness, but as resistance.
Increasingly, white heteronormative society became obsessed with the figure of the “cross-dresser.” They couldn’t fathom why people who were assigned female at birth would ever live as men, so they turned to literary traditions to make sense of what they felt was absurd. Press routinely referenced “dime novels, sentimental seduction tales, and the female-warrior ballad” (104). In these stories “cross-dressers” were seen as women who were trying to track down and “exact vengeance on a man who wronged them” (109). In these stories, cross-dressing was reduced to a “temporary stage on the way to achieving heterosexual love” (110). What we witness here is a continual need to discipline gender diversity and non-conformity into the heteronormative gender binary. What is ridiculous is not people wearing clothes, but a society that has so much consternation about it.
In a sexist society where women were scorned for existing in public without a male escort (indeed the term “public woman” referred to sex workers), it’s often difficult to determine the gender identity of people who were criminalized for cross-dressing. People had different motivations for wearing clothing associated with another sex (finding work, navigating the public, soliciting sex work clients, fighting in battle, going to a party, expressing their identity). Newspapers often referred to people perceived as women wearing pants as “cross-dressers” even though these people might have actually been men or neither men nor women.
“Good looking girls in male attire,” warned the Mountain Democrat in Placerville, California, in 1857, “are dangerous counterfeits.” Reports on gender transgressors were “typically written and edited by male journalists who worked with tidbits of racy information” who “fabricated entire stories” and neglected the cover the “subject’s own feelings.” (41). Journalists would refer to gender transgressors who were assigned female at birth as “What-Is-It” or “man-woman,” or “man-girl.” (57) and to people assigned male at birth as “Nances” or “Miss Nancies,” derogatory terms for effeminacy.
Because anti-masquerade laws made public gender non-conformity illegal, reports of arrest often made the newspapers. People who were arrested would often have their personal details blasted by the press, jeopardizing their safety and employment. In response, many people arrested for crossdressing refused to divulge personal information, or said that they only dressed the way they did as a joke. On December 11, 1901 21-year old Edgar Edwards was arrested in Austin, Texas for wearing a “lady’s suit” and refused to disclose and information except their name. We should read this refusal not as a lack of self-awareness, but as resistance.
Increasingly, white heteronormative society became obsessed with the figure of the “cross-dresser.” They couldn’t fathom why people who were assigned female at birth would ever live as men, so they turned to literary traditions to make sense of what they felt was absurd. Press routinely referenced “dime novels, sentimental seduction tales, and the female-warrior ballad” (104). In these stories “cross-dressers” were seen as women who were trying to track down and “exact vengeance on a man who wronged them” (109). In these stories, cross-dressing was reduced to a “temporary stage on the way to achieving heterosexual love” (110). What we witness here is a continual need to discipline gender diversity and non-conformity into the heteronormative gender binary. What is ridiculous is not people wearing clothes, but a society that has so much consternation about it.
June 23, 2013
I found the last little bit of the fifth chapter unbearably boring. But, other than that, this is a fantastic book. If you only read it for the anecdotes, it would be worth it. A ton of history we should already know in here.
September 9, 2021
This is a good ride through the recent past - when more women could and did cross over the gender line. Without modern data/communication-systems, it was much easier for a person to hit a new place and say "my pronouns are he/him and I expect to be paid that way."
September 13, 2016
Re-Dressing America's chapters are basically collections of related anecdotes (men who passed as women, women who passed as men, non-European descended people passing, etc.). Boag reminds us that these anecdotes add up to a significant population now forgotten. While that's true, Boag's message and evidence are such a one trick pony that I can't imagine reading this book from start to finish without going nuts. I picked a few chapters, and because I love love love historical anecdotes about non-conformers I became very engrossed in the reading. But after three chapters (out of five) I put it down. When I come back to it, whenever that is, I know the final chapters will be better for the break. Recommended.
February 21, 2018
This book has a strong theoretical framing and the primary sources are well-presented in narrative form. Boag convincingly argues about the varieties of experiences of cross-dressing in relationship to the mythological narrative of the Frontier, though at times his argument became simultaneously repetitive and muddled. I would have liked him to give more attention to the sources themselves -- he does a great job examining what they say and why they say it, but I would have liked more consideration of why the sources even exist. Though focusing on cross-dressing, and, therefore, clothes, I would have liked to see more about the clothes themselves, particularly the how and why of how dress functions to construct gender, both in this particular context and perhaps more broadly.
October 19, 2025
In "Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past", Peter Boag explores the ubiquitous nature of cross-dressing in the American West from 1850-1920 and how popular imaginings of the American Frontier have served to distort its presence in popular memory, media, and history. Building on Foucault's conceptualization of the history of sexuality, Boag argues that as the frontier "closed" and modern perceptions of gender and sexuality moved towards a binary system, cross-dressing was increasingly associated with homosexuality, and thus was re-imagined (and downplayed) through a heterosexual lens. Stories around cross-dressing in newspapers and popular media (which Boag primarily uses) thus become associated with "heterosexual" stories - though this proves difficult in male-to-female cross-dressers who "disappear" from the larger historical narrative. Boag does an excellent job at telling the (tricky) stories of cross-dressers, balancing the numerous motives (sexual, gender, and financial) why people cross-dressed. However, I think his main thesis and argument are not exactly developed enough in this text (and, to be honest, I forgot about his main argument until I was re-reading my notes because it is so underdeveloped/irrelevant to what Boag is examining), especially as he fails to compare the West with the East, and his heavy reliance on mass-market media (which he often admits made-up or embellished stories around cross-dressing) does not exactly support his reading. If cross-dressing was ubiquitous in the West and the West served as a "safe space" for it, as Boarg argues, how does this compare to the East? If urban Eastern states are viewed as spaces for sexual deviancy (as Boarg also argues), why then is the West the space where is mostly occurs? There seems to be some heavy disconnect between Boag's main thesis and what he actually explores, and I would have liked to see some more exploration of cross-dressing outside of trans-identity (though I did find that part extremely interesting and vital).
December 2, 2023
Each chapter starts with a multi-page bio of a cross-dresser and goes into what sexologists were peddling at the time. During the peddling, Boag drops many examples of other cross-dressers but it’s too much for me. It comes across as a list that’s inflated because the author doesn’t think his point will be believed.
That said, I really liked this book. It was a big of a tougher read but all academics monographs are. So I was ok with it slogging at times. Here are the few notes I took:
Kinsey’s famed sexuality report found rural communities to have the highest amounts of homosexuality. (3)
As late as the 1890s, the prevailing thought was that there was only 1 sex, heat turned a fetus into a male, a female had the same sex organs, they were just inside the body. (5)
“In America, female impersonation began in blackface minstrelsy and later spread to vaudeville.” (65)
With so few women going West male-to-female crossdressers who honed female skills found their niche. (74)
All the rough and tumble stories needn’t have happened. The West didn’t have to be conquered or “won” if they made peace with the tribes that were already living there. Well at least with those that would have it.
Teddy Roosevelt went west and reinvented himself into a macho man. He then wrote a four-volume History of the West which played a huge role in shaping the manliness of The West and that we still have today. (152-3)
That said, I really liked this book. It was a big of a tougher read but all academics monographs are. So I was ok with it slogging at times. Here are the few notes I took:
Kinsey’s famed sexuality report found rural communities to have the highest amounts of homosexuality. (3)
As late as the 1890s, the prevailing thought was that there was only 1 sex, heat turned a fetus into a male, a female had the same sex organs, they were just inside the body. (5)
“In America, female impersonation began in blackface minstrelsy and later spread to vaudeville.” (65)
With so few women going West male-to-female crossdressers who honed female skills found their niche. (74)
All the rough and tumble stories needn’t have happened. The West didn’t have to be conquered or “won” if they made peace with the tribes that were already living there. Well at least with those that would have it.
Teddy Roosevelt went west and reinvented himself into a macho man. He then wrote a four-volume History of the West which played a huge role in shaping the manliness of The West and that we still have today. (152-3)
September 7, 2024
One word: refreshing. In place of a history of gruff cowboys, Boag describes an American frontier that is populated by people who aren't who you think they are.
I'm looking at this book in a modern way (this book was written in the bygone past of 2011). Transgender issues are forefront in this work, but Boag primarily uses the term cross-dressing to address these issues. The term transgender is used, but sparingly. The cross-dressing aspect is that main focus (female-to-male and male-to-female).
Gender roles weren't cut and dry in the West as popular culture would have us believe. People from both binary sexes switched roles to live their lives to suit their needs. There are case studies of female-to-male cross dressers that worked in male centered fields such as ranching and prospecting. Females in male guises took up traditional gender roles and aspects such as smoking, drinking, fighting and chasing pretty ladies. Male-to-female cross dressers were also a thing for a variety of reasons.
Issues that are related (and addressed by Boag) to the thesis such as racial, economic, social and transgender issues are explored.
Worth a read.
I'm looking at this book in a modern way (this book was written in the bygone past of 2011). Transgender issues are forefront in this work, but Boag primarily uses the term cross-dressing to address these issues. The term transgender is used, but sparingly. The cross-dressing aspect is that main focus (female-to-male and male-to-female).
Gender roles weren't cut and dry in the West as popular culture would have us believe. People from both binary sexes switched roles to live their lives to suit their needs. There are case studies of female-to-male cross dressers that worked in male centered fields such as ranching and prospecting. Females in male guises took up traditional gender roles and aspects such as smoking, drinking, fighting and chasing pretty ladies. Male-to-female cross dressers were also a thing for a variety of reasons.
Issues that are related (and addressed by Boag) to the thesis such as racial, economic, social and transgender issues are explored.
Worth a read.
Read
March 23, 2021Wow what a fascinating history! So many stories I want to see told wide and far! So many queer and trans people in the west that get erased because of the "progress narrative" for FTM and for fear of losing the illusion of the West as the epitome of American masculinity and imperialism. Though a few parts were slower than others and I wish Boag would have taken a few more steps to maintain the people's pronouns and identities even when using newspapers' words, i still highly enjoyed this book and hope this part of history gets more widely spread! Hey if you're looking for a screenplay idea read this!! Let's get some fascinating stories out there instead of recycling the same ol same ol.
April 19, 2021
Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past (Paperback)
by Peter Boag
Contents:
"Known to all police west of the Mississippi" : disrobing the female-to-male cross-dresser --
"I have done my part in the winning of the West" : unveiling the male-to-female cross-dresser -- "And love is a vision and life is a lie" : the daughters of Calamity Jane --
"He was a Mexican" : race and the marginalization of male-to-female cross-dressers in Western history --
"Death of a modern Diana" : sexologists, cross-dressers, and the heteronormalization of the American frontier --
Conclusion : Sierra Flats and haunted valleys : cross-dressers and the contested terrain of America's frontier past.
by Peter Boag
Contents:
"Known to all police west of the Mississippi" : disrobing the female-to-male cross-dresser --
"I have done my part in the winning of the West" : unveiling the male-to-female cross-dresser -- "And love is a vision and life is a lie" : the daughters of Calamity Jane --
"He was a Mexican" : race and the marginalization of male-to-female cross-dressers in Western history --
"Death of a modern Diana" : sexologists, cross-dressers, and the heteronormalization of the American frontier --
Conclusion : Sierra Flats and haunted valleys : cross-dressers and the contested terrain of America's frontier past.
July 10, 2021
Since this book's publication, research into late 19th and early 20th century trans people has blossomed. 'Redressing' was forerunner to books like 'True Sex' (Emily Skidmore), 'Female Husbands' (Jen Manion) and 'Before Trans' (Rachel Mesch). Unfortunately, it's a lot less readable than these other titles, consisting mainly of a long list of examples of turn of the century crossdressing pulled from contemporary newspapers. Of course this is extremely valuable, and I cannot overstate the impact that this book seems to have had on the field of queer history. But, deeper and more accessible treatments of many of the same figures Boag describes have been published since.
October 6, 2021
This book is a treasure trove of stories about interesting people in the American West. While the book is a bit repetitive at times, the scholarship behind it is very well researched and Boag clearly has many examples to draw on. As LGBT+ history grows more and more popular, I think this book will be a great place for scholars to learn more about underrepresented people in the American West and how they lived their lives.
June 24, 2019
Not the best piece of academic/historical writing I've ever encountered, but Boag offers compelling theses & countless fascinating and moving narratives of gender variant individuals in the 19th and early-20th century West.
November 14, 2021
A really interesting read though at times I wished for a little more connection between the amazing examples. I think Boag was trying to make the text more readable by focusing on stories, but I wished there was a bit deeper analysis.
Want to read
August 24, 2020Heard a neat interview w/ the author on https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-dr... (August 11 2020 episode).
September 12, 2022
LOVE chapter 5.
December 5, 2024
Enthralling. My only gripe is that I wished it was longer!
May 1, 2025
Goes in circles
September 24, 2017
I read an on-line review of Peter Boag's Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past (UC Berkeley, 2011) that said the book discussed how American fashions impacted and were affected by the western frontier. The review led me to think the book would be a good basis for evaluating several old photographs in my family collection. Boy, was I wrong.
Boag has written an interpretive history of the west in which he claims that cross-dressers were once quite common and somewhat more accepted than today. Cross-dressers are men who dress in women's clothing and woman who dress in men's attire. Boag uses examples drawn from newspaper accounts, medical records, and diaries to illustrate the costumes, personalities, and circumstances of cross-dressing on the American frontier before 1890. He then offers explanations for why things began to change after about 1890, making connections to social, economic, and political realms in Europe and on the east coast of America. Along the way he offers reasons why cross-dressers are no longer part of our understanding of America's westward expansion.
The book is very academic in flavor. In fact, it is the first book that I've read in the last several years where a 2-inch paragraph was made up of only three sentences. Boag likes long dependent clauses, hyphenated adjectives, and French phrases. There is nothing racy about the manner by which the material is presented. There is a lack of hard evidence for the author's oft-stated belief that cross-dressers where a kind of every day experience in western towns and camps, and I began to wonder how much data had been cut from the book to make it a marketable length. Unfortunately, this data shortage failed to add substance to the author's arguments, in my opinion, with one exception. I agree with the author when he states that the West has become a myth. I have no trouble believing that if there were cross-dressers in important quantities, we would be unlikely to learn about them because the western myth favors strong, dominant Caucasian males to whom everyone else is inferior and subservient.
In the end, this book will not help me to figure out the who and what of my mystery photographs. It was an odd but intriguing read, nonetheless.
Boag has written an interpretive history of the west in which he claims that cross-dressers were once quite common and somewhat more accepted than today. Cross-dressers are men who dress in women's clothing and woman who dress in men's attire. Boag uses examples drawn from newspaper accounts, medical records, and diaries to illustrate the costumes, personalities, and circumstances of cross-dressing on the American frontier before 1890. He then offers explanations for why things began to change after about 1890, making connections to social, economic, and political realms in Europe and on the east coast of America. Along the way he offers reasons why cross-dressers are no longer part of our understanding of America's westward expansion.
The book is very academic in flavor. In fact, it is the first book that I've read in the last several years where a 2-inch paragraph was made up of only three sentences. Boag likes long dependent clauses, hyphenated adjectives, and French phrases. There is nothing racy about the manner by which the material is presented. There is a lack of hard evidence for the author's oft-stated belief that cross-dressers where a kind of every day experience in western towns and camps, and I began to wonder how much data had been cut from the book to make it a marketable length. Unfortunately, this data shortage failed to add substance to the author's arguments, in my opinion, with one exception. I agree with the author when he states that the West has become a myth. I have no trouble believing that if there were cross-dressers in important quantities, we would be unlikely to learn about them because the western myth favors strong, dominant Caucasian males to whom everyone else is inferior and subservient.
In the end, this book will not help me to figure out the who and what of my mystery photographs. It was an odd but intriguing read, nonetheless.
November 5, 2014
This was an good look into America's cross-dressing past but read like a dissertation. The repetition was at times overwhelmingly dull and the third chapter rehashing the first but with the addition the perspective of the dime novel was probably the most repetitive part. The chapters on male cross-dressing were more interesting but over all I feel I could have learned more from the book being shortened by half.
Read
February 5, 2016The West as told from cross/genderbending dress.
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