What do you think?
Rate this book
A Mine of Her Own: Women Prospectors in the American West, 1850-1950
From the California gold rush through the mid–twentieth century, a special breed of women played an integral and heretofore unrecognized part in some of the most stirring adventures of the pioneer 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 Own tells the definitive story of America's women prospectors for the first time.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
375 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1997
3 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 28, 2022
“The definition of an occupation as the principal business of one’s life does not necessarily mean that it is the way one earns a livelihood. In doubtful cases the woman prospector can often be distinguished by the depth of her obsession” (3).
February 22, 2020
Images of ‘the old west’ in most media show women as two things - wives or whores. But women were much more - including prospectors. Prof Sally Zanjani, author of A Mine of Her Own, theorizes “our conception of the nature of women seems grossly at odds with prospecting” because women are supposed to form community while prospectors are ‘lone wolves’
So people don’t realize tons of women prospected. Unlike male prospectors who were generally youthful, women tended to be 40 or older!!! So women were tied to more regular lives young but then took off to seek their dreams when the kids could fend for themselves.
It was a great choice health wise, woman prospectors lived FAR longer. Normal life expectancies for women at the turn of the last century were around 45. Women prospectors routinely lived to their 70s and even into their 90s.
Some women struck it rich, others barely scraped by. However the one thing they nearly all did was never give up. Once a woman began prospecting, the freedom and lure of the next strike was apparently intoxicating.
Idah Meacham Strobridge, “it is vastly good to live! Just to feel yourself drawing the breath of life is enough while, while taking your outing in this faraway corner, where you seem to have the whole earth & sky to yourself. What more would you?”
This 317-page book is an engaging read, with an amazingly long source list in the back - pages and pages of useful scholarly and primary source citations. It also has maps of key areas for those of you who like that sort of thing.
Published in 1997 by the University of Nebraska Press. It was part of the post-second wave feminism history book glut of the ‘90s. Boy I’m glad I grabbed a copy!
So people don’t realize tons of women prospected. Unlike male prospectors who were generally youthful, women tended to be 40 or older!!! So women were tied to more regular lives young but then took off to seek their dreams when the kids could fend for themselves.
It was a great choice health wise, woman prospectors lived FAR longer. Normal life expectancies for women at the turn of the last century were around 45. Women prospectors routinely lived to their 70s and even into their 90s.
Some women struck it rich, others barely scraped by. However the one thing they nearly all did was never give up. Once a woman began prospecting, the freedom and lure of the next strike was apparently intoxicating.
Idah Meacham Strobridge, “it is vastly good to live! Just to feel yourself drawing the breath of life is enough while, while taking your outing in this faraway corner, where you seem to have the whole earth & sky to yourself. What more would you?”
This 317-page book is an engaging read, with an amazingly long source list in the back - pages and pages of useful scholarly and primary source citations. It also has maps of key areas for those of you who like that sort of thing.
Published in 1997 by the University of Nebraska Press. It was part of the post-second wave feminism history book glut of the ‘90s. Boy I’m glad I grabbed a copy!
November 11, 2022
Images of ‘the old west’ in most media show women as two things - wives or whores. (Or ‘schoolmarms’ who then become wives). But IRL women were much more - including prospectors.
Prof Sally Zanjani, author of A Mine of Her Own, theorizes “our conception of the nature of women seems grossly at odds with prospecting” because women are supposed to form community while prospectors are ‘lone wolves’. So people don’t realize tons of women prospected. Unlike male prospectors who were generally youthful, women tended to be 40 or older. So women were tied to more regular lives young but then took off to seek their dreams when the kids could fend for themselves.
It was a great choice health wise, woman prospectors lived FAR longer. Normal life expectancies for women at the turn of the last century were around 45. Women prospectors routinely lived to their 70s and even into their 90s. The lifestyle itself was gold. Idah Meacham Strobridge, “it is vastly good to live! Just to feel yourself drawing the breath of life is enough while, while taking your outing in this faraway corner, where you seem to have the whole earth & sky to yourself. What more would you?
Some women struck it rich, others barely scraped by. However the one thing they nearly all did was never give up. Once a woman began prospecting, the freedom and lure of the next strike was apparently intoxicating.
Some dressed as men either to avoid trouble and/or because trousers and men’s boots were better for the lifestyle. For the most part, rough and ready mining towns didn’t enforce gender norms, but woe to the woman who tried to wear trousers in San Francisco!
This 317-page book is an engaging read, with an amazingly long source list in the back - pages and pages of useful scholarly and primary source citations
Prof Sally Zanjani, author of A Mine of Her Own, theorizes “our conception of the nature of women seems grossly at odds with prospecting” because women are supposed to form community while prospectors are ‘lone wolves’. So people don’t realize tons of women prospected. Unlike male prospectors who were generally youthful, women tended to be 40 or older. So women were tied to more regular lives young but then took off to seek their dreams when the kids could fend for themselves.
It was a great choice health wise, woman prospectors lived FAR longer. Normal life expectancies for women at the turn of the last century were around 45. Women prospectors routinely lived to their 70s and even into their 90s. The lifestyle itself was gold. Idah Meacham Strobridge, “it is vastly good to live! Just to feel yourself drawing the breath of life is enough while, while taking your outing in this faraway corner, where you seem to have the whole earth & sky to yourself. What more would you?
Some women struck it rich, others barely scraped by. However the one thing they nearly all did was never give up. Once a woman began prospecting, the freedom and lure of the next strike was apparently intoxicating.
Some dressed as men either to avoid trouble and/or because trousers and men’s boots were better for the lifestyle. For the most part, rough and ready mining towns didn’t enforce gender norms, but woe to the woman who tried to wear trousers in San Francisco!
This 317-page book is an engaging read, with an amazingly long source list in the back - pages and pages of useful scholarly and primary source citations
November 16, 2019
The author's focus is on the central Nevada/ Death Valley region. She's written several books on Goldfield, Nevada, and I think she has family ties to that area.
Lots of original research was done, like tracking down obscure articles and doing interviews with the subject's family members.
Some of that stuff I would have liked to have seen more of.
For instance, she writes about a couple who prospected across Nevada in the early 20th century. The journals kept by the wife are in the Special Collections at the University of Nevada, Reno.
They sound pretty fascinating.
Would have liked to have seen more of these original sources that the book draws from.
Nonetheless, the book is impressive for having uncovered and pulled all these stories together.
Lots of original research was done, like tracking down obscure articles and doing interviews with the subject's family members.
Some of that stuff I would have liked to have seen more of.
For instance, she writes about a couple who prospected across Nevada in the early 20th century. The journals kept by the wife are in the Special Collections at the University of Nevada, Reno.
They sound pretty fascinating.
Would have liked to have seen more of these original sources that the book draws from.
Nonetheless, the book is impressive for having uncovered and pulled all these stories together.
December 20, 2025
This is like a text book. It was interesting, and I learned things I never knew about prospecting and women prospectors in particular, but it was very dry and took me a long time to get through it. It got to the point where I had to make a goal to read a certain number of pages per day, otherwise, I found it hard to pick it up. If you are doing deep research on the history of prospecting, this may be a good reference material for you. If you are looking for a historical narrative that is fascinating and easy to read, this is not the book for you. I finished it because I was determined, and I did want to learn about the topic, but it is very dry and very dense.
August 19, 2023
It was very interesting to read about some amazing women prospectors who dared to be different and throw aside the social norm to follow their dream - or obsession - as the case may be. Read a bit like a textbook but still very informative and well researched.
February 25, 2013
This book provided a fascinating look at the life of women prospectors in the West. I was struck by the notion that during this time, a woman couldn't simply desire to be outside, she had to marry a miner or, less typically, stake a claim of her own in order to live unencumbered in the desert west. (Or, pretend to be man.) The women in this book were early radical feminist pioneers. I was sorry when their stories ended.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews