Intimate Frontiers: Sex, Gender, and Culture in Old California

by Albert L. Hurtado

This book reveals how powerful undercurrents of sex, gender, and culture helped shape the history of the American frontier from the 1760s to the 1850s. Looking at California under three flags--those of Spain, Mexico, and the United States--Hurtado resurrects daily life in the missions, at mining camps, on overland trails and sea journeys, and in San Francisco. In these settings Hurtado explores courtship, marriage, reproduction, and family life as a way to understand how men and women--whether Native American, Anglo American, Hispanic, Chinese, or of mixed blood--fit into or reshaped the roles and identities set by their race and gender. Hurtado introduces two themes in delineating his intimate frontiers. One was a libertine California, and some of its delights were heartily described early in the 1850 "[Gold] dust was plentier than pleasure, pleasure more enticing than virtue. Fortune was the horse, youth in the saddle, dissipation the track, and desire the spur." Not all the times were good or giddy, and in the tragedy of a teenage domestic who died in a botched abortion or a brutalized Indian woman we see the seamy underside of gender relations on the frontier. The other theme explored is the reaction of citizens who abhorred the loss of moral standards and sought to suppress excess. Their efforts included imposing all the stabilizing customs of whichever society dominated California--during the Hispanic period,arranged marriages and concern for family honor were the norm; among the Anglos, laws regulated prostitution,missionaries railed against vices, and "proper" women were brought in to help "civilize" the frontier.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Grad School, Anthropology, School

203 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

Albert L. Hurtado is professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma, where he held the Paul H. and Doris Eaton Travis Chair in Modern American History. He has published award- winning books and articles about the American West and Indian history.

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great look into the regional dynamics (and complications) of California's past. Settlement, though their were certainly already many groups of indigenous peoples living here, by the Spanish and etc was a clashing of cultures with very different ideas about sexuality and gender. "Lewdness" is indeed different in every culture, presenting problems as groups attempt to "reform" or "civilize" each other. Hurtado lays it all out chronologically, from the Missions to the Gold Rush. The marriage market was at the center of gaining wealth, property, and sometimes safety. But there was a bit of a sex ratio problem in the West---too many men, or too few (racially) "desirable" women in the area, which deeply impacted CA society for many years.

Short read! Hurtado writes for a layman target audience, making it easy to grasp his concepts and assertions without losing the reader in a pile of jargon. Easy read for someone already familiar with historical and cultural concepts.

[elisabeth ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would not usually pick up this book. It's not really my style, but my California History class wanted me to so like a good student, I read it. Despite my low rating, I do think this was a well written and focused book. It wasn't even as dry as I thought it would be.

It told a story that went way past the glorified picture often painted by fiction of the west in the 1800s. It delved into gritty details backed up by cited anecdotes and facts. If you enjoy historical non-fiction, and are looking to learn about delicate details of 1800s California life, read this.

I'm glad that my classes are having me branch out in my reading, but still... its never any fun to be forced to read something. That, paired with the fact that this is way outside of my preferred genres, Intimate Frontiers did not end up being a very enjoyable experience for me. I DID learn from it though, so I'm left conflicted.

[Sourdough Bread · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why is this book so afraid of criticizing the abusive men during California's history and the racist assumptions of Kroeber?

Historical sources are fine and some of the analysis is alright but when there is clearly abuse in the primary sources the author is just like "we don't know for sure!" even when several sources indicate that this was likely the case. Also it is so not appropriate to call a 16 year old girl who was sexually abused by her employer "sexually mature".

Not to mention the fact this book felt extremely half baked and constantly repeated itself. Let us as historians strive for better than this.

[James Bechtel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1999. By the later 1800s...."Whatever their heritage, all Californians found themselves in the company of others. However much they may have preferred to be alone, or exclusively among their own kind, they could not escape being among others."

[donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was required reading for a class but i thought it was pretty interesting. hi professor quam-wickham lol

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Intimate Frontiers: Sex, Gender, and Culture in Frontier California” is a thoughtful and deeply engaging study in sex and gender relations in California from indigenous stewardship to the beginnings of the American period. Albert Hurtado’s methodology is superb, as he examined countless census records, historical diaries, medical records, and other primary source documents to ask questions about notions of sex and gender in California, as well as how these concepts intersected with culture, or perhaps the better term to use would be race.
Hurtado argues that in opposition to the conventional belief that California, due to its multi-cultural frontier, was a place of progressive developments and change in peoples traditional views around gender, sex, and race, California actually has a deep history of only reinforcing conservative values around these concepts for each subsequent ruling culture of California. This analysis is well-thought out and deeply engaging, especially as Hurtado continuously engages the intersection of gender and race in California, especially in the case of how indigenous women were treated and sexually abused/exploited. His focus on Amelia Kutchinsky, a young white servant girl who died of a botched and illegal abortion procedure, in the books final chapter is especially compelling and a welcome deviation from the typical historical narratives that ignore the long histories of reproductive rights issues in world histories.
Overall, “Intimate Frontiers” is a fascinating study by Albert Hurtado that illuminates how the California frontier only reinforced conservative notions around sex, gender, and race because of its multi-culturalism. It is a fantastic study dealing with the question why, despite its historical stewardship by indigenous peoples and it’s occupation by Spanish and Mexican governments, California generally has been a place of primarily Anglo-American views around sex, gender, and culture from the 1850’s to the present.

[Willa Guadalupe Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent look at early California society.

[Becca]

we putting books from school on here or what