A Woman Tenderfoot

by Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson, Worth Mathewson (Introduction)

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Genres: Nonfiction, Travel

360 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 1987

About the author

Grace Gallatin (1872–1959) was an American author and suffragist. She was married to Ernest Thompson Seton, one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America. Their daughter was author Anya Seton.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson was truly a woman before her time. Famous for founding the Camp Fire Girls, she was also a world-traveler, author and outspoken suffragist. She was the first western woman to travel alone into India and China. She wrote several best-selling books about her travels through the Rocky Mountains, China, Egypt, Hawaii, Indochina, Japan and South America. Her husband was a famous naturalist and writer, Ernest Seton-Thompson.

A Woman Tenderfoot was first published in 1900. My copy (found at the bottom of an old box of grungy paperbacks in a thriftshop....treasure!!) was a reprint published in 1987.

This book gave me no end of joy. I expected a travelogue sort of book about her travels with her husband. I wasn't familiar with either her or her husband before I read this book. I have to be honest and say I expected the book to be filled with the trials and tribulations of a spoiled Victorian woman unwillingly dragged along on multiple trips to the wilds. I was pleasantly surprised......this was not a book of complaints and sob stories from the spoiled, wealthy wife of a famous outdoorsman. It was exactly the opposite. This is the tale of a strong, capable and athletic woman who wanted other women to accompany their husbands on trips to the west, as long as they could learn to behave properly, pack the right gear and not act like spoiled simpletons. Her personality, strength, wit and intelligence came shining through on every page!

Grace writes simple instructions for Victorian women who wish to accompany their husbands on lengthy mountain or hunting trips. She even includes a basic pattern for a riding outfit that would allow them to maintain modesty while riding astride a horse. She cautions women not to join a mountain trek if they can't handle riding astride a horse. Riding side-saddle, Grace writes, causes undue delays for the entire party and is also too cumbersome, painful and frightening for the horse. In the case of an accident where a horse slips on a mountain trail, riding side-saddle might also cause both the horse and woman to die if she is unable to dismount quickly. She also states that women should bring only what they really need, providing a basic list and packing tips. She gives a diagram showing the proper way to lash bedrolls and small trunks to pack animals. And, she states that a woman must bring an exact duplicate of her camping pack (containing a rubber air mattress, silverware, aluminum plate, cup, etc) along for her husband, brother, father, etc or the men will be "constantly borrowing yours.'' Above all, she pretty much lays it out plain: Victorian women should be willing to accompany their men on hunting trips or other expeditions because the exercise is good for them, it will improve their relationship with their menfolk and the wilds are beautiful. But she also cautions that women must be prepared for the trip, not delay the group, and not complain.

I had to smile when she talked about the one demand that a woman must make before such a trip. She wrote that a woman needs to be sure that one of the guides is also being paid to cook. She did not recommend that a woman try to cook over an open fire, or try her hand at cooking trail foods. Then she cautioned that a woman along on a trip must be willing to eat the food prepared for the men without complaint. If there is dirt or any contaminants in the food, a woman should quietly and without comment flick the offending item off her plate or push it to the side, without making any comment. And, at no time, should she express disgust at the abilities of the cook and demand to cook the food for the group herself.

Her stories were wonderful. She talked about hunting elk, getting lost on the trail, capturing a skunk and other small animals for her husband to draw, her impression of their cook who was actually a convicted felon and multiple-murderer, and her tales of all the people they met on their travels through the Rocky Mountains. They were in the area that is now the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park, near Jackson Hole. It's beautiful country! I can only imagine what it looked like before paved roads and modern conveniences.

She offers many tips and suggestions for early 1900's women who want to make a trek to the Rocky Mountains. She reiterates many times that the mountains are "not New York,'' cautioning that the people, supplies and accommodations will be very different from a city woman's normal experience. She gives suggestions for fashion on such trips, tips for how to behave or handle problems, and tells stories about times when she could have handled danger, stressful events or her own mistakes with more calm strength, rather than panic or fear.

All in all, this book was awesome. I loved her more than 100-year old advice for women. In an era where women couldn't even vote, she was definitely before her time. She married a naturalist, so she learned to ride a horse like a man, fire a gun and trek for hundreds of miles without any undue discomfort. She also challenged women to get out and really experience the outdoors and to live their lives outside of the city, hotels and the constraints of society.

The 1987 reprint from Nick Lyons Books that I found contains both the original text and illustrations.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in history, the Rocky Mountains, the Victorian era, feminism or the suffragist movement. Such a great read! I wish I could have a time machine just for an hour or two so I could go back in time and have one conversation with Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson. I imagine she was quite a pistol and would be so much fun to join in conversation!

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this book up from a cute vintage and used bookstore in Georgetown. A fast read. Written in 1900 by Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson, the founder of the Camp Fire Girls, this was an interesting primary source that gave a window into the life of an upper-middle class white woman at the turn of the century who adventured into the American West with her husband. Her perspective on gender/womanhood was at times acquiesant to traditional roles, while at other points she poked fun at her husband's ego and throughout the story asserted herself as an independent and resilient adventurer. The source also showcases how many white Americans at the turn of the century saw the West as an open land to be explored, without spending much time to think about the Indigienous peoples who had lived there first and been forcibly removed from their homelands.

[NormaJean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I grabbed this from a Little Library in my neighborhood. I was completely and pleasantly surprised. As a vegan, there were parts where I was horrified and could hardly make my way through. Yet, it felt true and reasonable, and as a feminist I was quite pleased to read this account.

[Phair · Rating 4 out of 5]

We were setting up our library book sale and this jumped off a table and 'bit' me- how could this have slipped past my eagle eye and into the sale?? I snagged it for the collection (perfect trade PB reprint) but HAD to read it first. At first I thought the cover depicted a side-saddle rider: NOT. The author sets her readers straight on THAT point early on. Any woman who wants to go hunting and trekking with her menfolk out West in the early 1900s had better learn to ride ASTRIDE. She even supplies an excellent pattern for an appropriate riding skirt.

The whole book had a nice, light tone with much understated humor as she describes preparations for her first foray into the wilds and away from eastern civilization and subsequent adventures in the Rockies, Dakota badlands, Southwest and Canadian west. Very practical advice is given on what to pack and what provisions and equipment should be gathered. One bit of advice is to hire a trail cook! A woman should not be expected to spend her vacation doing what she would have to do at home only over a campfire instead of her own kitchen. Very modern thinking.

Excellent line drawings decorate most of the pages (by S. N. Abbott) and accurately depict what is happening in the narrative at each point. I hate it when illustrations don't match what's on the page and you have to flip around to find where the illustration 'fits'. Also many full page B&W reproductions of more detailed paintings which also illustrate specific events in the travelogue.

I particularly liked the section where Ms Seton had to learn how to drive a 4-horse hitch on the fly when the teamster injured a hand on a steep mountain trail and needed his only good hand to man the wagon brake. She goes into some detail on the hair raising experience and compares it to the staid driving experiences back east with well-trained ladies' carriage horses, well-fitted harness, attentive grooms and flat roads. I was reminded of Belle Beach's book Riding and Driving for Women written only a few years later in 1912 that I read a couple of months ago.

I read some of Ernest Thompson-Seton's wildlife titles as a kid but never knew about his wife Grace's work. Now I must read her Tenderfoot Woman in Egypt!

[Natalie Bright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discovered this 1st edition treasure in a used bookstore (pub. in 1900!) this Victorian lady tells of her adventures while accompanying her husband in the wild West, which was in her case the Rocky Mountains. With a dramatic flare for humor, the author presents a fascinating, detailed account of "roughing it." Great reference for writers.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love my copy of this book because none of the pages had been cut yet. I felt like that really did make it mine.

[Zeph · Rating 3 out of 5]

in Egypt.

[Jennifer Silva Redmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

a time capsule of travel and life a hundred years ago!