One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd

This book intrigued me with a delightful dose of adventure, romance, betrayal, comraderie, excellent character development and a great story. Once caught up in the tale, I identified with the main character. Although fictional, I can imagine that some of the societal pressures put on women of the early 19th century were based on fact. I recommended this engaging book for our 12 member book club and every one actually read it and loved it (a rarity). The story was so well written that I had to keep reminding myself that it was fiction. I've since bought several more copies and have given them to friends whom I thought might enjoy this unusual and delightful read. This is a definitely a 'five-star' for me.

In 1854, a Cheyenne chief proposed that 1000 white women be given as brides to his warriors so that his people could be more easily assimilated into the white culture. In this novel, the first by sportswriter Jim Fergus, this event takes place in 1874 and, more importantly, the offer is accepted. Now there's an interesting premise for you!

Our protagonist and narrator is May Dodd, a woman who has been institutionalized by her influential family, and who uses the 'Brides for Indians' program as a way to escape the asylum. May's journal entries begin in the train station as she and other volunteers depart for their western adventure. Fergus has developed a wonderful narrative voice here -- an intelligent, observant woman caught up in an enthralling, if tragic, course of events. We are immediately interested in her, her companions and their experiences, and there is not a boring passage in the book.

Of course, as much as one roots for a happy ending, history demands that it will not be that simple. It was not a time to be proud of, and the novel believably captures the sentiments and ideas of the times through interesting (though not necessarily complex) characters.

The book gets off to a bit of a clunky start, with an author's note stating that yes, indeed, this is a work of fiction, and then an introduction by the fictitious descendant of the narrator (which does ultimately work as a framing device), and then a prologue relating the factually-based fictional incident in which the 'Brides for Indians' program is proposed; but as soon as May Dodd's journals begin, you will be loathe to put the book down. Meticulous research and a real talent for writing from a woman's point of view ensure that you will learn even as you lose yourself in this entertaining and thought-provoking story.

Highly recommended.

As a child did you ever play the game "What If?" I remember playing it often. What if we lived during the times of cowboys and Indians? What if the US would not have dropped the atomic bomb? What if I had been born 200 years ago or 2000 years ago? The game was always fun and usually resulted in some interesting findings.

Jim Fergus plays the game with his book One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd. It is a novel written from the perspective of an actual historical event. In 1854 at a peace conference at Fort Laramie, a Cheyenne chief requested of the U.S. Army authorities for a gift of one thousand white women as brides for his young warriors thinking that such would hasten the assimilation into the white world. The request was of course turned down, but this book is written as if it really happened.

The narrative is delicious. Reading the diaries of May Dodd we get a glimpse into a way of life that has disappeared from our land. We become part of the Cheyenne nation in the closing days of the military conquest of the Indians. The radical contrast between the "civilized" people and the "savage" people is crystal clear as May and several dozen other white women are shipped West and given to the tribe. These women, all volunteers, learn quickly of the vast differences living on the land can mean. We live with them for a few months during the summer of 1875, the year before the Battle at Little Big Horn, which became the greatest victory of the Native Peoples and the seal of their ultimate final defeat. Most of them do conceive and present infants to their Cheyenne warriors. They learn to live the nomadic life and even learn to appreciate the natural ways of their adoptive people. They also learn the sad reality that such a way of life could not survive the inevitable tide of the western movement.

I learned much about my Native ancestors and embrace their story with even more appreciation. I appreciated the honesty with which the story is told and was drawn into the personal histories. As I seek to partner with all peoples in the human agenda, it is good to better understand this piece of history.

The sad answer to the "what if" question is, of course, it would not have mattered if a thousand white women had been sent to the Cheyenne people. The mad movement west, the insane slaughter of a people and a culture, the "manifest destiny" that forever changed the land in which we live, did take place and nothing would have stopped it. Perhaps the best we can do today is to remember the story, tell it to each other and learn that in spite of the mistakes of the past we are still human beings. We can live and learn. We can embrace our diversity. We can hope for each generation to learn some lessons from the past in order that at least we don't make the same mistakes again.

A wonderful novel of friendship, loyalty, and perserverance, heartache and betrayal. I felt that I not only knew the characters and could easily pick them out of a crowd if given the chance, but loved them, cheered for them, and cried with them as well.

Previous reviews have stated that May Dodd did not acurately represent a woman of her time or status and therefore seemed out of place or unrealistic, perhaps they are correct. . . and perhaps that's exactly why she was sent to an insane asylum.

I also find it interesting that some find that the novel slants to the side of the Indians and show the soldiers and the US government as the heartless enemy, while others find the Cheyenne as "real savages". What I took from the book was that we are all savages, we simply have different ideas as to what we consider barbaric and what our society accepts as normal.

Loved the characters, loved the story, can't wait to read it again.

This book is so well written you will believe it is true. I have never read anything quite like it. The premise is based on an honest request made at a peace conference by a Cheyenne Indian Chief in the year 1854 to trade white women for horses. The women would become brides and the children of these unions would make assimilation into the white mans society easier for the Indians who astutely saw the future at hand, and were looking for a peaceful solution. The author assures us that in real life this never took place, but in this book it does, and the story that follows is nothing but magnificent.

May Dodd has been locked away in an insane asylum for her so called indecent behavior, a bright and cultured woman who has taken up with a common factory worker her parents will not accept, followed by two children born out of wed lock. It is May, who through an act of desperation, manipulates her way into the "Brides for Horses" campaign. The journals that she keeps throughout her adventure are the making of this story. Articulate and interesting in her views of life on the plains among the so-called savages, she starts to realize just how warm and accepting a people they are. There is so much more to this book but I will let the author tell the story. I am re-reading it for a second time and I know it won't be the last. This is an incredible work of fiction, to be enjoyed for many years to come. Kelsana 4/18/01