Not nearly that far back but I do find it interesting that many, many women joined the gold rush into the Klondike and later into the Alaska gold fields. Not only that but most of them wore long dresses and skirts as they climbed the Chilkoot Pass. They weren't all dancers, entertainers and 'good time girls' either. Plenty of them were out to make their fortune in gold itself.

I'd like to think that I would employ, as some did, the only reliable means of making a fortune: 'Ma' Pullen, of Skagway, for instance, built and opened a boarding house and in addition she baked hundreds of pies and sold them to the hungry fortune seekers. Sadly, the Pullen House fell into such disrepair several years ago that it was deemed beyond salvage and was pulled down. I think it should have been kept, as a monument to women's spirit if nothing else.