The purpose of this study is to reinterpret the influence of domestic ideology on middle-class Anglo women during westward migration using the Oregon Trail as a case study. By analyzing traditional cultural constructs which portrayed women as "reluctant drudges" or " stoic helpmates," a new paradigm for trail women emerged. The inculcated tenets of domesticity, comprised of a domestic routine and a values system, seemed to have equipped women with domestically-related role identities, and thus facilitated the accommodation of these women to the challenges of trail life. In addition, this ideology served as the basis for establishing relationships with Native American women, for Anglo women recognized similaritiesbetween the domestic routine of Native Americans and themselves. Finally, shared domestic chores and values enabled Anglo women to develop non-competitive, mutually beneficial relationships with each other, in contrast to the often competitive nature of interaction between men. / Department of History

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, white middle and upper class women active in reform became involved in the movement for American Indian reform. Focusing on the so-called "Indian problem," groups such as the Women's National Indian Association (WNIA) were formed to address the injustices against, and sufferings of, American Indian people at the hands of the U.S. military due to the increasing pressures and demands of western migration. This study addresses the role white women played in the movement for Indian reform through their involvement either as part of the WNIA membership or as missionaries, teachers or field matrons. The thesis is concerned, above all, with the ways in which their involvement reflects larger historical trends that enveloped white middle class women during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The work of reform groups like the WNIA helped transform missionary and field positions into jobs which were identified as specially suited for women. While missionary work was, before the 1870s, part of the male or public sphere, through the feminization of American religion, Victorian tenets of domesticity and moral superiority, and changing economic and commercial opportunities, the way was opened for women to serve as missionaries without the "protection" of a husband. The WNIA provides an impressive example of the scope and influence of women's reform organizations during the Progressive era. However, the goals and beliefs of WNIA leadership provide a contrast to the goals and beliefs of women working in the field. This contrast illuminates women's intentions in their quest for Indian assimilation and their role in that pursuit. The thesis is based upon the individual experience of women who worked as missionaries, teachers and field matrons. Four case studies explored in chapter III provide a window into the redefinition of "true womanhood" that took place at the turn-of-the century through the ways in which the subjects of this thesis arrive at a new self consciousness about their role in Indian reform.