Tourists, settlers, and pioneers: Women and the westward movement

This dissertation examines the significance of selected American women's travel writings from 1830 to 1860 and the role which they play in re-inventing traditional myths of the West and the women who lived and travelled there.;Using feminism and new historicism as theoretical supports, I examined the writings of five women within three distinct areas of travel writing---narrative of tourism, settlement, and religious exile---and the ways in which they enhance our perceptions of the American West, its exploration, and settlement.;After a brief examination of the genre of travel writing, I began an in-depth study of the narratives and their authors. Part of my study included an examination of the similarities and differences which exist between these narratives. In particular, I looked at the different ways in which the authors approached their journeys and how these approaches affected their perceptions of the West.;Ultimately, this dissertation presents new ways of considering the American West and life on the frontier. It examines the roles which women travel writers play in debunking the myth of the West as a "man's land," and emphasizes the importance of women's texts of travel to comprehensive studies of travel writing, women's literature, and the history of the American West.