Finding a home among the red hills : women and homesteading in Western Oklahoma, 1900-1920.

Abstract

Most Oklahoma land runs took place in the 1890s, but at the turn of the century, many available homesteads still existed in the red, rolling hills of the unpredictable, harsh environment of western Oklahoma. Many of the women who came to the western part of the state originated from families that had already moved West in multiple segments. Utilizing a memoir written by a woman who homesteaded Oklahoma Territory in 1900, this paper looks at the process of settling in, education, medical and public health, and church membership through the eyes of one individual and compares it to the larger changes taking place in Oklahoma. Women are silent in most histories, but their impact was felt across the landscape and can still be seen today through the lessons they taught their children and grandchildren. Lula Morrow and her husband James, left Texas in September 1900 to find a “honey pond and a fritter tree� and they left their imprint on society in the process. Morrow developed autonomy and shared an equal partnership with her husband as they raised their children and found financial success on the farm.