One Thousand White Women is the story of May Dodd and a colorful assembly of pioneer women who, under the auspices of the U.S. government, travel to the western prairies in 1875 to intermarry among the Cheyenne Indians. The covert and controversial "Brides for Indians" program, launched by the administration of Ulysses S. Grant, is intended to help assimilate the Indians into the white man's world. Toward that end May and her friends embark upon the adventure of their lifetime. Jim Fergus has so vividly depicted the American West that it is as if these diaries are a capsule in time.
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
An American western with a most unusual twist, this is an imaginative fictional account of the participation of May Dodd and others in the controversial "Brides for Indians" program, a clandestine U.S. government^-sponsored program intended to instruct "savages" in the ways of civilization and to assimilate the Indians into white culture through the offspring of these unions. May's personal journals, loaded with humor and intelligent reflection, describe the adventures of some very colorful white brides (including one black one), their marriages to Cheyenne warriors, and the natural abundance of life on the prairie before the final press of the white man's civilization. Fergus is gifted in his ability to portray the perceptions and emotions of women. He writes with tremendous insight and sensitivity about the individual community and the political and religious issues of the time, many of which are still relevant today. This book is artistically rendered with meticulous attention to small details that bring to life the daily concerns of a group of hardy souls at a pivotal time in U.S. history. Grace Fill
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
Long, brisk, charming first novel about an 1875 treaty between Ulysses S. Grant and Little Wolf, chief of the Cheyenne nation, by the sports reporter and author of the memoir A Hunter's Road (1992). Little Wolf comes to Washington and suggests to President Grant that peace between the Whites and Cheyenne could be established if the Cheyenne were given white women as wives, and that the tribe would agree to raise the children from such unions. The thought of miscegenation naturally enough astounds Grant, but he sees a certain wisdom in trading 1,000 white women for 1,000 horses, and he secretly approves the Brides For Indians treaty. He recruits women from jails, penitentiaries, debtors' prisons, and mental institutionsoffering full pardons or unconditional release. May Dodd, born to wealth in Chicago in 1850, had left home in her teens and become the mistress of her father's grain-elevator foreman. Her outraged father had her kidnaped, imprisoning her in a monstrous lunatic asylum. When Grant's offer arrives, she leaps at it and soon finds herself traveling west with hundreds of white and black would-be brides. All are indentured to the Cheyenne for two years, must produce children, and then will have the option of leaving. May, who keeps the journal we read, marries Little Wolf and lives in a crowded tipi with his two other wives, their children, and an old crone who enforces the rules. Reading about life among the Cheyenne is spellbinding, especially when the women show up the braves at arm-wrestling, foot-racing, bow-shooting, and gambling. Liquor raises its evil head, as it will, and reduces the braves to savagery. But the women recover, go out on the winter kill with their husbands, and accompany them to a trading post where they drive hard bargains and stop the usual cheating of the braves. Eventually, when the cavalry attacks the Cheyenne, mistakenly thinking they're Crazy Horse's Sioux, May is killed. An impressive historical, terse, convincing, and affecting. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
Jim Fergus is a former freelance writer who has published hundreds of articles in dozens of regional and national magazines and newspapers. He is the author of three novels, and two books of nonfiction. His bestselling novel, One Thousand White Women, has been a favorite selection of book clubs and reading groups across the country for over a decade. The novel won the Mountain and Plains Booksellers association Fiction Award. The French translation - Mille Femmes Blanches - won the "Best First Foreign Novel" award in France, and has sold over 400,000 copies in that country. Fergus' most recent novel, Marie-Blanche, a sweeping family historical fiction that spans the entire 20th century, was published in France in the spring of 2011. An English edition of Marie-Blanche is soon to be published in America in Kindle format. Jim Fergus divides his time between southern Arizona, northern Colorado, and France.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
393 of 434 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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
207 of 239 people found the following review helpful
By Amber Waves
Format:Paperback
I came close to tossing this book fairly early on. By page 64, May Dodd,
the main character, had begun to annoy me. She is just the perfect human
being: intelligent, practical, fearless, a born leader, irresistible to
men, ingenious, passionate, blah, blah, blah. In contrast, her companions
are for the most part a flawed, inferior group: a racist, drunken
southern belle, a nervous, sheltered old maid, the thieving, amoral,
joined-at-the hip Irish twins, a pinch faced, mean-spirited religious
fanatic, and the pathetically ugly amazon with the heart of gold. The
only two that can even vaguely approach our heroine in nobility are the
regal, courageous Black woman and the mannish, freespirited English
artist. Why it's no wonder that the handsome, sensitive Captain and the
brave Cheyenne leader both sucumb to her charms, and lo and behold they both
become her love interests! Her inferior companions of course merit inferior or
inconsequential partners. So much for character development.
There are a variety of personalities that could have provided much in the way of
emotional interaction and growth, but this is not examined. Characters go through intense
experiences, but there is little hint given
as to their mental state, perhaps because the story is written in the form
of one woman's journal. There is, however, no self reflection on May's
part either. She mostly reports what she sees and what is around her.
Another main peeve is the far-fetched attitude of the Cheyenne braves to
their outspoken, free-thinking, culture-bending "wives". I find it hard
to believe that a rambunctious pair of white women could push
their way irreverently into a native sweat lodge and proceed to intimidate the men
and make themselves at home without any consequences. Would they also be the ones to
suddenly take over the bargaining and
bartering negotiations on a trading expedition as the Cheyenne men
passively sit and watch? Would the irrepresible Irish twins become the
sudden masters of a gambling empire? Would our hulking Swiss amazon
be permitted to humiliate her Indian husband to the extent of actually
kicking him across the Cheyenne settlement in public? Maybe in the 21st
century, but I think not even then.
Okay, you might ask, so why'd I give it three stars? Although it did
annoy the hell out of me at times, the story itself (when I could get
past the contrived love affair between May and Capt. Bourke) did engage
me. I found that I generally enjoyed the writing style. Granted the
repetition of "Perhaps I am truly insane" etc. did wear a little thin,
along with the conveniently produced towels, May never running out of pencils
and notebooks (how many can you always carry on your back??),
and the character of Daisy having actually brought with her a 19th
century wedding gown although the women are told at the beginning of their journey (a three hour tour????)
that they cannot bring very much with them. These little nagging details I was willing to overlook, though.
I also enjoyed
the recounting of the travel and the details of native life. The
story moved along at a satisfactory pace and was readable and entertaining.
It didn't require much effort to just let the story carry
me along. There were enough characters to provide a variety of mini, if
scany storylines. Again, there was potential for further development here that unfortunately wasn't explored.
I'll admit that part of the reason that I continued to read was out of
sheer curiosity. Would the author predictably reunite May and the Captain, the long-suffering,
star-crossed lovers?
Would May remain with her Indian husband, Little Wolf? When May becomes pregnant, it didn't
take much imagination to figure out that the baby would belong to Bourke
(Oh,spare me...) Bourke one, Little Wolf zero. By now I felt sure that
May and the Captain would live happily ever after, but I doggedly read on.
One of the stars I therefore award because the author had the
courage not to tie all the stories into a neat package at the end. Life
is not a neat package, and that may have been the most realistic part of
the book.
In conclusion, One Thousand White Women was predictable at times, and tends to put a 21st century spin
on 19th century people, but on the whole it was an entertaining, and readable yarn, and even though I thought
I'd toss it a couple of times, it did keep me reading. Take it to the beach, turn off your critical brain, and enjoy.
the main character, had begun to annoy me. She is just the perfect human
being: intelligent, practical, fearless, a born leader, irresistible to
men, ingenious, passionate, blah, blah, blah. In contrast, her companions
are for the most part a flawed, inferior group: a racist, drunken
southern belle, a nervous, sheltered old maid, the thieving, amoral,
joined-at-the hip Irish twins, a pinch faced, mean-spirited religious
fanatic, and the pathetically ugly amazon with the heart of gold. The
only two that can even vaguely approach our heroine in nobility are the
regal, courageous Black woman and the mannish, freespirited English
artist. Why it's no wonder that the handsome, sensitive Captain and the
brave Cheyenne leader both sucumb to her charms, and lo and behold they both
become her love interests! Her inferior companions of course merit inferior or
inconsequential partners. So much for character development.
There are a variety of personalities that could have provided much in the way of
emotional interaction and growth, but this is not examined. Characters go through intense
experiences, but there is little hint given
as to their mental state, perhaps because the story is written in the form
of one woman's journal. There is, however, no self reflection on May's
part either. She mostly reports what she sees and what is around her.
Another main peeve is the far-fetched attitude of the Cheyenne braves to
their outspoken, free-thinking, culture-bending "wives". I find it hard
to believe that a rambunctious pair of white women could push
their way irreverently into a native sweat lodge and proceed to intimidate the men
and make themselves at home without any consequences. Would they also be the ones to
suddenly take over the bargaining and
bartering negotiations on a trading expedition as the Cheyenne men
passively sit and watch? Would the irrepresible Irish twins become the
sudden masters of a gambling empire? Would our hulking Swiss amazon
be permitted to humiliate her Indian husband to the extent of actually
kicking him across the Cheyenne settlement in public? Maybe in the 21st
century, but I think not even then.
Okay, you might ask, so why'd I give it three stars? Although it did
annoy the hell out of me at times, the story itself (when I could get
past the contrived love affair between May and Capt. Bourke) did engage
me. I found that I generally enjoyed the writing style. Granted the
repetition of "Perhaps I am truly insane" etc. did wear a little thin,
along with the conveniently produced towels, May never running out of pencils
and notebooks (how many can you always carry on your back??),
and the character of Daisy having actually brought with her a 19th
century wedding gown although the women are told at the beginning of their journey (a three hour tour????)
that they cannot bring very much with them. These little nagging details I was willing to overlook, though.
I also enjoyed
the recounting of the travel and the details of native life. The
story moved along at a satisfactory pace and was readable and entertaining.
It didn't require much effort to just let the story carry
me along. There were enough characters to provide a variety of mini, if
scany storylines. Again, there was potential for further development here that unfortunately wasn't explored.
I'll admit that part of the reason that I continued to read was out of
sheer curiosity. Would the author predictably reunite May and the Captain, the long-suffering,
star-crossed lovers?
Would May remain with her Indian husband, Little Wolf? When May becomes pregnant, it didn't
take much imagination to figure out that the baby would belong to Bourke
(Oh,spare me...) Bourke one, Little Wolf zero. By now I felt sure that
May and the Captain would live happily ever after, but I doggedly read on.
One of the stars I therefore award because the author had the
courage not to tie all the stories into a neat package at the end. Life
is not a neat package, and that may have been the most realistic part of
the book.
In conclusion, One Thousand White Women was predictable at times, and tends to put a 21st century spin
on 19th century people, but on the whole it was an entertaining, and readable yarn, and even though I thought
I'd toss it a couple of times, it did keep me reading. Take it to the beach, turn off your critical brain, and enjoy.
136 of 163 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If I could rate this below one star I would. This book covered every stereotype possible: the boozy, trashy, red-headed Irish twins; the big, homely, muscular, Swede; the racist, phony, southern belle; the filthy, rotted-tooth little Frenchman, etc. Of course, the heroine is "chosen" by the most well-respected and good looking brave. The author made sure there was a mate for every one of his characters, there even "happened" to be one Black brave to be paired with the regal, non-conformist, former slave woman.
The premise to this novel is original but everything else was so cliche' it was embarrassing.
The only part of the book the author seemed to put any effort into were the elaborate, porn-like, sex encounters. I'm no prude but these scenes were thrown in helter-skelter and added nothing to the story line what-so-ever.
Don't waste your money or your time on this book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read
The story was very engaging----so much so that I was more than surprised when I read the epilogue. Worth reading.
Published 2 days ago by Marie
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you only buy one book this year- buy this one!
I keep returning to the Author's preface that this was NOT a true story- just a fictional book about real life events (or what could have been real life events). Read more
Published 3 days ago by Annette Delaney
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not your typical book club book
This is my second time to use 1000 White Women for a book club and again it was a huge hit! It's so intriguing & hard to put down. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Lori W. Meyer
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent read
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were funny yet complicated and interesting. I didn't want to put it down.
Published 6 days ago by Tammy Jenkins
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read!!!!
Fabulous book. I would recommend this book to anyone. Fergus has a way of writing that is so descriptive.
You are immediately drawn in to this story from the first page. Read more
You are immediately drawn in to this story from the first page. Read more
Published 6 days ago by tom schorn
5.0 out of 5 stars
Will re-read loved it so much..
It felt as if I were reading a true memoir. Very well written, the characters were so compelling. I will re-read over the summer. Loved May...she is my hero!!
Published 6 days ago by Patti Daniell
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not worth my time
I felt I was wasting my time. I did not expect a romance. Since the original premise was not based on fact all the rest seemed like a cheap drug store novel. Read more
Published 7 days ago by mm
5.0 out of 5 stars
1000 white women
an amazing book, so well written in the first person, one would swear it was real! Sad to know that the true history behind the book shows such injustice to women and Native... Read more
Published 7 days ago by Kathleen
1.0 out of 5 stars
Absolute Garbage
Author Jim Fergus prefaces this novel with a note about a prominent Northern Cheyenne chief requesting 1000 white women in exchange for horses, at an 1854 peace conference. Read more
Published 7 days ago by Twylah Skye
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a story
This is such a well written book. All the characters and their personalities seem so real. This is a non-fiction story but that fact is hard to believe. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Rusty Dutchman
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 9
books:
See all 9 books this book cites
9
books
cite this book:
See all 9 books citing this book
- On the Border with Crook by John G. Bourke on page 243, and Back Matter
- The Indian Sign Language by W. P. Clark in Back Matter
- Cheyenne Autumn by Mari Sandoz in Back Matter
- Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare on page 58
- A Family Place: A Man Returns to the Center of His Life by Charles Gaines in Front Matter
See all 9 books this book cites
- The Book Club Cookbook by Judy Gelman on page 322, page 323, and page 325
- The Book Lover's Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by Celebrated Works of Literature, and the Passages That Feature Them by Shaunda Kennedy Wenger on page 43, and Back Matter
- The Book Club Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to the Reading Group Experience by Diana Loevy in Back Matter
- Place Last Seen: A Novel by Charlotte McGuinn Freeman in Front Matter
- The King's English, Adventures of an Independent Bookseller by Betsy Burton in Back Matter
See all 9 books citing this book
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