Our book club book for the month of October was One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd
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.
It was a different kind of book. Most of the time, you wouldn’t know that it was fiction. You could almost read it as true events. I found that to be fascinating. There were some great characters as well as some disturbing ones.
I wouldn’t call this one a “beach read” because there were lots of details in it, but it was a good book if you want something slightly more in depth. I think everyone in book club would recommend this book.
Happy reading!
