Women in Ranching
Although their voices are not often heard, the women of the early ranching days of Park County maintained an incredibly strong and necessary presence. Women of the time lived hard lives – often taking on the responsibilities of housekeeping, cooking, and caring for any children in addition to many of the more traditional ranching tasks. A life lived in early Park County ranching meant that women who “belonged in the home” would not just do housework. There were far too many obligations that came with a ranching life for a woman to confine herself to the more conventional female roles, and the women who moved to or were raised in this lifestyle understood that their duties included many hours of hard, manual labor alongside the men.
