Summary & Study Guide One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus

by BookRags

In the year 1874, the head of the Cheyenne Sweet Medicine tribe, Chief Little Wolf, journeyed to Washington D.C. with a proposal for President Grant. Dressed in full, colorful Indian regalia, Chief Little Wolf presented his plan to give the government one thousand horses in exchange for one thousand white women. Hoping to end the fighting between the white man and Indians on the American plains, Little Wolf felt that if white women could merge with his tribe and bear children of mixed blood, the new children might bond the two races. Indians and whites would then begin to truly assimilate and learn to live together peacefully. President Grant's wife fainted in shock over the audacity of his daring proposal, not to mention his bizarre and somewhat terrifying appearance. However, in recognition of his peacemaking efforts, President Grant awarded Little Wolf the Presidential Peace Medal.

This study guide includes the following Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.

Genres: Book Club, Historical, Adventure

75 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 21, 2010

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a story I will never forget. In 1874, the Cheyenne Indian Nation came to the U.S. government and asked for 1,000 white women to be given to them in exchange for horses. The purpose was to integrate the two cultures. Even though I understand the proposal was true, it never happened. This is the "what if" story, and it is fascinating. Jim Fergus is a wonderful writer. I generally don't find statements or passages in novels that I read and re-read because they are so insightful; however, there were several times in this book that I underlined sentences and paragraphs because of the profound writing. It is a book I will read again and again.

p. 98 "All children are children finally--it hardly matters to which race or culture they belong--they belong first to the race and culture of children."

p. 195 "Your power as a woman, as a mother, is your medicine, and it saved you. Take your courage from that."

p. 233 "...I look upward at the billions of stars and planets in the heavens and somehow my own insignificance no longer terrifies me as it once did, but comforts me, makes me feel a part, however tiny, of the whole complete and perfect universe...and when I die the wind will still blow and the stars still shine, for the place I occupy on earth is no more permanent than the water I now make, absorbed by the sandy soil, dried instantly by the constant prairie wind...."

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an amazing story. Incredible what our government did but so interesting to learn of these women, what they went thru. I was spellbound by it and continued to think about it for days after I finished it.

[Cheryl Madsen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The beginning of the book was intriguing, U.S. Government brides for Indians, but as the white women mixed with the Cheyenne I was disappointed that eh author seemed to focus more on the sexual relations and traditions of the men than on the Cheyenne women and the white woman's cultural difference.
may burst into a sweat lodge?
Rebellion, not respect for one another, culture...?

Each culture is doomed to some extent by forced attitudes and assumptions, very disheartening.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the actual book that I read. Closest one I could fin to the actual book A Thousand White Women. I have both the book and audiobook. I listened to the the audiobook version. The story is very well done. It is easy to imagine that during the time period this story could have been true. I read enjoyed this book.

[Geoffrey Cornish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent heart breaking gut wrenching. Novel ! A Wonderful read !

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book last night. Predictably, it does not end well for the Indians. For those white women, the brides who volunteered themselves for this government-sanctioned scheme, things did not end well for any of them, either. Sorry, spoiler alert, in case you were hoping for a 'hearts and flowers' ending....

Anyway, the book was thoroughly well-written, and the women in the book, even the surly, morally questionable ones, are...not exactly lovable, but you do develop a respect for each one of them, for their spirit of adventure, chutzpah, practical smarts, etc. There are one or two that remain impossible and completely unlikeable throughout the story, but, life is like that, why should a book be any different??

One of my favorite details about the story is how the protagonist changes. Not her personality, bc that remains the same, but how her manner of expression shifts from exuberance to a more calm, studied manner.

In the end, this is a great read! Don't miss out!!



So far, I love it!!! Well-written, by a male author, but the story is told through the voice of a female protagonist...and what a hoot she is!!! May Dodd is one of my new favorite heroine's in contemporary literature! Right up there with Eugenia Phelan (aka: Skeeter) from 'The Help' and Lisabeth Salander (aka: Girl w/Dragon Tat).
This book is the first book I've ever read about the Wild West, unless you count Jeannette Walls' prequel to the Glass House, and I forget the title of that book...yeah, yeah, shame on me...Anyway, this new read is one I cannot put down! I hope you all read it, too, and enjoy it!

[jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started & on page 107- fiction-about 1,000 white women chosen or volunteered to go in covered wagons across country to live and marry into the Cheyanne Indian Tribe..Interesting to learn of the savagery of the Indians and how the new group of 1,000 white women changed their lives and the lives of the savages. It's "The Journals of May Dodd" "based on an actual historical event but told through fictional diaries."

Finished!!

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time I have read this book. I read it about 8 years ago and it was passed around to everyone in our department including a friend named Val Dodd. I just read it again and had trouble believing it was fiction -again. It made me want to investigate further. Can't wait to see how the discussion goes now that I live in Texas not Kansas City.

[Alison Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful read that had me so immersed that several times I had to remind myself that it was a work of fiction. It is based on an actual event and is presented as a diary to really good effect. An experience I recommend.

[Joellenparker]

becoming wives to Cheyenne Indians in 1875

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. A must!

[Karen Carlisle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. I had trouble remembering it was fiction. I learned more about the plight of the Indians and of the White man too, during this horrible period of our country's history. A must read!

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A couldn't put down book. Very interesting.

[Constance Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Fergus is a gifted writer who bring his characters and the scenary to life.