l structure provide vivid examples of how people must have struggled to adjust to this new society. Those who could embrace the social changes fell in love with California. Even women who could not embrace everything California offered them, took the opportunity to be and do more than would ever have been possible at their homes in the States. The stereotypical docile woman, wearing a bonnet and riding in a covered wagon is pushed aside by what these women wrote of their lives during the Gold Rush. Their writings painted a picture like no other of an important time in the history of westward expansion.BibliographyAckley, Mary E. Crossing the Plains and Early Days in California. Let Them Speak for Themselves. Ed. Christine Fischer. Hamden, CN: Archon Books, 1977. 229-236.---A child's a reminiscence of her experiences in California in 1852.Ballou, Mary B. I Hear Hogs in My Kitchen. Let Them Speak for Themselves. Ed. Christine Fischer. Hamden, CN: Archon Books, 1977. 42-47.---Letters from a trip to California and experiences there from 1851-1852.Farnham, Eliza. They Saw the Elephant. Ed. JoAnn Levy. Hamden, CN: Archon Books, 1990. 108.Fischer, Christine. Let Them Speak for Themselves. Hamden, CN: Archon Books, 1977---Diaries of women in the West from 1849-1900 and some criticism.Haun, Catherine. A Womans Trip Across the Plains in 1848. Womens Diaries of the Westward Journey. Ed. Lillian Schlissel. New York, NY: Schocken Books, 1992. 165-185.---Reminiscence of a young womans trip from Iowa.Kennedy, Ross A. California History Lecture. San Francisco State University, 17 September 2001.---Lecture on Victorian Culture given in History 450.2.Levy, JoAnn. They Saw the Elephant. Hamden, CN: Archon Books, 1990---A General history of women in the gold rush.Mansur, Abby, MS Letters Written to Her Sister, 1852-1854. Let Them Speak for Themselves. Ed. Christine Fischer. Hamden, CN: Archon Books, 1977. 48-57.---Letters written from a Californ...
