I never read the book. I was never much of a book reader and certainly not historical books. My interest in history didn’t surface until later in life. When I was a teenager, I did get introduced to Stephen King books. I learned from that I need to watch the movie before I read the book, or else I get upset about what changes Hollywood makes. I don’t think too many women would watch/read anything historical or war related unless romance is added.
I watched the movie because I thought it was going to be more about the Mohicans. I am interested in the native Americans and have realized how foolish I have been to look to movies for information.
I do feel the movie showed me the contrast in warfare of the structured vs guerrilla.
LOL I just had some friends drop by and we got on the subject . She said,” I don’t think women are wired that way making it hard to learn certain stuff and retain the information.” I agree.
Woman in history....Colonial times. Native and those who immigrated or were born here...There's enough for movies.
Better yet , documentaries.
Not sure if Ken Burns has done any , he may have . But if not he'd be a good one for it. Regardless of someones opinion of him outside of his outstanding film work.
The ladies had it as tough as the men. Maybe tougher.
Among those well to do that visited the frontier, some found culture shock. And for some their husbands visiting the frontier did not bode well in multiple ways.
Lonely lilacs bear witness here and there on an isolated site . A gift from a friend or relative upon departing maybe. But testimony to more than toil and strife. Or the longing for a single glass window. Or piece of silver anything...
Childbirth. Child losses. And the gals keep goin. Daylight to dark. Textiles made by their labor from?
Food. Labor in and out of the homestead.
Being ready to stand and shoot in defense.
All cultures in war were minus those who went to fight. Who filled in for them? Who defended them? Grew their food and supplemented it by procuring wild game , as little as remained near settlements or villages?
Stock/domestic animals needed to eat. Including winter stores. And needed to drink. And be defended. War or no war.
Likely a frontier gal knew how to make a shingle and hang it. She'd need to if war kept the husband away and the roof needed repair. But then , who was involved in the original construction anyways?
Hewn flat sided timbers were a luxury. The domestic cosmetics of near flat walls. Labor.
It was lucky enough to be fighting bugs falling out of the bark of rough hewn timbers of a shelter hastily constructed while winter approached and so much else need doing , and no one argued the additional labor of peeling logs. But did the next time a shelter was built or an addition on the first.
Know what a granny hole is?
The Appalachian mountains used to have old structures. Many razed to create the "park".
Cabins reflected multiple cultures. The iron of the chimney's lintel for example. But log notching another. As with squared timbers.
But...Many had tiny windows. If any. Heat was kept in in winter , but no windows reduces getting shot through them too.
Dark inside! And the often original single small room was not going to get added onto unless the luxury of labor and material allowed.
Yes , families were close...
Anyways , a wide slot big enough for a chicken or a cat to get through was cut in enough of those structures to be notable. It allowed a peek outside to keep an eye on things by "Granny". Should a gal live long enough to be a granny.
Other cultures called it a cathole.
I'm off topic mentioning the Appalachians. But the cultures that shared (well shared by geography) and the ways of life (nearly a timewarp in later years) and the clans rules some lived by ,amid the type of poverty is quite a study.
I've little info on the females , but am willing to gamble they would shame an average modern man in self sufficiency and ability and down to earth skills today. Let alone outwork them at labor.
