Women of Lassen

Women have played an important—though often lesser-known—role in the history of northern California, the Lassen region, and Lassen Volcanic National Park. Women from at least four American Indian groups gathered in the Lassen area and were skilled naturalists and basket makers. In the 1800s, women were expected to play a traditional role in the private world of the family and home. With the birth of the railroad and as the Gold Rush drew people to California in the late 1800s, pioneering women found ways to broaden traditional roles. Clothing reforms, such as the advent of "bloomers," allowed women to participate in outdoor pursuits, while women organizing for suffrage in the West spurred change across the nation. Women's contribution to the park began well before its establishment and continues to this day with women serving in nearly every position from volunteer to Superintendent.

Women of the West Win the the Right to Vote

Women of the West were the first in the United States to enjoy full voting rights. Decades before passage of the 19th Amendment, western women voted and served in public office. In the West, woman suffragists campaigned across mountains, plains, and deserts, finding common cause with a variety of communities and other political movements.