On this date in 1916, North Dakota farmers and ranchers attended a stock show in Chicago. While most of them were there to look for livestock, a number were more interested in finding wives.
In the early 19th Century, many things could be found in abundance on the Great Plains. There were great expanses of land and sky, and no shortage of hard work. Other things were more difficult to come by. And one of the most difficult for a bachelor farmer was finding a wife.
Modern folklore portrays the farmer or rancher in North Dakota browsing through a Sears and Roebuck catalog to pick out a wife as easily as a rifle or a piece of furniture. While no catalog ever offered such wives, the idea of a “mail order bride” stuck.
Thousands of women traveled across the frontier during the heyday of westward expansion, but most were already married. It was thought that any woman suitable for marriage would not venture west on her own. Author Mari Sandoz wrote, “a man had to marry anything that got off the train.”
Courting through the mails posed certain challenges, especially if a guy was illiterate. He could hire a typist to polish his work, but dishonesty was another potential problem. Either party could misrepresent their appearance or their finances. The Wahpeton Times reported on a New York girl who arrived in Buford, North Dakota. The romantic spell was apparently broken the moment she stepped off the train and got a good look at her intended.
Meanwhile, back at our Chicago stock show, the matrimonial challenges gave F.R. Crane an idea. He was director of agricultural expansion for the Great Northern Railroad. In a flash of inspiration, he organized a car tour of the city for a number of North Dakota’s wealthiest bachelor farmers. His purpose was to show them the type of fine available women who lived in Chicago. The lead car was fitted with a sign that said, “We Want Wives!” One farmer said he was looking for “a nice Chicago girl, built kind of large.” Another wanted a plump Swedish girl. There was no report as to whether any of the farmers were successful in their search.
Dakota Datebook by Carole Butcher
Sources:
Ward County Independent. “Rich North Dakota Farmers Seek Wives.” 20 December 1916. Minot ND. Page 1
Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. “Mail-Order Brides.” http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.gen.022 Accessed 17 November 2018.
