ALAMOSA — In the study and documentation of history, accuracy is not always synonymous with completeness as, far too often, the actions and contributions of women have been left out in history’s telling. As writers and researchers J.v.L. Bell and Jan Gunia quickly discovered in writing “Women of the Colorado Gold Rush Era,” women played a hugely pivotal and impactful but unacknowledged role in the formation of the state as we know it. 

Their book is a major first step in changing  a historical narrative that, for too long, has overlooked the contributions of women. 

“A lot of time,” Bell says, “the women were never given credit for what they accomplished. In some cases, the women couldn’t even keep their children when they divorced. At that time, women had very, very few rights and options. So, I just wanted to highlight what they accomplished and to tell their stories.”  

“Women of the Colorado Gold Rush Era”, which won the Colorado Book Award, tells the compelling and evocative tale of ten extraordinary women who were pioneers in Colorado and others who came during the Colorado Gold Rush and whose story continued in the years that followed. 

One woman who really stood out to Bell was Clara Brown, a freed slave who, after being able to “buy her freedom”, left everything behind and came to a place that was completely unfamiliar to her. “That was just so interesting to me,” Bell says. 

Maria Dolores Ballejos, who lived in the San Luis Valley, was also especially intriguing. “That story was important to me because that was a history I really wanted to tell. I was born and raised in Colorado and so little is known about southern Colorado and Maria Dolores had a huge impact.”   

As described in the book, without ever moving her physical residence, Maria Dolores Ballejos was a citizen of Spain, then Mexico and then, after the Mexican-American war, a citizen of the United States in the newly created Territory of New Mexico. But, Bell writes,  “None of those nationality changes impacted her life as much as when her home in the San Luis Valley became part of the Colorado Territory in 1861.”   

Creation of the Colorado Territory separated Maria Dolores — along with 7,000 Hispanos living in southern Colorado — from the government, culture and laws of the New Mexico Territory. 

“Literally overnight, Maria Dolores was forced to obey a British legal tradition that stripped away many of the rights she, as a married woman, had been guaranteed under Spanish law. Maria Dolores now lived in an Anglo society that was largely unfamiliar and often intimidating and hostile.” 

Records indicate that Maria Dolores Ballejos arrived in the area around San Acacio as early as 1849, making her one of the first Hispana pioneers to settle the San Luis Valley. Bell learned much of Dolores Ballejos’ history by working directly with one of her descendants. 

“I learned so much history that was remarkable and what these women lived through. What was also remarkable was just how much of an impact these women had on our state. I also wondered if these women were given their due and were allowed to stay in Colorado, what would that have meant to our state?”  In that statement, Bell is making an indirect reference to the story of "Tsashin: Forgotten Ute".

Bell also found Amache Prowers intriguing. 

Amache, a Cheyenne woman living on the eastern plains, married John Prowers, who went on to become one of the largest cattle barons in Colorado.

At the same time, Amache Prowers garnered a reputation for being an effective diplomat, extraordinarily resilient, intelligent, adaptable and knowledgeable in areas unknown to many around her, ultimately leading to her being inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

But, as Bell points out, how the two were honored could not have been more different. 

“John Prowers had a county (Prowers County) named after him, and Amache had a Japanese internment camp named after her." Bell is referring to Camp Amache, the World War II Japanese internment camp constructed on the eastern plains near the town of Holly. "These women were just not appreciated," Bell says.

In writing the book, it was Bell’s hope that readers will discover that “women’s history is fascinating even during times when women weren’t prominent in historical record.”

She seems to have accomplished that goal as “Women of the Colorado Gold Rush Era” is a collection of stories, all researched to an extraordinary degree but told in a manner that captures the reader’s attention. There are compelling accounts of hardships and loss side by side with the remarkable things these women did to not only survive but thrive and shape the world around them. It includes stories of diversity, as well, with women included from different ethnicities, economic status and backgrounds.

Bell will be at the Alamosa Public Library at 1:00 pm on Saturday to discuss her uniquely informative but also interesting and, frankly, inspiring book. She will also have copies available for purchase.