Mason settled in Los Angeles and worked as a nurse and a midwife. Despite the obstacles Smith set in place, and the fact that she was not allowed to testify, she won her family’s freedom and adopted the surname Mason. Once she learned this, she petitioned the court for freedom for herself and her children.
California was a free state and Biddy was legally free as soon as she entered the state, but her owner Smith kept her from learning of her right to freedom for five years. Her final owner, Robert Smith, converted to Mormonism and moved his household, including Biddy, to California with a larger group of church members. They were real estate magnates, writers, celebrated chefs, investors and trailblazers.īelow are the stories of six women and the exciting and inspiring lives they led when they went West.īiddy Mason Bridget “Biddy” Mason Real Estate Magnate and Philanthropistīiddy Mason was born into slavery in 1818, but her exact birthplace is unknown like so many enslaved people, she was forcibly taken from her family and sold several times. They built towns, established charities, created schools, developed churches, and did dangerous jobs such as delivering the mail. The frontier expansion offered both a new way of life and economic independence that was not afforded to either African Americans or women in the East.Īfrican American women made enormous contributions to the advancement and culture of the West. Although they're not usually the main characters in modern cowboy stories (if they're depicted at all), there were large numbers of African American men and women living in all of the Western states.
Inspired by a true story, Gun & Powder depicts two African American sisters who became notorious outlaws in the Wild West. “The fabric of their lives needs to be folded into the tapestry of our nation’s history” – African American Women of the Old West
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