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4: Salon in Taos
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93 CHAPTER FOUR Salon in Taos OneofthefirstAnglo-AmericanstovisittheHopipueblos,CaptainJohnG. BourkeoftheUnitedStatesCavalry,hadobservedthatthetypicalPueblo girlwas“initiatedatanearlyageintothemysteriesofthekitchen....Bythe timesheisfifteen,orevenatanearlierage,sheisconsiderednubile,andfairly enteredinthematrimonialmarket.”Oncemarried,Bourkewrote,herdomestic skillsenabledherto“holdherownwiththemostingeniousAmerican housewife.”TheHopimatron“makesadutifulwifeandafond,affectionate mother.”YetforallhisconventionalVictorianassumptions,Bourkeacknowledged that“womenhavethemanagement,control,andownershipofthe house,”aPueblonormthatwouldhaveconsiderableappealtosubsequent generationsoffeminists.Butany“elevatedplace”ofwomeninPuebloculture, asfarashecoulddiscern,wasmeasuredprimarilybytheabsenceofnoseslitting andotherformsofmutilationthatwerepracticedbytheneighboring Apache.AppalledbypreparationsfortheSnakeDanceinaHopikiva,he wondered,“CouldthisbetheChristianlandofAmerica?”1 NotlongafterBourke’sobservationswerepublishedin1884,middle-class Protestantwomenwitharefinedsocialconsciencetrickledintothepueblos toeducateandupliftthenativepeopleswithaninfusionofChristianvirtue. ToMaryDissette,senttoZunibythePresbyterianBoardofHomeMissions, theIndians,livingin“grossanimalism,”were“tobepitiedfortheirignorance andfortheinjusticetheysuffer.”MeasuredbyVictorianstandardsofpropriety ,IndianfamilystructureposedaseriousimpedimenttoChristianmoral 94 CHAPTER FOUR development.Girlswerethe“absoluteproperty”oftheirfathers,whilemarried womenweredomestic“drudges”atthemercyoftheirhusbands.Itwas evidentthatPueblowomensufferedfrom“intellectualdeprivation,domestic oppression,andsexualdegradation.”PuebloIndiansweredescribedasa “backward,dirty,pagan”people,desperatelyinneedof“uplift”tocivilized AmericanstandardsbydedicatedChristianwomen.2 Itseemspuzzling,therefore,thatpuebloswouldhaveanyalluretomodern women.Yetaftertheturnofthecentury,amidthecurrentsofartistic creativity,culturalcriticism,andpersonalliberationthatcrestedduringthe Progressiveera,repressiveVictorianidealsofmoralauthorityandfemale purityyieldedtoanewemphasisonsexualfreedom,genderequality,and professional opportunity for women.Along the way, Pueblo culture was refashionedintoafeministutopiawhere,inwriterMaryAustin’sphrase, “Mother-rule”prevailed.Bythe1920s,Pueblowomenwereadmiredbyavantgarde feministsas“powerfulwomenwhosetraditionsembodiedidealgender relations.”NolongerwastheSouthwestanarenareservedformaleadventurers eagertotesttheirmanhood;now,womenmightlearnfromPueblo Indians—especiallyPueblowomen—howto“overcomethepsychological fragmentationandalienatingisolation”ofmodernsocietythatleftthem powerlessandvulnerable.3 AfterWorldWarI,the“symbioticpromotion”oftheSouthwestbythe Fred Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railroad gradually diminished. Theirvirtualprewarmonopolyontraveltotheregionwaserodedbythe emergingpopularityofautomobiles,aspreadingnetworkofhighways,and theincreasingrelianceoftouristsonroad-stopaccommodations.Thefinal successoftheirpartnershipwastheestablishmentofHarvey’sIndianTours in1926,ajointventurethatoffered,aspartofthepackagetripfortranscontinental travelers,athree-hundred-milemotordetour“tothenewexotic theatreoftheSouthwest.”IndianTourspromisedtouristsajourney“nearer totheprimitivethananywhereelseonthecontinent.”Travelerswouldbe transportedineleganttouringcarsto“alandinwhichforeignpeople,with foreignspeechandforeignways,offerthemspectacleswhichcanbeequaled infewOrientallands.”4 IndianTourswastheoffspringofamergerbetweentheFredHarvey Companyanditsmajorcompetitor,KoshareTours,foundedafterthewarby NewMexiconativeErnaFergusson.NolessambitiousthanHarveyhadbeen tosucceedinbusinessbysellingtheSouthwesttonewvisitors,Fergussonwas [3.128.199.162] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 10:35 GMT) 95 SALON IN TAOS theprototypicalNewWomanofthepostwarera.Shewasthegranddaughter ofaGermanimmigrantwhohadarrivedinNewMexicoin1848withawagon trainofgoodsforsale.Heconspicuouslydisplayedhissuccessbybuildingan ersatzGermancastlethatbecamehisfamilyhome,surroundedbystreams, bridges,livepeacocks,and...