Eva Emery Dye
Encyclopedia
Eva Emery Dye was an American writer, historian, and prominent member of the Women's Suffrage
movement. As the author of several historical novels, fictional yet thoroughly researched, she is credited with "romanticizing the historic West, turning it into a poetic epic of expanding civilization." Her best known work, Conquest: The True Story of Lewis & Clark (1902), is notable for being the first to present Sacagawea
as a historically significant character in her own right.
, she first attracted notice at the age of fifteen, when she began writing poems under the pseudonym
"Jennie Juniper". These works, published first in the local Prophetstown Spike then in other regional newspapers, fueled an ambition for intellectual achievement that was unsupported by her family. When her father opposed her seeking a college education, she worked as a school teacher and saved the funds to attend Oberlin College
independently.
Graduating in 1882, Emery married Charles Henry Dye, a fellow Oberlin alumnus, that same year. Although she had been named Poet Laureate of her class, her writing career was dormant until 1890, when the Dyes made the decision to move to Oregon City, Oregon
. Arriving the following year, the couple quickly rose to both wealth and local prominence, with Charles Dye prospering as a lawyer and real estate investor. Dye promptly began what would prove to be her life's work, the chronicling of the early history of the Pacific Northwest. As she later commented, "I began writing as soon as I reached this old and romantic historical city. I saw beautiful historical material lying around like nuggets."
1784-1857, the former Chief Factor of the Columbia District
and for years the de facto leader of the Oregon Country
. While taking considerable liberties with its subject (including imagined scenes and invented dialogue), the work was nevertheless based upon considerable research, including extensive interviews with aged pioneers who had known McLoughlin personally. The book's popular success established Dye as an author, and contributed to the posthumous re-evaluation of McLoughlin's complex role in American history. Dye and her husband also interceded when McLoughlin's house in Oregon City was slated for destruction, leading the effort to purchase it and restore it as a museum in 1910. It is now part of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
, which had reached the Pacific Northwest in 1805. Her subsequent book The Conquest was loosely a joint biography of William Clark and his brother George Rogers Clark
(who did not accompany the expedition), yet it was soon lauded for its vivid portrayal of a personage who had played only a minor role in earlier narratives.
Reliable historical information about Sacagawea
is extremely limited; even the correct spelling of her name (Lewis and Clark rendered it eight different ways) and the date of her death are under dispute. As the Oregon History Project observes:
While her previous book included fictional stylistic elements but conformed on a narrative level to known facts, The Conquest was notably unfettered by adherence to the historical record. Dye's portrayal of Sacagawea ascribed to her imagined features (no portrait or description survives), and postulated that her role was integral to the expedition's success, to the extent that she should be commemorated equally with Lewis and Clark:
The book became an immediate popular success. As Dye herself recalled:
The book's popularity also brought political ramifications. As Dye noted in her book, Sacagawea had been given a vote in a key decision of the expedition: whether or not to build Fort Clatsop
and spend the winter on the Pacific coast. This led to "the Madonna of her race" being championed as a symbol of the burgeoning women's suffrage
movement, which Dye enthusiastically supported. In keeping with her book's suggestion of a memorial to Sacagawea, a Statue Association was founded in Portland, Oregon
, with Dye serving as its president. In this capacity she issued appeals to women's groups across the country, and coordinated the fundraising sale of commemorative "Sacajawea spoons" and "Sacajawea buttons."
In 1905 The National American Woman's Suffrage Association, convening in Portland, unveiled a statue by sculptor Alice Cooper
of Denver. In her opening address, Susan B. Anthony
remarked:
Following the ceremony, Dye formally presented the statue to the soon-to-open Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
, where it was seen by an estimated three million visitors. It currently resides in Portland's Washington Park at 45.521469°N 122.70227°W.
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
movement. As the author of several historical novels, fictional yet thoroughly researched, she is credited with "romanticizing the historic West, turning it into a poetic epic of expanding civilization." Her best known work, Conquest: The True Story of Lewis & Clark (1902), is notable for being the first to present Sacagawea
Sacagawea
Sacagawea ; was a Lemhi Shoshone woman, who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, acting as an interpreter and guide, in their exploration of the Western United States...
as a historically significant character in her own right.
Early life
Born Eva Lucinda Emery, the daughter of Cyrus and Caroline Trafton Emery, in Prophetstown, IllinoisProphetstown, Illinois
Prophetstown is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,080 at the 2010 census, up from 2,023 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Prophetstown is located at ....
, she first attracted notice at the age of fifteen, when she began writing poems under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Jennie Juniper". These works, published first in the local Prophetstown Spike then in other regional newspapers, fueled an ambition for intellectual achievement that was unsupported by her family. When her father opposed her seeking a college education, she worked as a school teacher and saved the funds to attend Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
independently.
Graduating in 1882, Emery married Charles Henry Dye, a fellow Oberlin alumnus, that same year. Although she had been named Poet Laureate of her class, her writing career was dormant until 1890, when the Dyes made the decision to move to Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
. Arriving the following year, the couple quickly rose to both wealth and local prominence, with Charles Dye prospering as a lawyer and real estate investor. Dye promptly began what would prove to be her life's work, the chronicling of the early history of the Pacific Northwest. As she later commented, "I began writing as soon as I reached this old and romantic historical city. I saw beautiful historical material lying around like nuggets."
Literary career
Writing in a style later described as "a curious blend of fact, fiction, biography, and romance," Dye first completed McLoughlin and Old Oregon (1900), a portrait of Doctor John McLoughlinJohn McLoughlin
Dr. John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, was the Chief Factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver. He was later known as the "Father of Oregon" for his role in assisting the American cause in the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest...
1784-1857, the former Chief Factor of the Columbia District
Columbia District
The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. It was explored by the North West Company between 1793 and 1811, and established as an operating fur district around 1810...
and for years the de facto leader of the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
. While taking considerable liberties with its subject (including imagined scenes and invented dialogue), the work was nevertheless based upon considerable research, including extensive interviews with aged pioneers who had known McLoughlin personally. The book's popular success established Dye as an author, and contributed to the posthumous re-evaluation of McLoughlin's complex role in American history. Dye and her husband also interceded when McLoughlin's house in Oregon City was slated for destruction, leading the effort to purchase it and restore it as a museum in 1910. It is now part of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
"Discovery" of Sacagawea
Dye then began researching the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionLewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
, which had reached the Pacific Northwest in 1805. Her subsequent book The Conquest was loosely a joint biography of William Clark and his brother George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...
(who did not accompany the expedition), yet it was soon lauded for its vivid portrayal of a personage who had played only a minor role in earlier narratives.
Reliable historical information about Sacagawea
Sacagawea
Sacagawea ; was a Lemhi Shoshone woman, who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, acting as an interpreter and guide, in their exploration of the Western United States...
is extremely limited; even the correct spelling of her name (Lewis and Clark rendered it eight different ways) and the date of her death are under dispute. As the Oregon History Project observes:
The Expedition journals make note of her service as an interpreter and mention that she pointed out familiar landmarks when they entered Shoshone territory. There is little evidence to suggest, however, that she acted as the Expedition’s guide beyond recognizing Bozeman PassBozeman PassBozeman Pass is a mountain pass situated approximately 13 miles east of the town of Bozeman, Montana and approximately 15 miles west of the town of Livingston, Montana, and between the Bridger and Gallatin mountain ranges....
as a good place to cross the Continental Divide.
While her previous book included fictional stylistic elements but conformed on a narrative level to known facts, The Conquest was notably unfettered by adherence to the historical record. Dye's portrayal of Sacagawea ascribed to her imagined features (no portrait or description survives), and postulated that her role was integral to the expedition's success, to the extent that she should be commemorated equally with Lewis and Clark:
Sacajawea's hair was neatly braided, her nose was fine and straight, and her skin pure copper like a statue in some Florentine gallery. Madonna of her race, she had led the way to a new time. To the hands of this girl, not yet eighteen, had been entrusted the key that unlocked the road to Asia...Some day, upon the Bozeman Pass, Sacajawea's statue will stand beside that of Clark. Some day where the rivers part, her laurels will view with those of Lewis. Across North America a Shoshone Indian princess touched hands with Jefferson, opening her country.
The book became an immediate popular success. As Dye herself recalled:
The world snatched at my heroine, Sacajawea...The beauty of that faithful Indian woman with her baby on her bak, leading those stalwart mountaineers and explorers through the strange land appealed to the world.
Suffrage
Fort Clatsop
Fort Clatsop was the encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Oregon Country near the mouth of the Columbia River during the winter of 1805-1806...
and spend the winter on the Pacific coast. This led to "the Madonna of her race" being championed as a symbol of the burgeoning women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
movement, which Dye enthusiastically supported. In keeping with her book's suggestion of a memorial to Sacagawea, a Statue Association was founded in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, with Dye serving as its president. In this capacity she issued appeals to women's groups across the country, and coordinated the fundraising sale of commemorative "Sacajawea spoons" and "Sacajawea buttons."
In 1905 The National American Woman's Suffrage Association, convening in Portland, unveiled a statue by sculptor Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (sculptor)
Alice Cooper was an American sculptor.Born in Glenwood, Iowa, and based in Denver, Colorado, Cooper studied under Preston Powers then at the Art Institute of Chicago with Lorado Taft and the Art Students League of New York through about 1901.Cooper is best known for her bronze figure of Sacajawea...
of Denver. In her opening address, Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
remarked:
This is the first time in history that a statue has been erected in memory of a woman who accomplished patriotic deeds... This recognition of the assistance rendered by a woman in the discovery of this great section of the country is but the beginning of what is due...
Following the ceremony, Dye formally presented the statue to the soon-to-open Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, commonly also known as the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and officially known as the Lewis and Clark Centennial American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair, was a worldwide exposition held in Portland, Oregon, United States in 1905 to celebrate the...
, where it was seen by an estimated three million visitors. It currently resides in Portland's Washington Park at 45.521469°N 122.70227°W.
Works
- McLoughlin and Old Oregon: A Chronicle (1900)
- The Conquest: The True Story of Lewis and Clark (1902)
- McDonald of Oregon: A Tale of Two Shores (1906)
- The Soul of America: An Oregon Illiad (1934)
External links
- Oregon Encyclopedia Project
- Online Guide to the Eva Emery Dye Papers, Northwest Digital ArchivesNorthwest Digital ArchivesNorthwest Digital Archives is an online catalog of descriptive information about the archival collections at various institutions in the Northwestern United States...