Editor’s note: This story is part of a series devoted to the history of Plumas County, covering a different seasonal theme from Plumas County’s past.
In 1987, the US Congress designated March as Women’s History Month (Pub. L. 100-9). In each of the 38 years since, the president has issued a proclamation reaffirming the designation, and celebrating women’s contributions to the nation. For our first Plumas Past of 2025, we turn our attention to the women who helped to shape our state and region.
Reexamining women’s history in the American west
Wendy Voorsanger is the author of Prospects of a Woman (2021), an award-winning novel set in Gold Rush era California. The story follows Elisabeth, a young woman who travels to California with her new husband in 1850, but quickly discovers he isn’t who she thought he was. Alone, Elisabeth works to build a business alongside a cast of remarkable California women, many of them based on real historical figures.
Voorsanger, herself a sixth-generation Californian, has always been frustrated by how women are portrayed in the popular culture and literature of the West. The dime store novels, pulp fiction and movies that have shaped the Western mystique portray women as helpless, afraid and in need of protection, she said.
“That always really irritated me. Those are not the women in my family.”
An enthusiastic amateur historian with a background in journalism, Voosanger began conducting her own research to better understand women’s contributions to the West, especially California. “I spent eight years cruising around [State Route] 49,” she recalled, popping into all the eclectic shops and tiny museums along the way, reading primary source material and building a collection of nonfiction on the women of the West.
“It wasn’t just hookers,” Voosanger joked. That stereotype, she said, is likely hyperbolized in literature and film for the excitement of men.
When it became a state in 1850, California offered more rights for women than any other state, Voorsanger said. As a Spanish colony and later a Mexican territory, California law was anchored in Spanish civil law, rather than the English common law that formed the legislative basis for most other states. Spanish and Mexican law allowed women to own property, sign contracts, buy and sell goods, and manage businesses with autonomy.
When it came time to develop a state constitution, Californios — the descendants of those original Spanish colonists — were well-represented. And they ensured that the new state would continue to recognize the property rights of women. Even after statehood, California was progressive when it came to women’s rights: the state’s first divorce law was enacted in 1851, and it was possible for California divorcees to retain custody of their children. Such laws were a draw to American women from other states.
It’s in this context of unusual independence that Voosanger set her novel, infusing it with real characters from history, among them Juan Briones, a rancher and merchant, and Nancy Gooch, who bought her family out of slavery and built an orchard that eventually grew to 420 acres. Her protagonist draws from the lives of Frances Gearhart, Mary Foote, Josephine McCracken and Ina Coolbrith. (Coolbrith, incidentally, has a special connection to Plumas County: she was the first emigrant to use Beckwourth Pass, Jim Beckwourth having placed her before him on his saddle as he led the first wagon train through the pass.)
The women of Plumas County’s past display a similar strength, intelligence and acumen. Here are just a few of their stories.
Women of Plumas County’s past
Rebecca Austin came to Plumas with her husband in 1865 to mine for gold. She lived at Ball Ranch in Butterfly Valley. Because of the skills learned from her first husband, a doctor, Austin served as an informal physician in Butterfly Valley. During her time in Plumas, she also worked as a school teacher at Spanish Peak and a mining camp cook. Austin was educated in chemistry, astronomy, Latin, botany and physiology. She studied the Darlingtonia californica — the species of pitcher plant that grows in Butterfly Valley sometimes called a cobra lily. Austin was the first person to describe in detail how the plant kills and digests its prey, a process she observed by feeding the plant raw mutton. Unknown photographer – Public Domain
Lilly Baker was a master Maidu basketmaker, born in 1911 in Taylorsville, where she learned the art of basket making as a small child from her mother, grandmother and aunt. As a girl of nine, Baker threw away a party-finished basket in frustration. Her father returned it to her and insisted that she finish. She was told that she had a responsibility to learn, and to pass on the skill. In time, Baker’s work became exquisite, prized by collectors and museums throughout the West. She was one of the last to make baskets in the traditional way, and worked to preserve the art and tradition by visiting schools and organizations and participating in archival projects. Image courtesy of the Plumas County Museum
Cecelia Chamberlain, the loveable “lady banker” of Greenville, was born in 1876 in Quincy. She was an active promoter of the scenic Feather River Canyon Highway, completed in 1935. She served as vice president and cashier of the Indian Valley Bank — a position she held until 1955 when the bank was purchased. She is credited with getting the bank through the Great Depression. It was the only independent bank in the county to survive those years. She was honored in 1954 as the only woman in such a role in California. Image courtesy of the Plumas County Museum
Charlotte “Lotta” Crabtree was an actress, performer and comedian. A native of La Porte (then called Rabbit Creek), Crabtree got her start in 1853 at the age of six, singing and dancing for miners. From ages 8-11 she toured with Mort Taylor and his musicians, performing in La Porte, Nelson Point, Rich Bar and other mining camps. From there she rose to stardom, touring throughout the U.S. and Europe until her final retirement in 1891. Image courtesy of Calisphere
A native of Portola, Pauline Davis served as the California assemblywoman of District I for 13 consecutive terms. She was elected in 1952 to succeed her husband, who died during his reelection campaign, and held the position until her retirement in 1976, 24 years in all. Known as the “First Lady of Water,” she was instrumental in the State Water Plan, which created a series of reservoirs in Plumas County — among them, Lake Davis, which is named in her honor. Image courtesy of Calisphere
Abbie Fort was born in Georgia in 1826. Fort traveled overland from Pennsylvania in 1861 with Seth and Edwin Taylor, brothers of Jobe Taylor of Taylorsville. Fort worked in domestic service for the Taylor family. She acquired property of her own in Taylorsville, where she raised bees. A friend wrote in her obituary “she displayed superior intelligence…and an eminent degree of kind hearted sympathy for the depressed and afflicted.” Image courtesy of the Plumas County Museum
A Native American rights leader and journalist, Marie Potts was born in Big Meadows (now Lake Almanor) in 1895. She attended the Greenville Indian Industrial School in Greenville, and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, where she was among the first graduates. She was a founding member of the Federal Indians of California in 1946, and served as editor of the FIC newspaper, The Smoke Signal, for 30 years. She was a teacher of Native American History at California State University, Sacramento. Potts participated in the 1969-1971 Occupation of Alcatraz. Image courtesy of the Plumas County Museum
Bertha Muzzy Sinclair published 68 books and a plethora of short stories between 1904 and 1939 under a gender-neutral pen name: B.M. Bower. A native of Montana, she resided in “The Pocket” on Spanish Creek in American Valley for several years, moving away permanently in 1918. Several of her works are set in Plumas County, including The Lookout Man, which takes place at Mt. Hough. Many were turned into movies. Her biographer wrote: “Bower’s female characters were often spunky, resourceful, intelligent and the equals of the men involved. No fainting, pale heroines were allowed.” Image courtesy of the Plumas County Museum
Works cited and further reading
Braxton Little, Jane. The Maidu Baskets of Lily Baker.
Couso, Jeremy. “From the Files of the Lassen Historical Society: Maidu Elder Lilly Baker,” October 1 2020.
Leah, Tina Cannon. “A tribute to California’s ‘First Lady of Water’” California Water Blog, UC Davis.
Lucas, Greg. “Chronicler of Butterfly Valley’s Killer Lily,” Celebrate California.
“Meeting the area’s own past: Plumas County Museum helps recognize the women in Plumas County,” Feather River Bulletin, March 27 2002.
“Women left their marks in Plumas history,” Feather River Bulletin, March 7 1984.
