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It is said that early pioneers were compelled to go west. Their strong desire to learn what was beyond the boundaries of the Mississippi River beckoned them. Thousands of men made the initial trek over the plains, many of them unencumbered by a wife or children. It was an isolated and lonely existence for them, but given the fact that there were few single women living on the frontier, there was little they could do about their circumstances.
Women who remained in the East experience a similar lack. The push to expand the United States territories, the fever of the Gold Rush, and the Civil War claimed the greater majority of marriageable men. The highest percentage of unmarried women in American history was recorded between 1860 and 1880. According to the November 1886 edition of the Ladies’ Home Journal, the reasons for the decline in wedding vows being exchanged went beyond politics or the urge to find wealth. Rather, there was a close connection between marriage and the price of wheat, beef, pork, beans, corn, and other things. “As the price of these commodities went up the number of marriages went down,” the article explained.
To learn more about the marital statistic in the Old West or to read exciting tales from mail-order brides read
Object Matrimony: The Risky Business of Mail-Order Matchmaking on the Western Frontier.
