Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
I love learning about women who took the lead and blazed a path for future generations. After all, these tenacious women have always existed. I recently learned about someone who fit that mold perfectly. Her name was Bridget Miranda Shannon Evoy. She was an Irish woman who sought a better life for her family in California during the Gold Rush. Her direct descendant Craig S. Harwood details her journey in the book Bridget’s Gambit: A Saga of Family Enterprise in Gold Rush California. It’s a well-researched biography about a fascinating character in California history.
Bridget’s Gambit: A Saga of Family Enterprise in Gold Rush California is the fourth volume in the “Women and the American West” series. In 1828, Bridget Miranda Shannon Evoy escaped famine-stricken Ireland with her family for a better life in America. However, within two years, she became a widow and was left raising her five children alone after her husband’s death in St. Louis, Missouri. A while later, Bridget sets her eyes on California. Craig S. Harwood recounts the adventures and accomplishments of this determined woman and her daughters, from a harrowing overland crossing in the winter of 1849 to innovative efforts to build an empire despite the social and gender constraints of the Victorian Era. By pursuing commercial ventures in Northern California, the family ascended the social ladder and exerted influence, doing business with many of the early shapers of California statehood.
According to the author, much of the story was relayed through family oral history. While this is sound, one needs to back up the information with hard facts. Harwood does just that with sources like newspaper articles, census and tax records, journal entries of those who went on the same trail as the Evoys, and general histories of Northern California and Nevada. He even covers the conflicts between the pioneers and natives when necessary and points out that more indigenous people were killed in these scrimmages than the settlers. Although the book is less than 200 pages, this mix of primary and secondary resources provides it with plenty of substance.
Additionally, Bridget Evoy is an amazing person. I’ve covered books about tenacious women in the past, but she is definitely one of the most interesting. Honestly, I am in awe of her. She raised five children by herself, led a group of people heading westward on the dangerous Overland Trail, and established herself a savvy businesswoman with multiple commercial ventures with her daughters Ellen and Margaret. It’s especially true with the latter to capitalize on the Gold Rush. She was an assertive woman in a time when women were meant to be docile. For example, she raised her voice and tore into a guy who tried to steal her carpetbag filled with gold dust satchels (p.98-100). She wasn’t going down that easy. Nonetheless, she was well respected in what would become Oakland, California. Even Zach Montgomery, a boisterous speaker critical of the Lincoln administration, deferred to his mother-in-law. In addition, since she was an Irish Catholic, she led with empathy. She and her daughters contributed to various Catholic organizations that helped the less fortunate most likely because of her experiences with the 1820s famine.
My only complaint about the biography is how it can plod at times. I felt this especially when the Evoy family makes the trek to the California territory. However, the more I thought about it, it made sense. The journey was slow moving and harrowing, especially when Bridget elected to take a different route on the Overland Trail to avoid the treacherous mountains and a potential Native American raid. Harwood does a good job with emulating how that would’ve felt.
Bridget’s Gambit: A Saga of Family Enterprise in Gold Rush California by Craig S. Harwood is a great biography of a bold and pragmatic woman and her family. It was fascinating to read about how Bridget Evoy paved a better life for herself and daughters. She didn’t wait around for people to rescue her; she did it all by herself. On top of that, Harwood fleshes out the Evoy story with research that correlates to what happened. I would recommend it to those who love reading about a woman’s place in the history of the West, the Gold Rush, and the Mother Lode. Women of the tenacious kind are usually the ones that make history, and Bridget is a fine example.
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