Men outnumbered women six to one in the Wyoming Territory of 1870. Which makes it all the more surprising that Wyoming women were granted the right to vote and serve in elected political offices at the end of 1869.
As interpreted by Judge John Howe, the enfranchisement of women brought with it the responsibility to serve on juries. It was a radical idea at the time. The first women to serve on a grand jury in the U.S. were sworn in at a makeshift courtroom behind a Laramie storefront. The city had not yet constructed a courthouse.
The six women summonsed to serve came from all walks of life. They included a schoolteacher, a shop keeper and a doctor’s wife.
Hearing cases that ran into the evenings, Judge Howe ordered the jury sequestered in a local hotel. He designated the world’s first woman bailiff to watch over the female jurors.
See the Clarice Whittenburg papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more about the frontier justice meted out by jurors wearing petticoats.
For more information, visit the American Heritage Center site.