An original Gal…
A woman begins as wife, mother, child, daughter. When she picks up everything and travels across a vast land, she becomes a “pioneer”. When she arrives, she is an “emigrant”, and when she puts down roots, she is a “settler”.
Kristi’s character is all of these things.
Kristi is an original Buffalo Gal, and has been with us longer than anyone but Suzi. Her 35 pounds of skirt, petticoat, and 160″ diameter hoop make her depiction very challenging, and demands physical strength and stamina. She always has a bright spirit though, as we add layers on layers, she has been heard to comment “this is not about convenience is it?”
It’s about American Women…
From 1840 to 1869, visions of paradise with towering trees, lush valleys, rich soils, and limitless opportunities called to over 500,000 pioneers to make the 2000 mile route called the Oregon Trail. Congress offered 160 acres of land to white males or half Indian settlers, with another 160 to their wives.
Travel – and weddings – suddenly boomed as settlers grabbed mail order brides from the east and hurried to the new west. There were few women of European descent west of the Mississippi, and little is known of them except what is found in newspapers, diaries, deeds, obituaries, and legends.
When at last in Wyoming, she would have traveled for more than a year. Her new life would involve invention, innovation, and adaptation. It would demand reworking, revising, and patching her past into her future.
It’s about one American woman….
Kristi’s character is therefore a compilation of history across the nation. She wears many layers that can be changed to suit fashion or function: an apron for the trail that becomes a modified ’70’s bustle when she settles at last, a soft hoop that easily stores on the wagon, and interchangeable petticoats and bonnets.
We built her a tight waist cinching corset with the newly invented metal grommets (1822) which was the fashion of the day as introduced by Empress Eugenie of France, and embraced by Queen Victoria of England who was the key influence at the time. Plaids, polka dots, huge buttons, and of course the giant crinolines notable from the mid- 1850’s until the early 1870’s were inspired by those two rulers.
In reality, Kristi’s character blends with her own as she takes care of her own family plus all of us at rehearsals, shows, and in life in general. A good woman is the grounded center from which others can take flight, and we are grateful to have her time and energy.