Riding Sidesaddle, Texas, circa 1900

Amy Paulson, riding sidesaddle, Olivia area, Calhoun County, Texas, circa 1900

Let's face it - there is just no way to ride astride a horse gracefully in a full length skirt. Thus  the early development of the sidesaddle, allowing ladies to be, well, "ladylike".  In just a few years from the date of this picture, there would be "bloomers" and split skirts and then Pants. But in 1900 Calhoun County, ladylike behavior and the need to ride horses meant riding sidesaddle. To see what the saddle looked, check out the post,  Ellen Swenson  (posted last October). The two pictures were likely taken on the same day, although with different women and different horses.

This woman looks quite a bit like Amy Paulson (1881-1919). If so, she would be back in Olivia visiting her grandparents and friends, as her immediate family had moved back to Davenport, Iowa in 1895. Her grandparents (Anders and Bengta Swenson) continued to live in the Olivia area until about 1907.  The large number of Texas pictures from 1900 to about 1912 attest to several visits back to Texas by members of the Paulson family.

Identifiers:
Negative: Paulson292 (400 dpi jpg; downsized from 1200 dpi tiff)
Place: Olivia area (Calhoun County) Texas
Date: circa 1900
People: Amy Paulson (Born 10 Dec 1881 in Bjärhus, Vedby Parish,  Kristianstads, Skäne, Sweden;  died 18 Oct 1918, Casper, Wyoming, USA; immigrated with her parents from Sweden in 1882.)

Sources:
Swenson family history
Paulson family Bible
Eden Church records (accessed through the Swenson Swedish Immigration Center and Evangelical Lutheran Church Archives.)