Remembering Strong Women

I am thinking of "Strong Women" today. Over the years we have heard a lot about Women's Rights, strong women, etc. I found an old, old photo of a township plat showing all sections of land with the name of the person that had filed. Some of these filings were listed as 1903. This of course was a Township and Range where my family currently has property. Most names were unknown to either my husband or me, but what did catch my attention was the number of women that filed for homestead filing. One part of this plat indicated five women with the same last name, filing within days of each other. Interesting. Could this be sisters, mother and daughters, sister in-laws? They are listed as Florence, Maxine, Agnes, Mary, & Lizzie DuPhinais, filed in April of 1910. There are some misspellings of names, etc. but I was struck by the number of women filing claims. The ones listed was just one area. I have heard stories of women "back in the days" that filed, worked hard, and did prove up on claims. This was back in the days before modern machinery, electricity, and other conveniences that we give little thought to. This is just a reminder, contrary to what media and others have portrayed in the past, women have, are, and hopefully will always be strong. Just some memories of the past.