In the 1860s, the Pacific Northwest was a land of forests, rivers and opportunity. Thousands of men had come west to cut timber, work in mills, fish and build new towns. One thing was missing: women.
In the little frontier town of Seattle, men vastly outnumbered women. Some estimates put the ratio at around nine men for every woman. Lonely bachelors worked long days and returned to empty cabins. Many feared they would never marry or start families.
The Young Man With a Plan
Asa Mercer was in his early twenties, ambitious, and full of ideas. He had helped build the Territorial University in Seattle, today’s University of Washington, and served as its first teacher.
He saw the town’s problem clearly. Without women there would be no families, and without families the town could never truly grow.
Meanwhile, on the East Coast, the Civil War was tearing the country apart. Hundreds of thousands of men were dying, leaving behind widows, orphans, and young women with little hope of finding husbands or work. Mill towns in New England were filled with women struggling to survive.
Mercer decided to connect the two problems.
The First Voyage
In 1864, Mercer traveled east to Massachusetts. He gave speeches in churches and town halls, describing the Pacific Northwest as a land of beauty, opportunity and good wages. He promised jobs, especially teaching positions, to respectable young women willing to make the journey.
Only a small group, around a dozen women, agreed to go. After a long journey by sea and across Panama, they arrived in Seattle in May 1864. The town welcomed them with excitement. Most quickly found work, and many soon married.
The first voyage was a success. Mercer began planning something much bigger.
The Second Voyage
In 1865, Mercer went east again, this time dreaming of bringing hundreds of women. He claimed he had support from powerful figures in Washington, D.C., and he spread the word widely.
Back in Seattle, rumors began to spread. Some men believed they had paid Mercer money in advance, with the understanding that he would bring them a wife. Whether such deals were truly made remains unclear, but the expectations grew enormous.
Things in the East did not go as planned. Funding fell through. Newspapers attacked the scheme, and some even suggested the women were being lured west for immoral purposes. Many women who had signed up backed out.
In early 1866, Mercer finally set sail from New York aboard the steamship Continental. Instead of hundreds of women, there were only a few dozen.
The Journey Around Cape Horn
The voyage was long and difficult. The ship sailed south along the coast of South America, around stormy Cape Horn, and then north up the Pacific coast. The journey took months.
Along the way, the women had time to get to know each other and the crew. Some romances began before the ship ever reached Seattle.
Arrival in Seattle
When the women finally arrived in Seattle in the spring of 1866, the town turned out to greet them. But many of the men who had been waiting were disappointed. There were far fewer brides than they had hoped for, and some felt Mercer had broken his promises.
Mercer faced angry questions and criticism. But for the women, Seattle offered a new beginning.
What Became of the Mercer Girls
The women who came west on Mercer’s ships became known as the “Mercer Girls.” Many found work as teachers, seamstresses and shopkeepers. Most eventually married, often to local settlers, and raised families.
Several became respected members of the community, and their descendants helped build the city of Seattle.
As for Asa Mercer, he also found love on the voyage. He married one of the women who had sailed with him, Annie Stephens.
A Legend of the West
The story of the Mercer Girls became one of the great legends of the Pacific Northwest. It even inspired a popular 1960s television series, Here Come the Brides, loosely based on Mercer’s expeditions.
Behind the romance was real courage. These women left everything they knew, sailed thousands of miles to a rough frontier town, and built new lives in a place where nothing was certain.
They did not come west to be anyone’s prize. They came for a chance at a future, and many of them found it.