Helen Hunt Jackson moved to California in 1872 and made a large impact on the West with her writing and activism.She investigated the living condition of southern California Mission Indians and made their situations and unfortunate past known to the public through her writing.
Inspired by Susan La Flesche Picotte and devastated by the mistreatment of Native Americans by the federal government, Jackson wrote a novel entitled Ramona in 1884. It sold 600 thousand copies in 60 years, and was the first novel ever written about southern California. It remains a cultural and historical literary landmark for the state today.
In 1887, the Dawes Severality Act was passed by Congress, changing land owning rules for Native Americans. With high numbers of them populating the West, this certainly made things in this area of the United States a bit different. For more ways Helen Hunt Jackson changed the West by changing the treatment of Native Americans, please go to Major Contributions to Native American History.
