Jan. 16—”The women who had come by the overland route appeared to have stood the hardships of the journey remarkably well and were not half so loud as the men in their complaints,” wrote Bayard Taylor, a journalist describing the influx of women coming off the trail in Sacramento in 1849.

This excerpt comes from a series of panels specially curated for “Her Side of the Story: Tales of California Pioneer Women,” currently on display at the Sutter County Museum in Yuba City. The material for this exhibit comes from a collection of stories gathered by the Association of Pioneer Women of California in the early 1900s. This was the very first group created by and for pioneer women.

By 1962, the members had preserved over 800 handwritten stories and tales of pioneer women who came to California before 1854. These remembrances have been bound into a single ledger which forms the basis of “Her Side of the Story,” a traveling exhibit produced in partnership between the Society of California Pioneers and Exhibit Envoy.

“This time period is very underrepresented for women,” said Drisel Perez, the museum’s assistant curator. “I haven’t seen many like this.”

“Women are resilient, both then and now,” added Diane Zanocco, one of the museum’s volunteers.

The display features 30 first-person accounts from women who traveled by land or sea to settle in California, some even prior to California’s statehood. Shipwrecks, disease, entrepreneurialism, and encounters with Native peoples, these are just a few of the topics covered by the brave female pioneers adventuring through America.

“My mother was about 16 years of age at the time of her arrival in California,” wrote Maria Matilda Anser Hudson. “She was a fearless rider and related a great many thrilling stories to me of her adventures on the way and after arrival in California.”

While the exhibit aptly embraces the female voice throughout the pioneer era, it readily acknowledges its limitations and exclusions. During its formation, the Association of Pioneer Women of California noted in their bylaws that only “moral white women” and their female descendants would be eligible for membership. This clause ultimately eliminated the voices of minority female groups and women of color from being recorded.

As a reminder, curators have included a diverse set of unknown portraits of pioneer women throughout the display as a silent metaphor for their exclusion.

“My favorite part of this exhibit, specifically, are these unknown portraits because I think they tell a story on their own,” said Perez. “I wonder what these women hoped for. Is it the same as the other women that we have? How did they travel? Was it more difficult for some than others? We can kind of fill in the gaps and imagine what it might have been like from what we know of history, but It also makes you wonder if they even tried to preserve their own story.”

“Her Side of the Story” will be on display at the museum during regular business hours until April 7. Admission is free and a free opening reception will be held on Friday from 5-7 p.m. at the museum. The reception will include light refreshments and hors d’oeuvres.

The Sutter County Museum is located at 1333 Butte House Rd. in Yuba City. Regular open hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m Tuesday-Friday, and weekends from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, call 530-822-7141, or visit suttercountymuseum.org.