At Cheyenne Senator and Mrs. Carey gave an elegant dinner party in their honor, attended by Governor and Mrs. Rich, Senator and Mrs. Warren, Mrs. Esther Morris, the first woman judge, Mrs. Therese Jenkins, State president, Mrs. Amalia Post, a suffrage pioneer, and other distinguished guests. They went immediately from dinner to the new Baptist church, which was filled to overflowing, and were introduced by the governor. At the close of the lectures, Mrs. Jenkins said, "Now I desire to introduce the audience to the speakers." She then called the names of the governor and all his staff, the attorney-general, the United States judges, the senators and congressmen, the mayor and members of the city council. Each rose as his name was mentioned, and before she was through, it seemed as if half the audience were on their feet, and the applause was most enthusiastic. Here again one could not discern an indication of the dreadful loss of respect which was to be the portion of enfranchised women.
It was long after midnight before the travellers were quietly in bed in the delightful home of the Careys, but at half-past seven they had finished breakfast and were on board train en route for Salt Lake City. Learning from the conductor that Mrs. Leland Stanford's private car was attached, Miss Anthony sent her card and soon was invited to a seat in that luxurious conveyance, where she enjoyed a visit of several hours. Mrs. Stanford told her of the government suit against the estate, and Miss Anthony's parting words were a warning not to leave her lawyers to go before the Supreme Court alone, but to be present herself in Washington to protect her own interests and those of the great university.
At Salt Lake, on Sunday morning, a large delegation of women, representing the different religious sects and political organizations, met the travellers and drove to the Templeton, where seventy-five sat down to breakfast, and they were then taken for a drive over the city. Miss Anthony was the guest of Mrs. Beatie, daughter of Brigham and Zina D. H. Young, and Miss Shaw of Mrs. McVicker. At 3 p. m., the Reverend Anna preached in the great Tabernacle, Bishops Whitney and Richards assisting. At the close they congratulated her on having preached a Mormon sermon; afterwards a Methodist minister who was in the audience thanked her for her good Methodist sermon; and a little later a Presbyterian minister shook her hand heartily and expressed his pleasure at hearing her Presbyterian doctrine; so she concluded she had made a politic address. Sunday evening she preached in the theater at what was intended to be a union service. All of the Gentile ministers had been invited to take part and all declined but the pastor of the Unitarian church. He and the principal of the public schools, formerly a Unitarian minister, were the only men on the stage.
The Inter-Mountain Woman Suffrage Association of Utah, Montana and Idaho opened the next morning, May 13. The first day's sessions were held in the new city building, but it was so crowded that an overflow meeting was necessary and the next day the convention was transferred to the big assembly hall. The seat of honor was given to Miss Anthony; on her right Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells, president of the Utah association, on her left, Rev. Anna Shaw. They were surrounded by a semicircle of the illustrious women of the Territory who, for many years, had been active in the work for suffrage. The hall was draped with the national colors and above the stage were portraits of Lincoln, Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton. The introductory address was made by Governor West, who, after paying an earnest tribute to Miss Anthony, predicted that the new State constitution, which was to go to the voters containing a woman suffrage clause, would be overwhelmingly ratified.
During their stay in Salt Lake Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw received the highest consideration. Monday afternoon Mr. and Mrs. F. S. Richards gave a reception in their honor, and were assisted in receiving by Governor West, President Woodruff, Hon. George Q. Cannon, and many ladies. The next afternoon a reception was tendered by the W. C. T. U. In the evening, a large party went to Ogden, where a banquet was given, a great meeting held in the city hall, and an overflow meeting in one of the churches.
The 16th of May found the travellers at Reno, Nev., where they were the guests of Mrs. Elda A. Orr, president of the State association. In the morning Miss Anthony talked to the 800 men and women students of the State University. In the evening they spoke in the opera house, which was crowded to its limits, while on the stage were the representative men and women of the city and neighboring towns. The house was beautifully decorated with flowers and banners, a brass band played on the balcony and an orchestra within. They were introduced by Miss Hannah H. Clapp, who had presented Miss Anthony to a Nevada audience at Carson, in 1871. Saturday afternoon they enjoyed a charming reception in the parlors of the women's clubhouse.
Late that day they resumed their journey, took supper at Truckee on the summit of the Sierras, and had a delicious glimpse of Lake Donner just as they plunged into the forty miles of snow-sheds. They were glad of a long night's rest after the strain of the last three weeks and, when they awoke the next morning, were rolling through the fertile Sacramento valley. California in May! Never was there a pen inspired with the power to describe its beauties. Not the brush of the most gifted artist could picture the mountains with their green foot-hills and snow-capped summits; the valleys, nature's own lovely and fragrant conservatories of brilliant blossoms and luxuriant, riotous vines, and the great oaks with their glossy foliage, all enveloped in a warm and shimmering atmosphere and, bending above, the soft blue sky scarcely dimmed by a fleeting cloud. They can not be put into words, they must be lived.
The travellers had been up and dressed and enjoying the sweet air and lovely landscape for a long time when the train stopped at the Oakland station at half-past seven Sunday morning, May 19. Early as was the hour, with the mists still hovering over the bay, they found awaiting them, laden with flowers, Mrs. Cooper and her daughter Harriet, from San Francisco, Mrs. Isabel A. Baldwin, Mrs. Ada Van Pelt and several other Oakland ladies, and Rev. John K. McLean, the Congregational minister, whose eldest brother was the husband of Miss Anthony's sister. He conveyed her at once to his own home, while the others took charge of Miss Shaw. At 11 o'clock the reverend lady was in Dr. McLean's pulpit, fresh and smiling, in her soft, black ministerial robes, with dainty white lawn at neck and wrists. Every seat was filled, chairs were placed in the aisles, people sitting on the steps, and the happiest woman in all the throng was Susan B. Anthony as she sat beside her friend. That evening the scene was repeated in the Congregational church of San Francisco, where the chancel was adorned with lilies and the revered Sarah B. Cooper made the opening prayer.
The Woman's Congress opened at Golden Gate Hall, on the morning of May 20. The newspapers of San Francisco had decreed that this congress should be a success, and to this end they had been as generous with space and as complimentary in tone as the most exacting could have desired. The result was that at not a session during the week was the great hall large enough to hold the audience which sought admission. It presented a beautiful sight on the opening morning, festooned from end to end with banners; the stage a veritable conservatory, with a background of palms, bamboo and other tropical plants, and in front a bewildering array of lilies, roses, carnations, sweet peas and other fragrant blossoms. Grouped upon the platform, on chairs and divans, under tall, shaded lamps, were the speakers and guests. At the right of the president's desk was a large arm-chair artistically draped with flowers beneath a canopy of La France roses. At half-past ten Mrs. Cooper stepped out from the wings escorting Miss Anthony, followed by Mayor Adolph Sutro and Rev. Anna Shaw. The audience burst into a storm of applause and, amid cheers and the waving of handkerchiefs, Miss Anthony was conducted to her floral throne. As soon as she was seated, one woman after another came up with arms full of flowers until she was literally buried under an avalanche of the choicest blossoms. No one who was present ever will forget the lovely scene.
Mayor Sutro made the address of welcome, in which he emphasized his belief that "the ballot should be placed in the hands of woman as the most powerful agent for the uplifting of humanity." At the preceding congress the general topic had been, "The Relation of Women to the Affairs of the World," and the criticism had been made that it was too much of a woman suffrage meeting. For this one the subject selected was "The Home," but the results were the same. Whatever the paper—"Hereditary Influence," "The Parents' Power," "The Family and the State"—all led to suffrage; and the more suffrage, the greater the applause from the audience. Mrs. Cooper had written Miss Anthony, "I told the committee to put you and Miss Shaw anywhere on the program, that you could speak on one subject as well as another;" so they found themselves down for "Educational Influences of Home Life;" "Which Counts More, Father's or Mother's Influence?" "Does Wifehood Preclude Citizenship?" "The Evolution of the Home;" "The Family and the State;" "Shall We Co-operate?" "The Rights of Motherhood;" and numerous other topics. Both spoke every day during the Congress and the people seemed never to tire of hearing them.