In the 1870s, a group of Protestant mission women, appalled by the heavily masculine atmosphere of the cities of the American West, came together to construct a dominion of female authority. Creating a network of mission-sponsored homes, the Protestant women maintained what they called `women's work for women', in virtual freedom from male authority. The author presents a sophisticated treatment of the interaction of the Protestant women with women from different ethnic backgrounds, raising some interesting questions about culture and assimilation.