Yes, Sandy, I think you're right about the traditional role o0f
 
        Yes, Sandy, I think you're right about the traditional role of
        "women in the western" being that "of bringing civilization to
        the frontier," and your example of Ford's "My Darling Clementine"
        is excellent. But what strikes me is that Ford's "The Searchers"
        is an even better example. All of the women in that film ... and
        particularly the young Vera Miles ... are trying to get the men
        to settle down, but the men, particularly the "manliest men,"
        like Ethan Edwards (John Wayne), just keep on riding away. And
        at the end of that classic western, all of the characters except
        Ethan enter a house and close the door, with Ethan still outside
        symbolically looking off into the desert. What a film!  Ernie.