Texas "The Yellow Rose State"

The American Civil War ended abruptly 10 months into the fighting when a mysterious plague broke out among Confederate soldiers. In just a few days, soldiers on both sides were dropping dead as the sickness took them. The plague, which seemed to favor males, soon spread to the civilian populace of most southern states, including Texas.

By the time the plague burned itself out, there was a severe shortage of men over the age of puberty all across the South. Not surprisingly, it took a while to get men from other areas to travel south. Fear of the plague reappearing was high.

In Texas, the womenfolk weren't going to wait around for men to show up. They put advertisements in newspapers from Canada to Central America and from coast to coast. The gist of these ads?

"Ladies! Do you want to make your mark on the world? Do you seek good pay and a job? Would you like a piece of land to call your own? Then come to Texas! We need you and will give you a chance to prove your worth!"

Was it successful? Oh yes! 300,000 women of all ages, races and nationalities flooded into the Lone Star State in the first year alone. Women took up the jobs that men had done before, from cowboy to undertaker to railroad worker to Texas Ranger. The Texas Legislature, as well as every other elected position and most appointed positions, was filled by women.

Due to a couple of small outbreaks of the Mankiller Plague, it took 10 years for men to begin coming into Texas in any numbers. By then, many women had taken younger husbands and lovers as the young Texan boys reached their late teens. Although it was never talked about until many decades later, lesbian relationships flourished and were just taken in stride.

When men did begin to come into the state, they naturally sought to take control of things. That didn't happen. First off, Texas had a bunch of new laws about female equality and inheritance and other things. Secondly, women outnumbered men by 3 to 1 well into the 1920s and those women were really fond of their female politicians. In fact, Texas didn't reach a 50/50 male/female ratio until the 1970s. By then, there was no chance in Hell of men controlling anything.

Which was just fine by all those Yellow Roses of Texas.