To answer the questions of whether the pioneer effort and subsequent differences in lifestyles affected sex-role stereotyping in newspapers in 1885 and whether a widely perceived difference in role expectation was evident in the popular writing of the times, a study examined the differences in sex roles reflected in popular journalistic portrayals of two distinct modes of living. These two modes were the settled, stylized city life of the East and the turbulent, sometimes dangerous, and frequently arduous life of the western pioneers. The year 1885 was chosen because it marked a pivotal period in the social perception of women in both the East and West. The "New York Times" and the "San Francisco Chronicle" were chosen because they were typical of the era, readily available, and are still in publication. A total of 180 stories were randomly selected and sampled pertaining to women or men 18 years of age or older. Findings revealed that (1) numerical analysis of individual signifiers indicate that the pioneer experience did serve to broaden societal perceptions and awareness of women as functioning entities; and (2) greater environmental stresses of western migration, which necessitated a broader distribution of survival activities between the sexes, influenced journalists to write about women in more serious and respectful tones even though topics of discourse remained essentially the same. (Seven notes and five tables of data are included, and 85 references are appended.) (MS)