1915–1934: (Women on the Roads — Women Disproportionately Visible on Occupation Roads as Market Vendors Caregivers Landowners Business Proprietors and Domest…

1915–1934: (Women on the Roads — Women Disproportionately Visible on Occupation Roads as Market Vendors Caregivers Landowners Business Proprietors and Domestic Servants, Caco General Theophil Disguised in the Dress of a Market Woman Touring the North for Recruitment While General Petit Severe Came In and Out of Cap-Haïtien Disguised as a Market Woman Transporting Seven Burro Loads of Rifles, Mme. Benoit Wife of Caco Leader Traveling Often to Mirebalais Lascaobas and Port-au-Prince with Other Market Women Always Carrying a Revolver Underneath Her Dress, Women’s Regular Visibility on Roads Functioning as Both Advantage and Disadvantage — Guerrilla Fighters Using Women’s Presence as Strategy While Young Girls and Women Had to Move Strategically in Groups for Safety): While some people bypassed major roads to avoid conscription into the corvée system, women remained disproportionately visible on the roads — as market vendors, caregivers, landowners, business proprietors, and domestic servants who had to travel to conduct the business of their homes and of other women’s homes. Military official records and marines’ personal archives routinely captured the landscape with images of “a typical country woman riding a burro.” Some men used this familiarity for protection: caco General Theophil completed a full tour of the north for recruitment disguised in the dress of a market woman, usually traveling with a burro. General Petit Severe, a fugitive from justice in Cap-Haïtien, came in and out of town as he pleased, always disguised as a market woman, transporting seven burro loads of rifles across the Dominican border. The gender performance facilitated caco attacks on US military officers. But regular visibility on roads also functioned as a disadvantage: young girls and women traveled in groups to ensure safety. Mme. Benoit, wife of caco leader Benoît, traveled often to Mirebalais, Lascaobas, and Port-au-Prince to buy supplies, as a rule accompanied by other market women, riding a big bay-colored mule and always carrying a revolver underneath her dress. Women used the well-worn images of women in transit to camouflage their technologies of defense.