Introduction : households, gender, and politics in West African history -- Origins : the founding of Baté, 1650-1750 -- Growth : warfare and exile, commerce and expansion, 1750-1850 -- Conflict : warfare and captivity, 1850-81 -- Occupation : Samori Touré and Baté, 1881/-91 -- Conquest : warfare, marriage, and French statecraft -- Colonization : households and the French occupation -- Separate spheres? : colonialism in practice -- Conclusion : making states in the Milo River Valley, 1650/1910.