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Although women were a critical component of transatlantic migration, we know little about women’s decision to emigrate during the eighteenth century. Between 1778 and 1783, nearly 900 women and girls emigrated from the north of Spain to the Río de la Plata as part of a government-sponsored project to colonize Patagonia. The extensive documentation of this colonization project indicates that many of these peasant women had already participated in peninsular migration or were familiar with the migration experience of family and community members. In addition, the project’s emphasis on family migration altered gender expectations so as to facilitate the participation of women without previous migration experience. Thus, through the experience of these peasant women, the colonization project connected peninsular and transatlantic migration systems. Moreover, the women who participated in this colonization project were not subordinated to men and their decision to emigrate; rather, they were active participants in the decision to enlist in the project.