Chris Enss Contributions COWGIRL Editorial COWGIRL Iconic: Lucyle Richards Lucyle Richards tightened the grip she had on the rope attached to the flank strap tied around the steer she was about to ride. The monstrous animal underneath the ninety-nine-pound woman recognized by rodeo fans across the country as the most beautiful of all the professional cowgirls, waited anxiously for the chute to open. The... COWGIRL LIFE Wild Women Of The West: Enid Justin Thirty-two-year-old Enid Justin drove her Model T Ford into the small town of Jacksboro, Texas, in early 1926, determined to sell her quality, handmade cowboy boots to the mercantile owners there. As the head of the newly formed Nocona Boot Company, the tenacious woman knew what needed to be done to make her brand a... COWGIRL LIFE Wild Women Of The West: Dr. Harriet Belcher A team of bald face horses pulling a buckboard wagon galloped wildly along a dirt road heading toward the Santa Ynez Mountains, twenty miles outside of Santa Barbara. The driver, a pudgy man wearing a worried expression, urged the animals along. Dr. Harriet Belcher, a distinguished looking, forty-year-old woman with dark hair and dark eyes,... COWGIRL LIFE Wild Women Of The West: Patsy Montana In 1939, a petite singer from Hot Springs, Arkansas, named Patsy Montana, made her screen debut in the Gene Autry Western Colorado Sunset. Her role in the film was that of a waitress working at a diner near a popular ranch. When the ranch hands came into the eatery one evening for supper, they asked... COWGIRL LIFE Wild Women Of The West: Kitty Canutt Bronc busting champion Kitty Wilkes won her first title at the Wild West Celebration Rodeo in Miles City, Montana, in 1916. The seventeen-year-old New York native’s straightforwardness and untamed physical daring gave fans the impression she was born and bred into the rugged life of a Wyoming ranch. Few would have guessed she was new... COWGIRL LIFE Wild Women Of The West: Mary Wiggins Mary Wiggins worshipped excitement. As a double for such screen stars as Barbara Stanwyck, Dorothy Lamour, Norma Shearer and Claudette Colbert she loved to climb the facades of tall buildings, to leap from a running horse to a speeding automobile, to fly a plane while blindfolded. Wiggins was one of the top stuntwomen during the... COWGIRL LIFE Wild Women Of The West: Mercedes McCambridge Academy Award winning actress Mercedes McCambridge portrayed Joan Crawford’s vindictive nemesis in Republic Pictures’ psychological Western Johnny Guitar. She was also Rock Hudson’s strong-willed older sister in Giant. A versatile, radio-trained character actress with a strong resonant voice, McCambridge specialized in playing forceful, domineering characters on screen. Many film critics believed she outshined Crawford in... COWGIRL LIFE Wild Women Of The West: Claire Trevor Claire Trevor made famous the role of Dallas the soiled dove in the film Stagecoach. With a voice once described as sounding like delicious trouble, she was one of the most sought-after supporting actresses during the 1930s and 40s. She was born in New York City – movie buffs disagree whether it was 1909 or... COWGIRL LIFE Wild Women Of The West: Anita Bush Anita Bush was the first Black American actress to star in a Western. Born on September 1, 1883, she began her career in the field of entertainment as a dancer and was only sixteen years old when she was hired to appear in Vaudeville with a comedy act known as William and Walker. Silent film... << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 … 63 >>