wild woman of the west

According to the February 8, 1885, edition of the Colorado Transcript, when Charley Hatfield was born in 1837, her mother gave her the name of Charlotte.  Her friends and family called her Charley. The circumstances surrounding the infant’s birth were just as controversial as the life she would later lead. Charlotte was the product of...

Wild Bill Hickok had many female admirers in his lifetime, but Agnes Lake Thatcher was the only woman who completely captured his heart. The man known as the “deadliest pistolero in the Old West” often declared to his friends that he preferred being a bachelor. It was a surprise to many when he married a...

The barroom at the Hotel Carey in Wichita, Kansas, was extremely busy most nights.  Cowhands and trail riders arrived by following the smell of whiskey and the sound of an inexperienced musician playing an out of tune piano inside the saloon.  Beyond the swinging doors awaited a host of well-used, female companions and an assortment...

Her name was Annie McIntyre Morrow, and the story of her life and times in the Idaho mining camps of Atlanta and Rocky Bar is one of tragedy, courage, and resourcefulness.  She was born in Van Buren County, Idaho, on September 13, 1858. Her mother died giving birth to her. Annie’s father, Steve McIntyre, brought...

Cad Wilson was no beauty, and she could not sing.  Yet her personality was such that the miners in Alaska’s Gold Rush area threw nuggets and gold watches onto the stage as she ran about laughing and picking up loot, all the while holding her dress up to display her skinny legs.  Eddie Dolan, the...

Two of the most ferocious dance-hall girls in Alaska’s gold rush region in 1898, were Oregon Mare and Grizzly Bear.  Neither could be described as pretty; Grizzly’s appearance was really fearsome because she had one eye gouged out in a fight.  The continued presence of these two in the dance halls was due to the...

Legends has it that “Cattle Kate” (Ella Watson), who was twenty-seven and beginning to show a few signs of wear and tear, told friends she was going to pull up stakes and set up a crib in another town, since Cheyenne was no longer easy pickings.  “There’s no use pulling the wool over my own...

The manager of the Melodeon Theatre in Virginia City, Nevada, placarded every cliff and signboard on Sun Mountain with posters announcing the coming of Antoinette Adams, the first actress to appear in the town. Enthusiasm was boundless as the red-letter day approached, and on opening night, every bench, corner, and windowsill of the Melodeon was...