wild women wednesday

The pliant figure leaned over the ship’s rail, expressive eyes intent on the blue-green waters of the harbor.  A mass of wavy, light brown hair with tints of gold lifted and curled with every breeze, its arrangement a matter of complete indifference to the angler.  Suddenly the slender form froze, breath held, and then, with...

The pilgrimage West was an arduous undertaking.  Emigrants hurriedly loaded their wagon trains with as many personal belongings as they could, and if they were unable to make what little they had fit, it was left behind.  Limited space forced many to wear all the clothing they owned on their backs.  The basic outfit for...

On August 24, 1863, San Francisco’s elite flocked to Maguire’s Opera House. Ladies wearing diamonds and furs rode up in handsome carriages; gentlemen in opera capes and silk hats were also in attendance. It was an opening night such as the city had never before seen. All 1,000 seats in the theater were filled with...

In the 1850s, outfits for women and men were topped off with a hat. Most children and all adults wore some kind of head covering in public. The bonnet was the most common hat worn by women. Made from a wide range of material from calico and straw to velvet and silk taffeta, the brim...

A magnificent palomino carried its rider past a regiment of soldiers marching toward their quarters at Fort Phil Kearny, a rugged Wyoming outpost. The soldier’s heads turned to watch as the curious rider sauntered up the dusty thoroughfare to the post mercantile. The figure in the saddle pushed back a wolf fur hat and squinted...

Pioneer award winning rodeo performer. Such a title conjures up images of courage, stamina, and old-fashion grit. But Fannie Sperry was not only a plucky horsewoman. She was a forthright, attractive, and gentle lady, whose life revolved around her love of horses and remarkable skill with them. On a Montana ranch in 1819, a little girl toddled...

The discovery of gold in California in 1849 sparked a raging fever in thousands of Argonauts hoping to strike it rich. Among the flood of fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands that ventured west were mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives. Although they were few in number, women shoveled and picked through tons of gravel working shoulder...

The faces around the poker table in “Poker Alice’s” gambling house in Deadwood, South Dakota, were nonchalant but their nonchalance only veiled excitement. Only the face of “Poker Alice” showed absolutely no flicker of tautness. She shifted her cigar to the other corner of her mouth and narrowly watched the face of the man holding...