The Last of the Wild West Cowgirls: A True Story
Description
Goldie Griffith didn't know how to ride a horse, much less perform tricks or tame a bronco, when she was hired by a famous Wild West show, but she didn't let that stop her. She traveled the country with several companies, part of a small group of professional cowgirls, and in 1913 Buffalo Bill himself gave her away at her wedding. She was married during one of the famous showman's Wild West shows at Madison Square Garden before a crowd of 8,000. A few years later, she discovered that not only was her cowboy husband wanted for murder in Texas, but he was already married when they wed. Furious, she pulled out her gun, aimed it at him, and pulled the trigger. As she waited in jail to learn her fate she regaled reporters with her life story. She was one of our country's first professional female athletes, and she not only boxed and wrestled and rode bucking broncos, she also ranched, trained war dogs, owned boarding houses and restaurants, and was an actor and stunt rider for the brand-new Western movies that were taking the country by storm.
- A Willa Literary Award finalist for creative non-fiction.
- With over 120 photographs and images.
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About the Author
Reviews
"Thank heavens Goldie's story wasn't lost because she was present at many significant early day western events and knew many of the people who helped the American West become important to our history. The experiences Goldie had in show business and ranching will keep you turning pages until you finish the book and wish there were more." --Gail Woerner, rodeo historian
"A well-researched blend of fact and informed imagination that brings to life the story of a very independent and colorful woman." --Steve Friesen, Director, Buffalo Bill Museum
"After I started reading it, I could not put it down except to sleep a few hours. It was a great 'read, ' and as a western historian, I could not believe that I had never heard of Goldie Griffith Cameron...she certainly deserves to be recognized as more than a bit player in the overall story of the West in times past." --Alvin Davis
"It's frankly surprising that Griffith is not better known -- she was a boxer, fencer and wrestler who took up bronc-busting and who was "given away" in marriage by none other than Buffalo Bill Cody at Madison Square Garden. Turnbaugh's journalistic background serves her well in this lively, history-packed volume." --Clay Evans, Boulder Daily Camera
"History made delightful--Hollywood and western fiction writers have all too often underestimated how exciting the wild, wild west could be if you were a cowgirl. Actual history is not so restricting." --Amazon reader
