Myra Maybelle Belle Shirley, AKA Belle Starr was reinvented by the media, as were many others. She was from an affluent Southern family, raised in...
Belle Starr
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wild women of the west
Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in 1884 and was an instant sensation. Soon she was an international star. Her repertoire include...
Little Sure Shot
Annie Oakley gains world-wide fame with Buffalo Bill. In April 1885, sharpshooter Annie Oakley joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. She’d already...
Flora Quick, aka Tom King
You’ve heard of Calamity Jane, Ethel “Etta” Place and Belle Starr. But what about Flora Quick? This mysterious horse thief said to have ridden with...
Don’t Bet Against a Sporting Girl
How soiled doves tried to beat the odds against hypocrisy and politicians For several decades, Hollywood has had a fine time portraying...
Swinging Doors, Dance Hall Girls and Whiskey
For seven decades, True West has celebrated the historic saloon in fact and fiction. When True West’s founder Joe Small published his first issue of...
Opening Shot
Wanton Women of Montana In the 1890s, prostitution and red-light district brothels were common across the Big Sky State. In this unknown Montana...
Belles of Boomtown
Female performers who played in the rough-hewn mining camp theaters had an edge on their male counterparts simply because they were women. That...
Women Peace Officers in the West
Were there any women peace officers in the Old West? Holly Dew (Ahwatukee, AZ) I haven't run across any from the Old West and I believe if there was...
Whole Lotta Love
Giving our mothers and grandmothers their due is more than satisfying. Back in 1994 I had it on my schedule to do one of my timeline books on “The...
Arizona’s Most Colorful Ladies of the Evening
Several come to mind including Miss Edith, who had a business near the railroad tracks in my hometown. I delivered her newspaper and ran small...
How About Those Earp Women
Were any of the Earp women Prostitutes? Yes, you might say all of them dabble in the trade at one time or another. Allie was a former prostitute, as...