Cowgirls: 100 Years of Writing the Range

Michael Payne is head of the Research and Publications Program at the
Historic Sites and Archives Service, Alberta Community Development, and
the co-author of A Narrative History of Fort Dunvegan.

These two anthologies provide an introduction to cowboys and cowgirls
along with a sampling of what they have written about themselves and
what others have written about them. Writing about ranching as a way of
life is not limited to a single genre. Selections include personal
reminiscence, history, short stories, tall tales, novels, and poetry.
Although some of this writing is probably an acquired taste, there are
selections by prominent writers, including Will James, Teddy Roosevelt,
and Sharon Butala. The Complete Cowboy Reader focuses on the early
ranching period and on writers with some direct experience of the open
range. Cowgirls includes pieces that address such contemporary topics as
feminism and sex.

Stone’s book has a more nostalgic feel and will appeal to readers
with an interest in the origins of the cattle industry in the United
States. His well-chosen selections provide insight into what a maverick
(or “mavrick”) really is and how it got the name, who Oliver Loving
of the Loving Trail was, and what it was really like to drive cattle on
the Chisholm Trail. Covering the period from the late 19th century to
the 1990s, Cowgirls looks at the experience of women as wives, mothers,
and partners in the very complex and risky ranching business. Many of
these women were or are bedeviled by the judgments of others concerning
their appearance, dress, or behavior. You don’t have to know how to
ride a horse or be able to distinguish a Hereford from an Angus to find
something of interest in most of the selections in this anthology.