Chris Enss

Chris Enss has produced an interesting but spotty history of women competitors and performers in America’s Wild West shows and early 20th century rodeos. The biographies of these independent young women who flouted social convention by their choice of careers range from just a few hundred words to a couple thousand, so each by definition hits only the high spots. If there’s a throughline here, it centers around athletic talent, refusal to acknowledge barriers, and a fierce show more independence.

As Wild West shows like the Buffalo Bill’s, Pawnee Bill’s and the 101 Ranch shows took a sanitized and/or sequin-spangled view of western life to citizens of Europe and America’s east coast, the daring and often dangerous stunts performed by the female troupe members – “American Amazons” as Cody called them – showed a small group of women roping, riding, and even bulldogging toe-to-toe with male competitors.

Well, mostly. One of the book’s most serious omissions is a discussion of “hobbled stirrup” riding, even though one of the chapters bears that title. Many of the female bronc riders of the era participated with their stirrups tied together under the horse’s belly. The practice – limited to female competitors only – was thought to give them a more secure seat during the bucking competition. Unfortunately, it also made it more difficult for riders to extricate themselves if a horse fell or collided with an object. The practice was directly responsible for the deaths, in the arena, of riders Bonnie McCarroll (1929) and Marie Gibson (1933), and gave impetus to a drive reserving the roughstock events for male competitors only – a restriction that continues to this day.

Enss also plays fast and loose with the terms “champion” and “world’s best”, as did the gloriously melodramatic advertising language of the day. Without a recognized regulatory agency, such as today’s Professional Rodeo Cowboys’ Association (PRCA), just about anyone who had won an important competition could claim the titles. (One poster for Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Show, reproduced in the text, claims – all in uppercase – that their show “surpass[es] in truthfulness, intensity and instructive features any exhibition of this or any other century on any continent in the universe.” So there.)

Ultimately, this slim volume is an appetizer for anyone interested in the history of women in professional rodeo, and provides a great jumping-off point for further study. But it’s neither comprehensive nor particularly well-organized. show less

Going to see Bonnie and Clyde at a local drive-in was the start of my interest in the Great Depression and that era's gangsters. Bonnie and Clyde. Pretty Boy Floyd. John Dillinger. Ma Barker. Bugs Moran. I'm not quite sure why I found these gangsters to be so fascinating. I didn't think they were romantic. I certainly didn't want to emulate them. I think it probably had something to do with how people reacted to and survived the Great Depression. So, it's no wonder that when I heard about show more Meet the Kellys that I wanted to read it.

I was familiar with other books written by Chris Enss, so I was expecting a well-researched history of Kelly and Thorne. That's exactly what I got. Kathryn Thorne saw the potential in small-time bootlegger George Kelly to give her the lifestyle she had always craved. And with her gift of a machine gun to Kelly, history was made. The couple's endless road trips not only had me hearing some of the music from Bonnie and Clyde, but they almost made me carsick.

I learned quite a bit from this book. I'd forgotten how kidnapping had taken center stage for several of these gangsters, so much so that the government passed the Federal Kidnapping Act in an attempt to put an end to it. In true diva style, when everything disintegrated, Kathryn Thorne tried her best to keep herself and her parents out of jail. She was definitely what my family would refer to as a "piece of work." If you have any interest at all in this time period, Meet the Kellys is well worth a read.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley) show less

As I lover of Pioneer history, especially in terms of the women of the times, I found The Doctor Wore Petticoats a nice introductory to not only early medicine on the frontier, but to the bravery and fortitude a certain group of tenacious women showed in order to make their way in a man's world. Chris Enss details the lives of 12 different women who won against the odds and became qualified and sought after physicians in the Wild West. Accompanying these short vignettes are some wonderful show more black and white photos of each woman written about, and some interesting quotes taken from their own diaries and journals. At 125 pages this is just a short glimpse into the world of female doctors in the mid to late 1800s, and my only wish was that the book was a bit longer and offered more stories about each woman presented. Other than that I found this book very enjoyable and eye opening into a world most of us are unknown to. show less

With the support of the family, including a foreword by scion Roy "Dusty" Rogers, this is an intimate portrayal of the successful and famous silver screen royalty of the oaters. This includes Dale Evan's many failed attempts to succeed as a popular singer in nightclubs and with the big bands before stumbling accidentally into the unfamiliar role of leading lady in Westerns. Roy was headed there all along with many years in frustratingly unsuccessful ensembles prior to Sons of Pioneers. Both show more had failed marriages and knew what they didn't want out of matrimony before tying the knot themselves. Their immense success - staggering in terms of wealth and fame - they shared with a large family of mostly adoptees. Much of this book, which includes a chapter-length biography of Trigger, covers the deep role of Christianity in a life marred by the tragic, early lose of three children in different incidents. show less