Unsung Heroes of the Wild West

In a time when women were not seen as being able to do the same things as men these women challenged the status quo and paved the way for women today.

The legends of the American Wild West are filled with tales of men that were dangerous, ruthless and lived life like each day would be their last. However, the unsung heroes that are often over looked are the women that helped build this chapter of American History.

Like many of the stories the real Calamity Jane was not like her folktale counter part, at least in looks and quite possibly morals. She was not a pretty lady and according to legend a person could tell the hard life that she had lived at first glance of her. She was a jack of many trades or so she claimed having held several different occupations from an Army Scout to a nurse. Stories of her adventures include shooting bar owners for not serving whiskey to women, having multiple lovers and could entertain bar patrons with her own rendition of “It’s a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight.”

However, Calamity Jane was not the only wild woman of the west that was as dangerous as the men. Poker Alice (Alice Ivers) moved from England with her family to Colorado where she married a mining engineer. After his death she became a professional dealer, which gave her a good living. Later she opened her own place and became known as a gambler, madam and a bootlegger. There was also Pearl Hart who became famous for being a female stagecoach bandit. When arrested she was quoted saying that she “would never consent to be tried under a law she had no voice in making.” My favorite woman of the west is Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp, the untamed spirit that married Wyatt Earp and survived a life in Tucson, Arizona and various other adventures that she followed her beloved husband into.

In a time when women had no say in politics and were seen as the “fairer sex” by all of the experts of the day, these women were pioneers not only in the Wild West but for women in general. It was a scandal that a gentle and fragile woman could actually rob a stagecoach, ride a horse well enough to beat a man and even hold her own and out live the men in an area of the country that had a life expectancy that was much lower than the rest of the country. They paved the way for women today to be able to have a say in their government, business and affairs outside of the home. The folktales of these women maybe exaggerated but truly pale in comparison to the real adventures that these women had.