Courageous Cowgirls: Women Who Rode the Trails, Ran Ranches, and Raced in Rodeos

Giddy up! You’re about to meet twelve trailblazing women from around Texas. These gutsy gals ran ranches, drove cattle on the trails, tamed horses, faced down federales and bandits, saved orphaned buffalo calves, drove a chuck wagon, performed daring stunts as a trick rider, competed in rodeos, and more. Prose poems written in the first person and vibrant illustrations bring these historical figures to life: Patricia de la Garza de Leon, Doña Estefana Cortina, Henrietta ‘Rittie” Williams Foster, Johanna July, Lizzie Johnson Williams, Mollie Dyer Goodnight, Bennie Hughes Miskimon, Viola Perry Anderson, Alice Stillwell Henderson, Tad Barnes Lucas, Hallie Crawford Stillwell, and Verna Lee Booker Hightower.Includes additional bios of the cowgirls, and informative sidebars about related subjects such as the Chisholm Trail and cattle drives, American Bison or Buffalo, rodeos, Wild West shows, what cowgirls wore, how property laws affected women, and cowboys and cowgirls of color. Also included are a timeline, and a map to help locate where the cowgirls lived and worked. Perfect for kids 8-12 who love horses and cowgirls/cowboys, and for upper elementary and middle grade classes studying Texas and US History and Social Studies.  Read more