Author takes readers on a wild ride

Sisters author Jill Stanford took readers for a fun frolic back to the heyday of female trick ropers and riders of the West during a book chat Friday night at Paulina Springs Books.

Her latest offering, "Wild Women and Tricky Ladies," is a tribute to the gallant gals of the rodeo whose daredevil antics atop a horse thrilled audiences around the world in the early decades of the 20th century.

"The book was launched at last year's Pendleton Roundup, and it was wonderful," recalled Stanford. "Many of the famous trick riders and ropers were there for the event and showed up for a personal copy."

In a slide presentation entitled "The Girls Of The Golden West," Stanford introduced a full house to some of the more notorious personalities of the age: fancy ropers, wild steer wranglers, bulldoggers, steer ropers and bronc riders who did it all with a sense of style and a sunny smile.

"I didn't know much about cowgirls before I moved to Central Oregon," she said. "But my whole outlook changed when I came to Sisters. I guess my heroes have always been cowgirls. One birthday I got a book called 'Pam's Paradise Ranch,' about a girl growing up with horses on the big island of Hawaii, and I was hooked. I read that book over and over."

Stanford grew up north of Seattle in the fantasy, movie-cowboy world of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. In the summer of 1953 she spent time at Camp Tamarack, a former horse camp for girls near Suttle Lake.

"I never forgot what it was like, riding out through the ponderosa pines with that blue, blue sky. We'd ride right down and be a part of the Sisters Rodeo Parade and everything. How beautiful that was."

The book's genesis came from a pack trip to the Eagle Cap Wilderness with her girlfriends and campfire tales of these wild women and their exploits in dusty, dirt arenas. After extensive research into the central characters of the circuit, she collected stories of their personalities, large and small, into a collection for the public to enjoy.

Before women could vote they were competing against men in rodeo events, and the first genuine superstar was Bertha Blancett of Wyoming. In the 1920s she excelled at bronc riding and Roman riding, standing atop a pair of charging steeds, and even appeared in several silent Westerns with legendary screen cowboy Tom Mix.

Other cowgirls featured in the book include Rose Smith, the Perry Sisters and Diamond Kitty, who would pop a diamond in her front tooth out to pay for entry fees. They'd gallop flat out, standing tall, saluting a cheering crowd with no spotters or protection, jumping a convertible automobile without a helmet and performing reckless maneuvers in their custom saddles.

"They were all very un-ladylike, with tough lives and split skirts, but they sure loved what they were doing," said Stanford.

"Back in those days there were no bucking chutes, horses were blindfolded and eared-down and when the rider nodded, the blindfold was stripped and off they went. It occurred to me that these early athletes of the West still had to make meals, and that's how 'The Cowgirl's Cookbook,' my first book, came to be. I found out they not only cooked but also branded cattle on the ranch in full skirts, scarves, wide-brimmed hats and fringed gloves. After the success of the cookbook my publisher asked if I had any other ideas and I smiled and told him about my 'Tricky Ladies.'"

Ruth M. Davis was one of the biggest stars of yesteryear. Now in her 70s, she lives quietly in Prineville, far from the hoots and hollers of the rodeo.

"I go and visit her all the time," said Stanford. "I make rhubarb pie and she makes beef stew and we talk about what it was like back in the day. Many of the women I wrote about were very stunned when I interviewed them, and felt they'd never done anything that interesting. There's a whole sorority of cowgirls still out there doing it today. If I could go back in time and be anyone I could be, I think I'd be a trick rider."

"Wild Women and Tricky Ladies" and "The Cowgirl's Cookbook" are both available at Paulina Springs Books.