Daughters of Daring

Discover the untold stories of the bold women who rode harder, roped faster, and stole the spotlight in early Hollywood.
Since the famous “first” western movie, The Great Train Robbery, starring Broncho Billy Anderson, made its debut in 1903, cowboy heroes have continued their easily won dominance— but little has been written about the cowgirl stars and their fans. Young women looked up to independent cowgirl characters played by Barbara Stanwyck and Dale Evans in the 1940s and 1950s. Who were the stars before these women? Surprisingly, Hollywood was well-populated with leading cowgirls and real cowgirls. Early Hollywood actresses and stunt women kept the cowgirl spirit alive. They performed every conceivable feat of horsemanship and displayed professional skills coupled with their best efforts and devotion. For some of these working women, the financial rewards for their daring and athletic prowess were at least reasonable.
Daughters of Daring is the story of more than a dozen trick ropers, bronc busters, and bulldoggers turned actresses, who like the early ranch women and rodeo competitors, had pluck and charm. These women performed their own stunts, riding horses at breakneck speed, firing guns, and capturing outlaws. Cowgirl actresses such as Ruth Roland, Helen Gibson, Texas Guinan, Marin Sais, Anne Little, Marie Walcamp, and Evelyn Selbie received top billing above the cowboy and his horse in hundreds of films. This is their story.

Chris Enss is a New York Times best-selling author who has been writing about women of the Old West for more than twenty years. She has penned more than forty published books on the subject. Her work has been honored with five Will Rogers Medallion Awards, two Elmer Kelton Book Awards, an Oklahoma Center for the Book Award, and was a Western Writers of America Spur Award Finalist. Her books Thunder Over the Prairie, The Death Row All Stars, and The Trials of Annie Oakley have been optioned by major production companies for feature films. Enss’s most recent works are According to Kate: The Legendary Life of Big Nose Kate, Love of Doc Holliday; No Place for a Woman: The Struggle for Suffrage in the Wild West; and Iron Women: The Ladies Who Helped Build the Railroad.
Enss serves as executive director of the Will Rogers Medallion Award and is a licensed private investigator. She lives in Grass Valley, CA.