Daredevil Dames: The Fearless Western Women Who Rode, Raced, and Reached the Skies

Daring Dames celebrates the most adventurous and unconventional women of the nineteenth century through today. Lured by the promise of freedom, these fearless females gained fame as courageous cowgirls, tenacious trick riders of the Wild West Shows, and death-defying performers for traveling circuses. They were dreamers who defied societal expectations and competed with men in rodeo, motorcar racing, and other sports. Some women also defied gravity and took to the skies in flimsy new-fangled ＂flying machines.＂ A few of them traveled solo cross-country long before there were superhighways to follow. Their desire to see the territory ahead was strong and they conquered the many obstacles in their way. Included in this book are stories of modern-day remarkable women who continue to push the limits of the body and the mind, proving that the bold, indomitable spirit lives on!

Jill Charlotte Stanford is the author of The Cowgirl’s Cookbook: Recipes For Your Home On The Range; You Might Be A Cowgirl If... A Guide To Life On The Range; Keep Cookin’ Cowgirl: More Recipes For Your Home On The Range; Cowgirls in the Kitchen: Recipes, Tales, and Tips for a Home on the Range (with co-author Robin Betty Johnson); and She Speaks to Me: Western Women’s View of the West through Poetry and Song. Jill lives and writes in Sisters, Oregon. Researching and speaking to groups about the old-time cowgirls is what she loves best, along with cooking and eating of course.