Synopses & Reviews
Goldie Griffith was one of a kind. She boxed. She wrestled. She rode bucking broncos in the Buffalo Bill Wild West traveling tent shows, and a newspaper referred to the pretty young bronco buster as a Heller in Skirts. She was one of the first professional female athletes. She was an actor and stunt rider for the brand-new western movies that were taking the country by storm. She was married during a Wild West at Madison Square Garden with a crowd of 8,000 in attendance. She became a rancher and owned several restaurants in the mountains of Colorado. She trained dogs for the war and applied to be the first policewoman in San Francisco. Was there anything she couldn't do? She didn't think so. This is the (amazingly) true story of Goldie Griffith's life. With over 120 photographs and images.A 2009 WILLA Literary Award finalist.Editorial ReviewsThank heavens Goldie s story wasn t lost because she was present at many significant early day western events and knew many of the people who helped the American West become important to our history. Sit back and read about Goldie s life, truly The Last of the Wild West Cowgirls. The experiences Goldie had in show business and ranching will keep you turning pages until you finish the book and wish there were more. Gail Woerner, rodeo historian ...a well-researched blend of fact and informed imagination that brings to life the story of a very independent and colorful woman. Goldie Griffith: wrestler, cowgirl, bronc rider, entrepreneur and feminist. What a woman Steve Friesen, Director, Buffalo Bill Museum, Lookout Mountain, Golden, ColoradoYou can taste the dust in Goldie s mouth, feel the sweat dribbling down her chest and smell the corral, the horse energy .The book puts one into the center of the struggles of a traveling show, the amazing effort of transporting hundreds of people and livestock, including elephants, across the country in railroad cars .The book is an historic gem that was just waiting to be written. Barbara Lawlor, The Mountain-Ear
Synopsis
Goldie Griffith was one of a kind. She boxed. She wrestled. She rode bucking broncos in the Buffalo Bill Wild West traveling tent shows, and a newspaper referred to the pretty young bronco buster as a Heller in Skirts. She was one of the first professional female athletes. She was an actor and stunt rider for the brand-new western movies that were taking the country by storm. She was married during a Wild West at Madison Square Garden with a crowd of 8,000 in attendance. She became a rancher and owned several restaurants in the mountains of Colorado. She trained dogs for the war and applied to be the first policewoman in San Francisco. Was there anything she couldn't do? She didn't think so. This is the (amazingly) true story of Goldie Griffith's life. With over 120 photographs and images.
Synopsis
One of our country's first professional female athletes, Goldie Griffith didn't know how to ride when she got a job with a famous Wild West show, but she didn't let that stop her. She joined the small group of show cowgirls and learned to bust broncos for Buffalo Bill. She also was an actor and stunt rider for the brand-new Western movies that were taking the country by storm. She was married during a Buffalo Bill Wild West show at Madison Square Garden with a crowd of 8,000 in attendance. When she discovered her cowboy husband was wanted for murder in Texas and already married, she pulled out her show gun, aimed it at him and squeezed the trigger, hoping he would die.
She also worked on what is now the famous Caribou Ranch in Colorado, trained dogs for the war, and opened a number of restaurants in Nederland, Colorado, to support herself and her young son.
There was nothing she wasn't willing to try. This is the (amazingly) true story of Goldie Griffith's life. With over 120 photographs and images. A 2009 WILLA Literary Award finalist.
Synopsis
Goldie Griffith didn't know how to ride a horse, much less perform tricks or tame a bronco, when she was hired by a famous Wild West show, but she didn't let that stop her. She traveled the country with several companies, part of a small group of professional cowgirls, and in 1913 Buffalo Bill himself gave her away at her wedding. She was married during one of the famous showman's Wild West shows at Madison Square Garden before a crowd of 8,000. A few years later, she discovered that not only was her cowboy husband wanted for murder in Texas, but he was already married when they wed. Furious, she pulled out her gun, aimed it at him, and pulled the trigger. As she waited in jail to learn her fate she regaled reporters with her life story. She was one of our country's first professional female athletes, and she not only boxed and wrestled and rode bucking broncos, she also ranched, trained war dogs, owned boarding houses and restaurants, and was an actor and stunt rider for the brand-new Western movies that were taking the country by storm.
- A Willa Literary Award finalist for creative non-fiction.
- With over 120 photographs and images.