Western Cowgirls Photo Archive in the Early 20th Century

[Wild West] [Cowgirls] Archive of 14 photographs of American cowgirls from the turn of the century til the 1950s. Photos range in size with most being 3.5" x 5". Black and white and sepia real photo postcards and photographs. Most photos show women fitted in riding clothes mounted atop horseback, some of the women are shown in action with their horses bucking or trotting. Earlier photographs show women in skirts or dresses, even though pants for women equestrians were first worn under skirts in 1889, wearing riding pants alone wasn't popularized until the 1920s. One real photo postcard shows professional rodeo performer, Bonnie McCarrol being bucked off (truncated) of a horse in the midst of a show as she tumbles backwards onto the dirt. Another action photo shows young 16 year old Virginia Beckurth, as inscribed en verso, wearing a full cowhide and tasseled riding outfit as she tosses her hat in the air while the horse is shown mid-buck. Another rodeo show photograph from the mid-century shows Vivian White, "Champion Cowgirl," as she rides her horse at the Grand Entry. A photo of Norma Holmes Truan, "famous pin-up rodeo cowgirl" is shown as she wears a cowgirl hat, ascot, button up, and riding pants atop her saddled horse. A few post cards are inscribed en verso from either the photographers or the women in the photos themselves. A real photo post card from 1905 shows "Mattie Gwen Leach" at 15 years old on top of her horse, Tony in rural Idaho. A real photo postcard from 1909 shows a woman in riding trousers, gloves, a checked blouse, and a hat atop a dark horse in the midst of a Colorado plain, she writes to a man named Bill showing off her new horse, and signs off "Ethel." Many cowgirls like Truan and McCaroll made a name for themselves, but many more did not, and were simply the female embodiments of the rugged, physical life that the frontier demanded. In this archive, we can see a snapshot of how the frontier lifestyle blurred gender roles and was a historical moment when women were not confined to the domestic sphere. Overall in very good condition. (Inventory #: 21237)