As a history buff, I found BY GRIT & GRACE: Eleven Women Who Shaped the American West (Fulcrum Publishing) to be informative about the women profiled therein. Each of them in some way influenced the culture of the western United States during the nineteenth century. The book is edited by Glenda Riley and by Richard W. Etulain, who is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of New Mexico. Etulain is also the author and editor of over forty books, including BEYOND THE MISSOURI: The Story of the American West.
While many books about the western frontier focus on the notorious men who were leaders in the formative years, there were many women who independently broke ground and made their voices and leadership known.
The biographies are interesting and have helpful, detailed “Sources and Further Reading” at the end of each of them. Included are well-known women like Annie Oakley (who was actually an Eastern woman who promoted the ‘concept’ of what a Western woman was like) and now-obscure women like Gertrudis Barceló, the leading monte-bank dealer in the Mexican territory of New Mexico in the 1830s.
Although this is could be considered an introductory type of book for western history and women’s history buffs, with guidance to more detailed studies, I think anyone would find this an enjoyable read.
I was especially interested in Abigail Scott Duniway, a determined woman’s suffragist and after 40 years of campaigning, the first female voter in Oregon in 1914. I plan to use the listed sources to further my knowledge of this courageous woman. Even the profiled women whose convictions are in opposition to mine were helpful in forming an overall understanding of this country during the 1800s.
Recommended!
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As a history buff, I found BY GRIT & GRACE: Eleven Women Who Shaped the American West (Fulcrum Publishing) to be informative about the women profiled therein. Each of them in some way influenced the culture of the western United States during the nineteenth century. The book is edited by Glenda Riley and by Richard W. Etulain, who is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of New Mexico. Etulain is also the author and editor of over forty books, including BEYOND THE MISSOURI: The Story of the American West.
While many books about the western frontier focus on the notorious men who were leaders in the formative years, there were many women who independently broke ground and made their voices and leadership known.
The biographies are interesting and have helpful, detailed “Sources and Further Reading” at the end of each of them. Included are well-known women like Annie Oakley (who was actually an Eastern woman who promoted the ‘concept’ of what a Western woman was like) and now-obscure women like Gertrudis Barceló, the leading monte-bank dealer in the Mexican territory of New Mexico in the 1830s.
Although this is could be considered an introductory type of book for western history and women’s history buffs, with guidance to more detailed studies, I think anyone would find this an enjoyable read.
I was especially interested in Abigail Scott Duniway, a determined woman’s suffragist and after 40 years of campaigning, the first female voter in Oregon in 1914. I plan to use the listed sources to further my knowledge of this courageous woman. Even the profiled women whose convictions are in opposition to mine were helpful in forming an overall understanding of this country during the 1800s.
Recommended!
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Just as the title implies, this collection of biographical essays relates the lives and adventures of eleven women who had a significant impact on the American West or helped to shape the mythology of the Wild West. Both Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane are included, as well as many other amazing women with a variety of nationalities and cultural backgrounds.

It's a good set of essays, though it tends to be very dry. What it lacks in easy reading entertainment it makes up for with the attempt to be historically accurate. The essays represent good introductions to these women and their lives and each directs the reader to biographies and other further reading, noting those works that are based on the most factual sources, for anyone inspired to learn more. ( )