Texas Women on the Cattle Trails tells the stories of sixteen 
women who drove cattle up the trail from Texas during the last half 
of the nineteenth century.

    Some were young; some were old (over thirty). Some took to the 
trails by choice; others, out of necessity. Some went along to look at 
the stars; others, to work the cattle. Some made money and built 
ranching empires, but others went broke and lived hard, even 
desperate lives. The courage of Margaret Borland and the spunk of 
Willie Matthews, the pure delight of Cornelia Adair viewing the 
buffalo, and the joy of Mary Bunton gazing at night constellations on 
the open range offer new insights into women's experiences of the 
West.

    For the most part, these were ordinary women doing the best they 
could in difficult frontier conditions. They did not see themselves as 
living in unusual times or participating in "romantic" lifestyles, 
although the women who actually took to the trail were few in number. 
Like the cowboys on cattle drives, they faced dust and heat, thirst 
and exhaustion, rustlers and Indians, stampedes and prairie fires.

    Drawing heavily on the accounts of the women themselves, the 
authors of these chapters vividly illustrate the complexity and 
diversity of women's experiences on the cattle trails. Their stories of 
cattle drives and moving cattle to distant pastures add an important 
chapter to the story of life in the real Old West.

_________________________________________________________

Volume editor SARA R. MASSEY, who lives in Austwell, Texas, 
served as editor of Black Cowboys of Texas. While on the staff of 
the Institute of Texan Cultures, she was also the supervising editor 
for five books on Texas ethnic groups, the Texans All series 
published by Texas A&M University Press. She holds a doctorate 
from the University of Northern Colorado.


Number Thirteen: Sam Rayburn Series on Rural Life, sponsored 
by Texas A&M University–Commerce


What people are saying about this book

“Some of the women (like Matthews) are scarcely known, while 
others made a name for themselves during their own lifetimes, such 
as Molly Goodnight, wife of the co-creator of the Goodnight-Loving 
Trail. Interestingly, many were known by their contemporaries as the 
first woman ever to ride with the herds. This clearly indicates how 
valuable such a work as Texas Women is; it brings together a 
previously scattered wealth of information into one book. As a result, 
the work benefits both pleasure reader and researcher. . . . Americans 
continue to scrutinize the American West into the twenty-first century. 
Its myths and its truths will always draw an eager audience. In the 
ever-growing mass of Western scholarship, Texas Women provides 
an enjoyable exploration of a field only recently expanded.”
—Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Fall 2007

"Over the past decades, historians have acknowledged women's 
contributions to the history of the west and to cattle drives across 
the United States. But what separates this book from other 
publications is that it offers specific names, faces, and stories of 
an assortment of women who took to the Texas cattle trails 
between 1868 and 1889."—East Texas Historical Association, 
Summer 2007

Featured in the Texas Book Club on Southern Living's website: 
southernliving.com/ilovetexas

"They went up the cattle trails riding sidesaddle, astride, or in a 
wagon pregnant, taking their children, with a servant, as the trail 
boss, a bride, a chuck-wagon driver, experienced horsewomen, 
cattle buyers, novices, married, single, or in disguise. Sara Massey 
has gathered fascinating stories of sixteen remarkable, diverse 
cowgirls/women who conquered the hardships and enjoyed the 
pleasures of life going up the cattle trails. Where  once they rode in 
the shadows of history, women in Texas Women on the Cattle Trails 
ride into the sunshine of Texas trail history, a history that has 
captured the imagination of the international community. The lives of 
these overlooked, durable, innovative, independent women show a 
panoramic view of the hazards and happiness of trail life along with 
their family, social, political, and business lives on the ranching 
frontier. This book  brings a refreshing, new view of the early trail 
days starting in 1868 to the end of the trail days in 1889. It is a must 
for anyone who wants to understand life on the trail as it really was. 
Once you start reading about the blizzards, floods, stampedes, 
droughts, epidemics, deaths, diseases, and joys during the era of the 
cattle trail days, you won't want to put it down. The myth of the 
cowboy now enjoys the refreshing addition of the reality of the cattle 
trails, insight into the cowgirls/women who went up the  trails as seen 
through their own eyes."—Sylvia Gann Mahoney, author College 
Rodeo: From Show to Sport

"Largely neglected in accounts of the early Western cattle industry, 
women often played a more active role than ranching tradition has 
indicated. Some even rode the long trails on horseback or in a wagon, 
stoically carrying their share and more of the work load, facing the 
hardships and hazards with their cattle-driving menfolk. The authors 
describe the remarkable lives of sixteen such pioneer women who 
made their mark in what has long been considered a man's world."
—Elmer Kelton