Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane

Author: James D. McLaird

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2012-11-27

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 080618311X

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Forget Doris Day singing on the stagecoach. Forget Robin Weigert’s gritty portrayal on HBO’s Deadwood. The real Calamity Jane was someone the likes of whom you’ve never encountered. That is, until now. This book is a definitive biography of Martha Canary, the woman popularly known as Calamity Jane. Written by one of today’s foremost authorities on this notorious character, it is a meticulously researched account of how an alcoholic prostitute was transformed into a Wild West heroine. Always on the move across the northern plains, Martha was more camp follower than the scout of legend. A mother of two, she often found employment as waitress, laundress, or dance hall girl and was more likely to be wearing a dress than buckskin. But she was hard to ignore when she’d had a few drinks, and she exploited the aura of fame that dime novels created around her, even selling her autobiography and photos to tourists. Gun toting, swearing, hard drinking—Calamity Jane was all of these, to be sure. But whatever her flaws or foibles, James D. McLaird paints a compelling portrait of an unconventional woman who more than once turned the tables on those who sought to condemn or patronize her. He also includes dozens of photos—many never before seen—depicting Jane in her many guises. His book is a long-awaited biography of Martha Canary and the last word on Calamity Jane.

South Pass, 1868
South Pass, 1868

Author: James Chisholm

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 1975-01-01

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780803258242

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"James Chisholm was a staff writer For The Chicago Tribune sent to report on the gold strike made in the late 1860s at one of the great historical features of the continent?South Pass on the western trails. His journal, illustrated by himself, Is a graceful, observant narrative full of the real essence of frontier mining camp life."?Library Journal. "Chisholm had a lively sense of humor, An engaging frankness, and a fine eye for landscape. He was also a candid social critic."?Rocky Mountain News. "Lovers of the Old West will buy Chisholm's Journal and never part with it."?Pacific Historical Review. "If South Pass failed to produce gold in the paying quantities James Chisholm's miners thought it would, Chisholm himself produced finer, more lasting gold in his journal account of Wyoming's short-lived gold rush. His journal exudes the smell of sagebrush and scenic panoramas, Of torrential rain storms and night packing, Of being small in a big land, and of honest, earthy people who, In business-like fashion, went about the task of risking life, limb, health, and what small fortunes they had, To hit the big one. Chisholm sees with unpretentious eyes. His is an honest appraisal from a detached journalist, leavened with self-effacing humor. His prose is clean and clear. it can be read aloud and remembered."?Charles E. Rankin, editor of Montana the Magazine of Western History. Lola M. Homsher was director of the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department.

It Happened in Wyoming
It Happened in Wyoming

Author: Paul W. Papa

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2013-10-01

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1493004581

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It Happened in Wyoming takes readers on a rollicking, behind-the-scenes look at some of the characters and episodes from the Equality State's storied past. Including both famous tales, and famous names--and little-known heroes, heroines, and happenings.

It Happened in the Old West
It Happened in the Old West

Author: Erin H. Turner

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2017-06-01

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1493028316

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These are the stories of what happened in the West as the trickle then flood of Easterners and immigrants first began to flow into the plains, deserts, and mountains between the Pacific Ocean and the Mississippi River and, finally, far north into The Last Frontier. While some events would have happened regardless who was there—earthquakes, storms, droughts, and other natural disasters—it was because of this influx of humanity that those events were recorded and have become part of America’s history. Amid tales of loss and horror are accounts of survival and success. And among the countless adventurers who found the lure of wide open spaces and untapped resources to be as strong as the Sirens’ song to Odysseus, many found the determination to thrive in the West. And thrive they did—even better, for what they lacked in resources they made up in resourcefulness, becoming inventors, entrepreneurs, scientists, activists, explorers and more.

The South Pass 67ers
The South Pass 67ers

Author: G. A. Bollinger

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9780967056029

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"Describes the 1867-1870 gold rush in Wyoming, the concurrent development of mining communities, and the intense opposition by the native Americans."

With Golden Visions Bright Before Them
With Golden Visions Bright Before Them

Author: Will Bagley

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2012-10-01

Total Pages: 490

ISBN-13: 0806187751

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During the mid-nineteenth century, a quarter of a million travelers—men, women, and children—followed the “road across the plains” to gold rush California. This magnificent chronicle—the second installment of Will Bagley’s sweeping Overland West series—captures the danger, excitement, and heartbreak of America’s first great rush for riches and its enduring consequences. With narrative scope and detail unmatched by earlier histories, With Golden Visions Bright Before Them retells this classic American saga through the voices of the people whose eyewitness testimonies vividly evoke the most dramatic era of westward migration. Traditional histories of the overland roads paint the gold rush migration as a heroic epic of progress that opened new lands and a continental treasure house for the advancement of civilization. Yet, according to Bagley, the transformation of the American West during this period is more complex and contentious than legend pretends. The gold rush epoch witnessed untold suffering and sacrifice, and the trails and their trials were enough to make many people turn back. For America’s Native peoples, the effect of the massive migration was no less than ruinous. The impact that tens of thousands of intruders had on Native peoples and their homelands is at the center of this story, not on its margins. Beautifully written and richly illustrated with photographs and maps, With Golden Visions Bright Before Them continues the saga that began with Bagley’s highly acclaimed, award-winning So Rugged and Mountainous: Blazing the Trails to Oregon and California, 1812–1848, hailed by critics as a classic of western history.