Chris Enss

Anita Bush was the first Black American actress to star in a Western. Born on September 1, 1883, she began her career in the field of entertainment as a dancer and was only sixteen years old when she was hired to appear in Vaudeville with a comedy act known as William and Walker. Silent film...

Jane Russell was a dark-haired siren who made her sensational debut in the 1943 Western The Outlaw inspired producer Howard Hawks to challenge the power and strict morality of Hollywood’s production code. Her provocative performance in the film – and the studio publicity shots posing her in a low-cut blouse while reclining on a stack...

For more than nineteen years, Amanda Blake’s character on Gunsmoke, Miss Kitty, gave strength and succor to the parched patrons who visited Dodge City’s Longbranch Saloon. Kitty Russell was extremely softhearted, beneath what could be a very businesslike exterior, and would have willingly become romantically involved with Marshal Matt Dillon. The few Westerns seen on...

Bullseye! The Annie Oakley Show was on the air from 1954 to 1957, and Annie hit the entertainment bullseye every week with her hard riding, straight shooting, and suspense. Actress Gail Davis portrayed the Western legend. To some, Gail was only a minor flicker in the Hollywood star system. But to others, she was something...

Bronc busting champion Kitty Wilkes won her first title at the Wild West Celebration Rodeo in Miles City, Montana, in 1916.  The seventeen-year-old New York native’s straightforwardness and untamed physical daring gave fans the impression she was born and bred into the rugged life of a Wyoming ranch.  Few would have guessed she was new...

In early February 1941, more than twenty-five hundred people jammed into the stadium to watch the exciting events at the World’s Championship Rodeo in Phoenix, Arizona. They came to see wild cow riding, calf roping, steer roping, bronc riding, and trick rider Berenice Dossey. Not only was she a “spectacular performer” according to the Arizona...

A well-traveled trail rests peacefully between the rich forested hillsides around the town of Cascade, Montana, and snakes seventeen miles west to St. Peter’s Mission.  The road, as well as the mission itself, was the hub of activity in 1895. Back and forth along the route, Mary Fields, a former slave from Tennessee, drove a stagecoach carrying...

From the early 1920s to the mid-1930s, trick and fancy rider Bonnie Gray and her company were recognized as some of the best rodeo performers in the country.  The famous, all-around cowgirl solidified her place in the profession as an expert in the “under the belly crawl” stunt.  Riding quickly into the arena atop her...

Texas Guinan (Mary Louise Cecelia Guinan) was a popular cowgirl star from 1918-1923, who grew up on a ranch near Waco, Texas. Before graduating from high school, she received a scholarship from the Chicago Conservatory of Music. After she acquired a degree in music and art, she moved to Denver and helped her father on...