Born in the Barker mining district of central Montana Territory, Rose Beatrice Gordon (1883-1968) was the daughter of an African American chef and an emancipated slave who migrated to the West in the early 1880s. As a Black woman in the West, Gordon’s life was ordinary in terms of its day-to-day struggles but extraordinary in its sum. Her story offers unique insights into the Black experience in the rural West in the first half of the 20th century.

In this Women Ranchers Series podcast, I discuss Rose Gordon with the author of "A Black Woman's West: The Life of Rose B Gordon," Michael Johnson. He is Professor of American literature at the University of Maine at Farmington. His primary research areas are African American Literature and the literature and culture of the American West.

Margaret Borland outlived 3 husbands, and took over 2,000 head of cattle from Texas to Kansas in 1873. She did this journey taking her children and a grandchild. She had true grit and determination, but passed the night of their arrival in Kansas, before any of her herd was sold.

Join me as I learn more about Margaret, and the author Linda Broday. Linda is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Historical Western Romance Books. She can be found at: www.lindabroday.com

Connie spent her life devoted to sharing her love of horses and riding with generations of girls. While she earned her law degree early on and had aspirations of following in her father's footsteps as a judge, she never practiced and chose a cowgirl's life dedicated to her cowboy husband, their ranch, and those she taught to ride. She was honored in her lifetime with The Free Spirit Award, the Chester A Reynolds Memorial Award, and she was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame. Connie rode horses every day of her life, up until being thrown from her beloved Dr. Pepper, which took her away from what she loved at 101 years of age. She was the epitome of a Woman Rancher, and loved by generations.