WOMEN’S
WEST
WOMEN’S WEST, A VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR
The secret to telling any great tale about the U.S. West is to make it an inclusive story with lots of historical actors from different backgrounds, places, and cultures. Decades ago, Bison Books made the conscious decision to tell inclusive stories about the West, and perhaps no single subject has received more justifiable attention than women’s experiences in the West.
While male historians set about trying to define specific roles for women’s western experiences, and older textbooks spoke of “gentle tamers” or “school marms” or “soiled doves” or some other narrow and unhelpful identifying phrase that fell short of speaking to the diversity and intricacy of the women’s West, women writers set about telling their own damn stories that defied any easy categorization. Bison Books has sought to publish books by and about women that cover their vast range of experiences, whether as ranchers, miners, writers, politicians, wives, bikers, hikers, hunters, explorers, and/or mothers. Indigenous, Latina, Anglo, Asian, and African American women from around the globe have forever shaped and memorialized our understanding of the American West, and this virtual tour celebrates the complex and rich history they have helped to create.
From civil rights fights in Omaha to courtrooms in Los Angeles, women have battled and succeeded in writing their own narratives, and this virtual tour celebrates a cast of tough, resilient, vulnerable, strong, and intriguing women who have enriched western storytelling for generations.
BOOK TOUR STOPS
- The Song of the Lark
WALNUT CANYON, ARIZONA - The Blue Tattoo
SENTINEL, ARIZONA - Vanished Arizona
GENERAL CROOK ROAD, ARIZONA
- The Case of Rose Bird
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA - Katie Gale
WASHINGTON - Covered Wagon Women
VACAVILLE, CALIFORNIA - San Francisco’s Queen of Vice
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
- A Bride Goes West
MILES CITY, MONTANA - This is Not the Ivy League
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA, MONTANA - Bitterroot
FLATHEAD RESERVATION, MONTANA - The Solace of Stones
CABINET MOUNTAINS, MONTANA - Give Me Eighty Men
CASPER, WY
- The Adventures of The Woman Homesteader
BURNTFORK, WYOMING - Bead on an Anthill
PINE RIDGE RESERVATION, SOUTH DAKOTA - The Mayans Among Us
CRETE, NEBRASKA - Muscogee Daughter
TULSA, OKLAHOMA - From Society Page to Front Page
OMAHA, NEBRASKA