Rodeo has its roots firmly in cowboy culture, but in this week's "Rambling Boy" Lonn Taylor makes the case that cowgirls also played a pivotal part in early performances and competitions that shouldn't be forgotten.
Along the way, Taylor mentions Pecos' claim to have held the first rodeo in 1883, discusses "Buffalo Bill" Cody's role in getting women on broncos, runs off a series of acclaimed female riders, and recalls the story of how an Asian sultan once helped a cowgirl get back to the United States.
This is mostly in the context, Taylor says, of Marie LeCompte's book Cowgirls of the Rodeo: Pioneer Professional Athletes. While the rein of cowgirls was brief -- it ended in the early 1940s -- it was a fruitful period for them, according to LeCompte: on average they made more money than dentists and teachers did in 1936.
