Wild West Shows

I can’t believe it’s been four years since I joined this group of super talented ladies to form Stitches Thru Time. In 2014 I was just beginning my writing career and knew I’d have to start blogging. Joining a group sounded like a smart idea. I could learn from more experienced bloggers, and the focus was on writing and crafts. I love both.

About that same time I was finalizing the research on my first western series, Intrigue under Western Skies. The story of a snarky cattle baron who falls in love with a woman who’s a cross between Pollyanna and Yoda (but a lot better looking), and they fight a passel of the meanest critters you’d ever hope you don’t meet. I’m currently working on the third book in the series where the Wild West Show comes to the ranch.

The Wild West Shows of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were the beginning of entertainment for the common people. Some started by Buffalo Bill were traveling shows, much like the circus, performing all across the United States and even Europe. Others, like that originating at the 101 Ranch in Oklahoma, made the population come to them, drawing in crowds up to 65,000.

These shows included all the rodeo favorites of bronco busting, roping, bull riding, and shooting. But it also included reenactment of Indian wars and ceremonies, and fancy horse tricks.

I patterned my fictional Wild West Show like the 101 Ranch’s where such legends as Buffalo Bill, Will Rogers, and Edith Tantlinger, the female Indian sharp-shooter, performed. The Miller brothers’ 101 Ranch of Bliss, Oklahoma covered 110 acres of cattle land and a fabulous ranch house, pictured below. It became so famous people started coming just to see how a western ranch operated. The Miller brothers took advantage of their popularity and put on shows.

The star of my fictional show is a woman much like Annie Oakley with the gun, but she is also an equestrian acrobat as well. These riders performed death defying feats while riding atop a horse that galloped around an arena. The cowgirls were especially popular. Riding bareback, the girl would kneel, stand, and leap from one horse to another—electrifying the crowds. These talented women performed with the grace of a ballerina and the precision of a gymnast.

The Wild West shows generated a romanticism about the Old West that lingered throughout the next century, and for some of us, it continues. Western movies and TV shows of the sixties and seventies proves that. Western books are still popular, including western romance.

One good thing about the popularity of the Wild West Shows was it portrayed the Indians’ bravery, and probably reduced the level of prejudice against the Native American.

Do you prefer contemporary or historical western romance?

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