Our “Women of the West” issue pulls back the curtain on sharpshooter Annie Oakley, country star Lainey Wilson, and more of the women who have shaped the West.
Ever heard of Phoebe Ann Moses? Born in 1860 in Ohio, she participated in local shooting contests and later joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show under the stage name Annie Oakley. What about Martha Jane Canary? She was born in 1852 in Missouri and arrived by wagon train in Deadwood, South Dakota, alongside Wild Bill Hickok. Care to take a guess? That’s none other than Calamity Jane (who will make an appearance in our upcoming holiday issue).
This is our annual Women of the West issue, in which we celebrate the wondrous accomplishments of cowgirls not just west of the Mississippi, but in the pages (and sometimes just footnotes) of history and throughout the modern world where Western traditions live on.
You’ll encounter horsewoman Kansas Carradine, the daughter of beloved actor David Carradine, and learn about her recent ride of a lifetime in the grueling Gaucho Derby across Patagonia. Then there’s artist Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, who paints scenes from the celebrated Mexican equestrian sport of charrería from her studio in San Antonio. Both women discovered the traditions of the West at young ages and transformed those experiences into formidable careers.
We dip into the legacies of groundbreaking actresses Katy Jurado and Susan Hayward, examining the roles that shaped their careers in the 1950s as well as the impact of their work on future generations. And we meet influential women in contemporary Western entertainment such as Yellowstone director Christina Voros and Indigenous actress Kali Reis.
Sharon Stone (1995) was the first woman to appear on the cover of C&I. Other reader favorites include Bernadette Peters (2000), Katharine Ross (2001), and Dolly Parton, who graced the October cover last year.
And gracing the issue’s cover? None other than Lainey Wilson. The woman of the moment, the one to beat at every country awards show, and the one many young girls will want to become. In our cover story, she sums up — in her signature Louisiana drawl — something central to the reason we strive to spotlight the women of the West:
“I’m a part of blazing that trail right now, and it’s a big responsibility,” she says. “It’s so crazy how we really have no choice but to do that for each other. And that’s a shame. It’s a shame because the boys ain’t gotta do that for each other. The trail has already been blazed. So they don’t have to keep going down and whacking those weeds. But for us, it seems like those weeds keep growing, and you gotta get back in there with a weed whacker and do some work.”
When there’s work to be done, everyone should roll up their sleeves — that’s something Westerners have always believed and lived. There’s no punching out early or slacking on the job.
Phoebe Ann Moses knew that well. At the age of 15, she helped pay the mortgage on her mother’s house by using her late father’s Kentucky rifle to hunt game and sell it to her local grocery store. Throughout life, she would not be deterred. “Aim at a high mark and you’ll hit it,” Oakley famously said. “No, not the first time, nor the second time. Maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting, for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you’ll hit the bull’s-eye of success.”
That’s the stuff legends are made of — and we’re proud to share these women with you.
Annie Oakley was just one Westerner who had a remarkable way with words. Who are some other quote-worthy legends of the West, and which of their sayings do you live by? Let us know at [email protected] or on Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.
From our October 2024 issue.
