Very well illustrated, this book focuses on the life of Annie Oakley, offering a compelling narrative based on Oakley’s own words. The book presents Oakley’s extraordinary life and demonstrates why she should be regarded as a role model for women. She was a brave woman who wasn’t scared of defying female stereotypes that traditionally bound women to the kitchen and expected them to be submissive to their male relatives, whether that be a father, a brother, or a husband. Macy shows how Oakley engineered her own fate at a dangerous time in American history.

This biography of Martha Canary, better known as ‘Calamity Jane’ provides a detailed account of the life and myth surrounding the gun-toting, outspoken and unapologetically forthright woman. McLaird seeks to give voice to a woman whose fight against gender conventions earned her acclaim. Analysis of her as a woman in a highly male-dominated and challenging landscape could elicit interesting class discussions about stereotypical gender roles and what Martha Canary’s motives were for stepping away from the stereotype into a limelight that would attract criticism and admiration in equal measure. 

Lozen was a female Apache warrior and shaman (healer) who lived during the second half of the 19th century. She was a formidable and inspirational horsewoman and military strategist who was used to shooting and fighting alongside more famous male warriors such as Geronimo. Her own fame has been overlooked but her influence is no less important in the ‘struggle from freedom against white encroachment’. While some of the white female ‘celebrities’ may have become famous for some of the wrong reasons, Lozen was respected by her contemporary male warriors. The Hollywood version of women such as Calamity Jane – while raising their status to celebrity – can, at the same time, be seen to reduce the significance of their impact. Lozen’s life, however little known, escaped that. Discuss with students the impact that indigenous female figures have, or more importantly, should have on the landscape of female ‘celebrities’ in the American West.

Although this article pinpoints the particular day when Belle Starr, the ‘Bandit Queen’, was murdered, it also provides an interesting portrayal of her early life and how she came to the life she was famous for, rather than the life she may otherwise have lived. You could explore with students how life events – while out of her control (in this case her family’s financial ruin following the Civil War) – led Belle to become a renowned cattle and horse thief. You could explore the idea of whether circumstances created the woman she became, or whether she was always, in part, destined to become a celebrity figure living outside of the law.