The Last of the Wild West Cowgirls by Kay Turnbaugh » In the News

Review by Gail Woerner on rodeoattitude.com

cowgirl — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:34:13 +0000

By Gail Woerner
Posted Friday, June 4, 2010

Goldie Griffith Cameron was one of the early day cowgirls and lady bronc riders that ‘almost’ got lost in time, if it hadn’t been for Kay Turnbaugh’s interest in her neighbor Goldie’s past. Kay never met Goldie but they both lived in Nederland, Colorado, a town in the Rocky Mountains that once had a population of 5,000 people. Once the tungsten mining market waned so did Nederland. Kay came to the town and started a newspaper there a year after Goldie died, but it didn’t take long before Kay heard enough about this wonderful Goldie character that her curiosity and her ability to write spurred her to tell Goldie’s story. Thank heavens Goldie’s story wasn’t lost because she was present at many early day western significant events and knew many of the people we know helped the American west become important to our history. Sit back and read about Goldie’s life, truly The Last of the Wild West Cowgirls.

Goldie Griffith was born in 1893 and raised in the Chicago area. When she was just a girl she began her career in show business. She joined Blanche Whitney’s Lady Athletes that gave wrestling exhibitions. Wrestling was not considered a lady-like sport but they got much attention from the crowd. The Appalachian Exposition in Knoxville, Tennessee, was one of the venues that had hired the women athletes as well as the Mulhall Wild West Show. Goldie’s curiosity got the best of her and she met Charlie Mulhall who introduced her to the show and his famous sister Lucille. Goldie had an interest in becoming a lady bronc rider and Charlie encouraged her. Not long after that Goldie got a job with the 101 Miller Wild West show when she lied and said she could ride broncs. From there she truly became a lady bronc rider and much more and soon was invited to join Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. In fact, her wedding to another performer was held during Buffalo Bill’s Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Although Goldie wasn’t even sure she wanted to be married she went along with the aged entrepreneur’s suggestion and marketing idea. The ceremony was held on horseback during the 1913 show with 8,000 spectators looking on. Her wedding dress, red buckskin, was adorned with beads made by the Indian women in the show. Her entire married life to Harry was a series of bad experiences but she tried to make it work and convince herself she’d not made a mistake. Finally she’d had enough when she raised her gun and tried to shoot him.

The experiences Goldie had during her life in show business and ranching will keep you turning pages until you finish the book and wish there were more. The author truly captures the true spirit of the early day lady bronc rider and cowgirl.The book is $18.95 and available through Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.

Read Gail’s original review.

Review in Boulder Daily Camera

cowgirl — Sun, 09 May 2010 18:15:01 +0000

By Clay Evans

Former owner of Nederland’s Mountain-Ear newspaper Kay Turnbaugh explores the life of little-known Western performer and entrepreneur Goldie Griffith, who is now buried in Boulder’s Green Mountain Cemetery. It’s frankly surprising that Griffith is not better known — she was a boxer, fencer and wrestler who took up bronc-busting and who was “given away” in marriage by none other than Buffalo Bill Cody at Madison Square Garden. Turnbaugh’s journalistic background serves her well in this lively, history-packed volume.

Story in Boulder Magazine Fall 2009

cowgirl — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:31:35 +0000

The Last of the Wild West Cowgirls was featured in the Buzz section of the fall 2009 edition of Boulder Magazine.

Story in Summit Daily News

cowgirl — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:13:22 +0000

Wild cowgirl story hits Frisco

By Kimberly Nicoletti
Summit Daily News

Kay Turnbaugh didn’t know she had a complete story until she met Goldie Griffith’s grandson, who held the newspaper clippings of how Goldie tried to kill his grandfather.

You see, Goldie was a fiery, obstinate cowgirl. She got married in front of 8,000 people during Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. A few years later, standing in the streets of Denver, she aimed her gun at her husband, and fired several shots, all of which missed. As officials hauled her off to jail, she wasn’t afraid to shout out how much she wanted to kill him.

Goldie became a wrestler in the days when it was unacceptable for women to be athletes, much less fighters. She grew up with a mother in the entertainment business, so it was no surprise that Goldie became one of the popular bronco-busting cowgirls in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.

Later, she became a rancher, owned several restaurants in the mountains of Colorado, trained dogs for World War II and applied to be the first policewoman in San Francisco. She became one of Nederland’s famous residents and is now buried in Boulder’s Green Mountain Cemetery.

Like Goldie, Turnbaugh set up home in Nederland (where she now still lives) and started her own business. For 27 years, she owned the town newspaper, which consumed her life. As a reporter, she wrote about Goldie several times; when Nederland residents showed up at the annual Old Timers Days, stories about Goldie abounded.

After Turnbaugh sold the newspaper, she considered writing a book about the history of Nederland, but when a friend suggested she write about Goldie, she started looking into the icon’s life. The process took her on a four-year journey, which included researching the Wild West, bronco riding, mining history, the Great Depression, the Home Front during World War II, ranching and what it was like to be a woman living alone during those times.

“I think what intrigued me the most about Goldie was how tough she was,” Turnbaugh said. “She would get knocked down, and she’d always manage to find a way to get back up.”

Turnbaugh’s greatest challenge involved the mounds of research to validate residents’ stories and two tapes of oral history Goldie herself left behind. Goldie used a number of show names and was married twice, so “it was like researching five different people,” Turnbaugh said. And, though Goldie is listed in a Who’s Who book for film actresses, none of her movies remain; they were all melted down for their silver content.

But, through rigorous research, Turnbaugh did confirm all of the tales in her true account of Goldie, titled “The Last of the Wild West Cowgirls.” She also found some to be suspect, such as a story about Goldie’s first husband riding with members of the Butch Cassidy gang.

Of course, Turnbaugh’s favorite Goldie story is when she tried to kill her first husband.

“I even found where it happened in Denver and hung out there on the street one afternoon so I could get a feel for it before I wrote that scene,” she said. “I doubt if the houses on that block have changed much since that day in 1916.”

Filled with historic photos of Goldie’s many adventures, “The Last of the Wild West Cowgirls” is a page-turner that revives Goldie’s headstrong spirit, as if she were still alive. It’s the next best thing to sitting in a Nederland saloon, listening to Goldie herself regaling customers with her enterprising ways.

(This story appeared before the book signing at The Next Page bookstore in Frisco, Colorado, on September 27, 2009.)