Modern Cowgirls Embody the Gritty and the Graceful

I admit my perspective of the cowgirl is a somewhat romanticized one, the fiercely independent rebel of a woman flying across rugged lands, her spirit as wild and impassioned as the horse beneath her, her heart some wide, undauntable space that would never be confined by the norm or bound by expectation.

And so when I came across “Cowgirls: Contemporary Portraits of the American West,” a photographic exhibit by Ronnie Farley, I was immediately intrigued. For here indeed were women just like the ones I’d imagined, still living that life in the vastness of the American West.

Yet Farley, an acclaimed New York City photographer, goes beyond the mystique to chronicle the hard work, determination and commitment these ranch women embody as they go through grueling days that last well into night, tending to their livestock and to the needs of the ranch itself, from minor repairs to ensuring its survival, often while raising families. Farley builds on the tradition of women like Elnora Sparks, who helped her cattle baron husband John Sparks build a beef empire in 1870s Nevada, and Dorothy Hammond, who became one of the first women in Nevada allowed to travel with the buckaroo wagon men who gathered, vaccinated and branded cattle.

Today, these women ranchers and rodeo competitors may almost seem anachronistic  in their rugged environments. But they are mothers, sisters, grandmothers, daughters, wives and partners just like us – tough ladies, Farley discovered, who know how to meet challenges both gracefully and with resolve, exhibiting “an aura of peacefulness” born of living in communion with their livestock and the land.

For a glimpse of these renegade earth mothers whose contributions to American Western history are often overlooked, visit “Cowgirls: Contemporary Portraits of the American West” when it tours a city  near you or pick up Farley’s book of the same title, and see why so many of these women wouldn’t trade life on the range for all the allure of our bright and bustling cities.

- Naila Francis
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Comments

[Ronnie Farley]

Hey Naila,
Thanks for the great review! Glad you liked the show. You can imagine what a great experience it was to be around such spirited women!
Ronnie Farley