Journal Notes

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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

When Hollywood recreated the Oklahoma Land Rush for Cimarron, stuntwoman Vera McGinnis rode straight into film history, and danger, to help make an Oscar-winning epic.

Five thousand motion picture stuntpeople and extras, dressed in pioneer costumes, gathered at the Quinn Ranch outside of Los Angeles to take part in the filming of the Western Cimarron. Based on the novel by Edna Ferber, the story is of the opening up of the Oklahoma Territory and its fight for statehood told through the lives of a newspaper editor and his wife.

Director Wesley Ruggles maneuvered back and forth in front of the cast, shouting instructions in preparation for the shoot. The swarm of people taking in the direction perfectly mimicked the restless torrent of humanity waiting to pour onto Oklahoma soil in 1889 to claim homesteads. Thousands of extras sat aboard a fleet of prairie schooners, many were on horses, stagecoaches, manning handcarts, and some were even on bicycles.

Twenty-eight cameraman and a host of camera assistants and photographers positioned at various spots around the setting made last minute adjustments to their equipment. Among the stunt people one of the cameras was trained on was thirty-eight-year-old Vera McGinnis. The cowgirl turned stunter was sitting atop a horse named Blackie who was anxious to get moving. While listening to what the director had to say about the filming, she tried to calm her ride struggling to stand still in the lineup. Vera glanced around at the riders on either side of her. She knew many of the extras had told the employment agency who hired them that they were fine equestrians, but she could tell by the way they sat their horses they were far from experts. She hoped she could successfully lead Blackie through any mishap that might occur as a result of inexperienced riders.

Vera was the stunt double for actress Estelle Taylor. Taylor portrayed a soiled dove in the film who was hoping to secure a section of land for herself in the soon-to-be opened territory. Vera had the unique position of being the only woman to run in the race. All the extras dressed in women’s clothing in the scene were actually men. With the exception of Vera, the director believed the ambitious undertaking was too dangerous for the average female extra to take on. Ruggles was familiar with Vera’s daring and talent and was confident she would get through the filming unscathed.

When the signal was given for the action to start, a great wave of cheering broke upon the air and the great assemblage moved in mass as fast as they could toward the appointed destination. Vera held Blackie back to wait for the wagons and schooners to move ahead and provide space for the horse to run without interference from the vehicles. Blackie didn’t take long to narrow the gap between he and Vera and the teams of horses pulling buggies. The novice drivers guiding those animals crossed in front of Vera and her ride almost hitting them. More than once, the cameras were rolling and horse and rider continued on their way with the rest of the cast.

Just when it seemed the scene would reach an end without injury the great fleet of extras, stuntpeople, and their vehicles traveled over what appeared to be a level plain. It was anything but. The ground was littered with prairie dog holes some two feet across and others in clusters or towns. Before filming began the production company sent a crew out to fill in gaping trenches with dirt. The work was only done on the area that would be contained in the shot. The ground wasn’t touched beyond that. Vera skillfully guided Blackie through the potentially hazardous section of prairie. He cleared the holes with big strides and didn’t stop until they were out of harm’s way.

The action of the mad scramble translated well on the big screen. Critics hailed Cimarron as a “magnificent film production” and boasted that it was “in the class of the never-to-be-forgotten productions.” It would go on to win the Academy Award for the best film, best adaptation, and set design. Vera McGinnis would go on to be one of the most admired and respected cowgirl stuntwomen in the business.

Daughters of Daring

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To learn more about Vera McGinnis and the other talents ladies in film read

Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

Helen Gibson jumped from speeding trains onto galloping horses while filming The Hazards of Helen proving early audiences were watching real danger on screen.

Pearl White was dragged across rooftops and suspended from balloons in The Perils of Pauline suffering permanent injuries but insisting on performing her own stunts.

Grace Cunard clung to seaside cliffs and battled rough ocean surf without doubles in the serial Lucille Love.

Ruth Roland leapt between moving automobiles trains and motorcycles at full speed so audiences could see it was truly her.

Lillian Gish spent hours clinging to floating ice in freezing water during Way Down East resulting in frostbite and lasting nerve damage.

Helen Holmes hung from sheer cliff faces with no harness relying solely on strength and timing.

Gene Gauntier leapt from battlements and rooftops while doubling herself in wartime spy serials like The Girl Spy.

Mabel Normand drove and wrecked cars herself during high speed chase scenes in Mickey.

Louise Fazenda endured punishing falls collisions and trampling for physical comedy during the nineteen teens.

Musidora performed rooftop escapes window descents and acrobatic chases in the French serial Les Vampires without doubles or wires.

To learn more about these amazing women read

Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

“Chris Enss has done it again. For years and with many, many books, she has brought us wonderful stories and insights about the women of the West. These heroines of calico helped shape, define, and build the frontier. Now we step into the early days of filmdom with strong, independent women who helped create the magic of movies. The weaker sex? Not in a heartbeat. These women mastered feats far beyond those mortal men. An exciting book about women with an iron will, determination, and skill. Daughters of Daring belongs in every western lover’s library.” Peter Sherayko, actor, producer, author

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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stuntwomen

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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

“Once again, Enss has unearthed hidden cinema secrets. In Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women, she tells the remarkable story of women who, from the dawn of movies, risked their lives – mostly in secret. Finally, their names are shared and their incredible achievements are told. No one does it better.” Rob Word, producer and host, A Word on Westerns

Daughter of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

coming to bookstores everywhere February 3.

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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

In the beginning, women in Western films were relegated to playing mothers, daughters, or love interests to the Wester heroes. They were generally always in need and too frail to help themselves. Off camera women were seen differently by film producers. Because women sat lighter in the saddle than men they were called on to perform stunts on horseback that were difficult for their heavier male costars. Many of the sensational feats such as riding horses into a raging river, riding full gallop down a cliff face, or over a small chasm were performed by cowgirls.

When Max Sennett decided to feature those daring stuntwomen as stars in his pictures, placing them in perilous situations and filming their hair-raising escapes, other movie executives followed suit. Audiences proved their appreciation for the films by swarming the theaters to watch the heroines deal with danger. Some of the female silent stars that dazzled fans in a series of fast-paced Westerns were Olive Fuller Golden, Bessie Barriscale, and Anita Bush.

When the five-reel western drama A Knight of the Range premiered in early 1916, critics praised silent film cowboy and cowgirl actors Harry D. Carey and Olive Fuller Golden performances. Audiences were dazzled by the equestrian tricks never-before seen in motion pictures. “Stunts that are inconceivable of execution are performed before the all-seeing eye of the camera,” a review of the film in a Hollywood magazine read. “Lovers of riding will miss the treat of their lifetime if they fail to see Western stars Carey and Golden work their magic on horseback. Golden is one of the prettiest and most popular of film favorites. Her long golden curls droop over her shoulders and her bewitching smile is as golden as an Arizona sunset; golden also is her disposition. She will be a star as long as motion pictures are being made.”

To learn more about Olive Golden and many other talented stunt women read Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women.

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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

“Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women is a powerful survey of the women who made names for themselves in Hollywood as career stunt women, performing dangerous acts. Most readers have heard of stand-in stunt-men, but few will have prior knowledge of these women, who were chosen both for their ability and because:

That scene and nearly every other thrill the audience witnessed in early motion pictures where a lovely girl was in danger was made by one of Hollywood’s forgotten, fearless stuntwomen doubling for movie stars. She didn’t double for the star because the star lacked courage. She did it because, if she were maimed or killed, it would make little difference to the cost of the picture. If the star tried to wreck a buckboard and suffered even a split lip, the cost of delayed production would have amounted to thousands of dollars. Using a cowgirl stuntwoman in Westerns was insurance for the studios. While beautiful movie stars were expensive, courageous lady equestrians were more common and well within the studio’s budget.

With this introductory surprise, readers are off on a wild ride through the biographical sketches of selected Hollywood stuntwomen whose lives and achievements have, until now, gone largely undocumented.

These portraits embrace how each women got into the stunt-riding act, creating connections between such seemingly disparate circumstances as Lucille Mulhall’s encounter with Will Rogers at the Mulhall’s Congress of Rough Riders and Ropers, which resulted in the teenager’s training and developing extraordinary abilities in roping and riding; or Oregon girl Lorena Trickey, whose early skills with horses and riding led her to work with early film pioneers Mix and Pickford.

Hollywood history, women’s lives, and extraordinary talents of the times meld in a series of stories that are vivid and engrossing, adding depth and dimension to each woman’s experiences.

Enss’s focus not only on what they did but how they became stunt women and often embraced even more achievements outside of Hollywood makes for a vivid collection of biographical sketches supplemented by equally eye-opening vintage photos of the women.

Libraries and readers seeking thoroughly engrossing Western and women’s history accounts will relish how both come to life in this intriguing, unusual survey.

The juxtaposition of U.S. history, western culture, and Hollywood interests assures that, as it deserves, Daughters of Daring will receive broad interest from a wide audience of history buffs, women’s history readers, and general-interest readers alike.”

Midwest Book Review

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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

America’s earliest movie creators learned quickly that audiences expected to see more than just a few pretty faces on flickering screens. Moviegoers wanted action, danger, heart-stopping shootouts, and startling displays of horseback heroics.

Chris Enss’s lively new nonfiction work, Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women, delivers eye-opening looks inside the risky careers of more than two dozen female horse riders who became stunt performers in the early decades of the 20^th century.

Filmmakers could not jeopardize the looks, careers, and lives of their high-paid stars by making them actually fall off horses or roll down dusty hills. But stunt doubles could take those risks—and more—at very low cost to a movie’s budget.

Some of the intrepid young women who became stunt doubles for well-paid movie stars were self-taught. Others had learned trick riding skills while working in open-air vaudeville shows such as “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” and Oklahoma’s “101 Ranch Wild West Show.”

In either case, “Hollywood couldn’t have gotten along without them,” Enss contends.  “Many cast as stuntwomen were fated to spend a considerable amount of their motion picture career accumulating a large variety of cuts and bruises. Even when they were granted a small speaking part, there was always a fall, a dive, or a wagon collision to go with it. Talented stuntwomen took backward, forward, head-first, and feet-first falls into water, ditches, and nets, over chairs and tables, from the tops of pianos, out of high windows, through trapdoors, and down haylofts. Some rode wild horses; worked with bears, goats, pigs, and cows; and chased donkeys and steers. They doubled for such luminaries as Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, and Jean Arthur.”

It was a risky arrangement to be a stuntwoman. To get paid, a stuntwoman had to create a stunt, negotiate a price for it, rehearse it, and successfully pull it off on camera. If you got hurt and could no longer work, you were just out of luck.

The stuntwomen profiled in Daughters of Daring include five who rode in the Wild West shows, six who did stunts in the silent-movie days, and six who were standouts in “the talkies,” the movies made after the introduction of sound revitalized the motion picture business.

Helen Gibson, Texas Guinan, and Ruth Roland are three examples of Enss’s focused profiles. Gibson, who grew up near Cleveland, Ohio, is “recognized by film historians as the first professional American stuntwoman,” Enss notes. Guinan, a Waco native, preferred to have speaking parts in movies and but often did her own stunts; and Ruth Roland, a San Franciscan who became known as “the queen of the early movie serials.”

In 1921, Guinan formed her own film company and produced and starred in numerous Western shorts. “I had twelve real cowboys, a scenario writer, a cameraman, a carload of cartridges, my horse ‘Waco’ from Texas, and went to work. We made a picture a week,” she remembered years later. “We never changed plots, only horses.”

Regarding Roland, Enss writes: “Whether in chaps or an elegant gown, Ruth was always just a hair’s breadth away from the most appalling situations in her pictures. Her director, with an astute comprehension of how to build suspense, would leave her tied to a railroad track with the express thundering around the bend or leaping on horseback from the edge of a cliff to escape a fate worse than death.”

Daughters of Daring is fun, informative reading. It offers significant insights into how experienced stuntwomen helped shape and boost the motion picture business in the Southwest and kept audiences coming back for more.

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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

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Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women

Big News! Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women has hit #1 on Amazon in the Western Movies & Videos category!

We’re beyond thrilled to see this remarkable tribute to the fearless women of the Western frontier and early Hollywood earning top recognition on Amazon.

Daughters of Daring brings to life the bold and mesmerizing stories of the cowgirl stunt women who rode harder, roped faster, and performed death-defying feats that helped shape the legacy of Western cinema. From trick riders and bronc busters to gun-toting performers, these women didn’t just support the genre — they helped define it.

Authored by New York Times bestselling author Chris Enss, this book celebrates the grit, skill, and daring spirit of women whose contributions to early Hollywood have long gone under-recognized.

Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered, shared, and supported this project. Your enthusiasm helped make this achievement possible!

Here’s to honoring the trailblazing cowgirls who took the reins and stole the spotlight! Enter now to win a copy of Daughters of Daring scheduled to be released on February 3.

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DAUGHTERS OF DARING