Journal Notes

Meet Laura Bullion: The Wild Bunch’s Forgotten Outlaw

Posted on by Chris Enss

Enter now to win a copy of

The Last Ride: Outlaw Laura Bullion and the Wild Bunch

 

 

Coming August 15!

The untold story of the Wild Bunch’s forgotten outlaw queen is almost here.

The Last Ride: Outlaw Laura Bullion and the Wild Bunch tells the remarkable true story of Laura Bullion, the only known woman to ride with members of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Wild Bunch. Drawing on rare prison letters, forgotten newspaper accounts, and years of original research, this gripping biography reveals the woman behind one of the American West’s most legendary outlaw gangs.

Early readers are already calling it a must-read:

“Chris Enss is the master of exceptional western research. In her latest work she uncovers the exciting life of Laura Bullion, who rode with Butch and Sundance and the Wild Bunch. Now you can be part of the incredible historic adventure. This is a ride you don’t want to miss!”

— Howard Kazanjian, Academy Award-nominated executive producer and author

“Few authors besides Chris Enss look beyond the most popular western historical figures… In The Last Ride, this award-winning author pulls back the curtain and offers a fascinating rare glimpse behind the Wild Bunch.”

— Reavis Wortham, New York Times bestselling author

“With her trademark combination of a novelist’s sensibilities and a detective’s eye for detail, Chris Enss offers a deep dive into the life of Laura Bullion… a fascinating and moving story.”

— Jon Chandler, award-winning musician, Western author, and Hole-in-the-Wall/Wild Bunch expert

Win an advance copy before publication!

Enter now for your chance to win an advance copy of The Last Ride: Outlaw Laura Bullion and the Wild Bunch before its August 15 release.

Discover the woman who rode alongside members of one of the West’s most notorious outlaw gangs and built an extraordinary life after the Wild Bunch faded into history.

The Last Ride

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The Last Ride Book Cover

According to Kate Wins Oniros Film Award

Posted on by Chris Enss

 

 

Award-Winning News!

We are thrilled to announce that According to Kate, based on the book According to Kate: The Legendary Life of Big Nose Kate, Love of Doc Holliday, has received the Best Historical Film award from the Oniros Film Awards, and our talented director, Manuela Schneider, has been honored with the Best Director award!

The Oniros Film Awards is an international, monthly IMDb-qualifying film competition based in New York City and founded by the Italian production company Oniros Films. To be recognized by such a respected international festival is a tremendous honor for everyone involved with this production.

According to Kate tells the remarkable story of Western legend Big Nose Kate and brings her extraordinary life to the screen through the dedication and passion of an incredible cast and crew.

If you’re planning to attend Helldorado Days in Tombstone, we invite you to join us for the film’s premiere:

According to Kate
Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park
Saturday, October 17, 2026
3:00–4:30 p.m.

Please join us in congratulating director Manuela Schneider and the entire cast and crew for this well-deserved recognition. We can’t wait to share this award-winning film with audiences in Tombstone this October!

 

The Last Ride Book Trailer

Posted on by Chris Enss

She was one of the Wild Bunch’s best-kept secrets.

Before she became the quiet Memphis seamstress known as Mrs. Freda Lincoln, she rode alongside some of the most notorious outlaws in American history. Her real name was Laura Bullion, the only known woman to ride with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Wild Bunch.

The Last Ride: Outlaw Laura Bullion and the Wild Bunch uncovers her remarkable true story through rare prison letters, newspaper accounts, and long-hidden records, revealing a woman determined to leave her outlaw past behind and build a new life.

Enjoy the new book trailer and discover the incredible journey behind one of the American West’s most fascinating women.

Preorder your copy today on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million or by emailing gvcenss@aol.com.

 

 

 

Dillinger’s Women Preview

Posted on by Chris Enss

 

 

July 1934: The Month That Changed Everything

On July 2, 1934, front-page headlines across the nation, including the Chicago Daily Tribune, carried dramatic accounts of the South Bend bank robbery and John Dillinger’s ruthless escape from pursuing officers. The brazen holdup intensified the nationwide manhunt already underway and placed even greater pressure on the newly empowered Justice Department Bureau of Investigation to capture the man they had declared America’s Public Enemy No. 1.

What followed over the next three weeks would become one of the most consequential months in American crime history.

July 1934 brought betrayals, secret meetings, desperate attempts to stay one step ahead of federal agents, and the final days of the country’s most hunted outlaw. Every decision Dillinger made narrowed his options until the evening of July 22, when Bureau of Investigation agents ended his criminal career outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater.

Yet Dillinger’s story cannot be told without the women who stood beside him.

Some fell in love with a charming man they believed could leave crime behind. Others knowingly assisted his flight from justice by renting apartments, concealing weapons, carrying messages, or providing safe places to hide. Several risked everything, including prison sentences, for harboring a fugitive. One woman stood only feet away as federal agents opened fire, watching the man she loved die on a Chicago sidewalk ninety-two years ago.

“The women history labeled ‘gangster molls’ were rarely one-dimensional accomplices. They were daughters, sisters, sweethearts, and survivors whose loyalty often carried a price far greater than the crimes for which they became remembered.”

Dillinger’s Women: Love, Loyalty and Betrayal in the Life of America’s Most Wanted Outlaw tells the stories of the women whose lives became intertwined with America’s most notorious outlaw. Drawing from contemporary newspapers, court records, government files, and personal accounts, the book examines their choices, their sacrifices, and the roles they played in one of the most famous criminal manhunts in American history.

Scheduled for release in fall 2027, the book offers a closer look at the women whose love, loyalty, and, in some cases, betrayal became an enduring part of the John Dillinger story.

 

The Wild Bunch Train Robber

Posted on by Chris Enss

 

 

 

I’m delighted to share that my article on outlaw Laura Bullion has been published by the exceptional Distinctly Montana magazine. If you appreciate outstanding storytelling, breathtaking photography, and a genuine love for the American West, this is a publication you should have on your reading list. Every issue reflects a commitment to quality that is second to none.

I’m especially grateful to the team at Distinctly Montana for their longtime support of the Will Rogers Medallion Award program. They have been wonderful champions of Western literature and history, helping preserve and celebrate the stories that define the West.

You can read my article, “The Wild Bunch Train Robber,” here:
https://www.distinctlymontana.com/wild-bunch-train-robber

If Laura’s story leaves you wanting more, the complete, thoroughly researched true tale is coming this August in The Last Ride: Outlaw Laura Bullion and the Wild Bunch. Look for it in bookstores and gift shops everywhere, and discover the remarkable life of the only confirmed woman to participate in a Wild Bunch train robbery.

A Ride You Won’t Want to Miss

Posted on by Chris Enss
The wait for The Last Ride just got a little shorter.
We’re pleased to announce that The Last Ride will be released in late August, rather than in the fall as originally planned.
Praise for the book includes:
“A ride you don’t want to miss.” — Academy Award nominee and author Howard Kazanjian
“A new kind of old west outlaw.” — New York Times bestselling author Reavis Wortham
Blending action, history, and unforgettable characters, The Last Ride offers a fresh look at the people who lived beyond the law in the American West.
Watch for additional details, cover reveals, and ordering information coming soon.

Daughters of Daring Kindle Bestseller List

Posted on by Chris Enss

 

 

 

There are moments in a writer’s life that cause you to pause and appreciate the company you’re keeping.

Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women is currently appearing on the Amazon Kindle bestseller list alongside books by Michael F. Blake and C.J. Box, authors whose contributions to Western storytelling have earned them devoted readers across the country.

As someone who has spent a career uncovering the stories of remarkable women of the American West, it’s gratifying to see readers embracing the lives of the fearless cowgirl stunt women who helped shape early Hollywood. Their stories deserve a place in the spotlight, and every reader helps make that possible.

My sincere thanks to everyone who has purchased the book, shared it with friends, requested it at libraries, invited me to speak, or posted a review. Your support continues to introduce new audiences to these extraordinary women whose courage rivaled that of any Western hero.

The cowgirls of silent films and early Westerns risked everything for their craft. I’m honored to help tell their stories and thankful to see them reaching so many readers.

#DaughtersOfDaring #WesternHistory #WomenOfTheWest #CowgirlHistory #HollywoodHistory #WesternBooks

Midwest Book Review of The Pinks

Posted on by Chris Enss

Enter now to win a copy of The Pinks

 

 

“Chapters capture feats of courage, daring, and historical import as they follow female agents who pursue justice and whose exploits added to American history and early struggles for justice.”

I am honored that The Pinks: The First Women Detectives, Operatives, and Spies with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency has received this recommendation from Midwest Book Review:

“No women’s history collection should be without this lively, important survey.”

The remarkable women of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency shattered barriers, tracked outlaws, protected presidents, exposed criminals, and helped shape the future of law enforcement in America. Their stories deserve to be remembered.

Enter now to win a copy of The Pinks and discover the fascinating true stories of America’s first female detectives, operatives, and spies.

#ThePinks #WomenOfTheWest #Pinkerton #WomenInHistory #TrueCrimeHistory #AmericanHistory #WomenDetectives #ChrisEnss #BookGiveaway

 

The Pinks 6

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True West Magazine Review of Daughters of Daring

Posted on by Chris Enss

 

 

The Pinks Reads Like A Historical Thriller

Posted on by Chris Enss

 

 

 

Chris Enss’s The Pinks offers an engrossing look at the women’s flank of the famed Pinkerton group, which provided services of security, protection, investigation, and, in many cases, infiltration by its initially all-male staff of “private eyes.”

Allan Pinkerton had an innovative and invasive approach to dealing with crime and criminals. After immigrating to the United States from Scotland, he eventually established the Pinkerton offices in Chicago. Six years after the agency opened, Kate Warne had the audacious foresight to apply for a job as a Pinkerton detective, despite the fact that Pinkerton himself had never considered hiring women. Warne argued that women could assume undercover roles as ably as men, and that feminine intuition and charm could help them excel as undercover agents.

Though Pinkerton knew the work would be dangerous, he hired Warne and assigned her to numerous cases. Enss depicts Warne as an excellent actress, able to alter her appearance, accent, and mood quickly and convincingly. Pinkerton’s investigations were often complex and went on for extended periods of time as the agents gained the confidence of key individuals—or the guilty parties themselves. Warne rose to every challenge, including escorting a disguised Abraham Lincoln to Washington via train in 1861. The then president-elect was in danger of assassination by a Baltimore cadre of secessionists who wanted Lincoln dead before he even had a chance to take office.

The Pinks notes how Warne’s success encouraged Pinkerton to employ other women, placing them in roles of general investigation or even espionage during the Civil War. They pursued murderers, carried classified documents, decoded messages, and maintained their cover in highly charged situations. Ultimately, the Pinkerton logo became that of a watchful female eye, accompanied by the apt motto of “We Never Sleep.” However, despite Pinkerton’s equal-opportunity mind-set, official American police forces did not hire female detectives until the late nineteenth century.

The Pinks details Warne’s career as a Pinkerton detective, along with various other cases assigned to female agents like Hattie Lawton, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, and the artistically gifted Lavinia “Vinnie” Ream. Filled with intrigue, suspense, bravery, and women’s accomplishment,The Pinks reads like a historical thriller with one fascinating plot twist: it is based wholly on truth.

Foreword Review Magazine

 

 

The Pinks 6

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Enter to win a copy of The Pinks:

The First Women Detectives, Operatives, and Spies with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency