This Day…

1920 –  The ongoing fight for women’s suffrage saw critical developments around this time, closely following Tennessee’s pivotal ratification of the 19th Amendment in late August.

It’s always exciting to see The Last Ride: Outlaw Laura Bullion and the Wild Bunch finding new readers.

KSEN AM/K96 FM in Montana recently featured Laura’s remarkable story in “She Was the Wild Bunch’s Only Known Female Train Robber.” The feature highlights Laura’s place in Wild Bunch history and the Great Northern train robbery and the station even included The Last Ride in an on-air giveaway.

Read the KSEN AM/K96 FM feature
https://ksenam.com/outlaw-laura-bullion-western-history

Just as gratifying is hearing from readers. One Amazon reader gave The Last Ride five stars, writing: “Chris has a gift for finding the human story inside history.”

The reader especially appreciated discovering the woman behind the outlaw legend – Laura’s relationship with Ben Kilpatrick, her years with the Wild Bunch, the Great Northern robbery, prison, and the extraordinary life she built after leaving the outlaw world behind.

The review concludes that Laura “lived an extraordinary life” and that The Last Ride brings “her story out of the shadows.”

That is exactly what I hoped to accomplish with this book. Laura Bullion has spent far too long as a supporting character in stories about famous men. The Last Ride puts her where she belongs – at the center of her own story.

Thank you to KSEN AM/K96 FM for helping introduceview. The Wild Bunch may be gone, but Laura Bullion still has a Laura to a new audience, and to every reader who has picked up the book, recommended it, or taken the time to leave a re story to tell.

Enter now to win a copy of

The Last Ride: Outlaw Laura Bullion and the Wild Bunch

1914 – The Women’s Defense Relief Corps was formed in Britain as women mobilized to support the World War I home front and advocate for broader social roles.

1920 – U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the proclamation on August 26 officially adding the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and enfranchising women after a more than 70-year movement.

1935 – Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, plays a pivotal role as the architect behind the Social Security Act, which was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1920 – Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment. This met the three-fourths majority needed to make the amendment part of the U.S. Constitution, finally granting American women the right to vote.

1918 – Opha May Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. Enlisting as a reservist during World War I, she and over 300 women who followed her filled critical administrative and clerical roles, freeing up male Marines for combat deployment.

1941 – Elizabeth Holtzman, youngest woman elected to U.S. Congress, (D-NY, 1973-81), first woman District Attorney in New York City

August 10, 1945 – Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt published a profound post-WWII “My Day” newspaper column about the promise of a better world.

1962 – Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home; her death was ruled a probable suicide from “acute barbiturate poisoning.”