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True West Magazine Review of The Sharpshooter and the Showman

Posted on June 25, 2025 by Chris Enss

Thanks to True West Magazine for the review of

The Sharpshooter and the Showman

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Fearless Anita Bush Rides On
Daughters on Tour
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Behind Every Stunt, Fearless Women
Launching Dauthers of Daring and Teaching Bible School
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Chris Enss is a New York Times Bestselling Author who writes books about the Old West. Enter the giveaway for a chance to win.

Fearless Anita Bush Rides On Before Hollywood had

Fearless Anita Bush Rides On

Before Hollywood had safety rigs and stunt doubles, there was Anita Bush - a fearless pioneer who helped redefine what women, and especially Black women, could do on screen.

Born on September 1, 1883, Bush began her career as a dancer before stepping into vaudeville at just sixteen with the act William and Walker. Her life changed when director Richard Norman saw her perform and cast her opposite rodeo legend Bill Pickett in the groundbreaking Western The Bull-Dogger.

Bush had no formal riding experience, but she had grit. As she famously wrote, she had “lots of nerve” and could learn anything quickly. And she proved it. For the film, she learned to ride horses and rope steers, performing her own stunts under Pickett’s guidance. No doubles. No shortcuts. Just raw courage.

She followed that performance with a starring role in The Crimson Skull, one of the first Westerns to feature an all-Black cast. At a time when Hollywood limited Black actors to stereotypes, Bush broke barriers by taking on dramatic, action-driven roles—earning praise for her versatility and screen presence.

Determined to create more opportunities, Bush founded her own theatrical company, the Anita Bush Players of Harlem (later known as the Lafayette Players), championing serious roles for Black performers. Off-screen, she was just as formidable—negotiating contracts and even securing higher pay than some of her leading men.

Anita Bush wasn’t just a performer, she was a trailblazer who rode straight into Hollywood history and changed the script for those who followed.
Her incredible story and those of other fearless women of the West are featured in Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women.

Visit www.chrisenss.com to learn more and enter for your chance to win a copy of the book!

Just returned home from the first of several book

Just returned home from the first of several book promotional tours for Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women — and what an unforgettable journey it has been.

The tour included wonderful stops in Prescott at the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Western Heritage Center, followed by lively events in Tombstone at JL Silver and Big Nose Kate’s Saloon, and a warm and enthusiastic gathering at Boot Hill Books in Sierra Vista. I am deeply grateful to the readers, booksellers, historians, and Western enthusiasts who came out to celebrate the daring women who helped shape Hollywood’s early action films.

In between book events, I had the tremendous pleasure of working on the production of the short film According to Kate, which explores the life and times of Kate Elder, the legendary love of Doc Holliday. The talent both in front of and behind the camera has been extraordinary, and filming at the historic Mescal, Arizona movie location — the backdrop for classics such as Tombstone and The Quick and the Dead — made the experience even more meaningful. The film is slated for release this fall, with its premiere planned for the Tombstone Territory Rendezvous Annual Symposium in October before heading out to film festivals everywhere.

Meanwhile, Daughters of Daring continues to receive a warm reception from readers and reviewers alike. As syndicated book columnist Terri “The Bookworm Sez” Schlichenmeyer noted:
“Chris Enss brings to life a whole cadre of performers who were feminists before feminism even existed, living life on their own terms when such a thing was rare . . . a must-have for Western novel fans, of course, but movie buffs and readers of women’s history will want it, too. Daughters of Daring is exciting, revealing, and perfect for when you need a break.”
I am truly grateful the book has been so well received.

Visit www.chrisenss.com now to enter to win a copy — and stay tuned for upcoming tour dates and film news!

The adventure continues…

Racing horses. Dangerous falls. No stunt doubles f

Racing horses. Dangerous falls. No stunt doubles for the stuntwomen.

Long before modern stunt coordinators and safety rigs, fearless horsewomen helped create the action audiences loved in early Western films. One of those daring performers was Ione Reed.

Reed was among the talented cowgirls Hollywood relied on to double for actresses in demanding riding scenes and dangerous stunts. Racing across rugged terrain, executing precision riding maneuvers, and taking hard falls were all part of the job. These women brought authenticity and excitement to the screen at a time when few of them received on-screen credit for their work.

Like many stunt women of the era, Ione Reed possessed exceptional horsemanship and the grit required to perform under difficult conditions. Studios depended on cowgirls like her to make Western heroines appear fearless in the saddle—yet the women doing the real work behind the scenes were rarely photographed and almost never recognized.

Their stories are finally being told in Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women, my book celebrating the brave and highly skilled women who helped shape the action and spectacle of early Hollywood Westerns.

These remarkable performers risked injury, and sometimes their lives, to make movie magic. It’s time their legacy rides into the spotlight.

Visit www.chrisenss.com now to enter to win a copy of Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women
Please note the image used here is not an endorsement for cigarette use.

Principal photography begins March 10 at the legen

Principal photography begins March 10 at the legendary Mescal Movie Set on the film short According to Kate, written by Chris Enss and directed by award-winning filmmaker Manuela Schneider.

One ambitious reporter wants the truth. Big Nose Kate holds the legend.

When an ambitious East Coast reporter journeys to Arizona in 1899 to persuade the notorious Big Nose Kate to finally tell her story, she uncovers a trove of letters, memories, and half-mythic accounts from the woman who loved Doc Holliday and claimed a front-row seat to the Wild West’s most legendary figures—revealing a life where truth, legend, and survival blur on the untamed frontier.

Filming at the historic Mescal set, one of the most iconic Western backlots in the country, brings this powerful story of the West’s most notorious woman to life where legends once rode.

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