Bøker av Chris Enss

Was Arizona Donnie Clark, AKA Kate "Ma" Barker the mastermind behind the Barker gang terrorizing the Midwest during the early years of the great Depression? Or was she a terrible mother who urged her sons to criminal behavior for her own financial gain? Or does the truth lie somewhere in between?

In 1869, more than twenty years after Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony made their declaration of the rights of women at Seneca Falls, New York, the men of the Wyoming Territorial Legislature granted women over the age of twenty-one the right to vote in general elections. And on September 6, 1870, a grandmother named Louisa Ann Swain stepped up to a ballot box in Laramie, Wyoming, and became the first woman in the United States to exercise that right, ushering in the era of Western states' early foray into suffrage equality. Wyoming Territory's motives for extending the vote to women might have had more to do with publicity and attracting female settlers than with any desire to establish a more egalitarian society. However, individual men's interests in the idea of women's rights had their roots in diverse ideologies, and the women who agitated for those rights were equally diverse in their attitudes.No Place for a Woman explores the history of the fight for women's rights in the West, examining the conditions that prevailed during the vast migration of pioneers looking for free land and opportunity on the frontier, the politics of the emerging western territories at the end of the Civil War, and the changing social and economic conditions of the country recovering from war and on the brink of the Gilded Age. Through the individual stories of women like Esther Hobart Morris, Martha Cannon, and Jeannette Rankin, this book fills a hole in the story of the West, revealing how the hard work and individual lobbying of a few heroines, plus a little bit of publicity-seeking and opportunism, ushered in a new era for the expansion of women's rights.

On October 20, 1882, future actress Margaret Dumont was born in Brooklyn, New York. A Broadway regular by the 1920s, Dumont found lasting fame once she started appearing with the Marx Brothers. Tall and regal in bearing, her character provided the perfect foil to the wisecracking Groucho Marx in a series of films including A Night at theOpera and Duck Soup. Her character's seemingly obliviousness to insult led to the widespread belief, encouraged by Groucho himself, that Dumont was a humorless person who never got the joke. a belief she contradicted in a 1942 interview. "I'm not a stooge," she said. "I'm a straight lady. There's an art to playing straight. You must build up your man but never top him and never steal the laughs from him. Straight Lady: The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont, "The Fifth Marx Brother" d focuses on the Dumont and her role in the production of the comedy teams' most successful films. Several books have been written about the Marx Brothers as a comedy family and about their individual lives, but there haven't been any books written about Margaret Dumont. This book will appeal to motion picture enthusiasts, Marx Brothers' fans, and film historians.

Long before the silver screen placed Mary Pickford before the eyes of millions of Americans, this girl, born August 13, 1860 as Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses, had won the right to the title of the first "America's Sweetheart." After winning first prize at a shooting match as a teenager, Annie quickly gained worldwide fame as an incredible crack shot.

A colorful history of the famous Soiled Doves of Deadwood, South Dakota, during the heyday of the wild west.

Notable female gamblers are few in number, but their legacy left an indelible mark on the history of the Old West. The Lady Was a Gambler is a tribute to those women and how they played the game.

On a November night in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, a lecture was given by Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca Tribe. It was attended by a forty-nine-year old woman who sat mesmerized as the dignified Indian told of the injustice that had driven his people from their ancestral lands. The next day the woman sent a cable to her husband at home in Colorado explaining that she would be delayed in returning. ¿Thankful you will be in the east on business next month,¿ she wrote, ¿situation with the Ponca Indians necessitates extended time here.¿ And so began a path that was to thrust Helen Hunt Jackson into the public eye as one of the foremost Indian policy reformers of the 19th century.From that moment in the Brunswick Hotel Jackson was imbued with the indignation that would be the motivating factor in everything she did, thought, or wrote for the rest of her life. ¿I cannot think of anything else from night to morning,¿ she wrote in a letter to a friend in 1880. ¿I shall be found with Indians engraved on my brain when I¿m dead. A fire has been kindled within me which will never go out.¿ Jackson and Chief Standing Bear became fast friends and she used her considerable talents as a writer to pen her most famous work, a book entitled A Century of Dishonor. The book chronicled the injustices perpetrated against Native Americans in the United States after the arrival of European settlers through the famed Indian Wars of the 1870s and their aftermath. Jackson¿s friendship with Chief Standing Bear and her daring efforts to publish a book about the broken promises of the United States government made with the Native Americans is a compelling story. During the three years it took Jackson to write the book attempts were twice made on her life. There was a lot of speculation about who tried to kill her, including many politicians who resented her association with Chief Standing Bear and the book she was working on, but no one was ever charged with the crimes.

In 1869, more than twenty years after Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony made their declaration of the rights of woman at Seneca Falls, New York, the men of the Wyoming Territorial Legislature granted women over the age of 21 the right to vote in general elections. And on September 6, 1870, a grandmother named Eliza Swain stepped up to a ballet box in Laramie, Wyoming, and became the first woman in the United States to exercise that right, ushering in the era of Western states¿ early foray into suffrage equality. Wyoming Territory¿s motives for extending the vote to women might have had more to do with publicity and attracting female settlers than with any desire to establish a more egalitarian society. However, individual men¿s interests in the idea of women¿s rights had their roots in diverse ideologies, and the women who agitated for those rights were equally diverse in their attitudes.No Place for a Woman explores the history of the fight for women¿s rights in the West, examining the conditions that prevailed during the vast migration of pioneers looking for free land and opportunity on the frontier, the politics of the emerging Western territories at the end of the Civil War, and the changing social and economic conditions of the country recovering from war and on the brink of the Gilded Age. The stories of the women who helped settle the west and who ushered in voting rights decades ahead of the 19th Amendment and the stories of the country they were forging in the west will be of great interest to readers as the 100th anniversary of national woman suffrage approaches and is relevant in our current political climate. Revealed through the individual stories of women like Esther Hobart Morris, Martha Cannon, and Jeannette Rankin, this book fills a hole in the story of the West, revealing the real story of how the hard work and individual lobbying of a few heroines, plus a little bit of publicity-seeking and opportunism by promoters of the Wyoming Territory, ushered in a new era for the expansion of women¿s rights.

The love they shared for an untamed land brought them together. Isabella Bird was a proper Victorian lady, a minster's daughter, a writer who traveled the globe. She was expected to marry a man of means and position instead she was drawn to a gruff mountain man, a desperado named Jim Nugent.The unlikely pair met in Estes Park, Colorado in 1873. Jim was enchanted by Isabella and she was infatuated with him. In a published version of Isabella's letter to her sister, she said of Jim that "he was a man any woman might love but no sane woman would marry." On a climb to the top of Longs Peak their friendship blossomed into more than expected.This book reveals the true story of Bird's relationship with Nugent as they traveled through the dramatic wilderness of the Rocky Mountains.

Principles of Posse Management tells the stories of the lawmen and leaders of the Old West who organized citizens in the pursuit of law and order. This collection of tales reveals what Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and other legends of the old west knew about leadership with a clever twist on the classic shoot-em-up, black-hats-vs-white-hats tale.

This collection of short stories of the women who entertained the West in makeshift theaters and palaces built to showcase the divas who were beloved by emigrants to the "uncivilized" West will feature well-known and lesser known dancers, singers, and actresses and their exploits. Author Chris Enss will bring her comedic timing and long experience writing about the time and culture of the West to this collection.

From Calamity Jane's relentless pursuit of Wild Bill Hickok to Emma Walters, who gave it all up for the dashing Bat Masterson-and learned to regret it, these romantic stories from the Old West are still familiar and entertaining to readers today. This collection features the lessons learned by and from the antics of the women who shaped the West.

As with many incidents in American history, the victors wrote the first version of history--turning the tragedy of the Sand Creek Massacre into a heroic feat by the Colorado militia tasked with moving the Cheyenne onto reservations. The truth of those events has made Colonel John Chivington's name infamous in Colorado and American history, and this dramatic and poignant reflection on the events leading to the tragic events of the massacre and the ensuing years of violence offers new perspectives with the hindsight of more than a century and a half of repercussions by telling the story of one of the women, a Cheyenne named Mochi, who became swept up in the cycle of war and vengeance that ensued.

The Oklahoma Historical Society Outstanding Book on Oklahoma History for 2012. A riveting biography of a little-known Native-American who shaped history-complete with shootouts, romance, intrigue, and a little politics.

"What we want to do is give our women even more liberty than they have. Let them do any kind of work that they see fit, and if they do it as well as men, give them the same pay."-William F. Cody, 1899With rough-riding cowboys, sure shots, and fantastic reenactments of battles and train robberies, Buffalo Bill Cody brought the myth of the Old West to life for audiences all over the world-and some of the most popular cowboys in his Wild West Show were young ladies. Cody surrounded himself with strong, intelligent, talented, beautiful women-and this revealing portrait tells the stories of his life and of his relationships with many of the trick riders, sharpshooters, and other women associated with the show for which he was famous.

Hearts West includes more than a dozen stories of courageous mail order brides and their exploits. Accompanying the text are actual advertisements placed by both women seeking husbands and men seeking brides.

Future legends of the Old West, Charlie Bassett, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and Bill Tilghman were the lawmen who patrolled the unruly streets. When a cattle baron's son fled town after the shooting of the popular saloon singer named Dora Hand, the four men--all experts with a gun who knew the harsh, desertlike surrounding terrain--hunted him down like "Thunder Over the Prairie." The posse's ride across the desolate landscape to seek justice influenced the men's friendship, their careers, and their feelings about the justice system. This account of that event is a fast-paced, cinematic glimpse into the Old West that was.

Most students of the Old West and American law enforcement history know the story of the notorious and ruthless Pinkerton Detective Agency and the legends behind their role in establishing the Secret Service and tangling with Old West Outlaws. But the true story of Kate Warne, an operative of the Pinkerton Agency and the first woman detective in America-and the stories of the other women who served their country as part of the storied crew of crime fighters-are not well known. For the first time, the stories of these intrepid women are collected here and richly illustrated throughout with numerous historical photographs.

This collection of short, action-filled stories of the Old West's most egregiously badly behaved female outlaws, gamblers, soiled doves, and other wicked women by award-winning Western history author Chris Enss offers a glimpse into Western Women's experience that's less sunbonnets and more six-shooters. Pulling together stories of ladies caught in the acts of mayhem, distraction, murder, and highway robbery, it will include famous names like Belle Starr and Big Nose Kate, as well as lesser known characters.

The amazing true story of the men on Wyoming's death row in the nineteen-teens who believed they'd be granted reprieves as long as they kept winning baseball games.

Tells the stories behind the deaths (or supposed deaths) and burials of some of the Old West's most nefarious outlaws, notorious women, and celebrated lawmen. This work helps readers discover among others the legend behind Calamity Jane's desire to be buried next to Wild Bill Hikock; and where the famous Earp brothers came to be buried.