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MABEL STRICKLAND COMPETED IN ALL EVENTS EXCEPT STEER WRESTLING GAINING AN IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION OF CHAMPION BUCKLES.
rodeo performer. She was soon a World Champion bronc rider who headlined as a sharpshooter. Before she retired from rodeo, Fannie and her husband organized their own Wild West show and a stock company and toured the country. Let’s go on to look at other women quickly setting all sorts of records in rodeos. Almost as if the word got around and suddenly it was acceptable for young women to embrace this new “career” in rodeo riding, other names cropped up in newspapers and on rodeo flyers. This isn’t exactly what happened, though. As it turned out there were always plenty of girls growing up on ranches with horses for companions. The truth of the matter was the time was right for those women to step into a world previously forbidden by the mores of society. The world was changing and as it did, women began to embrace actions thought to be “naughty” or “perverse.” All it took was the bravery of some who could ignore such ridiculous rules of behavior and step into the open. At the turn of the Century, Wild West Shows as well as Rodeos were premier entertainment, so perhaps it’s not so strange that women not content to keep house would gravitate toward this type of career.
Kitty Wilkes set out to prove yet another truth. A lady didn’t have to be born in the west or grow up on a ranch to become a rodeo star. Determined to prove it, she won her first title at the Wild West Celebration Rodeo in Miles City, Montana, in 1916. At the age of 17, she wowed the fans. The New York native’s untamed physical daring left fans believing she was born and bred into the rugged ranch life. She was not only new to the sport, she went on to win that top prize to prove a cowgirl didn’t need to be born to the saddle to be a crack rider. After winning her first rodeo, and taking part in the Pendleton Roundup that fall, this bronc busting champion was hooked. Determined to improve her natural talent she traveled ranches and rodeos throughout the West. Using the orneriest animals for training, she had outlaw horses blindfolded and saddled for her to ride. She wouldn’t allow the horse to beat her. Not only was she an exceptional trick and bronc rider, she proved over and over she could tame the wildest of horses. Her performance at the Pendleton Roundup in 1916 resulted in her being named the All-Around Champion Cowgirl.
