{"id":124,"date":"2021-03-14T19:53:06","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T02:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/?page_id=124"},"modified":"2026-06-22T11:14:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T18:14:57","slug":"hanshew","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/episodes\/hanshew\/","title":{"rendered":"Hanshew Women in the Rodeo"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wsu-decorator  wsu-overflow--hidden wsu-decorator--style-lines-gray\" style=\"top:0;right:0;height:100%;width:20%\"><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Northwest Women in Rodeo Changed Perceptions of Ability<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-row wsu-row--sidebar-right\" >\r\n    \n<div class=\"wsu-column\"  style=\"\">\r\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"228\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/mabel-strickland-inductee.jpg\" alt=\"Mabel Strickland\" class=\"wp-image-231\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Mabel Strickland Woodward jumped her horse over an automobile in 1926 at the Ellensburg Rodeo.&nbsp; Wikicommons<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>When you think of the rodeo you may think cowboys, big belt buckles, brawn and muscle. But rodeo and ranching also served as an overlooked catalyst for views on the capabilities of women. In this episode, Historian Tracey Hanshew explains how the women\u202f athletes of early rodeo provide a broader understanding of women\u2019s roles in rural history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:14px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Audio Recording:<\/h2>\n\n\n<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-124-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Air-March-5-Women-in-Rodeo.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Air-March-5-Women-in-Rodeo.mp3\">https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Air-March-5-Women-in-Rodeo.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading wsu-spacing-after--default wsu-spacing-before--large\">Transcription of Audio:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tracey Hanshew:<\/strong> Today, rodeos in the Northwest are imperative for career athletes as they were before the National Finals Rodeo formed. Ellensburg, Walla Walla, and Pendleton Rodeos, to name a few,\u202fwere important in the early twentieth century because each had a reputation for consistent prize money and as a rodeo that wasn\u2019t plagued with fraud, both necessary to ensure a livelihood for career athletes. Some of those athletes were women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The women\u202fathletes of early rodeo provide a broader understanding of women\u2019s roles in rural history. Several top cowgirls like Fannie Sperry Steele, Mabel Strickland, and the Greenough sisters were born and raised on ranches across the Northwest. By studying them we have learned that women gentled and trained horses, moved cattle, and managed ranch duties. Working on seclucded ranches , cowgirls redefined femininity, incorporating practical clothing to accommodate the work they did which was traditionally masculine and considered unladylike. They combined split skirts with decorative sashes and lacy blouses with large silk bows and large-brimmed hats. They became quite skilled at masculine work, yet created their own feminine style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Social expectations for women\u2019s behavior in rural areas compared to urban women reveals that in some ways a separate set of standards existed. Unlike the women in Western dime novels or Hollywood Westerns, women ranchers and athletes were as competent as the cowboys. For example, the Greenough sisters, Alice, and Margie, from a ranch near Red Lodge, Montana worked like their brothers. The girls learned to rope and ride as children and contributed to the family income by working on and off the ranch. Once when a neighbor approached the Greenough ranch to find seasonal help, the boys had already been hired out. So, Alice\u2019s father agreed to let her work driving a team of plow horses for the season, and reportedly said Alice was as good a worker as any man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Greenough\u2019s enter the historical record as rodeo cowgirls, but their backstory provides information about how ranching women across the western United States were equally competent working alongside men. When looking for continuity within regional areas like the Northwest, we learn more about women\u2019s history and the contributions they had in society. There is much more to discover about how women in rural areas affected national conversations and affected change to women\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-container  wsu-position--relative\" >\r\n    \n<div class=\"wsu-decorator wsu-zindex--level-2 wsu-spacing-before--xmedium wsu-spacing-after--large wsu-position--relative wsu-decorator--style-block-gray\" style=\"top:40px;left:-100px;height:3px;width:260px\"><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wsu-decorator  wsu-decorator--style-lines-crimson wsu-zindex--level-3 wsu-position--relative\" style=\"top:-40px;left:-40px;height:25px;width:63%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Author:<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"198\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Hanshew-Tracey-headshot.png\" alt=\"Tracey Hanshew\" class=\"wp-image-122\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Tracey Hanshew is a Scholarly Assistant Professor at WSU Tri-Cities, where she teaches on topics such as Women in the American West, Women\u2019s Social History, American Peoples, and United States History through film. She has a Master\u2019s in Social Science from Syracuse University and a\u202fPh.D. in History at Oklahoma State University. Her recent book\u202f<em>Oklahoma Rodeo Women<\/em>,\u202freleased this past February, is a popular history about women in Oklahoma and how their contributions to professional rodeo helped rodeo get its start and sustained it through years of hardship.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-column  wsu-color-background--gray-0\"  style=\"\">\r\n\t\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-font-size--large\">About Hanshew&#8217;s Book: <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Oklahoma Rodeo Women<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"412\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Hanshew-Oklahoma-Rodeo-Women-Book-Cover.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover for Oklahoma Rodeo Women by Tracey Hanshew\" class=\"wp-image-238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Hanshew-Oklahoma-Rodeo-Women-Book-Cover.jpg 412w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/2629\/2021\/03\/Hanshew-Oklahoma-Rodeo-Women-Book-Cover-396x600.jpg 396w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 412px) 100vw, 412px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>(Publisher: Arcadia Publishing)<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Northwest Women in Rodeo Changed Perceptions of Ability<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3554,"featured_media":0,"parent":40,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":null},"categories":[],"tags":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3554"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":655,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/124\/revisions\/655"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.wsu.edu\/past-as-prologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}