Kay Turnbaugh
@kayturnbaugh.bsky.social
I am the author of seven books, including the award-winning The Last of the Wild West Cowgirls. You can also find me on Substack, where I share a Cowgirl Cocktail (kayturnbaugh.substack.com) of delicious tidbits about those intrepid Wild West cowgirls.
My great-great-grandmother was pregnant with twins the day she faced gang of Bushwhackers intent on killing another son.
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/the-day-my...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/the-day-my...
The day my great-great-grandmother got a gang of bushwhackers to stand down
They had been ordered to kill her son
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 12:49 AM
My great-great-grandmother was pregnant with twins the day she faced gang of Bushwhackers intent on killing another son.
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/the-day-my...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/the-day-my...
In 1914, two Colorado women helped preserve Native American names for places in the proposed Rocky Mountain National Park. They researched and arranged a trip with Arapaho elders to learn the original Arapaho names for the geographic features, but social mores prohibited them from going.
A Passion for Names and Preserving the Arapaho Language
A 1914 trip organized by two Colorado women helped establish Rocky Mountain National Park and preserve Native American names
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:08 PM
In 1914, two Colorado women helped preserve Native American names for places in the proposed Rocky Mountain National Park. They researched and arranged a trip with Arapaho elders to learn the original Arapaho names for the geographic features, but social mores prohibited them from going.
Some of today’s politicians have defended their questionable behavior by saying it was “a joke.” That’s nothing new. America's first female mayor's name was put on the ballot as a 'joke.' kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/americas-f...
America’s first female mayor served for one year and was paid $1
Susanna Salter’s name was put on the ballot as a ‘joke’
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Some of today’s politicians have defended their questionable behavior by saying it was “a joke.” That’s nothing new. America's first female mayor's name was put on the ballot as a 'joke.' kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/americas-f...
I recently did a talk-back after seeing Annie Get Your Gun in Evergreen, Colorado, shortly after the school shooting there. I shared the stage with the star of the show and one of the first women to be in a combat role in Iran and Afghanistan. We talked cowgirls, Annie Oakley, and strong women.
From combat to the stage
Marine Sergeant Michele Crowe takes on Annie Oakley
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
October 12, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I recently did a talk-back after seeing Annie Get Your Gun in Evergreen, Colorado, shortly after the school shooting there. I shared the stage with the star of the show and one of the first women to be in a combat role in Iran and Afghanistan. We talked cowgirls, Annie Oakley, and strong women.
I just got back from my trip to Europe--biking through Austria, and Slovenia, time in Paris, and an interview about the history of Wild West cowgirls in the Netherlands. Wild West cowgirls continue to amaze and inspire people today, and the Dutch audience was fascinated by their exploits.
Howdy and Goedendag!
‘Strong Women, Tough Stories’ in words and song
open.substack.com
September 27, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I just got back from my trip to Europe--biking through Austria, and Slovenia, time in Paris, and an interview about the history of Wild West cowgirls in the Netherlands. Wild West cowgirls continue to amaze and inspire people today, and the Dutch audience was fascinated by their exploits.
We are just now beginning to learn more about the female outlaws of the Wild West. Belle Starr biographer Michael Wallis explains that, “The truth is that for many years, historians—mostly men—refused to tell it like it was for women of the American West." What we know about three Bandit Queens:
Strong Women I: Bandit Queens Followed a Dangerous Road
“The truth is that for many years, historians—mostly men—refused to tell it like it was for women of the American West.”
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
August 18, 2025 at 4:25 PM
We are just now beginning to learn more about the female outlaws of the Wild West. Belle Starr biographer Michael Wallis explains that, “The truth is that for many years, historians—mostly men—refused to tell it like it was for women of the American West." What we know about three Bandit Queens:
Here's my latest blog on Substack, the story of Sister Blandina who had heard stories about the 'unsavory' cowboys before she headed west and then became 'The Fastest Nun in the West.' One of the comments: "You can't make this stuff up!"
The Fastest Nun in the West
'At just 22 years old, the short-of-stature Sister Blandina stepped straight into the Wild West'
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
August 2, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Here's my latest blog on Substack, the story of Sister Blandina who had heard stories about the 'unsavory' cowboys before she headed west and then became 'The Fastest Nun in the West.' One of the comments: "You can't make this stuff up!"
She dressed like a man to support her children and to hunt down the man who killed her husband. Read about the adventures of Mountain Charley: Not a Man!
Mountain Charley: Not a man!
Discovery made after she emptied her six-shooter into the man who killed her husband
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
July 26, 2025 at 10:55 PM
She dressed like a man to support her children and to hunt down the man who killed her husband. Read about the adventures of Mountain Charley: Not a Man!
Nat Love's big break came in a Fourth of July "cowboy" contest in Deadwood in 1876. He won pretty much everything, and the crowd dubbed him "Deadwood Dick." The rest is legend.
Nat Love and Deadwood Dick
"I've had an unusually adventurous life."
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
July 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Nat Love's big break came in a Fourth of July "cowboy" contest in Deadwood in 1876. He won pretty much everything, and the crowd dubbed him "Deadwood Dick." The rest is legend.
I read a lot. Usually a book or two a week. Among the ones that I keep thinking about is Jodi Picoult's By Any Other Name. She delves into one of the grandest mysteries of all time!
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/by-any-oth...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/by-any-oth...
By Any Other Name
Shakespeare or Basano: The resurrection of an erasure 400 years old?
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
June 23, 2025 at 8:40 PM
I read a lot. Usually a book or two a week. Among the ones that I keep thinking about is Jodi Picoult's By Any Other Name. She delves into one of the grandest mysteries of all time!
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/by-any-oth...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/by-any-oth...
How did women fare in the dime novels of the late 1800s and early 1900s? Cowgirls paved the way for heroines who starred in their own rescues.
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/those-dari...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/those-dari...
Harum-Scarum Dime Novel Cowgirls
Characters based on the real lives of daredevil cowgirls
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
May 26, 2025 at 8:06 PM
How did women fare in the dime novels of the late 1800s and early 1900s? Cowgirls paved the way for heroines who starred in their own rescues.
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/those-dari...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/those-dari...
When you could cross the border in a trolley pulled by Mandy the Mule...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/mandy-the-...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/mandy-the-...
Mandy the Mule, a beloved character of old time El Paso
140 years ago trolley cars pulled by mules conveyed passengers across the border
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
May 11, 2025 at 10:15 PM
When you could cross the border in a trolley pulled by Mandy the Mule...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/mandy-the-...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/mandy-the-...
My latest on Substack: Spurs!
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/museum-exh...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/museum-exh...
Cowgirls’ spurs were flashy and complex—just like the cowgirls
Museum exhibit and new podcast highlight resilience and independence of early female entertainers and athletes
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
April 30, 2025 at 5:10 PM
My latest on Substack: Spurs!
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/museum-exh...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/museum-exh...
I was just interviewed by Trudi Howley for her podcast Inscape Quest. We had a great time talking about cowgirls and horses and Wild West shows.
On Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2MF2...
On Apple podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
On Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2MF2...
On Apple podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Wild West Cowgirl: A Western Woman Who Dared
Podcast Episode · Inscape Quest Podcast with Trudi Howley · 04/15/2025 · 29m
podcasts.apple.com
April 21, 2025 at 8:53 PM
I was just interviewed by Trudi Howley for her podcast Inscape Quest. We had a great time talking about cowgirls and horses and Wild West shows.
On Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2MF2...
On Apple podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
On Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2MF2...
On Apple podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Reposted by Kay Turnbaugh
"The Mississippi Library Commission ordered the deletion of two research collections that might violate state law, a memo obtained by Mississippi Today shows.
"One of the now deleted collections focused on 'race relations' and the other on 'gender studies'...”
mississippitoday.org/2025/04/08/m...
"One of the now deleted collections focused on 'race relations' and the other on 'gender studies'...”
mississippitoday.org/2025/04/08/m...
Mississippi libraries ordered to delete academic research in response to state laws - Mississippi Today
The two research collections state officials ordered for deletion included material from professional journals, conference papers, books, student dissertations, periodicals and newspaper articles.
mississippitoday.org
April 10, 2025 at 7:13 PM
"The Mississippi Library Commission ordered the deletion of two research collections that might violate state law, a memo obtained by Mississippi Today shows.
"One of the now deleted collections focused on 'race relations' and the other on 'gender studies'...”
mississippitoday.org/2025/04/08/m...
"One of the now deleted collections focused on 'race relations' and the other on 'gender studies'...”
mississippitoday.org/2025/04/08/m...
That's a lot of eggs!
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/the-cost-o...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/the-cost-o...
The cost of eggs, then and now
In 1900, the Buffalo Bill Wild West used 3,360 eggs--for every breakfast!
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
April 11, 2025 at 5:05 PM
That's a lot of eggs!
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/the-cost-o...
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/the-cost-o...
On top of everything else that happened today, libraries across the country began receiving official notices from the Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services terminating their grants, effective April 1, 2025. www.everylibrary.org/trump_termin... via @everylibrary.bsky.social
EveryLibrary Condemns the Trump Administration's Termination of IMLS Grants as an Attack on Libraries, Museums, and Archives Everywhere.
State Library Agencies and other grant recipients across the country began receiving official notices from the Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services terminating their grants,...
www.everylibrary.org
April 4, 2025 at 2:02 AM
On top of everything else that happened today, libraries across the country began receiving official notices from the Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services terminating their grants, effective April 1, 2025. www.everylibrary.org/trump_termin... via @everylibrary.bsky.social
Trump signed an Executive Order attacking Federal Funding for Libraries. You can email your legislators and governors here: action.everylibrary.org/emaileo2025 via @everylibrary.bsky.social
SEND AN EMAIL: Stop Trump's E.O. Attacking Federal Funding for Libraries
We need your help TODAY to tell your governors and key members of the House and Senate that federal funding for libraries - the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) - needs to be preserved!
action.everylibrary.org
April 1, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Trump signed an Executive Order attacking Federal Funding for Libraries. You can email your legislators and governors here: action.everylibrary.org/emaileo2025 via @everylibrary.bsky.social
Major Pauline Cushman used her acting skills when she became a spy during the Civil War.
Major Pauline Cushman: Union Spy
The only woman given a commission for secret-service work during the Civil War
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
March 31, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Major Pauline Cushman used her acting skills when she became a spy during the Civil War.
More amazing cowgirl history.
Daredevil riders from Ukraine and Russia were crowd favorites
The Cossack riders included five women
open.substack.com
March 19, 2025 at 10:31 PM
More amazing cowgirl history.
LIBRARIES! In a new executive order, Trump has targeted the federal agency charged with distributing congressionally approved funds to state libraries and to library, museum, and archives program grant recipients. www.everylibrary.org/statementiml... via @everylibrary.bsky.social
Statement on Trump's Attack on Federal Funding for Libraries
www.everylibrary.org
March 16, 2025 at 5:32 PM
LIBRARIES! In a new executive order, Trump has targeted the federal agency charged with distributing congressionally approved funds to state libraries and to library, museum, and archives program grant recipients. www.everylibrary.org/statementiml... via @everylibrary.bsky.social
Meet Stagecoach Mary, a real-life character who was larger than life!
March 1, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Meet Stagecoach Mary, a real-life character who was larger than life!
Reposted by Kay Turnbaugh
I just did a presentation at our local library, and as always when I speak to a group, this question comes up.
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/whats-next
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/whats-next
What's next?
How about cowgirl spies??
kayturnbaugh.substack.com
January 30, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I just did a presentation at our local library, and as always when I speak to a group, this question comes up.
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/whats-next
kayturnbaugh.substack.com/p/whats-next
Reposted by Kay Turnbaugh
I completely agree with this new policy from S&S not to require blurbs anymore. This piece is an excellent explanation on why. (I never got a single blurb for my book and it still became a bestseller!)
Why Simon & Schuster’s Flagship Imprint Won’t Require Blurbs Anymore
In a decision some might call “stunning” or a “tour-de-force,” new S&S publisher Sean Manning has decided to no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books. Here’s why.
www.publishersweekly.com
January 30, 2025 at 4:42 PM
I completely agree with this new policy from S&S not to require blurbs anymore. This piece is an excellent explanation on why. (I never got a single blurb for my book and it still became a bestseller!)