Long before Hollywood relied on wires, doubles, or digital effects, fearless women were already redefining what it meant to be daring on screen.
With the release of Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women—Crashing Through That Glass Ceiling…With a Lasso, New York Times bestselling author Chris Enss brings to light the extraordinary women who helped build Hollywood’s Western legacy—often without credit, applause, or protection.
Since the debut of the first Western film, The Great Train Robbery (1903), cowboy heroes have dominated the genre. But cowgirls were there from the very beginning. While later stars like Barbara Stanwyck and Dale Evans inspired audiences in the 1940s and 1950s, few have asked: Who were the trailblazing cowgirls who came before them?
Daughters of Daring answers that question.
Early Hollywood was filled with real cowgirls—actresses and stunt women who performed astonishing feats of horsemanship, athleticism, and courage. They rode at breakneck speed, fired guns, took brutal falls, and captured outlaws—all while performing their own stunts and risking their lives for the camera. The rewards were often modest, but their impact was lasting.
This powerful new book tells the stories of more than a dozen trick ropers, bronc busters, and bulldoggers turned actresses—women of grit, charm, and determination. Cowgirls such as Ruth Roland, Helen Gibson, Texas Guinan, Mary Wiggins, Marie Walcamp, and Alice Van Springsteen rarely received top billing, yet their fearless stunt work helped make early Westerns thrilling and wildly popular.
Their names may have faded—but their legacy has not.
Praise for Daughters of Daring
“Chris Enss shines a much-needed spotlight on the unsung heroines of cinema history… These daring ladies of the silver screen risked their lives without any publicity—until now.”
— Michael F. Blake, Emmy Award–Winning Makeup Artist & Film Historian
“Once again author Chris Enss has unearthed hidden cinema secrets… Finally their names are shared and their incredible achievements are told. No one does it better.”
— Rob Word, Producer & Host, A Word on Westerns
“An exciting book about women with an iron will, determination, and skill… Daughters of Daring belongs in every Western lover’s library.”
— Peter Sherayko, Actor, Producer & Author
About The Author
Chris Enss is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing about women of the Old West for more than thirty years. She has penned more than fifty published books on the subject. Her work has been honored with nine Will Rogers Medallion Awards, two Elmer Kelton Book Awards, an Oklahoma Center for the Book Award, three Foreword Review Magazine Book Awards, two time winner of the Downing Journalism Award, and a Willa Cather Award from Women Writing the West for scholarly nonfiction. Enss’s most recent works are The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier, An Open Secret: The Story of Deadwood’s Most Notorious Bordellos, and Along Came a Cowgirl: Daring and Iconic Cowgirls of Rodeos and Wild West Shows.
Available Now Nationwide
Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women is available through Simon & Schuster, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon, and local independent bookstores.
Don’t Miss the National Book Launch Event!!!
Book Soup
8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood
Saturday, February 28
4:00 P.M.
Join Chris Enss for the national launch, conversation, and book signing.
For more information, visit www.chrisenss.com or call 916/216-0995.
