Monday, November 11, 2019

Old West Cowgirl Names

November 11, 2019
   An expecting father I know asked me for "good Old West names" for a daughter his wife is carrying. Okay, how about these two:



   Cowgirl twins Etheyle (Eth-eel?) and Juanita Parry performed with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West in the early 1900s and later with the Barnum & Bailey’s circus. One of their roping and riding routines involved a runaway stagecoach. Etheyle (at right) would leap off of the out-of-control vehicle onto a horse running alongside the stage. Juanita (at left) would rope a fixed object from the driver’s seat of the stage, then bring the team of horses to an abrupt stop. During an exhibition in Chicago, Illinois, in 1917, Juanita was thrown and trampled to death. Etheyle later became the wife of Buffalo Bill’s nephew, William Cody Bradford. She died in 1962.

   Or, here's a gaggle more: Nettie, Lotta (Crabtree), Libby (Custer), Carlotta, Lizzie, Mattie (Silks), Jennie, Sherry Sky, Dickie Grater (I kid you not), La Jean, Blanche, Mae (West), Minnie, Ruby, Eleanor, Tin Can Laura (absolutely true), Elsie, Creede Lily, Dixie, Emma, Maggie, Effie, Allie, Hymen Hannie (sorry, I made that one up).

   Okay, what you got?

"All men should make coffee for their women. It says so, right in the bible: 'Hebrews.'"
—Old Smartass Saying


5 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:44 AM

    Eustace and Efie Pearl, Ludee Sue and Madeline.

    ReplyDelete
  2. They only got married 5 months ago :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Not old-timey as a first name, but I know of a teacher named "Oaklee." (Not Oakley.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looking at old Census records in AZ: Lillie, Ophelia, Cora, Amelia, Hattie, Clara, Fanny, Vada, Adeline, Polly Ann, Nellie, Rosa Belle, Violet, Elenora, Mabel, and Melvina

    ReplyDelete
  5. Suzanna,Lily,Jeanie,& Clementine...3 from old Stephen Foster songs and one was an obsession of Judge Roy Bean.

    ReplyDelete

Post your comments