"The picture of the early American West would not be complete without a fashionably dressed madam standing at the top of the saloon stairs surveying the activity below. More than just casual observers, these tough-talking and whip-smart women often had a pistol hidden in the folds of their skirts, ready to take on cowboys, ranchers, lawmen-any man who dared to cause trouble on the premises or to threaten their livelihood." "In a time when most women were dependent on husbands and fathers, madams-the women who owned, managed, and maintained brothels-took fate into their own hands, using feminine wiles and an abundance of sheer grit to make a living on the hard edge of the frontier West." "Pistol Packin' Madams examines the stories of these resourceful, oft-maligned women, whose combined adventures offer a colorful portrait of the early days of the West. Book jacket."--Jacket.
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