Grit, Not Glamour: Female Farmers, Ranchers, Ropers, and Herders of the American West by Cheryl Mullenbach

Grit, Not Glamour celebrates the contributions of our foremothers who devoted their lives to farming and ranching related pursuits. Some embraced their roles; others detested the life; often their contributions were minimized or overlooked.

Readers will meet a community of spunky, brazen, plucky, (and in a couple of cases dishonest), hardworking gals who donned trousers, tucked long hair under a straw hat, nurtured plants and baby livestock, studied the markets, fretted over the weather, disseminated vital information, scraped animal dung from their boots, enjoyed a few hours of deep sleep afforded by hours in the fresh country air, only to rise early the next day and start all over again.

Anyone who has lived and worked on a family farm or ranch may relate to the experiences of the women who are profiled. Town dwellers and urbanites generations removed from the farm or their rural communities, who grew up hearing grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ stories, will appreciate these women who may or may not resemble in any way their foremothers.