Source:  News Release

Eight Women to be Inducted into National Cowgirl Hall of Fame

Fort Worth, Texas – The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame will add eight new honorees to its Hall of Fame during the 36^th annual Induction Luncheon ceremony on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at the Round Up Inn.

Inductees this year include Sarah “Sally” Buxkemper, known for her work in refining cattle pedigrees; Sandy Collier, a National Reined Cow Horse Association World Champion; Mary Lou LeCompte, an author and professor; Anna Mebus Martin, the first female bank president in the United states; Marie Gibson (deceased), an early women’s rodeo star and bronc riding world champion; Mary Emma Manning Lillie “May Lillie”, a sharpshooter and co-founder of Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Show with her husband, Pawnee Bill; Pauline Nesbitt , 1938 Trick and Fancy Riding World Champion; and Eloise “Fox Hastings” Wilson “, a multitalented rodeo cowgirl of the 1920’s.  This group of inductees will push the number of women in the Hall of Fame to over 200.  “Our eight inductees truly exemplify our motto, The Women Who Shape the West… Change the World” said Pat Riley, Executive Director.

In addition to recognizing these eight exemplary women, the Museum will honor Patti Colbert, Executive Director of the Mustang Heritage Foundation, with the Fern Sawyer Award.  This award, created in 1994 as a tribute to 1976 Honoree Fern Sawyer, is presented to someone whose tireless dedication has contributed to the advancement of the Museum.

The Induction Luncheon will be held at the Round Up Inn, located inside the Amon G. Carter, Jr. Exhibits Hall at the Will Rogers Memorial Center, located across the street from the Museum. The festivities will begin at 10:00 AM with shopping at 18 unique vendor booths, followed by a Champagne and Wine Reception as well as viewing of the 90 exquisite western themed table centerpieces.  Lunch will begin at noon and entertainer Red Steagall will be the emcee.  We are honored to have former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor address the gathering.  She also will be present for the Museum’s opening of its newest exhibition, The Cowgirl Who Became a Justice: Sandra Day O’Connor.  This exhibit opens October 27 and will run through March 25, 2012.  Tickets for the luncheon are available at $125 by calling 817-336-4475.

About the national Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame:

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame (www.cowgirl.net) is the only museum in the world that is dedicated to honoring and celebrating women, past and present, whose lives exemplify the courage, resilience, and independence that helped shape the American West. Fostering an appreciation of the ideals and spirit of self-reliance that the cowgirls inspire, the museum is considered an invaluable national educational resource for its exhibits, research library, rare photograph collection, and award-winning distance-learning programs for grades K-12, and adults. The museum also has an award winning gift shop.  Established in 1975 in Hereford, Texas, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame moved to Fort Worth in 1994 and into their stunning 33,000 square foot building in 2002 in the heart of Fort Worth’s Cultural District.

Location: The museum is located at 1720 Gendy Street in the Cultural District of Fort Worth, TX.

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Closed Mondays except in the summer and during the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo); Sunday: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.; closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
           

Admission: Adults (13+): $10; Seniors (60+): $8; Children 3–12: $8; Children 2 and under: free with paid adult. Members of National Cowgirl Museum AND Fort Worth Museum of Science and History receive FREE admission. HALF PRICE exhibit admission to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History with paid admission to the National Cowgirl Museum; discount available on date of visit only. Group rates and docent tours available with two-week advance notice. Cultural District parking: $5.

Profiles of the 2011 Inductees:

Sarah Buxkemper, Texas 

Sarah “Sally” Buxkemper’s passion for agriculture is evident through her work in refining cattle pedigrees. Working in a male-dominated field, Buxkemper’s career has been anything but mediocre. She aided in the development of a new breed of cattle, the Simbrah, combining Simmental with Brahman, which is resistant to the ailments of its ancestors. She was one of the few women (preceded by Honoree Minnie Lou Bradley) to graduate with an Animal Husbandry degree from Oklahoma State University, and was the first woman to be trained by the American Breeders Service to administer artificial insemination. Buxkemper lives in Ballinger, Texas where she maintains the RX Ranch, managing cattle and continuing her life-long goal to improve her herd and sell product world-wide.

Sandy Collier, California 

In the spirited world of reined cow horses, Sandy Collier is a respected competitor. Her career and love of horses began on the East Coast as an English rider; this evolved into her current passion and career. Collier is the first and only woman to win the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) World Champion Snaffle Bit Futurity. A strong athlete, she won the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Jr. Cow Horse World Championship, the NRCHA Hackamore Classic Champion, and received the Western Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Monty Roberts of the Join-Up organization. Collier is an international clinician, co-author of the book, Reining Essentials, and has published several articles and DVDs on horse training. 

Mary Lou LeCompte, Washington

Mary Lou LeCompte, Ph.D., is recognized as the leading scholar on rodeo cowgirls. She wrote the book, Cowgirls of the Rodeo: Pioneer Professional Athletes, now in its second printing, in which more than 600 interviews were conducted with female rodeo competitors. Additionally, LeCompte has published several articles, contributed to books, and has been awarded many research grants for her efforts. She composed all of the sports entries for the Handbook of Texas, several of which helped ultimately ensure that the cowgirls and the sport of rodeo were appropriately recognized. After composing her foundational book, Cowgirls of the Rodeo, she donated her archive of research material to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. This historian taught at the University of Texas at Austin for 36 years and has dedicated her career to preserving and recovering cowgirl history.

Anna Mebus Martin, Texas 1843-1925

Anna Martin was the first female bank founder and president in the United States. An immigrant from Germany at 15, and widowed at 36, Martin owned a town store, and opened the first bank in Mason County, TX while operating a 60,000 acre cattle ranch. In the initial two years of the store’s operation, she was the first provider of barbed wire in the region, which changed the face of the cattle industry, and built a customer base encompassing over a dozen nearby towns. Purchases could be made on credit and nearly anything was accepted as payment. Martin began to receive a commission by selling livestock for ranchers and they entrusted her with their earnings. After gaining the confidence of the community and understanding the fundamentals of banking through her work experience, Martin and her sons founded Commercial Bank in Mason, Texas in 1901. Martin’s business foresight and acumen makes her an entrepreneurial legend, paralleled only by her notable ranching efforts.

Marie Gibson, Montana 1894-1933

In 1917, Marie Gibson entered her first rodeo competition at the Great Northern Montana Stampede; there she met her future husband, Tom Gibson, a Canadian bronc rider. Marie competed in rodeos from 1917 to 1933, participating all over Canada and in every major rodeo in the United States. In 1924, she won first place in Ladies Bronc Riding at Cheyenne Frontier Days. She continued to win or place in rodeos throughout her career. In 1927 she won her first World Championship in Ladies Bronc Riding at Madison Square Garden and won her second World Championship in 1931.

Mary Emma Manning Lillie “May Lillie”, Oklahoma 1869-1936

Mary Emma Manning was considered to possess an untamed will, and married the famous Wild West showman and performer, Pawnee Bill, in 1886 who was nine years her senior. For her wedding gift she received a pony and a Marlin .22 target rifle. In 1888, they launched Pawnee Bill’s Historic Wild West show which later became the Pawnee Bill’s Historical Wild West Indian Museum and Encampment Show. May Lillie starred as a sharpshooter and expert “lady rider.” This Wild West show business, which she co-owned with her husband, at its peak employed 645 people, 400 horses and steers, a herd of twenty buffalo, elephants, and carriages. Lillie managed the ranch that held the buffalo. Under her direction the ranch thrived and she worked hard to promote the conservation of buffalo in the United States. 

Pauline Nesbitt, Oklahoma 1907-1996

Pauline Nesbitt, born Jane Slovensky in 1907, was raised on a Wisconsin farm where she first fell in love with horses. She began her rodeo career at age 17 as a bronc rider, but after seeing Tad Lucas perform in San Antonio, she made the switch and added trick rider to her list of abilities. Pauline had a successful career; she was a regular working for Gene Autry at Madison Square Garden and Boston Garden, and competed at Cheyenne, Fort Worth, Kerrville, Tulsa, and Denver.  In 1938 Nesbitt won World Champion Trick and Fancy Rider. Nesbitt made all of her own costumes and took up modeling. She, along with Tad Lucas, Polly Mills, and Iva Del Draksler modeled in western clothing for the 1941 Sears and Roebuck catalog. Pauline bought a small ranch where she lived, ran cattle, and continued ranching until the 1980’s.

Eloise Fox Hastings Wilson “Fox Hastings”, Arizona 1898-1948

In 1914, at age 16, Fox Hastings ran away from home in California and began her career bronc and trick riding for the Irwin Brother’s Wild West Show. By 1924, she was best known among few female bulldoggers with her first competition at the Fort Worth Rodeo.  A multi-talented arena cowgirl, Hastings trick rode, bulldogged, and rode saddle bronc.  In addition to the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West and the Irwin Brothers Wild West shows, she bulldogged in more than a dozen other rodeos. She was a courageous competitor. At the Kansas City Roundup, after a short run, she and her horse became entangled after a fall. Her horse fell on her twice after trying to regain its stability. After being carried away, she remarkably got back on a different horse and completed her ride to near perfection.