The Wild West churned out a legion of daring frontierswomen, and they weren’t just the gun‑toting girlfriends of outlaws. Life on the frontier opened doors beyond the homestead, nudging women toward greater equality with men. These ten trailblazers prove that women could hang with the toughest cowboys, look fierce, and still keep their style.
Why These 10 Most Badass Women Stand Out
10. Esther Hobart Morris
Esther Hobart Morris carried modern ideas into the rugged West. After trekking to Wyoming with her second husband in search of gold, she stumbled on a far more pivotal mission. Within a year of arrival, she helped spearhead a women’s suffrage movement that succeeded, making Wyoming the first state to grant women the vote in 1869.
Thanks to her pivotal role, Esther earned a historic appointment as a justice of the peace—the first woman ever to hold that office worldwide. During her eight‑and‑a‑half‑month tenure she oversaw 26 cases, then stayed in Wyoming for the rest of her life, tirelessly championing women’s rights and emerging as a national symbol of equality.
9. Fannie Porter
Fannie Porter was an entrepreneurial powerhouse. By age 20, the young widow ran a luxury bordello in San Antonio, Texas, serving infamous outlaws like the Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid. While outlaws hid and fell for her girls, Fannie also kept ties with lawmen, even receiving a visit from detective William Pinkerton.
When Texas cracked down on brothels, Fannie sold her house and vanished from the record. No one knows her ultimate fate, but she walked away from the trade as a wealthy woman.
8. Margaret Heffernan Borland
Irish‑born Margaret Heffernan Borland earned the nickname “scrapper” for good reason. After her family immigrated to Texas at age five, they settled near San Patricio. By twelve, Margaret endured the loss of her father to a Native American raid and the turmoil of the Texas Revolution, fleeing and returning as the Mexican Army advanced.
She married three times, the third to wealthy rancher Alexander Borland. When he died of yellow fever in 1867, the disease also claimed her three eldest daughters, a four‑year‑old son, and a grandson. Undeterred, Margaret took command of the cattle operation, amassing 10,000 head within six years, earning renown as the sole woman ever to lead a cattle drive.
7. Biddy Mason
Bridget “Biddy” Mason is celebrated as the first African‑American woman to own land in Los Angeles, yet her story stretches far beyond that milestone. Born into slavery in Mississippi, she journeyed with her owner’s family from Mississippi to Utah in 1847, trekking the entire distance on foot with her three daughters.
In 1851 the family moved again, this time to free‑state California. By 1856 Biddy secured her freedom for herself and her daughters through a court petition. She worked as a midwife and nurse, saved enough to purchase property in 1866 for $250, and later amassed a $300,000 fortune through savvy real‑estate deals.
Beyond business, Biddy was a generous philanthropist, founding Los Angeles’ first Black church, the African Methodist Episcopal congregation, and donating generously to local charities. Her legacy is honored by a memorial erected in 1989.
6. Sarah “Great Western” Bowman
During the Mexican‑American War, Sarah Bowman turned the kitchen into a battlefield. Women could accompany husbands as cooks or laundresses, and at a towering 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) she earned the moniker “Great Western.” Legend says she kept cooking at Fort Brown even after a tray was shot from her hands.
She followed the army into Mexico with her second husband, loading cartridges and rescuing wounded soldiers at the Battle of Buena Vista. While there, she opened The American House hotel, later moving to El Paso to run another hotel leased to the army. She continued as a company laundress through the 1860s and was buried with full military honors at Fort Yuma.
5. The Female Lawmen
Although today peace officers are often pictured as men, the 1890s saw several frontier women become U.S. deputy marshals. Sparse records still reveal that these lawwomen were tough enough to make outlaws think twice before crossing them.
Mary Frances “Mamie” Fossett and S. M. Burche of Oklahoma were appointed by U.S. Marshal C. H. Thompson, serving warrants and making arrests alongside male deputies.
F. M. Miller, a deputy marshal from Paris, Texas, stands out as the only known female deputy in Indian Territory. In 1891 the Muskogee Weekly described her as a superb horsewoman who wore a cowboy hat, carried a Colt, and kept a loaded pistol belt while transporting prisoners.
4. Lottie Deno
Born to a wealthy racehorse breeder and gambler, Lottie Deno inherited a knack for cards. Her father taught her the trade before his death in the Civil War. After her mother sent her to Detroit to find a husband, Lottie instead linked up with a former jockey and began gambling along the Mississippi River.
Lottie later settled in San Antonio, becoming the house gambler at the University Club, where she met and fell for Frank Thurmond. After Frank fled a murder charge, Lottie chased him west, gambling alongside Doc Holiday in West Texas. Rumor has it she inspired Miss Kitty on the TV series Gunsmoke. Eventually she and Frank reunited, settling in Deming, New Mexico, and becoming respected community members.
3. Delia Haskett Rawson
Stagecoach driving was a grueling profession in the 1800s, yet 14‑year‑old Delia Haskett Rawson broke the mold, becoming likely the youngest female mail carrier in California. She held the reins for nine years, from 1876 to 1885.
Her father, Samuel W. Haskett, owned a stagecoach line, giving Delia the chance to prove herself. Beyond piloting the coach, she excelled in horse racing, rodeo events, and beauty pageants, earning accolades in each. Later she became a mine owner, an oil baroness, and the sole woman admitted to the California Pioneer Stage Drivers Association when it formed in 1934.
2. Susan “Doc Susie” Anderson
In the 1800s, few women practiced medicine, and even fewer trekked the frontier to treat patients. Susan “Doc Susie” Anderson was one of those rare pioneers.
Her father funded her medical education at the University of Michigan. After earning her degree, Susan returned to Cripple Creek, Colorado, where she quickly built a reputation as a skilled physician, often tending to injured miners.
Personal setbacks forced her to relocate to Denver, then Greeley, before settling in Fraser, Colorado—high altitude that suited her tuberculosis. There she flourished, earning the nickname “Doc Susie.” Patients, often impoverished, paid her in food or firewood. Though financially strained, she eventually became Grand County Coroner and continued house calls until age 84.
1. Cathay Williams
Cathay Williams tasted military life early, serving as cook and laundress for Major General Philip H. Sheridan during the Shenandoah Valley raids. A recently freed slave, she dreamed of fighting on the front lines.
After the Civil War, Congress created the first African‑American regiments in 1866. Determined to enlist, Cathay disguised herself as a man, adopting the name William Cathay. Standing 5 ft 9 in, she passed a hasty physical and was accepted into the 38th Infantry, becoming the first African‑American woman to serve in the U.S. Army. Despite five hospitalizations over two years, her secret remained hidden, and she received a disability discharge.
After her service, Cathay’s story faded, but her legacy endures as a testament to courage and ingenuity.