Women of the West: Untold Stories from American History with Jana Bommersbach

Besides Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley, any Western women come to mind? Probably not—not because they weren’t just as important to settling the West, but because history was so focused on the goons and gunfighters, it forgot the women. So it’s a surprise that a 16 year-old Shoshone girl from Dakota Territory named Sacagawea would become the most celebrated woman in American history. It’s little known that Sharlot Hall isn’t just a museum in Prescott, but was a real woman who saved Arizona’s statehood. It’s a shock to learn Colorado’s first female journalist got a notorious cannibal out of prison. And oh, the secrets of the most famous Indian captive in American history—Olive Oatman. Western women finally get their due in this presentation that tells what history forgot to mention!

This event is cohosted by the Mesa Public Library- Red Mountain. This is an in-person event.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Jana Bommersbach is one of Arizona’s most honored and respected journalists. She has won accolades in every facet of her career— investigative reporter, magazine columnist, television commentator and author of nationally acclaimed books. She currently writes for True West magazine, digging up the true stories behind the popular myths, with an emphasis on Arizona’s real history and women of the Old West. Her insight, knowledge and wit produce exuberant, riveting speeches that always garner rave reviews.