Nan Aspinwall-Gable--showgirl/cowgirl--was the first woman to ride across North America (from San Francisco to New York) alone. Her adventure was the subject of considerable newspaper coverage. Among them was an item that referred to her growing up in Nebraska.
Red Cloud Chief (Red Cloud, NE) September 15, 1910:
Will Visit Old Home
Beatrice—Miss Nan Aspinwall, known as "the lariat girl," who left San Francisco Wednesday for New York on horseback, is a Gage county young lady. She resided and attended school at Liberty for many years, and her relatives live there at the present, and she will visit her old home while on her journey east.
Research has found a mention of the subject as a young child.
Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, Nebr.) July 19, 1891:
Liberty column:
Mrs. Lena Aspinwall and daughter, Nannie, left Tuesday last for a visit with friends in New York and other eastern points.
-------------------------------------------
from Alaska Citizen May 15th 1911:
ADVENTEROUS MAID LOST IN UTAH MOUNTAINS, BUT HER PET LEADS HER TO SAFETY
St. Louis, MO, April 18 - Nan Aspinwall, thoroughbred cow-girl, and Lady Ellen, her thoroughbred mare, have reached St. Louis on their overland gallop from San Francisco to New York. That the bones of both are not bleaching in the Utah mountains is due more to Lady Ellen than to Lady
Ellen's mistress. Miss Aspinwall says: It was between Shafter and Proctor, Utah, that she turned into a prospectors' trail for a short cut. The trail faded out and when she turned and would have gone back the way she had come, she found that Lady Ellen's hoofs had left no marks on the granite mountain surface.
She rode aimlessly until night, without food or water for herself or the horse and after suffering all night from the bitter cold, she tied the horse the next morning and climbed to the top of a peak to try to get her bearings. It was no use, and in returning she missed Lady Ellen and
wandered about the mountain side until the mare, becoming inpatient, neighed and Miss Aspinwall was guided by the sound.
Throughout the second day she led the horse, to spare it the burden of her weight. Toward sunset she determined to risk everything on the sagacity of Lady Ellen. Giving the mare rein, she followed. The animal led her up a peak and down the other side, where it was so steep that they slid most of the way, and landed her in a railroad camp.
She collapsed when there was no more need for endurance, and the railroad men carried her into camp, more dead than alive, and cared for her and Lady Ellen.
Wherefore, Miss Aspinwall says, get a thoroughbred if you are going to ride across country. "It was Lady Ellen that saved my life," she said. When I was getting ready for the ride everyone told me I wanted a bronc. I knew better. I wanted a thoroughbred. An English magazine had negotiated with me to make the ride, but when I asked them to stake me to at least the price for horse feed they got cold feet. But I wasn't going to be a piker, so I started on my own book. And I am going to finish the trip."
She crossed the White-Death desert, sixty-five miles, in one day. The desert is of chalky whiteness, the horse's hoofs make no noise, and there is nothing to drink but fatal arsenic water, and nothing to eat but sage brush.
On other parts of the journey she sometimes rode ninety miles in a day.
She shot up the town of Mitchell, at the top of the Tennessee Pass, but she says it was not because she wanted to be cute or funny. She was angry. She had knocked on front doors and back doors and nobody had called to her to
come in and nobody had come out. So she blazed away at every window she saw. The town woke up and she left hurriedly.
"That story got around," she says, "and after that I could not draw my handkerchief without starting a panic, so I quit carrying the gun."
Miss Aspinwall has been 122 days on the way. From San Francisco to Denver she averaged forty-one miles a day. From Denver East she has been averaging twenty-seven miles a day.
-----------------------------------------
California death index has first name as Jane and mother's maiden name as Kuetzing
------------------------
For an overview of her life and career please see:
https://history.nebraska.gov/publications/nan-j-aspinwall-western-entertainer
Red Cloud Chief (Red Cloud, NE) September 15, 1910:
Will Visit Old Home
Beatrice—Miss Nan Aspinwall, known as "the lariat girl," who left San Francisco Wednesday for New York on horseback, is a Gage county young lady. She resided and attended school at Liberty for many years, and her relatives live there at the present, and she will visit her old home while on her journey east.
Research has found a mention of the subject as a young child.
Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, Nebr.) July 19, 1891:
Liberty column:
Mrs. Lena Aspinwall and daughter, Nannie, left Tuesday last for a visit with friends in New York and other eastern points.
-------------------------------------------
from Alaska Citizen May 15th 1911:
ADVENTEROUS MAID LOST IN UTAH MOUNTAINS, BUT HER PET LEADS HER TO SAFETY
St. Louis, MO, April 18 - Nan Aspinwall, thoroughbred cow-girl, and Lady Ellen, her thoroughbred mare, have reached St. Louis on their overland gallop from San Francisco to New York. That the bones of both are not bleaching in the Utah mountains is due more to Lady Ellen than to Lady
Ellen's mistress. Miss Aspinwall says: It was between Shafter and Proctor, Utah, that she turned into a prospectors' trail for a short cut. The trail faded out and when she turned and would have gone back the way she had come, she found that Lady Ellen's hoofs had left no marks on the granite mountain surface.
She rode aimlessly until night, without food or water for herself or the horse and after suffering all night from the bitter cold, she tied the horse the next morning and climbed to the top of a peak to try to get her bearings. It was no use, and in returning she missed Lady Ellen and
wandered about the mountain side until the mare, becoming inpatient, neighed and Miss Aspinwall was guided by the sound.
Throughout the second day she led the horse, to spare it the burden of her weight. Toward sunset she determined to risk everything on the sagacity of Lady Ellen. Giving the mare rein, she followed. The animal led her up a peak and down the other side, where it was so steep that they slid most of the way, and landed her in a railroad camp.
She collapsed when there was no more need for endurance, and the railroad men carried her into camp, more dead than alive, and cared for her and Lady Ellen.
Wherefore, Miss Aspinwall says, get a thoroughbred if you are going to ride across country. "It was Lady Ellen that saved my life," she said. When I was getting ready for the ride everyone told me I wanted a bronc. I knew better. I wanted a thoroughbred. An English magazine had negotiated with me to make the ride, but when I asked them to stake me to at least the price for horse feed they got cold feet. But I wasn't going to be a piker, so I started on my own book. And I am going to finish the trip."
She crossed the White-Death desert, sixty-five miles, in one day. The desert is of chalky whiteness, the horse's hoofs make no noise, and there is nothing to drink but fatal arsenic water, and nothing to eat but sage brush.
On other parts of the journey she sometimes rode ninety miles in a day.
She shot up the town of Mitchell, at the top of the Tennessee Pass, but she says it was not because she wanted to be cute or funny. She was angry. She had knocked on front doors and back doors and nobody had called to her to
come in and nobody had come out. So she blazed away at every window she saw. The town woke up and she left hurriedly.
"That story got around," she says, "and after that I could not draw my handkerchief without starting a panic, so I quit carrying the gun."
Miss Aspinwall has been 122 days on the way. From San Francisco to Denver she averaged forty-one miles a day. From Denver East she has been averaging twenty-seven miles a day.
-----------------------------------------
California death index has first name as Jane and mother's maiden name as Kuetzing
------------------------
For an overview of her life and career please see:
https://history.nebraska.gov/publications/nan-j-aspinwall-western-entertainer
Nan Aspinwall-Gable--showgirl/cowgirl--was the first woman to ride across North America (from San Francisco to New York) alone. Her adventure was the subject of considerable newspaper coverage. Among them was an item that referred to her growing up in Nebraska.
Red Cloud Chief (Red Cloud, NE) September 15, 1910:
Will Visit Old Home
Beatrice—Miss Nan Aspinwall, known as "the lariat girl," who left San Francisco Wednesday for New York on horseback, is a Gage county young lady. She resided and attended school at Liberty for many years, and her relatives live there at the present, and she will visit her old home while on her journey east.
Research has found a mention of the subject as a young child.
Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, Nebr.) July 19, 1891:
Liberty column:
Mrs. Lena Aspinwall and daughter, Nannie, left Tuesday last for a visit with friends in New York and other eastern points.
-------------------------------------------
from Alaska Citizen May 15th 1911:
ADVENTEROUS MAID LOST IN UTAH MOUNTAINS, BUT HER PET LEADS HER TO SAFETY
St. Louis, MO, April 18 - Nan Aspinwall, thoroughbred cow-girl, and Lady Ellen, her thoroughbred mare, have reached St. Louis on their overland gallop from San Francisco to New York. That the bones of both are not bleaching in the Utah mountains is due more to Lady Ellen than to Lady
Ellen's mistress. Miss Aspinwall says: It was between Shafter and Proctor, Utah, that she turned into a prospectors' trail for a short cut. The trail faded out and when she turned and would have gone back the way she had come, she found that Lady Ellen's hoofs had left no marks on the granite mountain surface.
She rode aimlessly until night, without food or water for herself or the horse and after suffering all night from the bitter cold, she tied the horse the next morning and climbed to the top of a peak to try to get her bearings. It was no use, and in returning she missed Lady Ellen and
wandered about the mountain side until the mare, becoming inpatient, neighed and Miss Aspinwall was guided by the sound.
Throughout the second day she led the horse, to spare it the burden of her weight. Toward sunset she determined to risk everything on the sagacity of Lady Ellen. Giving the mare rein, she followed. The animal led her up a peak and down the other side, where it was so steep that they slid most of the way, and landed her in a railroad camp.
She collapsed when there was no more need for endurance, and the railroad men carried her into camp, more dead than alive, and cared for her and Lady Ellen.
Wherefore, Miss Aspinwall says, get a thoroughbred if you are going to ride across country. "It was Lady Ellen that saved my life," she said. When I was getting ready for the ride everyone told me I wanted a bronc. I knew better. I wanted a thoroughbred. An English magazine had negotiated with me to make the ride, but when I asked them to stake me to at least the price for horse feed they got cold feet. But I wasn't going to be a piker, so I started on my own book. And I am going to finish the trip."
She crossed the White-Death desert, sixty-five miles, in one day. The desert is of chalky whiteness, the horse's hoofs make no noise, and there is nothing to drink but fatal arsenic water, and nothing to eat but sage brush.
On other parts of the journey she sometimes rode ninety miles in a day.
She shot up the town of Mitchell, at the top of the Tennessee Pass, but she says it was not because she wanted to be cute or funny. She was angry. She had knocked on front doors and back doors and nobody had called to her to
come in and nobody had come out. So she blazed away at every window she saw. The town woke up and she left hurriedly.
"That story got around," she says, "and after that I could not draw my handkerchief without starting a panic, so I quit carrying the gun."
Miss Aspinwall has been 122 days on the way. From San Francisco to Denver she averaged forty-one miles a day. From Denver East she has been averaging twenty-seven miles a day.
-----------------------------------------
California death index has first name as Jane and mother's maiden name as Kuetzing
------------------------
For an overview of her life and career please see:
https://history.nebraska.gov/publications/nan-j-aspinwall-western-entertainer
Red Cloud Chief (Red Cloud, NE) September 15, 1910:
Will Visit Old Home
Beatrice—Miss Nan Aspinwall, known as "the lariat girl," who left San Francisco Wednesday for New York on horseback, is a Gage county young lady. She resided and attended school at Liberty for many years, and her relatives live there at the present, and she will visit her old home while on her journey east.
Research has found a mention of the subject as a young child.
Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, Nebr.) July 19, 1891:
Liberty column:
Mrs. Lena Aspinwall and daughter, Nannie, left Tuesday last for a visit with friends in New York and other eastern points.
-------------------------------------------
from Alaska Citizen May 15th 1911:
ADVENTEROUS MAID LOST IN UTAH MOUNTAINS, BUT HER PET LEADS HER TO SAFETY
St. Louis, MO, April 18 - Nan Aspinwall, thoroughbred cow-girl, and Lady Ellen, her thoroughbred mare, have reached St. Louis on their overland gallop from San Francisco to New York. That the bones of both are not bleaching in the Utah mountains is due more to Lady Ellen than to Lady
Ellen's mistress. Miss Aspinwall says: It was between Shafter and Proctor, Utah, that she turned into a prospectors' trail for a short cut. The trail faded out and when she turned and would have gone back the way she had come, she found that Lady Ellen's hoofs had left no marks on the granite mountain surface.
She rode aimlessly until night, without food or water for herself or the horse and after suffering all night from the bitter cold, she tied the horse the next morning and climbed to the top of a peak to try to get her bearings. It was no use, and in returning she missed Lady Ellen and
wandered about the mountain side until the mare, becoming inpatient, neighed and Miss Aspinwall was guided by the sound.
Throughout the second day she led the horse, to spare it the burden of her weight. Toward sunset she determined to risk everything on the sagacity of Lady Ellen. Giving the mare rein, she followed. The animal led her up a peak and down the other side, where it was so steep that they slid most of the way, and landed her in a railroad camp.
She collapsed when there was no more need for endurance, and the railroad men carried her into camp, more dead than alive, and cared for her and Lady Ellen.
Wherefore, Miss Aspinwall says, get a thoroughbred if you are going to ride across country. "It was Lady Ellen that saved my life," she said. When I was getting ready for the ride everyone told me I wanted a bronc. I knew better. I wanted a thoroughbred. An English magazine had negotiated with me to make the ride, but when I asked them to stake me to at least the price for horse feed they got cold feet. But I wasn't going to be a piker, so I started on my own book. And I am going to finish the trip."
She crossed the White-Death desert, sixty-five miles, in one day. The desert is of chalky whiteness, the horse's hoofs make no noise, and there is nothing to drink but fatal arsenic water, and nothing to eat but sage brush.
On other parts of the journey she sometimes rode ninety miles in a day.
She shot up the town of Mitchell, at the top of the Tennessee Pass, but she says it was not because she wanted to be cute or funny. She was angry. She had knocked on front doors and back doors and nobody had called to her to
come in and nobody had come out. So she blazed away at every window she saw. The town woke up and she left hurriedly.
"That story got around," she says, "and after that I could not draw my handkerchief without starting a panic, so I quit carrying the gun."
Miss Aspinwall has been 122 days on the way. From San Francisco to Denver she averaged forty-one miles a day. From Denver East she has been averaging twenty-seven miles a day.
-----------------------------------------
California death index has first name as Jane and mother's maiden name as Kuetzing
------------------------
For an overview of her life and career please see:
https://history.nebraska.gov/publications/nan-j-aspinwall-western-entertainer
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