Crazy Woman Creek: Women Rewrite the American West

by Linda M. Hasselstrom, Gaydell Collier, Nancy Curtis

Overview

Crazy Woman Creek is a collection of prose and poetry about real women in the West and their connection to a larger whole. Long troubled by the misguided images of skinny cowgirls on prancing palominos, the editors embarked on a mission to set the record straight. They wanted these western women to reveal the realities of their lives in their own words.
In Crazy Woman Creek, 153 women west of the Mississippi write of the ways they shape and sustain their communities. Whether these groups are organized, imposed, or spontaneous, this collection shows that where women gather, anything is possible. Readers will encounter Buddhists in Nebraska, Hutterites in South Dakota, rodeo moms rather than soccer moms. A woman chooses horse work over housework; neighbors pull together to fight a raging wildfire; a woman rides a donkey across Colorado to raise money after the tragedy at Columbine. Women recall harmony found at a drugstore, at a powwow, in a sewing circle. Lively, heartfelt, urgent, enduring, Crazy Woman Creek celebrates community — connections built or strengthened by women that unveil a new West.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618249336
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/18/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	672,814
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.84(d)

About the Author

LINDA HASSELSTROM is the author of many highly acclaimed books of nonfiction and poetry and the coeditor of Leaning into the Wind and Woven on the Wind. She divides her time between Wyoming and South Dakota.

Based in Wyoming, Gaydell Collier is the coauthor of several books on horsemanship.

Table of Contents

Contents Introduction: Beyond Crazy Woman Creek, by Linda M. Hasselstrom xv

I, WOMEN DRIVING PICKUPS Jennifer Kayl Soule, Banana Bread and Coffee 3 Karen Armstrong, The Shearing 4 Virginia Bennett, Object of Affection 4 Marian D. Peters, At the Line Dance Café 6 Caroline Arlen, Posse to the Rescue 7 B. J. Buckley, Superior Laundry, Sheridan, Wyoming 13 Tamara E. Rogers, Right Place, Wrong Time 14 Mary Frances Renstrom, Casserole Culture in Highlands Ranch 14 Celeste Havener, Patchwork for Baby 17 Melinda Green Harvey, Wonderbra Soldiers 17 Diane Molleson, Picking Peaches 18 Anita Tanner, Run Toward Suffering 20 Susan Minyard, Watch the Big House Burn 22 Ruby R. Wilson, Room for a Small House 25 Shaun Anne Tangney, The Hippie Central Library Fest 26 Janie Tippett, Rhino Rump, Chicken Palace, and Kindness 29 Diane Kesey, Waiting to Dance 30 Meghan Nuttall Sayres, Where the River Bends 31 Phyllis Dugan, Far-Flung Neighbors 32 Pat Frolander, I Suppose It Was the Food 35 Patty Zeigler, Bound 37 Pamela Ramsey, Soakers Unite 39 Sureva Towler, No One Baked Cookies 41 Barbara M. Smith, Boomtown, Babies, and Strawberry Pie 42 Gail Rixen, No Treasure in Bismarck 44 Nancy Kile, Grab Your Shawls, Girls! 45 Kathy Hunter, Warm Hearts, Cold Reality 46 Mary Lou Sanelli, Standing in Line at Aldrich’s Grocery 50 Maureen Helms Blake, A Light Shawl on a Cool Night 51 Lou Dean, Echoes on the Wind 53 Dixie Partridge, Cliff Dwellings: Mesa Verde 57 Darcy Lipp-Acord, Path to a Small World 58 Colette Knutson Gjermundson, Simply, Soul Soup 60 Katy Paynich, After Moving Away from 610 63 B. Lynne McCarthy, Have Cattle, Will Travel 65 Kathleen Rutledge, Women of the Journal Star 67 Jeannie P. Smith, Valley Essential: Gladys Smith 69 Gretchen Ronnow, Old Women’s Domain 70 Robin Barkley, Mine Shack Memories 71 A. J. Harnish, Well—You Told Me To 72 Denise Banker, Surviving at Great Cost 73 Tracy Wang, From Canton to Spearfish 74 Cheryl Anderson Wright, The Brown Sofa 77 Shelly Whitman Colony, Feeding the Spirit 77 Twyla Hansen, At the Greasy Spoon 78 Ruth Harper, Vagina Dialogues on the Road Trip 80 Kim Potts, Shelter for Each Other 81 Jean Vertefeuille-Cutler, Champagne Toast at Midnight 83 Norma Thorstad Knapp, The Logging Bee 84 Jane McGarry, Wood Ash on the Wind 86 Carolyn Dufurrena, Nevada Firestorm 87 Ashley Coats, Women in Pickups 90 Doris Bircham, Gifts from Our Hands and Hearts 91 Jane Kirkpatrick, To Dance with Grace 91 Jennifer Graf Groneberg, Tupperware Therapy 94 Margaret Benshoof-Holler, Banding Together in San Francisco 95 Janis Russell-Wilson, Concert of Energy 97

II, HALLELUJAH AND A SHOW OF HANDS Lucy Adkins, Writing into the Storm 101 Anne Fantaci Clement, Too Busy to Be Church Ladies 102 Maura T. Callahan, How Do I Thank . . .? 105 Claudia F. Manz, We Four 106 C. S. Pederson, A Haunting Experience 109 Yvonne Hollenbeck, Rejuvenating the Clearfield Hall and Me 112 Shannon Dyer, TheWolf Pack in the School District 113 Willo Boe, The Non-Musicals Sing Their Last Song 116 Sarah Byrn Rickman, Fifty Years of Potluck 117 Cleo Cantlon, The Woman Who Didn’t Fit In 119 Sana Amoura-Patterson, Wednesdays at Walgreens 120 Sister Hildegard Dubnick, OSB, A Couple of Nights Before Christmas 121 Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Why We Still Sing When Other Choirs Dissolved 123 Judy Ann, Savoring the Circle 124 Lisa Heldke, Perching 126 Helen M.Wayman, Hallelujah! Faith Circle! 129 Hillary Barton Billman, Bingo Babes 130 Sureva Towler, I’m Afraid I Can’t Attend the Next Meeting 132 Bernie Koller, Concerning My Hutterite Cousins 133 Wanda Rosseland, Straightforward and Unafraid 137 Barbara Jessing, The Spite and Malice Sewing Circle 139 Beth Paulson, A Square of Winter Light 140 Goose E. Fedders, Speak, Throw Up, or Die 141 Marilyn Dorf, What It Took 143 Kelly Madigan Erlandson, You Always Start with a Baptism 145 Pat Ogle, with Bess Arnold, The Brotherhood of Railroad Workers 146 Jo-Ann Swanson, Our Ladies of the Farm 148 Dawn Senior-Trask, Convergence of Horse-Crazy Women 149 Linda Aldrich, Hook and Turn 151 Joanne Wilke, Cindergals Never Looked Back 152 Virginia Bixler Cassells, The Hobo Mark Swooshed 155 Margaret Eaton Johnson, Endurance in Harmony 156 Grace E. Reimers Kyhn, The Caring Cleveland Club 156 Barbara A. Engle, A Good Thing to Do 157 Mary K. Stillwell, The Circle Dance 159 Dorothy Blackcrow Mack, “I Bring You the Gift of My Dying” 160 Elizabeth Keough McDonald, The Ramah Farmers’ Market 163 Janis Russell-Wilson, Forecasting the Future of Food 164 Christine Valentine, Down Gravel Roads 166 Carolyn Dufurrena, Woman Sculpted of Stones 167 Bonnie Andersen, Making Room for Jesus and Buddha 168 Anonymouss, What I Hate Most About You 171 Donna Applegarth Mentink, Pickin’ Chickens 172 Diane Josephy Peavey, Watch Where You Step 173 Jane Wells, Comments from the Crow’s-Nest 176 Kathleen Gotschall, Rodeo Moms 1777 Normaaaa Nelson Duppler, When the World Split 179 Betty Downs, Tuesday Tea 181 Sue Hartman, Choir Practice at the Bongo Lounge 182 Marianne Hoffmann Woeppel, Popcorn in the ER 185 Ruth Daniels, Old Woman with a Mind 186 Geraldine Connolly, Electric Avenue Books 187 Kathryn E. Kelley, September 12, 2001 190 B. J. Buckley, Funeral Meats 191

III, COWGIRL UP, CUPCAKES Lora K. Reiter, Weeders, All 195 Sheila Vosen-Shorten, The Communion of Saints 196 Jackie Pugh Kogan, Desert Filament 201 Sophie Dominik Echeverria, The Far Side of Maple Street 202 Bette-B Bauer, Quilting a Dissertation 206 Marjorie Saiser, The Living, the Warm 207 Leslie I. Brown, The Elegance of White Things 209 Danny Bergin, Celebrating Mass in a Nightgown 212 Christina Hutchins, In a Time of War 214 Karen M. Berry, Stitching My Life Project 214 Marcia Hensley, I Like It That Way 216 Laura Hawkins Grevel, Leaving Sad Town 218 Janet E. Graebner, Silent Renewal 222 Faye Eggert, More Alike Than Different 223 LoRee Peery, Ongoing Sustenance 224 Mary Alice Haug, Tapestry Woven of Stories 226 Phyllis M. Letellier, Your Sister’s Keeper 229 Edith Rylander, Ghost Dance II 229 Michelle M. Sauer, Feeling North Dakota and Looking California 231 Emilie Hoppe, Things I Would Not Miss 232 Katherine Mann Galey, Stretching Friendship 235 Mary Lode, Alone, Not Lonely 237 Consuelo N. Smith, Tortilla Round 238 Mary Sojourner, Slot Mamas 240 Dorothy Blackcrow Mack, Crone Circle: Grandmothers Giving Wisdom 241 Stacy Gillett Coyle, United Methodist Fellowship 243 Kay Marie Porterfield, Beadwork 244 Laurie M. Greig, Colorado Ritual 247 Ellen Vayo, Cowgirl Up, Cupcakes 248 Jeanne Rogers, Re-entry: Homeward Bound 250 Liesel Shineberg, Liesel, You’re a Good Christian 251 Pearle Henriksen Schultz, Sonnet for My Grandchild 254 Mary Zelinka, Never Silent Again 255 Kayne Pyatt, The Drumbeat Continues 256 Nancy Curtis, Checkup, Checkout 258 Phyllis Walker, Plant Sale Grows Roots 261 Patricia Wellingham-Jones, One Panel of a Quilt 263 Page Lambert, One Word at a Time 264 Barbara Wallace, Dealing Uno and Life 267 Ellen Waterston, Anaconda Copper Dreams 268 Kay E. Konz, Where They Know My Name 269 Lydia Gonzales, La Mujer y Su Cultura 272 Susan Minyard, On Watermelon and Stout Roads 272 Charlotte Babcock, A World Apart 273 Evelyn I. Funda, Belongings 274 Gaydell Collier, After Word 276 Contributors 279 Acknowledgments 297 Credits 298