Across The Fence: From the Golden Gate to the Big Apple

The photograph of Nan and Lady Ellen appeared on the front page of the Sunday edition, New York Tribune on July 9, 1911. The photo, taken the day before, carried no in depth coverage of the 4,496-mile ride that had begun on Sept. 1, 1910, in San Francisco. Despite what should have been a sensational news worthy story the picture was accompanied by this brief byline: "Nan J. Aspinwall, who rode from San Francisco to New York. She arrived at the City Hall yesterday with a letter from Mayor McCarthy of San Francisco to Mayor Gaynor. In the absence of the latter Borough President McAneny welcomed her on the steps of the City Hall."

Nan Jeanne Aspinwall Gable had just accomplished the feat of being the first woman to ride horseback from coast to coast using a single horse for the entire distance. Newspaper coverage of this journey was scant at best and, in fact, nearly non-existent. In order to find news of her progress one would have had to search the pages of newsprint for a brief paragraph or two and an occasional photograph or sketch as she made her way cross-country.

On July 9, 191, the Los Angeles Herald ran a story of the planned ride nearly three months before Nan began the journey. The story indicated that the ride was still very much in the planning stages.

At that time it was unknown if Nan would start from San Francisco or Los Angeles but no matter where she began, her Scotch Collie dog "Ka-ipp" would accompany her. Nan was described as a well known cowgirl and professional rider from Kalispell, Mont., who had yet to find a suitable horse for the journey: "If I do not get the right kind of a horse soon I will send to my father's ranch in Montana and have one sent me from there. Of course, on a trip like this, I must have the best animal procurable..."

Nan, also known as "The Montana Girl," was described as an experienced horsewoman both on the range and also with the then popular Wild West shows and Nan was in fact a performer with Buffalo Bill's Wild West. She and her husband, Frank Gable, were regular performers in the show. Both Nan and Frank were trick ropers and sharpshooters and Nan also performed as a trick rider, bronc rider and sometimes steer wrestler.

Fashioning her image from her contemporaries, the famous Annie Oakley and world champion female rodeo star Lucille Mulhall, Nan Aspinwall groomed her persona to fit the expectations of the public as a woman of the west, a "cowgirl."

Actually, Nan Jeanne Aspinwall was born in New York State in 1880. She moved with her parents to the southeastern border region of Nebraska in the town of Liberty. Her father was a storekeeper in the rural Nebraska town and Nan grew up and went to school in Gage County. In 1893, at 13, Nan attended St. Joseph's Boarding School in Beatrice.

Not much is known of Nan's early childhood and young adulthood but it is known that Nan began her "stage career" as an exotic dancer, a popular Vaudeville act that she performed in addition to her performances as a trick rider and roper. So, despite the show business publicity that portrayed Nan as a lifelong, born in the saddle, ranch girl from Montana, Nan was a small town Nebraska girl who made good on the Wild West show circuit.

Although Nan never achieved the fame of Annie Oakley in Buffalo Bill's Wild West shows or the status of Lucille Mulhall as World Champion Cowgirl on the rodeo circuit, she should have garnered long lasting fame as the first woman to ride across the continent. But fame was fleeting and her achievement was too soon forgotten until recently rediscovered by Mary Higginbotham who wrote her Masters Thesis, "In Genuine Cowgirl Fashion" about "The life and ride of 'Two-Gun' Nan Aspinwall."

Higginbotham's thesis focuses on the social and cultural aspects of Nan's career at a time when typically male activities, like shooting, trick roping and bronc riding, were being performed by females who sometimes even outperformed their male counterparts.

When Nan, and other women, performed in the Wild West shows of the times such as Buffalo Bill's, Pawnee Bill's, Miller Brothers 101 Real West and others, they wore split skirts and trousers, Stetson hats and tall boots and caused quite a social stir among the ladies and gentlemen of 'proper' Victorian culture. These rigid attitudes created an often-unfriendly environment for the women who chose to :ride like a man" and still retain their femininity. Perhaps it was these attitudes that contributed to the scant media coverage and short-lived remembrance of Nan's cross-country ride.

Legend has it that it was a wager between Buffalo Bill Cody and his rival Pawnee Bill that prompted the coast-to-coast horseback ride. Although the so-called wager and the terms of the bet are not documented, it sounds like it may have been a well-orchestrated publicity stunt to boost the careers of Nan and Frank. It was Frank who made the advance arrangements for performances along the way where the two would display their riding, roping and shooting skills in small town venues along the way. The performances would provide the funds to continue as well as spreading their reputation as premier performers.

On Sept. 1, 1910, Nan saddled up Lady Ellen and left San Francisco. On Sept. 15, shortly after Nan's departure from San Francisco, the Webster County, Neb., newspaper, "The Red Cloud Chief," ran the following article:

"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 on her journey east."

Not much fanfare for a daughter of the plains returning to her hometown.

Two months later, on Oct. 10, she arrived in Salt Lake City after having been lost in eastern Nevada – a desert wandering that added nearly 400 miles to the journey – and then struggling to cross the salt flats of Utah. Once rested in Salt Lake City the equestrienne turned southeastward to Colorado through Grand Junction and Durango then west toward Denver.

Lady Ellen carried her mistress across the Rocky Mountains through the Tennessee Pass at Mitchell, Colorado in late December then on to Denver where Christmas was spent with friends of Nan. Of her journey through the western states, Nan remarked, "Talk about western chivalry! There's no such thing. I had to make the best of it in railroad stations, stables, or any other convenient place."

With the coming of the New Year, 1911, Nan continued east crossing southern Nebraska in January and February. In late January she stopped in Cambridge and continued across the state toward her hometown of Liberty then on to visit her only brother in Falls City where she enjoyed a welcome rest and provided a few performances for the locals. Leaving eastern Nebraska in late February, Nan arrived in Kansas City on March 16 and in mid-April rode through St. Louis.

From April through June, Nan and Lady Ellen traveled east through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey continuing toward her final destination with multiple stops for performances along the way. Finally, on July 8th 1911, Nan pulled the reins and Lady Ellen came to a gentle stop at the steps of New York City's office of the Mayor. Regional papers carried the following news brief: "New York, July 8 – wearing a short skirt and a bright red waist Miss Nan J. Aspinwall rode into city hall square today and dismounting, presented a letter from Mayor McCarthy of San Francisco..."

Some press releases commented on the thoroughbred, Lady Ellen, being in such fine shape.

Although Nan Aspinwall's 4,496-mile horseback ride across the country did not create the media sensation it could have, or should have, it still remains a vivid and lasting testimony to the spirit of adventure and strength of conviction and endurance of Nan, and women like her, at the turn of a turbulent century. For me, the most endearing aspect of this story is the strength of the bond between horse and rider. Nan must have taken meticulous care of her horse. In the 311 days spent crossing the country, 180 days were spent horseback at an average of 25 miles per day with at least 50 of those 25-mile days being back-to-back. That requires both horse and rider to be in continuously good condition. The bond created on that journey might best be illustrated by one journalist's observation of Miss Aspinwall and Lady Ellen:

"If there is not room in the barn where she can sleep, Miss Aspinwall wraps herself in a blanket and squirms under the protecting shoulders of her animal, using its neck as a pillow. She refuses to sleep any other place, being fearful lest a fire should break out... 'I never saw a horse better taken care of', said the liveryman, 'that girl understands a horse thoroughly and she deserves credit for making such a perilous journey without a change of mounts.' "

M. Timothy Nolting is an award-winning Nebraska columnist and freelance writer. To contact Tim, email: [email protected].