From Catherine Hayes, the "Irish prima donna," and Maude Adams, "the most popular actress in America," to the legendary Sarah Bernhardt, Gilded Girls profiles fourteen of the liveliest, wildest, and most talented female entertainers ever to light up the boards of the western frontier. You'll meet "the Jersey Lily," who was wildly admired by men as various Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Diamond Jim Brady, and Judge Roy Bean; Mrs. Leslie Carter, a scandal-plagued society women who became a famous actress as an act of revenge against her patrician ex-husband; a French-Creole beauty known as the "Frenzy of Frisco" who took up the Zionist and feminist causes in between her daring acting roles; and "Klondike Kate," a flame-haired entertainer who took Alaska's gold rush country by storm but suffered a very public heartbreak.
Some of the fascinating women are renowned even to this day, others are remembered only in the pages of history, but all personified the daring, colorful, and independent spirit of the Old West.

In these pages you'll meet a soiled dove who longed for a fairy-tale romance but instead fell for an ailing miner; a quiet schoolmarm who risked life and limb for her adventuresome husband; a spinster who refused to reveal the secrets of her heart despite a proposal from a dashing, prominent rancher; an actress who found her true love when she needed him most; and a rich couple who lost everything except their intense dedication to each other.The romances of thirteen couples are explored in this book and represent the variety of relationships and love affairs that added color, controversy, and commitment to the unmatched days of the Old West. (6 x 9, 160 pages, b&w photos)

Luzena Stanley Wilson became a gold rush banker, storing gold dust in bread pans in her camp oven. Mary Graves survived cannibalism in the Sierras. Madame Moustache lost the love of her life, and her fortune, in a silver camp in Nevada. A storyteller wrote about the West to feed her children. With Great Hope tells the fascinating stories of twelve uncommon women, the significant events of the times, and the everyday occurrences of life in the gold camps. JoAnn Chartier is a thirty-five year resident of the Sierra foothills where so much of the Gold Rush history has been preserved. JoAnn is a writer, artist, and broadcast journalist who has presented special programs and feature stories on local history. Chris Enss is a writer and standup comic with an extensive background in radio and television. She has studied cinematography and journalism and has written more than 15 comedy screenplays and several speculative TV episodes. Chris currently lives in Nevada County where she enjoys researching and writing about the area's history.