Sylvia Branzei - Rebel in a Dress: Cowgirls

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Table of Contents

TO MY #1 COWGIRL, LUCY MANTHA,
may you always be filled with inspiration and joy.

AND TO MY FRIEND JAYDA WOOD,
who made me get on a horse and ride.
S. B.

COWGIRL UP ( v. ) :

To step up to the challenge, to toughen up, to take charge of a situation, to not give up

A GALS GOTTA DO WHAT A GALS GOTTA DO.

Minnie Cody, pioneer, 1901

The women in this book have all ridden horses, but that is not the only thing they have in common. All of them share the cowgirl spirit, a strong will, and an independent heart. If you told one of these ladies she couldnt do it because shes a girl, shed prove you wrong every time. They refused to take no for an answer. All of the women you will meet loved the thrill of the ride and the enchantment of adventure. These women are real-life examples of the cowgirl inside every one of you.

GEORGIE CONNELL SICKING (b. 1921 )

In January 1985, Georgie Connell Sicking found herself standing upon a stage before a crowd of hundreds. She and the other poets were like a bunch of colts that had just been weaned, just hanging all together, nervous and scared. Georgie had been selected to represent Nevada in the first Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. It was her turn. She held up her paper and read:

When I was a kid and doing my best to Learn the ways of our land, I thought mistakes were never made by A real top hand....

Georgie Connell Sicking, from To Be a Top Hand

Georgie in 2009, Florence, AZ.

Georgie in 1987, Elko, NV.

The lady cowboy poet lost her place. Georgie had roped mustangs, broken horses, and killed rattlesnakes. She was an accomplished cowboy, a top hand. But now she shook with nerves. Georgie looked at the anxious crowd and started once again to read her poem To Be a Top Hand. On that day, Georgie Connell Sicking added ACCOMPLISHED cowboy poet to her list of talents.

Georgie Connell Sicking Tidbit

An hour-long documentary film about Georgies life called RIDIN AND RHYMIN was released in 2004.

Photo of Georgie taken at a carnival on her first date with her future husband.

Georgie had known ranching all of her life. At the age of two, her parents had Georgie on horseback, teaching her to ride. By the age of five, she had her first horse, Buster.

Buster liked biscuits. Georgie would take a biscuit out to Buster and drop it on the ground. When he lowered his head to eat, the little girl scrambled up his neck and onto his back. Georgie rode her horse to school. In school, the girls learned inside work, which wasnt much to Georgies liking. Georgie knew what she wanted. She wanted to be a master cowboy, or top hand.

Georgie learned the cowboy skills. By the time she was seventeen, Georgies parents had divorced. Her father remarried and left, leaving Georgie and her fifteen-year-old brother to fend for themselves. She tried to get cowhand work, but no one would hire a girl. Even though he was two years younger, her brother found work. So Georgie stayed behind and took care of the on-site work. Alone she had to shoe the horses, doctor the animals, and rope and tie the cattle.

Georgie in 1939 at age 18, during a steer riding in Victorville, CA.

She was always there before me, like a beacon in the distance.

A challenge that forever led me on.

I never really knew her, but the cowboys talked about her in a way that I was hoping that some day theyd mention me.

Lora was a cowboy in the ways that were before me. By profession, not by gender she was known. She didnt slow down for me, for she knew not that Id Follow.

But she left a trail for me both wide and deep....

Now when she was riding way up yonder looking down beneath her,

Did she see the kid that followed on her trail?

Does she know I worked a little harder, and went a little further,

Because Lora left a legend that the cowboys tell?

Georgie Connell Sicking, from Lora and the Inspiration, 2004

When times were hard, Georgie recalled the stories she had heard about Lora Duncan, a true lady cowboy. Georgie also wrote poetry about her experiences and her inspirations.

Be Yourself

When I was young and foolish,
The women said to me,
Take off those spurs and comb your hair,
If a lady you will be.

Forget about those cowboy ways,
Come and sit awhile.
We will try to clue you in,
On womens ways and wiles.

Take off that Levi jumper,
Put up those batwing chaps.
Put on a little makeup and,
We can get a date for you,perhaps.

Forget about that roping,
That will make calluses on your hands.
And you know it takes soft fingers,
If you want to catch a man!

Do away with that Stetson hat,
For it will crush your curls.
And even a homely cowboy wouldnt,
Date a straight haired girl.

Now being young and foolish,
I went my merry way.
And I guess I never wore a dress,
Until my wedding day.

Now I tell my children,
No matter what you do.
Stand up straight and tall,
Be you, and only you.

For if the Lord had meant us, all to be alike,
And the same rules to keep,
He would have bonded us all together,
Just like a band of sheep.

Georgie Connell Sicking, 1985

I know what it is to rope a wild mustang and have him hit the end of the rope, and I know what it is to rock a baby. I think Ive truly lived.

Georgie Connell Sicking

CD cover for Georgie Sickings TO BE A TOP HAND

In 1940, Georgie married Frank Sicking. Frank worked for the Green Cattle Company. Even though the company did not officially hire Georgie, she and Frank worked as a team. After two years of hard work, Georgie was given a cow for her efforts. The couple left the Green Cattle Company but returned several years later. This time Georgie was officially hired.

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