Poor Dale Evans. America"s best-known cowgirl sweetheart didn"t have much of a chance to spit, cuss, swagger, snap her neck bronco-busting, or even muss her hair. The gritty frontier cowgirls and athletic rodeo riders and performers lauded in this colorful melange of photos, posters, quotes, and snappy histories did all that and a great deal more. Clearly, the life agreed with many of them. "This is a deuced fast place," one reports approvingly. "Most independent women I"ve ever seen." Happily, that independence was rewarded by several Western states with the right to vote, hold property, divorce, and--just as important--the chance to ride astride.