Tillie Baldwin

Tillie Baldwin (1888-1958), born Anna Mathilda Winger, was an early cowgirl and buckaroo in the United States. She is credited as the first woman bulldogger for her appearance in 1913 as a bronc rider and racer.^[1] She was also a trick rider and relay racer.^[2] She credited Will Rogers for giving her the opportunity to become famous.^[2] Later in life she ran a riding academy and became Mrs. Willis C. Slate.^[2][3]

Biography

Born in Norway, she immigrated to the United States and learned trick riding. She worked for Captain Baldwin’s Wild West Show. Mathilda Winger became Tillie Baldwin after she joined Captain Jack Baldwin's Wild West Show, a Will Rogers’ vaudeville Texas Jack Wild West Show troupe. She also worked at 101 Ranch.^[3]

Baldwin competed in rodeo events starting in 1912.

In 1941 she married William C. Slate (1901-1975) in Essex, Connecticut. She died in 1958 in Connecticut at age 70.^[4] She was buried in Union Cemetery in Niantic, Connecticut.

Legacy

Baldwin competed at the Pendleton Round-Up in Pendleton, Oregon where her image was captured by Walter S. Bowman, a professional photographer in Pendleton.^[5] Bowman's 1915 image of Bonnie McCarroll being thrown from a horse named Silver at the Pendleton Round-Up became famous. McCarroll died years later in another accident at the Pendleton Round-Up.

External link

• Anna Mathilda Winger at Findagrave

References