Tillie Baldwin
{{Short description|Norwegian-American rodeo cowgirl}}
Tillie Baldwin (January 11, 1888 – October 23, 1958), born Anna Mathilda Winger, was an American rodeo contestant and performer in Wild West shows. She is credited as being one of the first women to attempt steer wrestling.LeCompte. "Tillie Baldwin: Rodeo's Original Bloomer Girl" (International Encyclopedia of Women and Sports ed., Karen Christensen, Allen Guttmann, and Gertrud Pfister, Macmillan Reference USA, 2001, page 939){{cite web|url= http://www.blackgoldrodeo.com/blog.asp?id=6|title= 1913 – Tillie Baldwin|publisher=Blackgold Pro Rodeo |date= March 26, 2014|access-date= March 15, 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tillie Baldwin
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Anna Mathilda Winger
| birth_date = January 11, 1888
| birth_place = Arendal, Norway
| death_date = {{death date and age|1958|10|23|1888|1|11}}
| death_place = Connecticut, U.S.
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Rodeo contestant and performer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse = William C. Slate (m. 1941-1958)
| resting_place = Union Cemetery, Niantic, Connecticut, U.S.
}}
Biography
Tillie Baldwin was born Anna Mathilda Winger in Arendal, Norway. She immigrated to the United States at age 14 and first trained as a hair dresser. She began her rodeo career riding during 1911 in Los Angeles, California, where she won the bronc riding competition. At the Pendleton Round-Up in Pendleton, Oregon, during 1912, she won both the trick riding and cowgirls' bronc riding contests. She was also a trick rider and relay racer. Her image was captured by Walter S. Bowman, a professional photographer in Pendleton.[http://library.uoregon.edu/speccoll/photo/Pendleton/fbowman.html "Fancy Riding, Tillie Baldwin, the Champion Lady Buckaroo"] (Furlong collection, PH244-0083 University of Oregon) Later 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."The Fact, Not Legend, of Tillie Baldwin" (Sunday Herald Magazine. Bridgeport, Conn. September 7, 1958)
Mathilda Winger became Tillie Baldwin after she joined Captain Jack Baldwin's Wild West Show. She later joined Will Rogers' vaudeville troupe and then worked at the 101 Ranch Wild West Show.{{cite news|title=Tillie Baldwin, 70, Ex-Rodeo Star, Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92401153/tillie-baldwin-1888-1958/ |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=October 24, 1958 |location=Boston, MA |page=25 |via = Newspapers.com |access-date=January 12, 2022}} {{Open access}}[http://www.cowgirl.net/?s=Tillie+Baldwin Tillie Baldwin] 2000 Cowgirl Honoree – National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19350816&id=ip00AAAAIBAJ&sjid=XHEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1064,3865246 Tillie Baldwin weeps over death of Will Rogers] (The Day. Bridgeport, Conn. August 16, 1935) She credited Rogers for first giving her the opportunity to become famous. Later in life she ran a riding academy.{{Cite news|url=https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/rodeo-hall-of-fame/5299/|title=Tillie Baldwin {{!}} Rodeo Hall of Fame |website=National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum|access-date=April 18, 2017}}
In 1941 she married William C. Slate (1901–1975) in Essex, Connecticut. She died in 1958 in Connecticut at age 70.{{cite book |author=Joel H. Bernstein |title=Wild Ride: The History and Lore of Rodeo |year=2007 |publisher=Gibbs Smith |isbn=9781586857455 |quote=In 1941, Tillie Baldwin retired and married William C. Slate of Essex, Connecticut. She died at age seventy in 1958. ... | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CLfL-2_RRyUC&q=Tillie+Baldwin+died&pg=PA63 }} She was buried in Union Cemetery in Niantic, Connecticut.
Legacy
Tillie Baldwin was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 2000{{Cite news|url=http://www.cowgirl.net/portfolios/tillie-baldwin/|title=Tillie Baldwin|website=National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame |access-date=April 18, 2017}} and the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2004.{{cite web
|url= https://bluejbluej.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/tilly-baldwin/|title= Tilly Baldwin|publisher= wordpress.com |author= Susan B Raven |date=May 4, 2013|access-date= March 15, 2016}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- {{Find a Grave|131536351|Anna Mathilda Winger}}
Other sources
- LeCompte, Mary Lou (2000) Cowgirls of the Rodeo: Pioneer Professional Athletes (University of Illinois Press) {{ISBN|9780252068744}}
- Branzei, Sylvia (2011) Rebel in a Dress - Cowgirls (Running Press) {{ISBN|9780762443840}}
- Bernstein, Joel H. (2007) Wild Ride: The History and Lore of Rodeo (Gibbs Smith) {{ISBN|9781586857455}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Tillie}}
Category:American vaudeville performers
Category:Wild West show performers
Category:Women stunt performers
Category:Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees