I am currently writing a middle-grade historical fiction novel. The setting is Vernal, Utah, in 1917. One of the characters in this book is Josie Bassett. She grew up in Brown’s Hole at a time when outlaws were using it as a hideout. (Brown’s Hole is located about 50 miles from Vernal.) Butch Cassidy and other outlaws were her friends. Josie’s father taught her how to ride, rope and shoot.
Josie homesteaded land in the area that is now Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal, Utah. She lived on that land for the rest of her life. Her cabin is now a tourist attraction. Josie married five times. She divorced four of her husbands in an era when this was not common. She divorced one husband because he was too hard on her kids. She was widowed by her fourth husband. When she found her fifth husband mistreating a horse, she ran to the house and came back with a frying pan. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes to get off my property,” she told him. He said, “It only took me five.”
Josie was a problem solver. When rustlers stole her cattle, she rustled them back. One day, when Josie was clearing brush, she got her skirt caught on a thorn bush and she couldn’t get it free. She used her ax to cut it free. She went home and put on a pair of bib overalls and wore pants for the rest of her life except for formal occasions. When her long blond hair got tangled in a branch above her head, she used her ax to cut off the branch and free her hair. She cut her hair and wore it short for the rest of her life.
Josie was very smart. She was 62 years old when she was accused of rustling cattle. This was a penitentiary offense. The evidence was a cowhide with another rancher’s brand hanging on a fence near her cabin. When Josie came into court, she was wearing a dress and looked like a gray-haired grandmother. She greeted the judge, the jury, and the prosecutor in a pleasant manner. The trial lasted three days and ended with a hung jury. So, they tried her again. She was even more pleasant, and the result was a second hung jury. The case was dropped. Years later, Josie explained., “I put on a frilly dress, wore sensible shoes, and had my hair done in a domestic style. I looked like a petite little grandmother, and I said to the judge and jury, ‘Your honor, do you seriously believe that a little old lady could kill and butcher out even one beef cow by herself?’”
I love the qualities I found while researching Josie. She lived in a difficult time, but she was equal to the challenges. Josie had personal integrity. She was loyal, resourceful, smart, and she was a problem solver. Josie was true to herself and survived in an era when there were few opportunities for women.