Anna Matilda Winger was born in 1888 in Avendale, Norway. She emigrated to the United States in 1902 and lived with her aunt in New York. She was 14 years old at the time and would go on to become a very talented rodeo cowgirl despite never riding a horse before moving to the United States.
She worked as hairdresser and had many notable clients in New York then one day she had a chance meeting with Will Rogers.
In 1908, a movie was being filmed in New York and Anna wanted to learn to ride like the cowgirls. She asked one of the actors to teach her to ride a horse. Through her connections she was able to find work with Captain Baldwin’s Wild West Show and Will Roger’s troupe before joining the 101 Ranch show.
It is thought that she adopted the stage name, “Tillie Baldwin” while working with Bison Films during the off-season – winter 1909-1910 – in Hollywood.
She decided to join the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show around 1909, working as a trick and bronc rider. She rode with them for several years.
In 1911, she entered her first rodeo in Los Angeles, California, winning the ladies bronc riding title. She rode “slick” instead of “hobbled.”
In 1912, she amazed everyone when she won the trick riding and all-around titles at the Pendleton Round-Up. She was competing against the extremely talented cowgirl, Bertha Blancett.
In 1913, she won several more titles at the major rodeos on the circuit. She won the trick riding and relay race title at Los Angeles, the trick riding and Roman Race events at the Winnipeg Stampede, and the trick riding title again at the Pendleton Round-Up.
She also gave one of the first demonstrations of steer wrestling for women!
In 1916, she won the bronc riding title at Guy Weadick’s New York Stampede.
She won the trophy below for Roman Racing in 1924. You can see it at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.
She even produced her very own cowgirl show for a while.
Tillie Baldwin was also known for her sense of style! She is credited with introducing practical arena outfits of “a middy blouse and bloomers for distaff rodeo competition.” (NCWHM RHOF)
She moved from the rodeo circuit to the exhibition circuit on the East Coast in the 1920s. There was more money and opportunities there she believed for herself.
She married William C. Slate in the mid-1920s. He was the Vice President and Manager of the Essex Lumber Company.
She purchased Fred Stone’s Star Ranch Riding Club. In 1927, she took over management of the Star Ranch from John Reynolds. She and her husband, William moved to the ranch. She continued working with the club while managing the ranch.
She retired from competing and giving exhibitions in 1941.
She passed away in October 1958 at the age of 70.
In 2000, She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. She was inducted in the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 2004.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed learning about the life of Tillie Baldwin today and leave this post feeling inspired that you can learn to do anything! I’ll see you next time as we continue ‘breaking trail’ through the stories of the American West.
Sources
Secondary Sources
Books
Chris Enss. Along Came a Cowgirl: Daring and Iconic Women of the Rodeo & Wild West Shows. [Pages 53-60]
Richard Rattenbury. Arena Legacy: The Heritage of American Rodeo. [Pages 55-57, 62]
Articles
Reed, Nancy B. “The Equestrian Standing Race and Its Ancient Antecedents.” Journal of Sport History 23, no. 2 (1996): 157–64.
Websites
“Anna M. ‘Tillie Baldwin’ Winger Slate.” Find A Grave.
“Tillie Baldwin.” National Rodeo Hall of Fame. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. (NCWHM RHOF)
“Tillie Baldwin.” Cowgirl Hall of Fame & Museum.
“The Calgary Stampede of yesteryear.” ESPN. July 9, 2008.
Chris Enss. “COWGIRL Iconic: Tillie Baldwin.” COWGIRL Magazine. September 1, 2021.
Primary Sources
Historic Photographs
“Roman Race, Riders, Johnnie Mullens, Tillie Baldwin & A.J. Bryson, Winnipeg “Stampede” 1913. Winnipeg Public Library, WP1144.” (Public Domain)
Newspapers
“101 Ranch Wild West to Appear Here This Month.” San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California), April 7, 1912.
“Miss Tillie Baldwin – ‘101 Ranch,’ Wild West.” The Vancouver Sun (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) May 28, 1912.
“Tillie Baldwin To Be Here Next Week.” Anderson Herald (Anderson, Indiana) August 15, 1912.
The Tacoma Daily Ledger (Tacoma, Washington), July 4, 1913.
“Wild West Show.” The Daily Star-Mirror (Moscow, Idaho), May 29, 1914.
The News (Paterson, New Jersey), September 8, 1915.
“The Champion Rough-Rider Who Never Saw A Ranch.” Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah), September 3, 1916.
“Tillie Baldwin Buys Stone’s Riding Club.” The Day (New London, Connecticut), March 17, 1927.
“Tillie Baldwin New Manager of Stone’s Ranch.” The Day (New London, Connecticut), August 29, 1927.
“Famed Cowgirl of ’20s, Tillie Baldwin, Dies.” Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, New Mexico), October 26, 1958.
*All newspaper clippings in this blog post were pulled from newspapers.com. I am not affiliated with this website. I just wanted to let you know where I found my digitized sources.
*Blog cover photo: “Roman Race, Riders, Johnnie Mullens, Tillie Baldwin & A.J. Bryson, Winnipeg “Stampede” 1913. Winnipeg Public Library, WP1144.” (Public Domain)
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