Evening star., 1924-08-16
WOMAN SUCCEEDS
;. AS TOURIST GUIDE
Female ''Dude WrangIer" in
yosemite Park Credits Sex
(; With Strong Nerve.
. Consolidated Press.

By Consolidated Press.
. CAMP CURRY. Yosemite. August
16.-'The male of the species may be
calmly self-sufficient in the safer
reaches of city confines, but In the
Sreat open spaces, where nature i'm
Dresses with her stupendousness, the
gentler sex has 1t all over him for
Unadulterated nerve in the face OF
danger.
| Such is the testimony Of Mrs.
bertha Bancett Americas only
woman dude wrangler." who daily
pilots tourists - mostly tenderfoot
tourists-over the perilous and near
perilous mountain trails of the great
Yosemite National Park.
/. For three years now, Mrs. Blancett
has been Yosemite's official dude
Frangler and in that interim has
played guardian angel to more than
5000 horseback sightseers over the
precipitous trails to Glacier Point.
Half Dome. Clouds Rest, Inspiration
Foint. Vernal Falls the spectacular
Pohono Ridge, and other high and
fairfield points Of Yosemite interest
trails that furnish even the hardened
forest rangers a kick" More than
half of the tourists were women.
Il Women Conceal Fright.
IL women may be just as easily
lSHleneu dS men, pul kHeJ SHo" ~
less she declares Lots of times
when the going gets close-when you
can look straight down out OF your
Baddle for a half mile or more. and
the slip of a hoof means perdition-
men frequently get Off their horses
and insist on walking. Women rarely
over quit their horses. Lots of times,
they shut their eyes. and. imagine,
do a lot of silent praying-but they
q
death and stick with the professions.
Women also are less headstrong
and more easily managed than men;
less inclined to show of. The great
6st trouble with male tourists VINO
TO horsebacking over the mountain
trails is that almost all OF them want
to run their horses whenever there Is
np danger. When the trail gets mar
fow and the edge has straight up
And down vista, however. they show
lot less speed"
iHIn further subStantiation of her
observation that the female of the
species stacks UP pretty we'll in the
ipatter Of iron in the blood. Mrs.
Baancett cites Yosemite's famous
Averhanging rock as an example. The
Sterhanging rock is six-ton boulder,
nicely balanced on the highest apex
Sf Glacier Point. Sitting out on the
straight down into the chimney of
Camp Curry, 1000 feet below. Climb
ting out onto this rock and having
ahes picture took" is a prize stunt.
Il Women Brave Rock.
,,.More women go out on the over
Hanging rock than do men," asserts
Mrs. Blancett. But there's a diff
fArence in the way they do II. In
XAriabIy, they are slow and careful.
they seldom stand up, whereas the
men who go out usually must pose
Cor the benefit of the onlookers. There
have been more women who have
Ebne out on that rock than men-but
the only ones who ever fall are men,"
HiMrs. Blancett. who herds her tour
Tits over Yosemite'S perilous trails as
efficiently as could any man, and who,
In her three years of dude wrang-
Hing never had an accident befall
ahy of her tenderfoot wards, is
typical Western woman of the rapid
~ passing frontier type.
:aUntil the death of her husband.
DELL Blancett, famous Western
bfancho buster. slightly more than
fessional contest" rider. participant
Ing in rodeos and wild West exhibi-
tipns all over the West. On four oc-
c&sions she won the women's bucking
Horse riding championships at the
famous Cheyenne and Pendleton
rbundup celebrations.
;aSlender, 1.-the, still retaining what
Nonen term complexion" despite
the ravages of blazing sun and
mountain winds, Mrs. Blancett is a
very capable dude wrangler. Her
Word is law and Is accepted as such
among the thousands Of tourist "trip
uers" whom she conveys to and from
the Sierras' high places.