WEST WAS WON BY WOMEN, TOO

Nothing says “tough lady” quite like a 10-foot bronze sculpture of a pioneer woman with a shovel in one fist and a headless rattlesnake dangling from the other.

Indisputably, the monument unveiled last weekend at the Civic Center in Prescott Valley evokes the artist’s intended message:

The West may have been settled by rough-edged men, but it was “tamed” by tougherminded women.

One may take issue with the depiction of the ill-fated rattler. Indeed, the most common initial reaction to the sculpture seems to be, “Good heavens, am I seeing a decapitated snake in her hand?” But it is hard to imagine the implicit message of a work of art being sent any more emphatically.

It should surprise no one that the creative genius behind “Not-So-Gentle Tamer” is Bob Boze Bell, publisher of

magazine and a regular contributor to these pages.

A notable historian of the Old West and a brilliant sketch artist, Bell is a rare chronicler of the contributions of 19th century pioneer-era women.

It wasn’t all about Billy the Kid and the Earp brothers. The West wasn’t won solely by rugged men with guns.

The sculpture was commissioned by the Prescott Area Art Trust to celebrate the spirit of Prescott Valley, a young and ambitious community of mostly working folk.

We dare say that in “NotSo-Gentle Tamer,” they got their money’s worth.