Not all the cowboys of the Old West looked like John Wayne. Some were Black, plenty were Mexican (buckaroo=vaquero), so there was some diversity on the landscape.
Among the women, too, and that's who Katie Hickman focuses upon in her new book. Brave Hearted: The Women of the American West tells the stories of the women who walked behind the men, and often behind the wagons... think about it, some of them WALKED 2000 miles from their old homes to the places they settled in the West.
Prostitutes, poker plays, homemakers, Black, Native, Chinese, you name it; they and their struggles are depicted in the book. Katie Hickman visits with an overview.