Cherokee Rose

She was born on an Oklahoma ranch, where her father taught her to rope and ride. Filled with daydreams of joining Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, Tommy Jo Burns knew she was destined for greatness as a famous trick roper. At fourteen, she so impressed President Theodore Roosevelt that he dubbed her America's first cowgirl. But this auspicious beginning forced the hardest choice, leaving her parents and sheltered ranch life to create her own family of friends on the road with Colonel Zack Miller's 101 Ranch Show. It was a new and exciting life, and she took her name from the prairie wildflower that matched her restless spirit: Cherokee Rose. From headlining at Madison Square Garden to surviving disasters in the ring, and from performing for English royalty to competing in a rodeo, her adventures brought different men into her world: the shy, awkward ranch hand Billy Rogers, who emerged on the show circuit as Will Rogers; a handsome husband who resented her fame; a wealthy gambler who taught her -- too late -- to follow her heart's instincts. Always striving to achieve her dreams and never willing to settle for less, Cherokee Rose became one of the most celebrated women of the West.