You learned about the history of bulldogging from its inventor, Bill Pickett. Now you can learn all about one famous lady bulldogger, Fox Hastings.
Eloise Fox Hastings was born in California in 1882, but by the age of 16 she ran away from a convent school and her California home to marry her first husband, bulldogger Mike Hastings.
Image: 79.026.1922 by Doubleday, Ralph. R (Ralph Rusell), 1925 ca.
Fox first exhibited her bulldogging skills in 1924 at the Fort Worth, Texas Rodeo. Her record time was 17 seconds. She continued to bulldog at more than a dozen rodeos, including the revived 101 Ranch Wild West.
Image: RC2008.026 by Doubleday, Ralph R. (Ralph Russell), 1924 ca.
Hastings quickly became a media darling and was known as the redheaded feminine daredevil of the arena. Fox helped pave the way for female future athletes with her skills in bulldogging, trick riding, steer wrestling and bronc riding. Rodeo announcer, historian, and Fox’s manager and publicist, Foghorn Clancy, described Hastings as one of the “nerviest cowgirls” he ever saw.
Image: 79.026.1927 by Doubleday, Ralph R. (Ralph Russell), 1925 ca.
Hastings was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1987, 13 years after Mike Hastings was inducted into the Rode Hall of Fame.
Image: 2003.203, creator unknown, 1930
About The Dickinson Research Center (DRC)
The Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center (DRC) houses the Museum’s archival and photographic collections, institutional records and library. It shares the Museum’s mission to preserve and interpret the evolving history and cultures of the American West through exhibitions, education, research, and publications.
The collections span centuries and include over 42,000 books; 700,000 photographs; dime novels, manuscripts, maps, film posters, movies and more. Not limited to the old West, they also cover the modern authors, directors and artists inspired by it. Main subject areas include general western history, rodeo history, Native American history, western popular culture, western art and ranching.
Research
The Dickinson Research Center is open to the public by appointment from 10:00AM to 4:00PM, Monday through Friday. To schedule an appointment, contact us at askarchives@nationalcowboymuseum.org
