Women of the old west had "True Grit".

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

Hawkmoon author Nancy Williams, a longtime student of women's issues in 19th-century America, loves the new film adaptation of the Academy Award-nominated "True Grits" although she points out that the depiction of its defiantly strong teenage girl, Mattie Ross-played by Oscar nominee Hallee Steinfeld--was not completely true to history.

"Frontier women typically didn't carry a gun, straddle a horse, or talk back with such brazenness. They either kept the house, cooked and tended the children, or they were school teachers or prostitutes. The stereotypes we see in the typical Western novel or movie are not without basis in reality."

The character of Ross did, however, match up with legends of some of the handful of strong females who stood out from the crowd--straddling their horses as they rode them against the grain. "Despite the fact that Mattie was not typical of the young girl of that era, there are enough women in the history of...