“Nothing to Lose”: A Horsewoman and a Tall Tale

Abstract

This essay examines the rôle of gender and the tall tale in an oral narrative collected from “Delia Tombs,” one of several working horsewomen living in a Western theme town, whom I interviewed during the summer of 1992. Assuming the rôle of knowing figure in a humorous narrative is one of the ways that the horsewoman appropriates male cultural codes. As she recalls a humorous work-related event, Delia Tombs reveals her methods for coping creatively and intelligently with a repressive, and even a potentially violent, experience in a wilderness setting. I will show how Delia's story sheds light on the ways that gender negotiates the ongoing relationships between tourism, traditional notions of the American West, and the genre of the tall tale.