Can’t resist visiting the Cowgirl Hall of Fame whenever I’m in Fort Worth.  It’s the only museum in the world dedicated to honoring women of the American West.  The current exhibit was Barbara Van Cleve’s photography of working cowgirls all over the Rocky Mountain West.  Barbara is a Hall of Famer.  The exhibit had over 60 black and white photographs depicting the tough side of ranch women.

Barbara grew up on her family’s ranch, the Lazy K Bar in the Crazy Mountains of Montana.  She taught English Literature and Photography at DePaul University in Chicago.  She became the youngest Dean of Women in the United States at the time.  She retired in 1980 to pursue photography full time.  She’s internationally known for her work.

I had an opportunity to meet Barbara Van Cleve while attending one of the museum’s Cowgirl University events in the hill country of San Antonio in 2006 and again in Greenough, Montana in 2007.  A group of us accompanied Barbara on a photo expeditions in jeeps and on horseback.  Here is Barbara teaching us in San Antonio.