Stories of Exceptional Women; or Taming My Presentation for Tombstone Territory Rendezvous

Performing at Empire Ranch. Photo credit Bob Block 

It's been years since I performed historical readings at Tombstone Territory Rendezvous, so I was honored when Nancy Sosa invited me to present at this year's symposium, "Tramping and Taming of Tombstone: Wild Women, Soiled Doves and Exceptional Ladies."

I immediately went through my collections of historic books in search of "exceptional ladies." I seemed to recall that the Earp Brothers of Tombstone had some quotes from Allie Earp. Perhaps I could share her perspective on their time in Tombstone in her own voice. But as I compiled excerpts of Allie's letters, it became clear that the Earp wives had been hidden off at home while the Earp brothers did their thing. The story where Allie had the most impact, was when she insisted on bringing her sewing machine to Tombstone - which she later used to support them. 

I knew there had to be more impactful women, because I had just finished reading my all-time favorite book, The Forgotten Botanist: Sara Plummer Lemmon's Life of Science and Art.

Sara had worked side-by-side with her husband as they botanized Southern Arizona in the midst of the Apache Wars. Mount Lemmon was even named after her since she was the first white woman to make it to the top of the Catalinas. That was it! I had my subject. The couple had even stopped in Tombstone on their way to Fort Bowie. 

It has been a rewarding journey preparing my presentation of Wynne Brown's lovely book. What a delight to re-read the passages of the couple botanizing our beloved Sky Islands. Their passion for those plants and the sheer excitement they shared whenever they discovered "new glories" is so moving. I couldn't help but feel a kindship with them. My husband Dan and I share a passion for the native desert plants in our rainwater harvesting basin.

Native plants in rainwater basin

While Sara created watercolor paintings of the plants they discovered, I use my cellphone to snap photos for my blog. I like to fancy myself a citizen scientist, studying the impacts of our sporadic Tucson weather on our plants. But Sara and J.G. were the ultimate citizen scientists. Several of the plants they discovered have been named after them and one is still at the Smithsonian. 

Thurber's morning glory by Sara Plummer Lemmon

Photo credit: Wynne Brown*

I was tickled by the way Sara combined her two passions of science and art. It has actually inspired me to pick up my own long neglected sketch pad. It's been many years since I've done any watercolor painting, but I look forward to getting back to it when we get back from our trip to Tombstone. 

I am in awe of Wynne Brown's commitment to collecting, photographing and recording the Lemmons' field notes, correspondences, photos and artwork.* And beyond that, organizing and participating in efforts to preserve hundreds of Sara's fragile paintings. Wynne has gone on to share Sara's story far and wide through fascinating presentations and storytelling. I like to think we share a kinship, too. From our love of storytelling and Arizona history to the way we wrangle our husbands into helping us with our projects. 

Her husband Dave Peterson performed with her as J.G. Lemmon to her Sara...

He also worked alongside her preserving Sara's paintings. Reminds me of how Dan has helped me find photos for this slide presentation and researching for my previous reading of the Clum letters.  

Ye old photograph of Dan and me doing research on the Clums

When Dan and I were working on the slides, I noticed that I hadn't included pictures of plants or Sara's paintings until the end - when this presentation was about botanizing. So I inserted a few throughout. 

You might wonder if a bunch of Earp fans would be into a presentation on collecting flowers. But afterwards I got compliments from both men and women. One man thanked me for sharing Sara's story. He said that she was an "impressive woman." Karene Erdman, (who is related to Newton Earp) said that she was waiting to see what flower it was that Sara collected. She was delighted when she discovered that it was columbine - a flower that she had planted in her own yard.  

Feeling a little nervous before my presentation, I added a brief, impromptu introduction. (Talking casually to the audience always helps calm my nerves...) I mentioned how excited I was to share Sara's story because one of the joys of my life is to tend the native plants in our rainwater harvesting basin. At the campfire that evening, Eric Erdman (also related to Newton Earp) inquired about our rainwater harvesting system. We had a nice chat about all things sustainable. That made my day (or night as the case may be.) 

I want to thank Wynne Brown for her generosity in letting me perform excerpts from her book for my dramatic reading of "Botanizing in Apache Land" and Nancy Sosa for inviting me. 

Me at TRR 2025

For information on TTR, visit: 

https://tombstoneterritoryrendezvous.com/

*Sara Plummer Lemmon's art was donated to the University of California, Berkley and the Jepson Herbaria Archive by Sara's great, great grandniece Amy St. John.