In this episode of History Unfolded on KNCO Newstalk 830’s Inside Nevada County, host Tom Fitzsimmons and segment host Mike Stewart welcome New York Times bestselling author Chris Enss for a fascinating conversation about the women who helped shape the American West.

Enss introduces her new book, The Last Ride: Outlaw Laura Bullion and the Wild Bunch, which uncovers the extraordinary true story of Laura Bullion—the only known woman to participate in a Wild Bunch train robbery. Bullion rode within the orbit of Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and some of the West’s most notorious outlaws before serving time in prison and quietly reinventing herself as Freda Lincoln, a respected seamstress living in Memphis.

The conversation also explores The Widowed Ones: Beyond the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Enss’s award-winning account of Elizabeth “Libbie” Custer and six other officers’ wives whose husbands were killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Using personal letters, bereavement correspondence and other primary sources, Enss reveals how these women supported one another while facing grief, financial uncertainty and relentless attention from the press.

Enss explains why original letters, court records, newspaper reports and visits to historic locations are essential to her research. She also shares stories of pioneering women in medicine, women’s suffrage and frontier life whose achievements have often been minimized or forgotten.

The program includes plenty of humor, reflections on Nevada County history and a heartfelt remembrance of longtime KNCO personality Mike Nichols. It is an engaging look at Western outlaws, overlooked women and the importance of preserving the human stories behind American history.