Preservation Thursday: The Lynching's of Ella Watson and Elizabeth Taylor: connecting gender, violence, and land reform laws in the 19th Century West

Dr. Renee Laegreid, professor of the American West at the University of Wyoming and author of Riding Pretty: Rodeo Royalty in the West, will be discussing the lives and tragic deaths of Wyoming's Ellen "Cattle Kate" Watson and Nebraska's Elizabeth Taylor, two pioneer women who were hanged as cattle thieves in the late 1880s. Learn how these violent executions shed light on the darker history of the Western cattle industry and women in the West. Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center; 12:00 p.m.; free for members and $5 for non-members.