7-31-2026 9:50pm

Marguerite Doane, a Champion Lady Roughrider

Beth Callahan Editor

Photo courtesy of Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum of Marguerite Doane Wright, a Champion Lady Roughrider.

Courtesy of Misti Spillman, Manager, Preservation and Community Outreach Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum. Living here in Warren County, we are fortunate to be between the two larger cities of Dayton and Cincinnati. This allows us to not only share in both of these city's accomplishments, but in their residents. And, believe it or not, one way of learning about these people can often be found in historical cemeteries. Dayton, Ohio's Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, which is one of the oldest garden cemeteries in the United States, is filled with history. And, this February the WarrenCountyPost.com has been given the privilege to publish a piece from Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum about Marguerite Doane Wright, a Champion Lady Roughrider.

Marguerite (occasionally Margaret, Maggie, or Margie) Doane was born in Nebraska on November 26, 1894, to Nellie & Walter Doane. Marguerite’s younger sister, Lula (sometimes Lola or Lulu or Lydia) was born three years later.

What records remain indicate that their home was not a happy one. In 1903-1904, while living in Council Bluffs, IA, Nellie sought a divorce from Walter Doane. Facing an inflexible legal system & the scourge of public opinion, she told the judge about Walter’s failure to support his family, his violent temper & threats of violence, plus his excessive use of intoxicants and obscene language. Later that year, Nellie married a musician named Charles W. Fridley. Sometime between 1904 & 1908, the family moved to Dayton.

The 1910 census offers us a glimpse of what the family was up to at the time—they lived on Arlington Ave., the girls' stepfather, Charles, was working at the Soldiers’ Home as a musician, and sixteen year old Marguerite was earning money by banding cigars at a local factory.

Sometime around 1915, Marguerite married Wyoming champion bronco rider Edward Wright, and the newlyweds moved to his government claim near Douglas, Wyoming. In interviews she gave to newspapers at the time, Marguerite says that she'd enjoyed outdoor activities since childhood and had taken up riding after her marriage.

In 1917, the young couple joins the Barnum & Bailey Circus. After outperforming hundreds of other women roughriders at Cheyenne, Wyoming's Frontier Days, and bringing home the title (and very fancy saddle!) of Champion Lady Broncho Buster, Marguerite Doane (or Mrs. Ed Wright, as she was professionally known,) travelled to Denver, where she was to ride in a Field Day celebration being thrown for the Colorado National Guard.

A Hollywood movie crew was there to film the event. When she drew the ironically named "Gentle Annie", Mrs. Wright nearly declined to ride. The bronco was a piece of work--other riders felt lucky to have dodged the daunting task of staying aboard the ill-tempered mare, though they still teased Marguerite for being a chicken.

Ultimately unwilling to admit that she was afraid, in front of a packed grandstand, Mrs. Wright mounted up. The bronco rocketed out of the chute, snorting and plunging, bucking furiously; but was unable to unseat Mrs. Wright. She held on for several long seconds, until Gentle Annie bolted straight towards the wire fence at the Southern end of the arena.

Though the cowboys immediately started in pursuit of the fleeing horse, Gentle Annie was too fast for them. Failing to jump the fence, the horse stumbled and fell with Mrs. Wright still in the saddle. As Gentle Annie got up, she stepped on Mrs. Wright's head--crushing her skull.

"Well, I rode her!" were Marguerite's last words. She died before reaching a hospital.

After the tragic accident, Mrs. Wright's husband brought her body back to Dayton to be buried.

Her friends came together to erect a monument for Marguerite, beloved wife of Edward Wright, Champion Lady Roughrider of the World. It stands in section 119, lot 26 here at Woodland Cemetery.