I inherited the Circle Mill Iron brand from my Great Aunt Marie Jordan Bell. As such, it is a symbol of over 100 years of women’s work in my family.
All Marie ever wanted in her life was to work outside with horses and cattle and dogs. As a girl, she worked alongside her father and brother; when she married, she and her husband John Bell bought a neighboring ranch. I wrote about Marie in both Cowgirls and Riding the White Horse Home. One of her stories–about women who rode through the country when she was a girl, breaking horses for pay–intrigued the novelist Molly Gloss, and served as the inspiration for her wonderful book, The Hearts of Horses.
