In 1906 , grand of mass gather at Oklahoma ’s 101 Ranch , the Southwest’sbiggest Wild West show , to catch a mass of mass and horses pelt along around a large dirt track . They were recreating the legendaryLand Run of 1896 , a airstream where settlers dashed to stake a claim on land the federal government had claimed from the Cherokee Nation — the large such event in Oklahoma . Pulling ahead of the gaggle of overpoweringly male rival was 55 - year - oldEliza Carpenter , towering atop her pony - suck around the bend , " [ aim ] her ponies at the top of their speed , " as one newsprint describe . It was n’t the first time the aging horseman had affect a crowd — Carpenter had been winning races and break boundaries for decades .
Breaking Into the Boys' Club
conduct enslaved on a Virginia orchard in 1851 , Carpenterwas soldtwice before the conclusion of the Civil War . After the state of war , the teenage Carpenter run to Madisonville , Kentucky , where shebecame interestedin Thoroughbreds . It was there that she began to ride andlearn the businessof horse racing .
Horse racing was the most pop spectator sport in the 19th century , and it was focus on in the South . Formerly enslaved people werea common sightas jockey . ( African - American man won 13 of the first 25 Kentucky Derbies . ) This did n’t make the sport resistant from racism though , and bloodless competitor often conspire to sabotage their Black opponent .
But it was a boys ’ club no matter one ’s skin colour . While being a Black jockey might have been commonplace , being a woman in horse racing was nearly unheard of before World War I. And Carpenter , known as “ Aunt Eliza , ” did n’t just race : She eventually became a full stable owner after moving to Kansas .
Carpenter like to bet on the backwash , too . She always demanded the money she won from a bet , even when the loser essay to back out , whether from overplus or bigotry . When a white-hot homo once refuse to honor his bet with her , theBaltimore Afro - Americanwroteof the fracas that go against out , “ Two blow were walk out — one when Aunt Eliza land a nose candy square to the jaw and the 2nd when the man hit the reason . ”
The Only Black Stable Owner in Oklahoma
On September 16 , 1893 , at the age of 44 , Carpenter staked a claim in Oklahoma during theCherokee Strip Land Run , the largest land run in American account . There were only 42,000 share of country up for grabs ; more than 100,000 people participated . Carpenter and her chestnut mare pass over 12 miles in 45 transactions despite the hot , dry conditions .
She did not win and take home the $ 1000 swag designate for the first person to touch the site of Ponca City , in north - central Oklahoma . But she did bet on out a good farm , and there , she trained Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses . Carpenter became well - have it away throughout northern Oklahoma . She was n’t just theonly calamitous unchanging ownerin Oklahoma , but one of few in the total West and the only African - American racehorse owner . However , she eventuallylost the farmafter inaccurately describing its boundaries at the land government agency .
The years andsetbacksdidn’t blind her vehemence : Even into belated middle age , the tall and sinewy Carpenter wouldrace the horses herselfwhen she was displeased with the performance of her jockey , “ Lucky ” Johnson . She competed for more than 30 years at effect across Oklahoma , Kansas , and California , expanding her racing business and winning healthy sum total of money .
“The Most Picaresque Sports Women of the Race”
In 1924 , at the age of 75 , Carpenter returned to Kentucky to chaffer family in Madisonville . There , an fortuity with a Equus caballus sent her health on a down spiral . While traveling , her Thoroughbred became spook and hold her from her buggy . The declivity fracture her skull . Carpenter managed to return to Ponca City in late summer , but — while still recovering from her head injury — suffered a stroke that conduct to palsy . She die on December 16 , 1924 .
Carpenter left $ 1000 cash ( at the clip the mediocre Black make for woman made about$400 a yeargross ) and her the three estates also include several peck of ground in Kay County , Oklahoma . Her last was mostly unperceived upon by mainstream newspaper , and there are no known photos of her . TheBaltimore Afro - American , which had a focus on horse racing because of the city ’s story , publishedan obituaryon December 20 , 1924 , mark that “ though main , she was a friend of those of her raceway who were in bad luck , ” and declare that her demise “ mark the passing of one of the most picaresque sports women of the wash . ”
Yet despite Carpenter ’s success , women keep on to confront discrimination in the horse racing industry . Just four years after her dying , a 1928Atlanta Constitutionarticlestated , “ The very thought of a bowler , a future , or a steeplechase presided over by a bob - haired band of giggler , has [ racing humanity ] in the throe of panic . ”
Only 11 years later , in 1939,Anna Lee Aldredbecame the first American woman to receive a professional jockey license ( though she receive the license from the Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana , Mexico ) . In 1968 , Kathryn Kusner made racing chronicle when a court ordered the Maryland Racing Commission to grant her a licence [ PDF ] , making her the first adult female jockey certify to race in the United States . This paved the way forDiane Crumpto become the first woman to compete in the Kentucky Derby . Their prospective pace toward racing equality made headlines . It ’s unlikely they knew about the trailblazer had crossed so many polish line of reasoning before them ; by that point , Carpenter ’s legacy as a woman jockey had largely fleet from memory .
