Violet Sedgwick

Violet May Coy Sedgwick never worked for wages on a ranch but helped the cook at the 4W when her husband cowboyed there for them. She grew up on her family’s ranch in Montana, and when she was a child moved to the AU7 Ranch on the Cheyenne River in Nebraska and Wyoming and her dad’s homestead north of there. After marrying Cecil Donaldson at age 17 she ranched with him on Black Thunder Creek in the Cheyenne River country, and south of Osage on leased ground for seven or eight years. After marrying Francis Sedgwick January 12, 1940, she ranched with him on ranches they leased, then owned in southern Weston County.
Violet was a natural-born horse trainer and could do anything on her horses without ever picking up the reins. Vi loved rodeo and having read in Western Horseman of women developing barrel racing, she set out to introduce and promote the sport for women in her region. She was a founding member of the Northwest Ranch Cowboy’s Association.