Who were these lonely wanderers in that wild and wintry waste! The presence of the rifle and of the large high boots which she wore, together with other circumstances, were evidences which enabled the shrewd hunters to guess a part of their story. It appeared that the family must have consisted originally of three persons, a man and wife, with the child now the sole survivor of the party. Voyaging down the Red river during the preceding summer and autumn; lured onward by the fatal beauty of the region, and deluded by the ease with which their wants could be supplied, they had evidently neglected to provide against the winter, which at length burst upon them all unprepared to encounter its rigors.
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ga/county/fulton/library/women/woffinal.pdf
One of the famous huntresses of the northwest, while returning home from the woods with a wild turkey which she had shot, unexpectedly encountered a large moose in her path, which manifested a disposition to attack her. She tried to avoid it, but the animal came towards her rapidly and in a furious manner. Her rifle was unloaded, and she was obliged to take shelter behind a tree, shifting her position from tree to tree as the brute made at her.
At length, as she fled, she picked up a pole, and quickly untying her moccasin strings, she bound her knife to the end of the pole. Then, placing herself in a favourable position, as the moose came up, she stabbed him several times in the neck and breast. At last the animal, exhausted with the loss of blood, fell. She then dispatched it, and cut out its tongue to carry home as a trophy of victory. When they went back to the spot for the carcass, they found the snow trampled down in a wide circle, and copiously sprinkled with blood, which gave the place the appearance of a battle-field. It proved to be a male of extraordinary size.
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ga/county/fulton/library/women/woffinal.pdf
The first thing to be done was to strike her husband's trail and then follow it till she overtook him or met him returning. Swiftly, and yet cautiously, she struck out into the forest in a direction at right angles with the Indian camp. Being clad in trousers of deer skin and a short tunic and moccasins of the same material, she made her way through the woods as easily as a man, and fortunately in a few moments discovered a trail which she concluded was that of her husband. Her opinion was soon verified by finding a piece of leather which she recognized as part of his accoutrements.
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ga/county/fulton/library/women/woffinal.pdf
Mrs. McM., after a moment's remonstrance, on account of the depth of the snow, regained her courage, and, hastily putting on her husband's boots, started, shrieking “fire!” as she passed up the road, and disappeared
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ga/county/fulton/library/women/woffinal.pdf
Immediately upon learning of her husband's death, Anne became "Mad Anne" and, clothing herself in the garb of a frontiersman, set out to avenge her loss.
http://www.ncgenweb.us/ncrevwar/womenar.htm
Charlotte Charke (1713-1760) was a comedian whose portrayals of men were brilliant caricatures. Having married at 17 and borne a child the next year, Charlotte turned to acting to support herself and her daughter when her lothario husband abandoned them. Once she had tasted success in breeches she wouldn't take them off; she scandalously went on to live her life dressed as a man. She insisted on being called "Mr. Charles" while working in London theatre.
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15696746_ITM
Mary, now on her own, continued to play a male role and became first a footman and then a soldier in the English army. She fell in love with an infantryman. The two of them left the army and opened a tavern called The Three Horseshoes in 1697, right around the time her future comrade-in-arms, Anne Bonny, was born. They ran the tavern for nearly twenty years until Mary’s husband died, leaving her once again alone. Taking up old habits to survive, Mary slipped into her male alter ego and became a shipmate on a sloop bound for the West Indies.
During this same time, Anne was growing up spoiled and plagued by a murderous disposition. On one occasion it’s said she stabbed a maid to death in a fit of temper. Growing bored with plantation life in her adolescence, Anne married a scoundrel and sometimes pirate named Jack Bonny whose designs were more on her father’s wealth than on Anne. Furious with the marriage, William disinherited her; Anne burned the plantation in retaliation.
Eventually Anne tired of her husband’s recreant ways and ran off with Captain Jack Rackham – Calico Jack. Dressed as a man, she immersed herself in the pirate culture, fighting no less savagely than the male crew. She and Calico Jack prowled the shipping lanes around Jamaica, plundering ships and taking as prisoners those they didn’t kill, one of whom was Mary Read.
Mary and Anne soon discovered each other’s true identity and became fast friends. Anne offered, and Mary accepted, a place on the ship. Any doubts the crew harboured about Mary quickly disappeared when, in a rage over the planned execution of a prisoner with whom she’d fallen in love, Mary challenged one of the pirates to a duel; using pistols and daggers, she promptly dispatched him.
http://www.essortment.com/all/pirateswomen_rzzx.htm
Carin or Karin (Catharina) du Rietz (1766-1788), was a Swedish woman who became a soldier at the Royal guard dressed as a man;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carin_du_Rietz
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