Libraries to host 'Pioneers and Prostitutes'

COEUR d'ALENE - Charley Parkhurst lived most of her life as a man, becoming one of the top stagecoach drivers during the California Gold Rush years.

The tobacco chewing, cigar-smoking Parkhurst drove wagon trains for 30 years, along long, winding roads, encountering occasional bandits.

She disguised her gender so well those closest to her had no idea she was born a female until she died in 1879.

Parkhurst and other women who helped shape the West will come to life at libraries throughout North Idaho next month when actress Melinda Strobel presents her one-woman show, "Western Women: Pioneers and Prostitutes."

"Her programs are very interactive, very dynamic," said Karen Yother, spokeswoman for Kootenai-Shoshone Area Libraries. "She gets into costume and character for each person she talks about."

Audiences will also "meet" Bethenia Owens-Adair, the first woman doctor in Oregon, and North Idaho's very own Molly b'Dam.

The libraries are presenting the free show in celebration of Women's History Month.

"It really is about this area. So many women came through here pioneering, from the Canadian border down into Lewiston," Yother said.

The women often played colorful roles and did unique jobs as they struggled and persevered to help settle the region, Yother said.

Actress Melinda Strobel studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and has a degree in theatre from Willamette University.

The show will be presented March 1 at St. Maries Public Library; March 2, East Bonner County Library, Sandpoint; March 3, Post Falls Library; March 4, Coeur d'Alene Library; March 5, Bonner County Library, Bonners Ferry; and March 6, Pinehurst Kingston Library.

All shows begin at 7 p.m. except the Pinehurst performance which starts at 6 p.m.

The performances are all free and open to the public.

The program is supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council.

Information: (208) 772-5612, Ext. 121