This year marks the 100th anniversary of the day Kate Slaughterback earned the nickname “Rattlesnake Kate.” To mark the occasion Neyla Pekarek, former member of The Lumineers, is performing a special rendition of her album inspired by Kate — “The Western Woman.” The performance will feature Augustana Arts’ 22-piece Stratus Chamber Orchestra, choral singers, and dancers from Life/Art Dance. See it on June 7 at the Stanley Marketplace!
Who is Kate Slaughterback?
Born in 1893, Kate became known as a Colorado frontierswoman who defied many traditional gender roles. She married and divorced multiple times, had training as a nurse and taxidermist, and had a love of shooting guns. It’s even rumored that Kate was a bootlegger.
Kate lived in Hudson, Colorado with her adopted son Ernie. Much of what’s known about Kate’s life comes from a 40-year off-and-on string of correspondence with an Iowa man known as Buckskin Bill. In one story, Kate gets struck by lightning, and in another, she exercises with cast iron to regain strength in her arm after a stroke caused it to go limp.
She died in 1969 at the age of 75, and her headstone is marked with the moniker “Rattlesnake Kate.”
Becoming “Rattlesnake Kate”
In October 1925, Kate and her son Ernie were horseback riding to a local lake when they came across more than 100 rattlesnakes migrating across their path. Kate shot at the snakes until her gun was empty of bullets, but the shooting disturbed the remaining snakes. So Kate grabbed a nearby sign and began beating the reptiles to death.
I fought them with a club not more than 3 feet long, whirling constantly for over two hours before I could kill my way out of them and get back to my faithful horse and Ernie, who were staring at me during my terrible battle not more than 60 feet away.
— Rattlesnake Kate
In the end, Kate killed 140 snakes, which she then skinned and turned into a dress, as well as crafted their tails into a necklace. Her son would later say that Kate wore the dress to a few parties, including one in Mexico where she danced on a bar.
After the incident, Kate raised rattlesnakes on her farm to sell their venom and taxidermied souvenirs.
🐍Want to hear more about Kate from Neyla Pekarek? Check out this City Cast Denver episode.
Special thanks to the Greeley History Museum, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and The Denver Gazette for their reporting and additional resources on this topic.
