Malinda Jenkins was born in 1848, the daughter of a Kentucky farmer. Spunky and rebellious, she liked men and married three. With her third husband, a professional gambler, Malinda bounced across the West, gaining financial independence from various enterprises. When writer Jesse Lilienthal met Malinda in 1930, she was a widow in her eighties and spent every afternoon at the racetrack. Her lively story is also the story of the American West.