Updated: April 5, 2023

Evelyn Cameron was born Evelyn Jephson Flower on August 26, 1868, in England, in a wealthy family, but she preferred riding horses and exploring outdoors instead of fancy parties. In 1889 she married Ewen Cameron and later moved with him to the badlands near Terry, Montana, where they tried ranching and raising polo ponies and then other livestock. A guest at their ranch taught her how to use a glass-plate camera, and soon Evelyn was riding out with a heavy camera and tripod to photograph neighbors, roundups, brandings, sheep shearing, weddings, schools, and wildlife like eagles and coyotes. She also kept detailed diaries about her hard but adventurous life until she died on December 26, 1928, leaving thousands of photos and pages of writing that were "rediscovered" in the 1970s and are now preserved at the Montana Historical Society and the Evelyn Cameron museum in Terry, Montana.