Western poet Joaquin Millers 1877 melodrama of Mormon revenge remained popular on the road, especially in the West, throughout the 1880s, and was particularly identified with actor McKee Rankin. Among the strong appeals of the action was a defenseless woman who disguises herself in male dress and lives in a crude mining camp in order to escape the Danites who seek to kill her.
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.