Why Isabella Bird, the Victorian explorer forgotten by history, became my heroine | Ruby Wax

Cutting open bears, wrangling cows: retracing her voyage across the Rocky Mountains made me realise how extraordinary this woman was

Everyone has heard of Amelia Earhart, the great aviator. Or Florence Nightingale, the revered statistician. But what about Isabella Bird, the 4ft 11in Victorian adventurer who rode 800 miles across Colorado solo on a horse? The tragedy is that this pioneering explorer has largely been forgotten by history - until now.

In April, alongside the Spice Girl Melanie Brown and the comedian Emily Atack, I travelled to the Rocky Mountains to retrace Isabella's footsteps and pay homage to this trailblazer. As I became immersed in her life, she quickly became my heroine.

Isabella was a talented author, writing about her adventures as she travelled the equivalent of three times around the world, by boat, on horseback and foot. But she also suffered from debilitating chronic pain. After spinal surgery in England to remove a tumour, in 1873 doctors advised her to get out to the fresh air of the Rocky Mountains to heal her general malaise. At a time when women only really had two options - to be a housewife or work in a factory - she ventured halfway across the world in search of healing.