Was Fossett from 1923 Season 2 a real-life Marshall? Jennifer Carpenter explains how she approached the role 

Actress Jennifer Carpenter debuted in Taylor Sheridan's 1923 Season 2 Episode 5 and offered much-needed respite for Brandon Skelnar's Spencer Dutton.

The hero is on a harrowing journey to his home in the sophomore season, which has been marked by nothing but obstacles. While it was expected that Carpenter's Mamie Fossett, a US Deputy Marshall, would pose another threat to him, she allowed him to continue on his journey home.

US Deputy Marshall Mamie Fossett is based on a real-life figure of the same name who laid the foundation for active field work for women marshalls in the 1890s.

Here's how Jennifer Carpenter approached the character in 1923 Season 2.

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Who was 1923 Season 2's Mamie Fossett in real life?

Jennifer Carpenter debuted in Sheridan's 1923 Season 2 as a real-life US Deputy Marshall Mamie Fossett. While very little information is available on Fossett, she was a pioneer and one of the first two women who re-defined their profession in the 1890s.

An 1898 newspaper describes these two women as follows:

''Miss SM Burche and Miss Maime Fossett are the first women to do active field work as United States deputy marshals. They are young, good looking, educated, and full of the wild West spirit... Thier conduct has fully warranted the trust imposed upon them.''

The newspaper clipping also reveals that United States Marshall C.H. Thompson appointed the two women and was assigned to bring some 'unruly witnesses' in relation to an Indian Territory murder case.

Not only did the women successfully bought the witnesses after a five-day trip, they managed to survive the unruly and dangerous terrains by camping and cooking their own food.

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Jennifer Carpenter built her 1923 Season 2 character from little history available

As a huge fan of Taylor Sheridan's work, Carpenter was happy to join 1923 Season 2 and play such an empowering, real-life female character on screen. However, since very little is known about Mamie Fossett, she built the character according to her imagination and what the story demanded.

In an interview with Town & Country, Carpenter opened up about her process of becoming Fossett:

''...there are, I mean, maybe 10 sentences written on Mamie Fossett...Yes, she was one of the first female U.S. marshals in the union. Yes, she agreed to not do paperwork behind a desk, but to go out into the territory where more people were dying under this vocation than any other in the Union at that time. That’s where I was able to start: If those two things are true about her, then what can I build around her? What can I unearth that will support the person that I think she is? ''

In another interview with Screen Rant, she opened up on how she approached the character and how her decision to let Spencer go proves that she was a woman of the law, and that is how the actress based her character:

“That's why I really respect how closely she holds the law. It's like the Good Book to her; the Good Law. Those are the laws. I'm here to establish the laws, and if they're thin now, they'll never mean anything. She's in the deadliest job in the United Territories...So, if the law says he must go, he[Spencer] will be there. The Sheriff should be the one watching out if he’s scared."

While Carpenter was tight-lipped about her character's involvement in the subsequent episodes, she hinted that she would be part of the 1923 Season 2 finale and would likely play a part in Teonna's story.

Also Read: Zane actor teases epic showdown between the Duttons and Whitfield in 1923 Season 2

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