Lillian "Lily" Klasner was born December 18, 1862, in Mason County, Texas, during the American Civil War. Her parents were rancher Robert Adam Casey and Eveline Ellen Shellenbarger. At age five Lillian's family moved from Texas to Rio Hondo, New Mexico. While in her early teens Lily began collecting letters and documents to inform an autobiographical account of her pioneer experiences. She attended the New Mexico Highlands University at Las Vegas and became a teacher, telegrapher, and rancher. Lily married Joseph A. Klasner on December 18, 1893, in Texas, but later divorced him. She died in Roswell, New Mexico, on May 31, 1946. Lily's history, written from her diary, collected letters, photographs, and other documents, was found twenty years after she passed away. It was published posthumously as "My Girlhood Among Outlaws," in 1972, edited by Eve Ball.

Katherine Evelyn Daly (Eve Ball) was born March 14, 1890, to Samuel Richard Daly and Gazelle (Gibbs) Daly on her grandfather's plantation in Kentucky. Eve spent her early years in Clarksville, Tennessee, after which her family moved to Kansas.

Eve began teaching school at only sixteen years old; many of her pupils were adults. In 1918, Eve received her B.S. degree in education from Kansas State Teachers College. In 1934, she received her master's in education at the University of Kansas.

Her husband, Joseph P. Ball, was a Captain in the Kansas National Guard and died in World War I. Following the end of World War I, Eve spent the next few years teaching both elementary and secondary school in Kansas and Oklahoma. She then taught history and literature at Kansas City Junior College and the College of Artesia.

In 1942, Eve moved to Ruidoso, New Mexico. After living there for six years she bought an entire block of property near the Ruidoso Downs racing tracks and built an adobe home. It was here that Eve published her first short book, "Ruidoso, The Last Frontier," in 1963.

Over time, Eve developed a great passion for documenting the history of the diverse peoples of New Mexico and the Southwest. She was especially involved in collecting the oral histories of various peoples, a venture most historians did not respect.

Eve collected material for over twenty years before trying to publish. She wrote dozens of stories for True West and Frontier Times. Eve spent a great deal of time interviewing families involved in the Lincoln County War, especially the Coe family and others who knew Billy the Kid. She also took an interest in cowboys and early settlers, and published "Bob Crosby, World Champion Cowboy" in 1966, "Ma'am Jones of the Pecos" in 1969, and "My Girlhood Among Outlaws" (ed.; originally written by Lily Klasner) in 1972.

Eve continued to write up until her death on December 24, 1984, at age 94, even after losing her eyesight. Her books have been used as textbooks at colleges and universities, including: Cambridge, New Mexico, Arizona, New Orleans, Brigham Young, and Harvard. Eve also wrote numerous short stories and drafts for various books that have never been published.