Wild Horse Annie and the Last of the Mustangs: The Life of Velma Johnston
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In 1950, Velma Johnston was a secretary at an insurance company in Reno, Nevada. Twenty years later, she had become a national hero, responsible for spurring Congress into passing legislation that protected wild horses, a feat that cemented her renown as "Wild Horse Annie." This stirring biography is the first to tell the story of Johnston's life and her extraordinary dedication to the mustangs that represent the spirit of the West. Veteran writers David Cruise and Alison Griffiths paint a vivid portrait of this intrepid woman, who survived a cruelly disfiguring bout with polio as a child and channeled her energy and intellect into her career and marriage -- until she encountered a truck of injured, half-dead horses on her way to work in 1950. Those horses, destined for a pet food rendering plant, launched Johnston into a decades-long campaign against ranchers and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to stop the roundup and slaughter of mustangs. At a time when animal rights was barely a cause and women were still expected to stay at home, Johnston embarked on dangerous vigilante missions to free captured horses and document roundups, and began a highly organized one-woman campaign to raise public awareness of their plight, all while continuing to work and maintain a household. Johnston's courage, determination, and innovative tactics -- she initiated a children's letter-writing campaign that flooded Congress with more mail than it had received on any issue except the Vietnam War -- pitted her against ranchers and powerful politicians, but eventually won her support and admiration around the world, including the friendship of celebrated children's author Marguerite Henry, who fictionalized her story in a children's novel. In this absorbing and carefully researched biography, Cruise and Griffiths depict the ups and downs of a remarkable woman's life and mission, reveal her lasting legacy, and capture the romance and magic of the wild horses that inspired her. Publishers Weekly Velma Johnston (1912-1977), the daughter of a Nevada horse wrangler, was stricken by polio as a child, but she fulfilled her youthful aspirations of owning a ranch and marrying the man of her dreams; her tenacity is the emotional core of this moving-and first-biography of the animal advocate. Cruise and Griffiths (coauthors of Fleecing the Lamb) weave a story of western grit and guts, showing how Velma's indignation and early efforts-rescuing wild mustangs from pet food poachers and angry ranchers-blossomed into the passage of landmark legislation that prevented the capture or killing of herds of horses and burros. Velma's intelligence, candor, and charm are eloquently conveyed by the authors, and their rich and detailed portrait of Velma and her beloved "wild ones" becomes a paean to the American West-of cherished wildness and spirited individualism. Photos. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1 Velma 12 Charlie 153 The Double Lazy Heart Ranch 274 The Road to Reno 415 A Law of Our Own 646 Moccasin Walking 897 Mrs. Johnston Goes to Washington 1058 It's a Hell of a Good Day 1299 The Lady in the Green Coat 14710 Out of Cold Storage 16511 The Battle of the Pryor Mountains 18512 A Perfect Storm 19913 Trapped 22014 The Children's Crusade 239Epilogue 261Acknowledgments 275Notes 279Index 295
