Terri Farley is the author of the new book Horse Girl: How Velma Bronn Johnston Became Wild Horse Annie and Outsmarted the Mustang Killers of the West. Her other books include Wild at Heart. She is also an educator, and she lives in Nevada.
Q: What inspired you to write Horse Girl, and how did you become interested in Velma Bronn Johnston (1912-1977)?
A: I’ve always loved horses, especially wild horses. Like many young horse-lovers, I read every horse book our local librarian handed me.
I lived on the outskirts of Los Angeles, California, so the story of Wild Horse Annie, a young woman who saved America’s mustangs from being slaughtered for dog food, grabbed my admiration.
As an adult, I moved to Nevada and actually met her. Afterward, I couldn’t stop thinking, What a champion! What a warrior! Velma was brilliant and sarcastic, but humble about her accomplishments.
Not a word of protection existed for wild horses until she made it happen.
She worked full days in the office, did all the duties of a co-rancher and stayed up late into the night writing letters and opinion pieces as she drank black coffee and fought residual pain from polio.
Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: Once the Phantom Stallion series made me a successful fiction writer, an editor took a chance on my nonfiction. We hoped that I could tell the true story of a Western heroine and make it read like irresistible fiction.
With the help of Velma’s niece, a physician, and Velma’s best friend’s daughter, I began. I was allowed access to Velma’s personal papers, shorthand notes and family photos. Part of what I expected -- the story of a 1950s woman’s love for the wild lands and wild creatures of the West – emerged, but I learned more.
Velma’s shyness surprised me, but her diary explanations make total sense. The aftereffects of polio changed her face and twisted her torso. She could still run and ride and walk, but she knew, on first acquaintance, people stared. Velma described herself as “an awkward girl who tried to conceal her zigzag spine by walking defiantly.”
Horse Girl does a lot of myth-busting. Like many young horse-lovers, I read Marguerite Henry’s book Mustang as fact, not fiction. I believed Velma grew up on a ranch. In fact, she lived in a in a Reno, Nevada, neighborhood within walking distance of a university, banks, stores, and restaurants.
The ranch myth extends to the cruel lie that “Charlie Johnston married her for the family ranch.” There was no family ranch! The Double Lazy Heart Ranch was a labor of love for Charlie and Velma. Together they saved money and chose land along the Truckee River where Velma first saw free-roaming wild horses. Charlie built the barn and house while Velma worked as a secretary in town to keep funds flowing.
Something that delighted me, especially as a writer for young readers, was Velma’s physical bravery. Her conviction to save captive wild horses sent her and Charlie on night raids to free mustangs from horse killers’ corrals. The couple insisted they weren’t horse thieves since the public lands and the wildlife on it belonged to the American people. Including them.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from Horse Girl?
A: I hope that readers of all ages, absorb some of Velma’s determination to stand up for what they believe. This woman with physical challenges, a full-time job and bullying that didn’t stop in school, ignited a successful worldwide campaign.
Velma’s nickname started as a cruel joke. At a crowded hearing in the state capitol, an opponent saw her enter and said, “Well. if it ain’t Wild Horse Annie, and don’t she look just like one.”
The slur referred to her face, and of course it hurt, but Velma realized if she embraced the name, everyone would know who she was and what she stood for. She took it, used it and became known internationally by the nickname.
When asked how she could keep up her relentless, yearslong campaign on the range, in classrooms and boardrooms, Velma said, “To fight for what matters, you must have an unshakeable faith in the very rightness of what you are doing.”
I want readers to know it wasn’t easy for her, but she did it anyway.
Q: How would you describe Velma Bronn Johnston’s legacy today?
A: Every time a legislator refers to laws dealing with our wild horses, the restrictions of the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act – spearheaded by Velma – must be addressed.
Although financial interests of all kinds – primarily mining and agribusiness – have lobbied and succeeded in changing the 1971 Act, Velma gave today’s advocates for public lands and wild horses a platform to brace our feet on.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: The Year of the Horse brought me the opportunity to write picture books. The Phantom Stallion’s Family is a companion series for the youngest readers. These fictional stories about the lives of wild horses contain undercover science.
Example: in Feather the Foal, a baby mustang neighs into a cave and thinks there must be lots of horses in there. She learns about echoes. As a recovering middle and high school teacher, I believe people can’t care if they don’t know. If we see something wrong, we had to educate others about it.
I’m incredibly fortunate to have wild horse books for all ages. I don’t lobby, photograph or conduct scientific experiments, but I hope my fact-based stories influence readers to stand up for voiceless creatures of the wild.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: My books are all beautiful! The covers, interior art, and maps within both The Phantom Stallion series and The Phantom’s Family series are created by real artists – not AI.
Horse Girl’s cover, layout, and perfectly presented old photographs were made possible by a dedicated team at the University of Nevada, Reno. As a writer who’s had her own work pirated for AI without permission or compensation, I stand up for artists who create with their heads, hands and hearts.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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