Caroline Lockhart | |
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| Born | Caroline Cameron Lockhart February 24, 1871 |
| Died | July 25, 1962(1962-07-25) (aged 91) |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, author, newspaper publisher, rodeo promoter, rancher |
Caroline Cameron Lockhart (February 24, 1871 – July 25, 1962) was an American journalist, author, newspaper publisher, rodeo promoter and rancher. Along withBuffalo Bill and SenatorAlan Kooi Simpson, she is one of the most famous citizens ofCody, Wyoming.
Caroline Lockhart was born inEagle Point Township, Ogle County, Illinois on February 24, 1871.[1][2][3] She grew up on a ranch inKansas.[1][2] She attendedBethany College inTopeka, Kansas and theMoravian Seminary inBethlehem, Pennsylvania.[1][2]
A failed actress, she became a reporter forThe Boston Post and later for thePhiladelphia Bulletin.[1][2] She also started writing short stories.[1] In 1904, she moved toCody, Wyoming to write a feature article about theBlackfoot Indians, and settled there.[1][2] She started writing novels and her second novel,The Lady Doc, was based on life in Cody.[1] In 1918–1919, she lived inDenver, Colorado and worked as a reporter forThe Denver Post.[1][2][3] In 1919, her novelThe Fighting Shepherdess, loosely based on the life of sheepherder Lucy Morrison Moore, was made into a1920 movie starringAnita Stewart, with uncredited script adaptation byLenore J. Coffee.[1][3] So was her early novel,The Man from Bitter Roots (1916).[3] She also met withDouglas Fairbanks about adaptingThe Dude Wrangler,[3] which wasfilmed in 1930.
Lockhart became a big promoter of the western way of life in general and of Cody, WY, in particular. From 1920 to 1925, she owned the newspaperPark County Enterprise, and it was renamed theCody Enterprise in 1921.[1][2] From 1920 to 1926, she helped found and then served as President of the board of the Cody Stampede, an annual rodeo.[1][2] Lockhart and her colleagues saw the national and international reputation ofBuffalo Bill (William F. Cody) as an asset and worked to connect the town to him and to keep alive his reputation as popular western figure.
In 1926, she bought a ranch in Dryhead, Montana, now part of theBighorn Canyon National Recreation Area where she lived until 1950.[1][2][4] She still spent her winters in Cody, where she eventually retired.[1][2] She died on July 25, 1962.[1] TheCaroline Lockhart Ranch was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1989 and its structures were restored by theNational Park Service.[5][6] In 2018, theNational Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame inducted her.[7]
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