Velma_Bronn Johnston

photo courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society

Born in Nevada in the early 1900's, Velma Bronn was a mere sliver of buckwheat in a large field. Her "Pa" was saved by the milk of a mustang as a baby and now owned a business freighting goods across the mountains on the backs of mustangs that he broke himself. Her whole life was about mustangs, for as long as she could remember. At the age of eleven, after a long stay in the hospital because of polio, she returned home to a number of unwanted changes. Her dad drove a truck, the fields had been combed down along with the trees, and slicing barbed wire fence edged every area. Also, the mustangs were gone. None could be viewed at the tops of ridges. What had happened?

During her sixteenth year, she met an anxious stranger at the ranch's front door. It was a neighboring farmer and his quivering mount, shaking from the fast pace at which they had traveled. He asked for her Pa. All his cows were stuck in a gulch below train tracks and would surely die by the next train. She ran out to the barn, as he shouted that he didn't want her, because Pa was gone and wouldn't get back in time. Swearing, the stranger turned his horse around and sped off for eighteen-year-old Charley, a half-Indian boy who excelled at roping. Annie was furious, she was just as good as him. She raced off on her mustang, Hobo, and headed for the gulch.

Well, Charley showed up after she arrived and, together, they saved all but one cow, who had to be put down. Ecstatic, she had proved to be just as good as any man. Later in the year, she and Charley would also retrieve a prized Appaloosa stallion from a canyon where it had escaped to after demolishing a fence. But mustangs were still disappearing.

After marrying Charley, they bought the Lazy Heart Ranch from her parents who just couldn't keep up the business. Unable to have children of their own, they opened a dude ranch for children. They called them their weekend children, who came over on Fridays and left on Sunday nights. The children would ride horses, build campfires, roast hot dogs and marshmallows, and sleep in the barn's hay loft. Children who had no riding experience or were completely terrified of horses would soon leave with a wish list including a horse or pony. Some children would come from as far as the East Coast to experience the thrilling adventures. But unfortunately, weekend children had to stop coming. Annie had to focus on the mustangs.

Annie, who also worked for an insurance executive, used her skills so that she could be more effective in her cause. She wrote to numerous senators, governors, and mayors. Anyone who could spotlight the inhumane roundups and draw them to the public was worth writing to. One night, after a hearing on a license permit, she got an idea. Children have the power to grasp the public's attention. Annie began writing to schools, teachers, and children - to anyone who wanted to help. She fought vigorously and paid many visits to important officials, persuading them to start a bill. After months of failed attempts and arguments with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), she received a call one night from a president of an organization. Annie was urgently needed in Washington at the Supreme Court to support a bill. On a last minute chance, she flew to D.C. where she delivered packets and a speech to the court, never forgetting the tiniest detail.

Velma "Wild Horse Annie" Bronn Johnston won. It was now illegal to operate any vehicle or air roundups unless being granted by the Supreme Court. She celebrated with her now 32-year-old horse, Hobo.