Velma Bronn Johnston
Encyclopedia
Mustang (horse)
A Mustang is a free-roaming horse of the North American west that first descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but there is intense debate over terminology...
and burros from public lands. She was instrumental in passing legislation to stop using aircraft and land vehicles to capture wild horses and burros and to cease branding and causing their death.
Velma Bronn was born in Washoe County, Nevada
Washoe County, Nevada
Washoe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. The population was 421,407 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County includes the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area.-History:...
to Joseph Bronn and his wife Gertrude Clay and grew up on the family’s "Double Lazy Heart Ranch". In 1923 she contracted polio and was confined to cast for six months. She married Charles Johnston and they took over operation of the ranch and later turning it into a "dude ranch
Dude ranch
The guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism.-History:...
" for children. Johnston also worked as a secretary for an insurance company.
Johnston became involved in the campaign to save the wild horses after driving to work in 1950. While following a truck loaded with horses on its way to a slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
she saw blood dripping from the back of the over crowded truck. This inspired her to do further investigation and bring it to the public. She collected evidence and began speaking to ranchers, businessmen, politicians and in schools about the roundup methods and treatment of wild horses and burros.
On her initiative and Nevada State Senator James Slattery's actions, Nevada passed a bill that made mustang roundups by planes and cars illegal on private property. The limitation to private property was a condition of the Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
. As large parts of Nevada were thereby excluded from the bill, Johnston continued to fight for a better protection of the mustangs.
On 8 September 1959 the campaign resulted in the federal legislature passing Public Law 86-234 which banned air and land vehicles from hunting and capturing wild horses on state land. This became known as the Wild Horse Annie act.
Johnston continued her campaign and in 1971, the 92nd United States Congress
92nd United States Congress
The Ninety-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives...
unanimously passed the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971
Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971
The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 , is an Act of Congress , signed into law President Richard M. Nixon on December 18, 1971...
. It was signed into law by the then President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
on December 15, 1971. This act prohibited capture, injury, or disturbance of wild horses and burros and for their transfer to suitable areas when populations became too large.
In 1959, Johnston was featured in Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine. The 1961 Western The Misfits
The Misfits (film)
The Misfits is a 1961 American drama film written by Arthur Miller, directed by John Huston, and starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter, and Eli Wallach. It was the final film appearance for both Gable and Monroe...
on a script by Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, last film of Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
and Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
and also starring Montgomery Clift
Montgomery Clift
Edward Montgomery Clift was an American film and stage actor. The New York Times’ obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men"....
, portrayed a horse roundup just outside of Reno and in the way against which Johnston had protested; in the film, Monroe's character becomes disgusted with the method, which leads to a climactic clash between the characters.
Johnston herself appeared in the Robert McCahon's 1973 Western Running Wild as herself, starring alongside Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
and Dina Merrill
Dina Merrill
-Early life:Merrill was born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton in New York City, New York, the only child of Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her second husband, Wall Street stockbroker Edward Francis Hutton...
.
Johnston died at age sixty-five of cancer in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
on June 27, 1977.
Further reading
- Marguerite HenryMarguerite HenryMarguerite Henry was an American writer. Henry inspired children all over the world with her love of animals, especially horses. The author of fifty-nine books based on true stories of horses and other animals, her work has captivated entire generations of children and young adults and won...
(1966). Mustang. Wild Spirit of the West. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company. (children's novel) - Deanne Stillman (2008). "Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West." Houghton Mifflin. (adult novel)
External links
- article from 2005 about recent challenges to the legislation that "Wild Horse Annie" fought for (The Christian Science MonitorThe Christian Science MonitorThe Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
)