Jane Little Botkin: The Breath of a Buffalo, Gebunden

Klappentext

Mary Ann Goodnight (1839--1926) should be an outsized figure in Texas history. Known primarily as the wife of legendary scout and cattleman Charles Goodnight, she was an educator, a businesswoman, and the architect of the resurrection of the Southern Plains bison---in short, a force in shaping the social and environmental legacy of the Texas Panhandle. Bringing Mary out of Charles's larger-than-life shadow, award-winning author Jane Little Botkin's The Breath of a Buffalo restores Mary Ann Goodnight to her rightful place in the drama of frontier Texas---and for the first time tells the story of this indomitable woman's remarkable life.

Moving from Tennessee to North Texas as a young girl, Mary's family faced many of the challenges associated with westward migration. As she entered adulthood, she became an educator, an experience that would prove indelible in shaping her personality and spirit. As a teacher, she witnessed the violence and upheaval of the Civil War and the conflicts between settlers and Native American tribes. Botkin's biography draws an intimate picture of Mary's life and of the dramatic changes that her storied marriage forged.

The Breath of a Buffalo describes how the unlikely couple---Mary, a petite and refined schoolteacher, and Charles, a prickly, near-illiterate, and foul-mouthed trail driver---built ranching empires in Colorado and Texas and endured financial booms and busts alongside the relentless hardships of life in the Panhandle. Living as close to the land as they did, Mary saw the mass slaughter of buffalo, especially within the Palo Duro Canyon, and was deeply disturbed. Botkin recounts how Mary insisted on rescuing and nurturing orphaned calves and thus established a foundational herd that directly contributed to the survival of the species.

Long overdue, Botkin's biography situates Mary's story within the broader context of westward resettlement and Native American displacement while offering a nuanced portrait of a woman whose conservation and determination left a lasting mark on Texas history. The Breath of a Buffalo ultimately restores Mary Ann Goodnight to the history of the American West, in all its dramatic sweep and singular experience.