Caroline Lockhart papers, 1875-1981

Caroline Lockhart (1871-1962) was a newspaper publisher, writer, journalist, rancher, and rodeo sponsor. She was born in Eagle Point Township, Illinois, on February 24, 1871, and grew up on a ranch in Kansas. Lockhart attended Bethany College in Topeka and the Moravian Seminary in Pennsylvania before pursuing and abandoning an acting career. She then worked as a reporter for The Boston Post and the Philadelphia Bulletin, beginning to write short stories during that period. In 1904, she moved to Cody, Wyoming, to write a feature on the Blackfoot Indians. Between 1918 and 1919, she worked for The Denver Post and from 1920 to 1925 owned the Park County Enterprise, which became the Cody Enterprise in 1921. In 1926, Lockhart purchased a ranch in Dryhead, Montana, where she lived until 1950, spending winters in Cody, where she later retired. She died on July 25, 1962, at eighty-two years old.

After her move to Wyoming, Lockhart became a prominent promoter of Western life and Cody, Wyoming. She wrote several novels, including The Lady Doc, based on life in Cody. Some of her works, such as The Fighting Shepherdess and The Man from Bitter Roots, were adapted into films, and she collaborated with Douglas Fairbanks on adapting The Dude Wrangler. Lockhart helped found and served as president of the Cody Stampede Rodeo from 1920 to 1926. She also worked to connect the community to Buffalo Bill’s legacy to promote Cody as a western cultural center. Her Dryhead, Montana, ranch, now known as The Caroline Lockhart Ranch, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 2018.