MUSTANG: Wild Spirit of the West

by Marguerite Henry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 3, 1966

If God has a kind of plan for all of us, I like to think he coupled me with horses right from the start."" It's an unfortunate beginning for Wild Horse Annie and for this highly fictionalized, hoof-in-mouth story of the Nevada woman who fought to save the mustangs from the Last Roundup... Kind of runs in the family, though. At birth, Pa ""was saved by the milk of a mustang."" Annie herself, at three, was pitched off a pony onto her diapers, but at five she was grown-up and helping Pa with the horses. A long bout with polio followed, leaving her limbs straight enough for riding but her face as crooked as a cracked mirror. True love does not run straight either, and Annie found hers in neighbor Charley Johnston, who shared her concern for all sorts of critters. When she saw ""the very critter that helped build America"" being rounded up and ground up for horsemeat, Annie went on the warpath. The result was a barrage of letters to Congress and an invitation to testify in Washington. ""I just can't go...I'm just plain scairt!"" But she mustered her courage and her facts, and told the whole story of the mustang's role in history to the Committee. The result was a standing ovation. ""What was I to say...?"" With thoughts of Lincoln and Patrick Henry and John Paul Jones, she concluded ""'We --we the people have won.' That was the Plan."" God works his will in mysterious ways.

Pub Date: Nov. 3, 1966

ISBN: 068971601X

Page Count: -

Publisher: Rand McNally

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1966

Categories: FICTION