“What sets The Cowboy Girl apart from standard works of western Americana, aside from the inherently sensational life of its subject, is the way it weaves together details of both Lockhart’s public and private life with insights about the historical, social, and cultural developments of which Lockhart was a part. The result is a fascinating read and an enlightening look at the ironies of early twentieth-century frontier mythmaking in its historical context. . . . Clayton skillfully interweaves these personal details together with a lively account of relevant local and national history. The resulting biography is a rare revelation of frontier mythology as lived experience, in all of its contradiction and complexity.”—Western American Literature
“In The Cowboy Girl, author and essayist John Clayton presents a warm portrait of a woman whose strong spirit and independent vision perfectly embodied the American West. As part of the University of Nebraska’s Women in the West series, Clayton’s biography provides a voice to the little-known legend.”—Bloomsbury Review
“[Clayton] provides a compelling account of an American journalist who sought to tell the stories of the West at a time when it still promised a romantic, adventurous life to those who sought rural, unvarnished America.”—Carolyn Bronstein,
Journalism History
“Clayton does not allow Lockhart to remain shrouded within the misty tendrils of time. He strokes her life in vivid colors. There were no faint-hearted pastels in Lockhart’s life, and Clayton insures that her biography remains true to the bold, independent woman who never ran from a battle, at least not one she could fight with words.”—American Journalism
“This larger-than-life Western woman deserved a good biography, and John Clayton has written one.”—Bill Croke, The Washington Times
“This lively biography of Caroline Lockhart reveals an intrepid, trailblazing woman who, as one of the first female journalists, traveled solo everywhere pursuing stories. . . . [A]n absorbing story of a talented but difficult woman always torn by her conflicting ambitions of fame, power, domestic bliss and a country life.”—Joan Hinkemeyer, Rocky Mountain News
"Mr. Clayton's grasp of his subject and her environment is masterful, and that is no mean feat. . . . [His] portrait of The Cowboy Girl is intimate, but doesn't neglect Ms. Lockhart's impact on the mythology of the American West.”—Jim Larson, The Billings Outpost
“John Clayton’s lively account of Caroline Lockhart is a welcome biography that will be of interest to western historians, women’s historians, literary scholars, and general readers. . . . [The Cowboy Girl ] offers an enjoyable and readable window into the world of a woman we should all know better.”—Laura Woodworth-Ney, Oregon Historical Quarterly
"The Wyoming legend, Caroline Lockhart, is immortalized in the new biography by Clayton."—Holly Strother, The Casper Journal
"John Clayton's thoroughly researched book . . . explores the life of one of the West's greatest proponents, journalists, novelists and storytellers."—Big Sky Journal
“John Clayton had his work cut out for him when he took on the challenge of writing a biography of a colorful and almost forgotten writer and cattle queen. The result is a thoroughly entertaining portrait.” —Lorna Thackeray, Billings Gazette
“John Clayton presents a well balanced narrative biography of Lockhart, a woman obsessed with the West and whose passions often overshadowed her better judgment. It is a fascinating story and is a fitting addition to the University of Nebraska Press’ Women of the West series.”—Roundup Magazine
“Lockhart was a driven woman, adventurous and spirited, but a banshee if you were on the wrong side of an issue or her personal life. . . . Clayton presents the full, complex woman. Actress, reporter, world traveler, magazine and novel author, newspaper editor, rancher . . . she was a ‘cowboy girl’ of her own making.”—Pete Warzel, Montana Quarterly
“[O]ne of my favorite books of the year. . . . Clayton’s biography captures this woman who was often difficult to love but always larger-than-life, and The Cowboy Girl is a striking portrait of a Western woman who lived on her own terms throughout her long, extraordinary life.”—Jenny Shank, New West: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains, “Favorite Books of 2007”
“[A]n intriguing biography . . . . [I]t is Clayton’s language skills and consolidation of his comments with Lockhart’s own words that make The Cowboy Girl a pleasure to read.”—Wyoming Library Roundup
"Good reading about a remarkable personality."—Elizabeth M. Esterchild, Annals of Wyoming
“As biographies go, this is no doubt the best I have read in years.”—Linda Wommack, True West
“A fresh and highly original portrait of that quirky, irascible writer of the range, Caroline Lockhart. Like the author herself, Clayton’s work winds through a landscape both factual and fantastic; in the end he manages to shine light not merely on one unforgettable woman, but on the appetites and yearnings that have driven many of our most cherished notions of the American West.”—Gary Ferguson, author of The Great Divide
“Expertly researched and wonderfully written, this biography of Lockhart expands the genre to a meditation on frontier, feminism, and the vagaries of literary hubris. Clayton has rendered a riveting portrait of a woman both troubled and brave; a character caught up in the fiction of her own life.”—Mark Spragg, author of An Unfinished Life
“What a great service John Clayton has done us in rescuing Caroline Lockhart from oblivion in this insightful and highly readable biography. I was fascinated from beginning to end with this story of a woman who not only wrote stories of the West, but lived and loved it.”—Mary Clearman Blew, author of All but the Waltz
“A very interesting, well-written, and well-documented look at an early Western woman writer who has not previously received the recognition she deserves. Caroline Lockhart is such a complex figure—talented, beautiful, energetic, and often headstrong, but also conniving, insecure, and mean spirited—that she will be of interest to readers who have never heard of her work. I stayed up late to finish it because I couldn't put it down!”—Sue Hart, Montana State University–Billings
“So you want to know more of the real Old West? Caroline Lockhart sure lived it. She had talent, guts, grit, and independence—yet she was so damned ornery that when I was growing up I knew a lot of folks who walked the other side of the street when they saw her comin’! John Clayton fully captures this complex and colorful gal in this lively, well-researched, thought-provoking, wonderful book. I heartily recommend it.”—Al Simpson, former Wyoming senator