Velma Bronn Johnston

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Velma Bronn Johnston — Wild Horse Annie

Velma Bronn Johnston (March 5, 1912 – June 27, 1977) was an American animal-welfare activist known as Wild Horse Annie. She campaigned to stop the killing and capturing of mustangs and free-roaming burros on public lands, and her work helped lead to laws that protected wild horses.

Personal life
Velma Bronn was born in Reno, Nevada. She battled polio as a child and wore a leg cast for six months, which affected her life and was later used by some opponents to challenge her. She married Charles Johnston, lived for a time near Painted Rock along the Truckee River, and ran a ranch called the Double Lazy Heart. She also worked as a secretary for an insurance company.

Fight for humane treatment of free-roaming horses
In 1950, Johnston saw a truck transporting horses to a slaughterhouse and learned they were free-roaming horses from Nevada’s Virginia Range. This experience spurred her to push for better treatment of captured horses and burros. Through her efforts and the help of Nevada State Senator Walter Baring, Nevada passed a law banning roundups of free-roaming horses by airplanes and motor vehicles on state and private lands. Because federal lands, which make up much of Nevada, were mostly exempt, the fight continued beyond state borders.

One major milestone came on September 8, 1959, when Public Law 86-234, known as the Wild Horse Annie Act, banned the poisoning of watering holes used by wild horses and burros and prohibited the use of air and land vehicles to hunt for or capture them for sale and slaughter. Johnston pressed on, believing that federal control was necessary to fully protect these animals.

In 1971, the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Richard Nixon. The act prohibited capture, injury, or disturbance of wild horses and burros on public lands, providing lasting protection for these animals.

Legacy
Johnston’s work gained national attention; in 1959 she was featured in Time magazine. The theme of protecting wild horses appeared in popular culture, including the 1961 film The Misfits, which portrayed a harsh roundup. Johnston also appeared as herself in the 1973 western Running Wild. She died in Reno, Nevada, at age 65 from lung cancer and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery.

Her legacy lives on in ongoing efforts to protect wild horses and burros and in the laws that safeguard them from cruel capture practices.