The Bighorn Canyon Nation Recreation Area is located just northeast of the town of Lovell, Wyoming. It is most well known for the canyon–a miniature version of the famous Grand Canyon but stunningly beautiful nonetheless. The canyon is dammed on the north side which provides recreational watercraft opportunities and fishing.
Furthermore, there are plenty of wildlife to see: bighorn sheep, wild horses, eagles, and deer, which makes the BHCNRA a worthy stop for those traveling over the Bighorn Mountains en route to Yellowstone National Park.
What is not as well known are the historic sites that are preserved by the park service. Notably, there is a historic ranch that was purchased and operated by a pioneer female journalist: Caroline Lockhart.
I’ve lived in the area my entire life, but I was a bit surprised when my friend took us on a tour of the BHNRA and one of our stops was at this historic ranch owned by a maverick woman in the early 1900s. I had no idea that these old cabins and barns were here.
According to the NPS, Lockhart was born in 1871 in Illinois. She started as a reporter for the Boston Post when she was only 18. She demonstrated a fearless disposition and never declined an assignment. Strangely, Caroline took on ocean-diving equipment and spent 30 minutes under water in the Boston Harbor.
Lockhart moved to Cody, Wyoming after doing a story on the Blackfeet tribe. Later she purchased the Cody Enterprise newspaper in the early 1900s, then she bought a ranch in the Dryhead area (now the Bighorn Canyon NRA), and grew the ranch to a 6,000 acre operation, during which she became know as “the cattle Queen.” She even became in charge of the male-centric Cody Stampede Rodeo during her time.
“There are no old timers left anymore. I feel like the last leaf on the tree.”
Caroline Lockhart
Lockhart was a maverick, a pioneer for western women, and she never married. She embraced and embodied a way of life that was quickly fading. In her elder years, she lamented, “There are no old timers left anymore. I feel like the last leaf on the tree.”
In her last years she moved to Cody then sold the ranch. Her ashes were spread over the ranch in 1962.
Read more:
The Cody Enterprise: Lockhart Cowgirl Hall of Fame
Photos:
Justin Sheely 
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