The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America

An annual event in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Frontier Days celebrates the city’s pioneer roots and ranching culture. The event was an important part of Annie’s journey, as she was invited to participate in their Frontier Days parade alongside other horseback riders. She was thrilled to make it to Cheyenne in time for the parade and to be welcomed as a fellow horsewoman alongside Wyoming’s riders.

The small town of Minot, Maine, was the location of Annie’s family farm, where she lived for most of her life. In Minot, Annie enjoyed positive relationships with neighbors but was also the subject of small-town gossip because of her isolated, impoverished life on the farm. Annie set off from Minot on her journey across the country after rejecting offers of charity from her friends and doctor.

An old New England breed of working horse, the Morgans are versatile horses that were bred for farm labor and long rides. Annie’s first horse, Tarzan, was a Morgan. The text draws parallels between Tarzan and Annie’s shared ancestral roots in New England.

The book defines a tramp as someone who moves from place to place in search of work, whether by foot, horseback, or train, sometimes without a destination in mind. Because Annie planned to travel and work her way to California, she referred to herself as a “tramp of fate” (35). The text depicts Annie as an unusual addition to a long tradition of “tramps” in US history.