Today marks the 42nd anniversary of her passing.
The wild horse preservation movement started in this area nearly 70 years ago.
In her first encounter with the horse runners in 1950, Velma Johnston followed a livestock truck into a stockyard in Sparks, NV. The vehicle contained mangled horses that were forced off their home range, destined for slaughter.
A colt on the floor, trampled. A stallion with eyes gouged out to subdue him. Other mustangs with portions of their hooves torn off and hides shredded by buckshot.
When she asked the driver where they came from, he pointed to the hills of the Comstock Lode, the Virginia Range. (Source: Page 43 in Wild Horse Annie — The Last of the Mustangs, hardcover edition.)
This is the history of cattle ranching in the American west and the basis of the Wild Horse and Burro Act.
The sign at 0:07 says No Dumping but the horses ignore it.
