Welcome to Jane Little Botkin
Nationally recognized author Jane Little Botkin scours the West for firsthand sources in family, library, and museum collections, melding personal narratives of American families with compelling stories of western women, labor radicals, miners, lawmen, and outlaws in settings rich with a history that transitions into the New West. Her works are respected for their unique subjects, detail, depth, honesty, and narrative style.
Winner of two Western Writers of America (WWA) prestigious Spur Awards and two Women Writing the West's (WWW) Willa Literary Awards; two Caroline Bancroft History Prize Awards from the Denver Public Library; the Barbara Sudler Award for best book written on the West by a Woman from History Colorado; the Texas Nonfiction Book Award and Colorado Humanities Book Award; Oklahoma Book Award, Sarton Book Book Award, and High Plains Book Award finalists; Independent Publisher Book Award; two Foreword Indies Book Awards; and the WWW's Downing Literary Award for best short nonfiction.
Welcome to Jane Little Botkin
Nationally recognized author Jane Little Botkin scours the West for firsthand sources in family, library, and museum collections, melding personal narratives of American families with compelling stories of western women, labor radicals, miners, lawmen, and outlaws in settings rich with a history that transitions into the New West. Her works are respected for their unique subjects, detail, depth, honesty, and narrative style.
Winner of two Western Writers of America (WWA) prestigious Spur Awards and two Women Writing the West's (WWW) Willa Literary Awards; two Caroline Bancroft History Prize Awards from the Denver Public Library; the Barbara Sudler Award for best book written on the West by a Woman from History Colorado; the Texas Nonfiction Book Award; the Independent Publisher Book Award; two Foreword Indies Book Awards; Colorado Humanities Book Award; Oklahoma Book Award, Sarton Book Book Award, and High Plains Book Award finalists; and the WWW's Downing Journalism Award.
I am honored to announce
The Breath of a Buffalo, A Biography of Mary Ann Goodnight
will release in early 2027 from the University of Oklahoma Press.
My best work yet!
Pre-orders will be available in late 2026!
Please visit Events on the Menu to see what's coming up in 2026.
Jane Little Botkin talks about writing and her books
Current Conversations
My Book on Feisty Jane Street, Finished!
I have finally finished my book on Jane Street. While researching and writing the book has been an enjoyable journey, so many of the book’s themes are, unfortunately, evident today. I first came across Jane Street, supposedly a housemaid who organized other domestics against mistresses on Denver’s Capitol Hill, while researching for Frank Little and…
Always Look Under the Floorboards!
Never know what you can discover in old mining camps—under the floorboards, that is. Forget the hardware lying around, or even grains of gold. So far, my friends have found old photos, food cans (labels still-colorful), tobacco cans, and even cans of condoms. But a miners’ union entire ledger? Letters? This is a rich treasure,…
Researching Wyoming’s Boedekers, Truth or Legend?
A famous quote best describes the written lore of Lawman Hank Boedeker: “When confronted with the truth or the legend, print the legend.” Though not much is in print about Henry E. Boedeker, during the 1950s, campfire stories embellished tales of well-known past residents including Marshal Boedeker to impress visiting dudes at ranches across western…