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.

 

Nature's vivid imagery and poetic reflections on life and the environment.

I am honored to announce

The Breath of a Buffalo, The Life of Mary Ann Goodnight

will release in early 2027 from the University of Oklahoma Press.

Pre-orders will be available in late 2026!

Please visit Events on the Menu to see what's coming up in 2026.

Current Conversations

Soft pink roses on sheer fabric background

The Pink Dress, Memoir of a GuyRex Girl

My parents initiated a truce the year I won a beauty-queen title. Actually, I was promoted to queen, but to my mother, how I received the title was of no consequence. In effect, I moved from a dysfunctional middle-class family into a theatrical ménage of high performers, intent on managing all aspects of my life for one…

David Street, Hollywood Actor in Films Portrait

David Street, Hollywood Actor

I just returned from interviewing Jane Street’s grandson and gained a wealth of information.  He had already destroyed some of her work, and I was prepared to find little. Imagine my excitement to discover about a 1 ½” stack of her type-written writings. Poems, short stories, jokes, protest articles.  Who knew there would be so much more…

Sepia portrait of young woman with long hair

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…