Margaret Goff Clark
Mystery Horse
Dodd, Mead, New York, 1972, cover art Ted Lewin, 153 pp.
Scholastic, pb.
15 year old Jennie Longboat is searching for her new friend, Miranda, who has not
been seen since dinner time.
Then Jennie hears the whinny of a frightened horse, and
from then on she is in the centre of a mystery which
will threaten the peace of
the Tuscarora reservation on which she lives.
Margaret Goff Clark was born on 7th March 1913 in Oklahoma City. She was educated
at the State University College, Buffalo, New York,
and after graduating, taught
for six years. Having started writing when she was 7 (at which age she wrote verse)
she was a prolific producer of short stories; having written over 200 by the time
Mystery Horse was published. Her other full length novels were mostly mysteries.
She said: “ like to read suspense stories, so I guess it's natural that I like
to write them." She is best known for her book Freedom Crossing, about the Underground
Railroad which helped slaves from the Southern United States to escape to Canada.
She lived near the Tuscarora Indian Reservation, which features in her horse book
Mystery Horse. After writing her first book The Mystery of Seneca Hill in 1961,
she was “adopted” by the Senecas in July, 1962, when she was given the Indian name
of Deh-
Many thanks to Susan Bourgeau for her help with this section.
Finding the book: The book is easy to find, and generally not hideously expensive. It wasn’t published in the UK.
Sources and links:
Dustjacket of Mystery Horse
Some of Margaret Goff Clark’s papers are in the De Grummond Collection
Bibliography: horse books only
