Forrestine C. (Forrestine Cooper) Hooker

Born in Philadelphia in 1867, Forrestine Cooper Hooker was the daughter of Brigadier General Charles Lawrence Cooper and spent part of her childhood at military posts in the West. Later, through marriage to Edwin R. Hooker of the Arizona ranching family, she was also closely connected to ranch life in southern Arizona.

She wrote a number of books for younger readers, including Star: The Story of an Indian Pony, Prince Jan, St. Bernard, The Long Dim Trail, When Geronimo Rode, and Cricket: A Little Girl of the Old West. Her stories are remembered for their western settings and for the way they draw on life around army camps, horses, dogs, and the landscapes of the Southwest.

Hooker died in 1932. Her work has remained accessible through library collections and reprints, and readers still return to her books for their mix of frontier detail, action, and affection for western life.