In early autumn 1958, thirty-two-year-old Eleanor Fracker Smith left her family roots in Massachusetts and moved to southeast Wyoming, holding to her life philosophy that “people can do without a lot of things, but no one should have to live without horses.”
Settling on the wind-swept prairie west of Laramie, Ellie bought horses she could afford: ill, malnourished, and poorly trained. Through her knowledge of equine care, she turned her unimpressive herd into show-ring winners and sought-after breeding stock. In 1961, she established Sodergreen Horsemanship School and created a uniquely immersive curriculum founded on love, patience, mutual trust, communication, and—most importantly—groundwork.
For forty years, Ellie’s extensive knowledge and commitment to educating the horse-loving public drew students of all ages and skills. Despite the hardships of maintaining a ranch, Ellie taught full classes every summer until the school closed in 2001. Ellie stayed involved in teaching and other horsemanship activities until she passed away in 2024, in her tenth decade. “I was nutty about horses,” she often shared, “and couldn’t see life any other way.”
Wyoming is a windswept state. The distances between its cities and towns are great, especially when the snow of long winters blocks many two-lane roads. “Why am I living here?” is a constant query. We live here, we stay here, because Wyoming offers a firm foundation based on our history, based on our stories.
At Ellie’s 95th birthday party, I rued the fact that her story of strength and determination might get lost. A humble woman, she never touted her expertise and accomplishments. Yet those who knew and rode with her—and I treasure that I was part of that group—benefitted from her friendship. Someone, I fussed silently, had to write her life into Wyoming’s history. Just not me. I never had fully shaken my east-coast-city-girl aura, and I had a lot to learn about horses. “Write what you know,” the pundits whisper. “Write what you learn,” my heart responded. My first interview with Ellie was at her ranch, on a chilly day in late 2021. We agreed to guide each other, and we did. To be honest, as I write these words, I truly know she’s still guiding me. “Keep a quiet rein, girl, and listen to your horse.”
…holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Wyoming. She was awarded the 2011 Wyoming Arts Council Creative Writing Fellowship in Creative Nonfiction and received WAC honorable mentions in 2024 and previous years. Her nonfiction earned her a 2015 Pushcart Prize nomination and, in 2024, first place in the Wyoming Writers Inc. contest. Her work has been published in the anthology Unruly Catholic Women Writers and in literary journals. A retired teacher of writing and literature at the high school and university levels, Pam resides in Laramie, Wyoming.
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