Joan Clark
Connie Carl at Rainbow Ranch
"Connie Carl at Rainbow Ranch" by Joan Clark is a novel written in the late 1930s. The story centers around sixteen-year-old Connie Carl, who returns to her family's ranch in New Mexico after three years of schooling in the East. With a sense of nostalgia, Connie aims to take charge of Rainbow Ranch, but upon her return, she discovers that the ranch is beset by financial troubles and changes that threaten its future. As she navigates her new role, she faces both external challenges and internal conflicts regarding trust and authority. The opening of the book sets the stage for Connie's homecoming and her initial realizations about the state of the ranch and its management. Upon arriving in Red Gulch, she learns from locals that many of her father's loyal cowhands have left, and she encounters Forest Blakeman, the ranch's foreman, who seems to be running things with a heavy hand. Connie also discovers troubling issues regarding the ranch's debts and mismanagement, which lead her to take a firm stand in reclaiming her rightful place as its owner. As she settles back in, she begins to practice for an upcoming rodeo, which holds the promise of financial relief but also foreshadows ongoing struggles and conflicts, notably with Blakeman and the mysterious new cowboy, Jim Barrows.