Misty of Chincoteague

Long ago in 1947, before the likes of Britney Spears and Hannah Montana were around to capture the imaginations and hearts of millions of prepubescent girls, author Marguerite Henry was capturing them with a horse of a very different color. Even though her novel Misty of Chincoteague was awarded the Newbury Medal as the best children's book of its year, she could hardly have known that she had written a classic. But classic it has become, and treasured copies of Misty of Chincoteague have been handed down from generation to generation of horse-crazy young girls.

Untold thousands of those girls, after having daughters of their own, have made the trek from wherever they live to the tiny island off Virginia's Eastern Shore made so famous by Misty. They come to see not only the Beebe Ranch where Misty lived, and where the Misty of Chincoteague Foundation has preserved many of the sites so familiar to her fans, but to make the short trip across the bridge to Assateague Island. There they can gaze to their hearts' content upon the herd of Chincoteague ponies wandering free through the marshes and forests, and along the endless stretches of beach.

All of Chincoteague Island, in fact, owes an immense debt of gratitude to little Misty. In 1947, the same year in which Misty of Chincoteague was published, the Chincoteague Island Volunteer Fire Department took ownership of the Virginia herd of Chincoteague ponies which roam at the southern end of Assateague Island. They became responsible for maintaining the ponies' health and keeping the herd's numbers at around 150.

But the Chincoteague ponies, in return, have been supporting the Chincoteague Island Volunteer Fire Department since 1925, when the first annual Pony Swim was held. In the last week of July, the ponies are herded across the shallows from Assateague to Chincoteague, where most of the foals are auctioned off. The funds raised pay for the Fire Department's annual budget and for the herd management. Each year more than 50,000 visitors descend on Chincoteague for Pony Penning Week.

Thanks largely to Misty, Chincoteague now has a tourism-driven economy which sees its 4500 year-round residents joined by about a million visitors each year. Those visitors can't go far on the Island without being reminded of Misty. The Misty of Chincoteague Foundation has erected a bronze statue with a commemorative plaque on the grounds of the Beebe Ranch. The Island Roxy movie theater, where the 1961 movie Misty of Chincoteague premiered, has Misty's hoof prints preserved in cement. Marguerite Henry herself inscribed Misty's name in the cement above them.

A year after the movie was filmed; Chincoteague Island experienced its worst storm of the 20th century, in the 1962 Ash Wednesday Storm. Misty was sheltered during the storm in the kitchen of the Beebe Ranch, giving birth to a foal there. The incident became the subject of Henry's 1963 book, Stormy: Misty's Foal.

A visit to the Beebe Ranch will let you see Misty's corner of the world as it was half a century ago. And to top things off, each summer the Island Roxy has a commemorative viewing of Misty's movie. Misty may be gone, but her legend will remain as long as there's a Chincoteague Island!