Me - Smith by Caroline Lockhart. Smith, the title character of this unusual cowboy western is no damn good. He’s not just a good bad guy, who wins your sympathy even while he breaks the law. He’s rotten to the core. And he shows his true colors from the opening chapter, as he shoots an Indian in the back, for his blanket. Born in Illinois, author Caroline Lockhart (1871-1962) grew up there on a family ranch. Working as a journalist, she settled in Wyoming, where she began a career as a writer of western fiction. An opponent of Prohibition, she acquired a weekly newspaper in Cody and actively promoted the preservation of western culture. Me—Smith was her first published novel. It is a wry, anti-romantic portrayal of cowboys and Indians. The setting is a ranch in Wyoming owned by the Indian widow of a Scots rancher. Lacking even an ounce of conscience or generosity, Smith hatches a scheme to get the widow’s money. Pretending to fall in love with her, he promises marriage, all the while putting the moves on a pretty schoolmarm who boards at the ranch.

"Me-Smith" is the first novel by Caroline Lockhart (1911). Caroline Cameron Lockhart (1871–1962) was an American journalist and author. A failed actress, she became a reporter for the Boston Post and later for the Philadelphia Bulletin. She also started writing short stories. In 1904, she moved to Cody, Wyoming to write a feature article about the Blackfoot Indians, and settled there. She started writing novels and her second novel, The Lady Doc, was based on life in Cody.