Annie Golightly, Texas Singer-Horsewoman, Dead at 80

Was the lone woman to ride with 30 cowboys on a six-month cattle drive

Annie Golightly, a singer and horsewoman who was the lone woman to ride with 30 cowboys on a six-month cattle drive from Texas to Montana, has died. She was 80.

Son Kenny Smith said she died Tuesday at a hospice in Corsicana.

The child of an East Texas cotton farmer was a songwriter and guitarist who performed with Tom T. Hall, Rex Allen and Rosemary Clooney.

Her audiences included past presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter, as well as singing cowboys Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.

Born Ann Milford, she said she adopted the name Golightly because "nobody could remember `Ann Smith,"' her married name at the time.

Her late brother, Dale Milford, was a longtime television weatherman in Waco and Dallas and later elected to the U.S. House.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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