Her popular novel Ramona (1884) dramatized the federal government's mistreatment of Native Americans in Southern California after the Mexican–American War and attracted considerable attention to her cause.

Commercially successful, it was estimated to have been reprinted 300 times, with readers liking its romantic and picturesque qualities more than its political content.

[4] Anne became the wife of E. C. Banfield, a federal government official who served as Solicitor of the United States Treasury.

She was a classmate of Emily Dickinson, [citation needed] also from Amherst; the two corresponded for the rest of their lives, but few of their letters survived.

[8] While in Colorado Springs, Hunt met William Sharpless Jackson, a wealthy banker and railroad executive.

[10] Over the next two years, she published three novels in the anonymous No Name Series, including Mercy Philbrick's Choice and Hetty's Strange History.

[12] In 1879, Jackson's interests turned to Native Americans after she heard a lecture in Boston by Chief Standing Bear, of the Ponca Tribe.

She started investigating and publicizing government misconduct, circulating petitions, raising money, and writing letters to The New York Times on behalf of the Ponca.

A fiery and prolific writer, Jackson engaged in heated exchanges with federal officials over the injustices committed against the Ponca and other American Indian tribes.

[16] Jackson sent a copy to every member of Congress with a quote from Benjamin Franklin printed in red on the cover: "Look upon your hands: they are stained with the blood of your relations.

While in Los Angeles, she met Don Antonio Coronel, former mayor of the city and a well-known authority on early Californio life in the area.

Jackson's assignment was to visit the Mission Indians, ascertain the location and condition of various bands, and determine what lands, if any, should be purchased for their use.

At one point, she hired a law firm to protect the rights of a family of Saboba Indians facing dispossession from their land at the foot of the San Jacinto Mountains.

When she wrote Coronel asking for details about early California and any romantic incidents he could remember, she explained her purpose: "I am going to write a novel, in which will be set forth some Indian experiences in a way to move people's hearts.

"If I could write a story that would do for the Indian one-hundredth part what Uncle Tom's Cabin did for the Negro, I would be thankful the rest of my life," she wrote.

[21]Although Jackson started an outline in California, she began writing the novel in December 1883 in her New York hotel room, and completed it in about three months.

Its romantic story contributed to the growth of tourism to Southern California, as people wanted to see places described in the novel.

[24] Encouraged by the popularity of her book, Jackson planned to write a children's story about Indian issues, but did not live to complete it.

Her last letter was written to President Grover Cleveland and she said: From my death bed I send you message of heartfelt thanks for what you have already done for the Indians.

I am dying happier for the belief I have that it is your hand that is destined to strike the first steady blow toward lifting this burden of infamy from our country and righting the wrongs of the Indian race.

Her enduring writings, therefore, provided a legacy to other reformers, who cherished her work enough to carry on her struggle and at least try to improve the lives of America's first inhabitants.Her friend Emily Dickinson once described Jackson's literary limitations: "she has the facts but not the phosphorescence.