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'''Ellen Hoffman''' is a rancher's wife living on the [[Bar H Bar]] near Ely, Nevada. She is married to [[Hoffman, Duane|Duane]], son of [[Hoffman, Shirley|Shirley Hoffman]], floor manager of [[Bettye's Ranch]], a legal bordello elsewhere in Nevada. She and Duane have two children, [[Hoffman, Sara|Sara]] and [[Hoffman, Will|Will]].

Ellen was originally from around Austin, Nevada, and had worked as a prostitute around Elko, Nevada, in the late 1960s ''"for a few shifts, back half a lifetime ago"'' with the handle "Maggie" before meeting Duane and settling down to work his late father's cattle ranch.<sup>[[Magic Carpet Chapter 5|MC05]]</sup>

Ellen and her family were hosting the Thanksgiving dinner in 1990 when her boy Will was biten by a snake while out on horseback. [[Swift, Jennlynn|Jennlynn Swift]] saved his life by flying him in ''Magic Carpet'' to the hospital in Ely.

She was described as ''"a fortyish woman on horseback, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt"'' and a rough-cut jewel, tough and competent.<sup>[[Magic Carpet Chapter 5|MC05]]</sup> Jennlynn was also of the opinion that she ''"always liked this hard, competent ranch woman who was used to taking things as they came and making the best of them. It was a hell of a life, one Jennlynn could not have considered for herself, but she'd seen it produce three generations of awesomely friendly, competent and down-home people. They didn't have a lot of money and were pretty close to the edge, but by God they were independent and proud of it!''"<sup>[[Magic Carpet Chapter 10|MC10]]</sup>

After Jennlynn had taken Will to visit Shirley and Sara at the [[Redlite Ranch]], they returned to the Bar H Bar and while not saying anything explicit, ''"No one came out and said that she and Will had quite a weekend, but there was enough innuendo, talking around the subject, and knowing smiles to make the message quite clear -- as was the message from Ellen and Duane that it was appreciated."''<sup>[[Magic Carpet Chapter 12|MC12]]</sup>

With Jennlynn visiting in a new airplane, Ellen was preparing to drive steel fence posts into the ground to make temporary tiedowns, although Will had returned in time to do it himself. Ellen is certainly the type to do it herself if needed.<sup>[[Magic Carpet Chapter 16|MC16]]</sup>


[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Magic Carpet Characters]]