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Nellie Bly Although the story implies that Miss Bly’s trip began in spring, Nellie Bly’s trip around the world actually began in the fall of 1889. She did complete the trip and went on to make history in journalism and inroads for women in the world of publication.
Miss Emma Willard’s School for Young Ladies of Means did exist and still does today. One of her most notable graduates was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. While Miss Willard did not campaign for women’s suffrage, her progressive ideas for educating women led many of her students to naturally desire such privileges. Although most of her students went on to become housewives, their lives were greatly enriched by their time spent in the school, where they were allowed to learn subjects once considered only appropriate for men to study, like the sciences and advanced mathematics.
Mary Hallock Foote was a successful writer and illustrator in the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, writing many books about her experiences traveling with her husband through Idaho’s mining camps. Settling at last in Boise City, she built a fine house for herself overlooking the town while she continued to make a reputation for herself as a writer. Her house is still standing.
The Real Con Game was perpetrated by Henry C. Freund arrived in New York City in the mid-1880s claiming to have invented a method for refining sugar for a fraction of the cost of the industry’s conventional methods. While keeping his methods secret, he managed to scam investors of over a million dollars. With the rise of electric power and the mystique around this new wonder of the modern world, people were willing to believe in The Electric Sugar Refining Company. He was eventually found out for the scam but never lived to come to trial.
The Sicilians and the beginning of the crime families. Including the Sicilians as Maddie’s pursuers involved considerable research and at one time I considered removing them from the story. However, in the1880s their criminal activities were making news in the large eastern cities. It is conceivable that as they strove to amass wealth, they could have been duped by the real scam mentioned above. One fact is certain, the Sicilians did not take kindly to crimes against their family. Their retribution was known to be cruel and swift.
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Logan Craig made a promise to return by harvest to Montana and the woman he loved, Micheline McDonald, but the War Between the States ended four years ago. Most have given up hope of seeing him again. Only Micheline continues to believe he’s a man of his word and she’ll hold him to his promise.
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Wishing you a happily ever after,
Samantha St. Claire
