INTRODUCTION
1. Thelma Portch, first interview by author, Almira, Wash., 1984.
2. Ibid.
3. M. Cummings, The Lamplighter (1854; reprint, New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1988), 6:104.
4. Thelma Portch, second interview by author, Almira, Wash., 1986.
5. Darillyn Bahr, “Coast to Coast,” School Research Report, Wilbur, Wash., 1977.
6. T. Portch, second interview.
7. T. Portch, first interview.
8. Ibid.
1 | ON FOOT TO NEW YORK
1. “Tramp to New York,” Spokane (Wash.) Daily Chronicle, May 4, 1896, p. 2.
2. Ibid.
3. “Coast to Coast,” Minneapolis Times, June 2, 1897, p. 5.
4. “On a Long Walk,” Idaho Daily Statesman, June 5, 1896, p. 3.
5. Ibid.
6. Letters from the Thelma Portch Collection. These include 1893 letters to Helga from her children, some undated letters and notes, and notes from Helga giving the date of Henry’s death.
7. “Are Walking for Wages,” Walla Walla Union, May 17, 1896, p. 4.
8. Nels Siverson, neighbor of the Estbys at Mica Creek, oral interviews, 1986, 1993. Nels’ father, Martin Siverson, was Ole’s best friend. Nels had been told the story by his father who had watched them start their walk from Mica Creek.
9. “Are Walking for Wages,” Walla Walla Union, p. 4; “Two Women’s Long Tramp,” New York Herald, December 23, 1896, p.10; “From Spokane to New York: Two Women Tramps,” Lebanon Daily News, December 19, 1896, p. 1.
10. “Women Walkers,” Minneapolis Tribune, June 2, 1897, p. 4.
11. “The Story They Told,” San Francisco Examiner, December 23, 1896, p. 4; “A Long Journey,” Fort Wayne Gazette, November 19, 1896, p. 1; “Women Walkers Reach Plymouth,” Plymouth Republic, November 19, 1896, p. 6.
12. “Women Pedestrians,” Daily Sun Leader, August 27, 1896, p. 4.
13. “The Estbys Reach New York,” Spokesman-Review, December 24, 1896, p. 2.
2 | MOTHERHOOD ON A MINNESOTA PRAIRIE
1. Ida Estby, daughter of Helga and Ole, Oral History at Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, Wash., 1973. Ida was a young girl when she watched the great Spokane fire destroy the heart of the business district in 1889. Because of this, she was included in a collection of transcribed oral interviews. The material provided valuable information on the Estby family far beyond her observation of the fire.
2. “History of Manistee County,” (Minneapolis: Minnesota Historical Society files, 1996), 8.
3. Ida Estby, oral history interview.
4. Doug Bahr, “Grandma Walks from Coast to Coast,” Eighth grade Essay, Almira, Wash., 1984. Not until after the walk across America, did the fact that Ole was not Clara’s father become well known throughout the family. In her twenties, Clara formally changed her last name from Estby to Doré, which led to speculation from family members that this might be the name of her biological father. Her stated reason for the change was for “business purposes.”
5. Census Records, Minnesota, 1880; Doug Bahr, “Grandma Walks”; T. Portch, interviews. During Clara’s childhood, Helga listed her birth as November 26, 1877, in census and family records, making her look like a legitimate child of her marriage with Ole.
6. J.D. Holmquist, ed., They Chose Minnesota: A Survey of the State’s Ethnic Groups (St. Paul, Minn., 1981), 221. In July of 1877, the government granted land patents to Ole and sixty-four mostly Scandinavian settlers, including two women, on fertile lands near the tributaries of the Lac qui Parle River in western Minnesota.
7. Thelma Portch, first interview by author Almira, Wash., 1984.
8. Thelma Portch, second interview by author, Almira, Wash., 1986.
9. D. Bahr, “Grandma Walks.”
10. Thelma Portch, family artifacts, Helga Estby notebook.
11. Ida Estby, oral interview.
12. Willa Cather, My Ántonia (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918), 342.
13. M.S. Brinkman and W.T. Morgan, Light from the Hearth: Central Minnesota Pioneers and Early Architecture (St. Cloud, Minn.: North Star Press, 1982), 14.
14. C.D. Ruud, “Beret and the Prairie in Giants of the Earth,” Norwegian American Studies 28 (1975), 217–245.
3 | THE CRUCIBLE YEARS
1. J. Narvestad, The History of Yellow Medicine County (Granite Falls, Minn.: Yellow Medicine County Historical Society, 1972).
2. A. P. Rose, An Illustrated History of Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota (Marshall, Minn.: Northern History Publishing Company, 1914), 123.
3. G.O. Sandro, The Immigrant Trek (Minn.: Self-Published, 1929), 44.
4. J. Narvestad, The History of Yellow Medicine County.
5. M.S. Brinkman and A.W. Morgan, Light from the Hearth: Central Minnesota Pioneers and Early Architecture (St. Cloud, Minn.: North Star Press, 1982), 18.
6. L.G. Davis, A Diphtheria Epidemic in the Early Eighties (Sleepy Eye, Minn.: Minnesota Medical Report, 1934), 435.
7. Circular No. 1, Minnesota State Board of Health, 1880.
8. Ibid., 5.
9. Ibid., 7.
10. Yellow Medicine County 1887 Court Records, Homestead sales.
11. Thelma Portch, second interview by author, Almira, Wash., 1986.
12. R.P. Herriges, Fire on the Prairie: Memories of Lac Qui Parle (Madison, Minn.: The Heritage Press, 1980), 37.
13. “Black Friday,” Canby News, May 15, 1885, 4.
14. “Minnesota Storm Damage,” Canby News, June 24, 1885, 1.
15. T. Portch, second interview.
16. Settler’s Guide (Spokane Falls, Wash., 1885), 56.
17. Ibid.
18. Thelma Portch, family artifacts. Helga kept both an advertiment for carpenters and an advertisement for “Residence Lots Cheap” from the Spokane Falls Evening Chronicle of September 21, 1886, in a scrapbook of memorabilia.
19. J. Rasmussen, New Land, New Lives: Scandinavian Immigrants to the Pacific Northwest (Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1963), 7.
20. Spokane City Directory, 1888.
4 | SUPRISES IN SPOKANE FALLS
1. Spokane Falls, Washington Territory: The Metropolis of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho 1889 (Spokane, Wash.: Union Pacific Railroad, 1889), 6.
2. “Spokane Tribe History,” http://www.wellpinit.wednet.edu/spokan/history/timeline.php [November 3, 2001].
3. Ida Estby, daughter of Helga and Ole, Oral History at Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, Wash., 1973.
4. Darillyn Bahr, “Coast to Coast,” School Research Report, Wilbur, Wash., 1977.
5. J. Fahey, The Inland Empire: Unfolding years, 1879–1929 (University of Washington Press, 1986).
6. J. Rettman, “Prostitution in Spokane, WA: 1889–1908,” (master’s thesis, Eastern Washington University, 1994).
7. Spokane County Court Records, Lawsuits: 1890–1920.
8. “Lawsuit announcement,” Spokesman-Review, September 23, 1888.
9. A. Trodd, Domestic Crime in the Victorian Novel (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989).
10. Spokane County Court Records, Lawsuits, 1916. Helga was involved in a second lawsuit in 1916 that required her to elaborate on her first lawsuit against the city after a taxicab accident left her with permanent injuries. This provides rich information on the accident on Riverside Avenue during 1888.
11. Ibid.
12. Spokane County Court Records, 1889; Arlene Coulson “Research notes on Helga Estby’s Family,” Whitworth College History Project, 1986.
13. “The Jury in the Estley [sic] Suit,” Spokane Falls Review, February 21, 1889, p. 4.
14. Spokane County Court Records, Mortgage Book, 1889.
15. Spokane County Court Records, Lawsuits, 1890.
16. Ida Estby, oral history interview, 1973.
17. Ibid.
18. Spokane County Court Records, Lawsuits, 1916.
5 | FRONTIER VICES AND THE MOVE TO MICA CREEK
1. C. Schwantes,
“Spokane and the Wageworkers’ Frontier: A Labor History to World War i,” in Spokane and the Inland Empire: An Interior Pacific Northwest Anthology, ed. D. Stratton (Pullman, Wash.: Washington State University Press, 1991), 125.
2. E.T. Becher, Spokane Corona: Eras and Empires (Spokane, Wash.: Self-Published, 1974).
3. J. Rettman, “Prostitution in Spokane, Washington: 1889–1908” (master’s thesis, Eastern Washington University, 1994).
4. Ibid.
5. “Call Grand Jury,” Spokesman-Review, December 11, 1903, p. 1.
6. Ida Estby, daughter of Helga and Ole, Oral History at Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, Wash., 1973.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Spokane County Court Records, Mortgage Book, 1892.
10. Donna Miscovitch, notes from an interview with ninety-six year-old Amy Fundin who grew up on the Estby land after they lost the farm. Atwater, Calif., 1995.
11. Ida Estby, oral history interview.
12. Women’s Club Authors, Down Memory Lane (Mica Community Publication, 1979).
13. “Walked Here from Spokane,” Sun, May 2, 1897, p. 1.
14. Ida Estby, oral history interview.
6 | FINANCIAL FEARS AND A FAMILY DEATH
1. Letters from the Thelma Portch Collection. The letters from her children, some dated in 1893 and sent to Wisconsin, were treasured by Helga all of her life. Some are undated and without a postal address and could have been sent during the time when she walked for four hundred miles prior to 1896. No records in Wisconsin and Michigan have been found confirming her parent’s residence or death during these dates. Helga may have been visiting her family or a previous friend from Minnesota.
2. D. Stratton, ed., Spokane and the Inland Empire (Pullman, Wash.: Washington State University Press, 1991), 131.
3. Ibid.
4. Arlene Coulson, “Research notes on Helga Estby’s family,” Whitworth College History Project, 1986. The Spokane County Land Department records of mortgages and deeds include a series of Deeds and Loans that reflect this cycle of using loans to repay old debts; these are all included in “Mortgage Records,” a series of books. On January 29, 1889, the Estbys borrowed $60 from H.L. Richardson on their Spokane Falls Saunders Addition 21, 22, 23 (Book T, p. 270) that was satisfied on October 28, 1889 (Book W, p. 467). On the day this was satisfied, Ole borrowed $250 from Adolph Munter against the same property; this was satisfied on June 14, 1890 (Book 13, p. 302). On the day this was satisfied, he borrowed $600 from H.L. Richardson against the same property; this was satisfied on April 23, 1891 (Book 13, p. 302). Four days later they took out a “Chattel Mortgage” with G.W. Frosh. Records only say “loan satisfied” (Book S, p. 129). On March 14, 1892, another “Chattel Mortgage” with J.E. Foster shows no record of this loan being satisfied (Book N, p. 524). However, on this same day, mortgage records show that they borrowed $700 from R. Livingstone, Trustee, Oregon Mortgage Company on the Lockwood (Mica) homestead, 160 acres (Book 41, p. 157); records only say “loan satisfied.” Ten days later, on March 24, 1892, they borrowed another $235 from J.E. Foster on the Lockwood homestead (Book 33, p. 412); this loan was satisfied on July 2, 1894 (Book 33, p. 412). In the margin of this loan record is a note indicating Helga Estby was given power of attorney from Ole to sign. This may have been during the time he was injured and incapable of coming into the Spokane County Courthouse. Four days later, on July 6, they borrowed $1000 on their Lockwood homestead. This loan was never satisfied and was the source of their fear of losing their home and farm.
5. “Walked Here from Spokane,” Sun, May 2, 1897, p. 1.
6. Letters from the Thelma Portch Collection.
7. Arlene Coulson, “Research Notes”; Doug Bahr, “Grandma Walks from Coast to Coast,” Eighth-grade Essay, Wilbur, Wash., 1984. Family oral history includes mention of the death of the Estby’s first son believed to be born in Minnesota and named Ole after his father.
8. A. Raaen, Grass of the Earth: The Story of a Norwegian Immigrant Family in Dakota (St. Paul Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1950), 80.
9. Thelma Portch, second interview by author, Almira, Wash., 1986.
7 | THE WAGER
1. “Women Globe Trotters,” Weekly Bedrock Democrat, May 25, 1896, p. 1; “Walking for Pay,” Fort Wayne Sentinel, November 18, 1896, p. 1.
2. “From Spokane to New York,” Deseret Evening News, July 11, 1896, p. 5.
3. “Are Walking for Wages,” Walla Walla Union, May 17, 1896, p. 4.
4. “Lives Wrecked by Wheeling,” Examiner, July 1, 1896, p. 1.
5. Montgomery Ward & Co., Catalogue No. 57, Spring and Summer 1895, Unabridged Facsimile (New York: Dover Publications Co.).
6. “Women Globe Trotters,” p. 1.
7. Ibid., p. 1.
8. See Patrick Geddes, a Scottish biologist, who wrote The Evolution of Sex in 1889 and argues for a typology of biologically determined sexual temperaments as a function of natural law.
9. Harvey Green, The Light of the Home: An Intimate View of the Lives of Women in Victorian America (Pantheon Books, 1983), 114.
10. Sheila M. Rothman, Women’s Proper Place (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1980), 24.
11. Ibid., 24.
12. Ibid., 34.
13. “From Spokane to New York: Two Women Tramps,” Lebanon Daily News, December 19, 1896, p. 1; “Women Walkers Arrive,” New York Herald, December 24, 1896, p. 7.
14. “Women of the Week,” World, April 26, 1896, p. 24.
15. “Tramp to New York,” Daily Chronicle, May 4, 1896, p. 2.
16. The 1896 Spokane City Directory lists Bertha as a domestic and Olaf as a gardener at the home of Isabel and Lewis Rutter, a prominent banker in town. It was common in Spokane for wealthy families to hire Scandinavian young people to work part-time in their homes. Clara may have also worked there to complete high school in the city. Both Bertha and Olaf returned to the homestead while Helga and Clara were still in New York in 1897.
17. “Tramp to New York,” p. 2.
18. “Coast to Coast,” Minneapolis Times, June 2, 1897, p. 5.
19. “Walk to New York,” Spokesman-Review, May 5, 1896, p. 5.
20. “The Jury in the Estley [sic] Suit,” Spokane Falls Review, February 21, 1889, p. 4.
21. “From Spokane to New York,” p. 5.
22. H. Green, The Light of the Home (New York: Pantheon Books, 1983), 29.
23. Ibid., 57.
24. Nels Siverson, neighbor of the Estbys, interview, 1986.
25. Spokane City Directory, 1895.
26. “Are Walking for Wages,” p. 4.
27. Thelma Portch, first interview by author, Almira, Wash., 1984.
8 | UNDAUNTED BY RAIN, SLEET, AND SNOW
1. Nels Siverson, neighbor of the Estbys at Mica Creek, oral interviews, 1986, 1993. Dr. L. Hustved, Secretary of the Norwegian-American Historical Association, St. Olaf College, Minnesota, interview, 1996. Dr. Hustvedt stated unequivocally that Helga’s choice to leave home would ignite strong disapproval among their Norwegian neighbors. The belief that women belonged in the home was paramount in the 1890s among Norwegian families, nor should one “draw attention” to oneself as Helga needed to do to raise money along the route. Her actions would be considered “outrageous.”
2. “Are Walking for Wages,” Walla Walla Union, May 17, 1896, p. 4.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. “Women Globe Trotters,” Weekly Bedrock Democrat, May 25, 1896, p. 1.
6. “Umatilla Reservation and Its Inhabitants,” Pendleton Tribune, March 26, 1898, p. 5.
7. C.A. Angelo, Sketches of Travel in Oregon and Idaho (Fairfield, Wash.: Ye Galleon Press, 1988), 48.
8. “Coast to Coast,” Minneapolis Times, June 2, 1897, p. 5.; “Women Walkers,” Plymouth Republic, November 19, 1896, p. 6.
9. “Women Globe Trotters,” p. 1.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. “It Continues to Rise,” Idaho Daily Sta
tesman, June 3, 1896, p. 2.
14. “On a Long Walk,” Idaho Daily Statesman, June 5, 1896, p. 3.
15. “For Equal Suffrage,” Idaho Daily Statesman, June 6, 1896, p. 3.
16. “On a Long Walk,” p. 3.
9 | HOT, HUNGRY, AND HOPEFUL
1. “Coast to Coast,” Minneapolis Times, June 2, 1897, p. 5.
2. “Women Pedestrians,” Daily Sun Leader, August 27, 1896, p. 4.
3. “From Spokane to New York,” Deseret Evening News, July 11, 1896, p. 5.
4. “Women Walkers,” Minneapolis Tribune, June 2, 1897, p. 4.
5. T.T. Williams, Refuge (New York: Vintage Books, 1992), p. 70.
6. “From Spokane to New York,” p. 5.
7. Ibid.
8. John S. McCormick, “Temple Square,” Utah History Encyclopedia, http://historytogo.utah.gov/slcl.html [2002].
9. “From Spokane to New York,” p. 5.
10. Ibid.
11. “Women Should Have Leg Freedom,” The Chicago Tribune, November 1, 1896, p. 1.
12. Ibid.
13. M. Knauff, “The Move Towards Rational Dress,” http://www.mpmbooks.com/amelia/rational.htm, [October 17, 2001].
14. “Women and Short Skirts,” Sun, April 30, 1897, p. 3.
15. J.J. Lorence, Enduring Visions Readings (Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Company, 1993), 87.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
10 | NIGHT TERRORS
1. “Fair Tramps from the West,” Lebanon Evening News, December 19, 1896, p. 1.
2. Ibid.
3. “Walked from Pacific Coast,” New York Twice-a-Week World, December 24, 1896, p. 6.
4. “Fair Tramps from the West,” p. 1.
5. C. Moulton, Roadside History of Wyoming (Missoula, Mont.: Mountain Press Publishing Co., 1995), 277.
6. Ibid., 243.
7. “Women Pedestrians,” Daily Sun Leader, August 27, 1896, p. 4.
8. “Women Walkers,” Minneapolis Tribune, June 2, 1897, p. 4.
9. “Walked from Pacific Coast,” p. 6.
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