Creating Fiction from History: 7/6/2022

Born Mary Jane Wheeler, this mischievously beautiful person emerged kicking and screaming into this cold cruel world on the third of July, 1842.

The second daughter of William and Janelle Wheeler, Mary Jane lived most of her life on the family farm in the hills surrounding what is now the sprawling metropolis of Butte, Montana.

A second-generation American, William had migrated westward in 1839, leaving behind his own parents in Iowa. Unbeknownst to William and his new bride at the time, they beat the Great Emigration by several years. However, they braved the dangers of the Trail for much the...