1 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and wellcome stuff. 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 2: I'll never told you protection. I heart radio. It is 3 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,319 Speaker 2: time for another edition of Female First, which means we're 4 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 2: once again joined by the stupidness the spectacular Eves. Welcome, Eves. 5 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:28,479 Speaker 1: Hello, thank you for the welcome. 6 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 2: Yes, thank you for being here as always. How have 7 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 2: you been, Eves? Any updates? 8 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been pretty good. Honestly, I have been really 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,639 Speaker 1: in my learn new things bag because I always want 10 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: to learn a lot of things, but now felt like 11 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: a good time to try to learn a lot of them. 12 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: So I'm slow rolling them. I'm like, I'm introducing them 13 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: in stages, and I'm like, I like to commit to things, 14 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: but I'm also willing to step out if I understand 15 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: that something really isn't the thing for me. So I started. 16 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: I'm a piano dance classes. So I've done two classes 17 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: so far, and I love to dance, and I think 18 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,039 Speaker 1: I could be well suited to the style of dance, 19 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: but I'm not. I don't know. I have the rhythm 20 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: and like I have the capacity to learn it well, 21 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: I think, but I'm not good at it yet. So 22 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: like I'm also never danced before, and I'm never taking 23 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: a dance class before, so I also don't know just 24 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: like the technique and the format and the learning steps, 25 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: like all of that is new to me. I just 26 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: kind of like do what I want and feel good 27 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: in my body dancing, but like the technicality of it 28 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:44,479 Speaker 1: I'm not familiar with, so having to get used to that. 29 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: Hoping to start surfing class surfing lesson soon because I 30 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: want to learn something water based where I actually have 31 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: to like swim, because I have the privilege of being 32 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: around water right now and being able to surf, So 33 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: I just kind of want to do it for the 34 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: novelty and the physicality of it and to do something 35 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: that will challenge my brain and my body and ways 36 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: that haven't been challenged before. But I'll sign up for 37 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: that soon. I know who I want to sign up with, 38 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: but I haven't just yet, but I'm gonna I'm gonna 39 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: start that soon. But yeah, I'm doing a lot of 40 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: a lot of new things, trying things out. 41 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 3: See, this is where I add all of these layers 42 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 3: of who you are into my tablet of what I 43 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 3: know of you, because we've already had many conversationations when 44 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 3: I'm like, I'm fascinated about you because you are unique 45 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 3: in this way and these levels you just keep adding. 46 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 4: I'm like, wait, you're doing what you're doing? What you 47 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 4: do it? 48 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 3: Wow? 49 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 4: Like the admiration has blown. But yes, every time I 50 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 4: hear from you, I'm like, who are you? 51 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: Well, I know I'm trying to figure I'm trying to 52 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: figure it out too, Samantha. 53 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 3: I'm trying encyclopedia like your volumes upon volumes that I 54 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 3: love to learn about. 55 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: Oh, thank you. Yeah. 56 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 2: We always love checking in with you and seeing hearing 57 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 2: what you're up to. So cool, So I have. I 58 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 2: was going back and forth about our like transition question. 59 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 2: I was going to ask for this one. I think 60 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 2: I'm gonna go with the sillier one. How are you 61 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 2: with the board game Monopoly? Eves? 62 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: Not good? I lose and I haven't played a lot 63 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: in my life, to be honest with you, I've played, 64 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: but it's not like Benna Staple in my households, just 65 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: like it has been in other households. For me, it 66 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: was more I was in terms of board games, it 67 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: was like Clue, Shoots and Letters. Do you remember mouse Trap? 68 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 3: Yes? 69 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: Yes, of course. 70 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 2: Game it was so. 71 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: Leration. 72 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 2: Oh oboration was. 73 00:03:54,200 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: Scary those silly games. The Monopoly was uh but yeah, 74 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: it was above my pay grade, to be honest with. 75 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 3: Y'all, so that that was probably the number one game 76 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 3: to cause fights. 77 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 4: Did you fight with people over it? 78 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 3: That? 79 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,839 Speaker 4: Like? We have more thrown pieces thrown at each other 80 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 4: like brawls. 81 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: Wow? Yeah, that pieces thrown sounds like a choking hazard 82 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:24,559 Speaker 1: those pieces serious. 83 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 2: No, it's kind of like notoriously bad. 84 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 3: You missed the part of your childhood of the anger, 85 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 3: which probably you didn't miss. 86 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 4: But I'm just saying it. 87 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: I think, idea, Yeah, we weren't that much of a 88 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: Monopoly household. I'm trying to think if I have any 89 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:45,599 Speaker 1: distinct like memorable memories from Monopoly, But no, I don't. 90 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: I think your. 91 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 4: Yeah, it really does. 92 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: Okay, so wait, what is it? What What was y'all's 93 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:56,160 Speaker 1: experience with Monopoly? 94 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 4: You heard it, we brawls, fl games. 95 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 3: My dad put it away, telling us that he's gonna 96 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 3: burn it because he was so tired of us fighting 97 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 3: about it. 98 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, yeah, I liked We had a Star Wars 99 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 2: version that I liked because it was Star Wars. But 100 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 2: I know I just never won. And one time I 101 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 2: cheated and I still lost. And I'm convinced my little 102 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 2: brother was cheating too when he just cheated better for me. 103 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 2: But I remember I was a kid. 104 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: In that memory, I will die. Yeah, that sounds pretty 105 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:42,160 Speaker 1: appropriate for the game of Monopoly. Cheating better Yeah, exactly. 106 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 2: Oh, he had like the whole good side of the board. 107 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 2: He had the all the properties. You just like feel 108 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 2: the dread when you got over. 109 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,160 Speaker 1: So intimidating it was. 110 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 2: It was, and he was not a chill lose the winter. 111 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 4: I'll say that, I. 112 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: Feel like you should glow. This is that goes the 113 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: one with the characterization of the game. 114 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 4: Obviously to brag about how rich you are. 115 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,280 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, checks out. 116 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 2: I have a friend who their family wouldn't even let 117 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 2: them have it in the house. 118 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: They were like, get it out, okay, because because it 119 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: was so intense. Yeah okay. I thought it was like 120 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: some sort of moral or ethical because I was thinking 121 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: about this in terms of how some families were like, 122 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 1: we don't mess with Harry Potter because it's like a 123 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: religious thing, like a religious or moral situation happened. Well, 124 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: it's like this is an anti capitalist household. 125 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 2: We can know it was originally an anti capitalist game 126 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 2: designed by a woman, but her idea got stolen and 127 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 2: look what happened. Yeah, anyway, that does loosely relate to 128 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:06,160 Speaker 2: it was one of the first things I thought when 129 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 2: I was looking into the story. Actually, it makes sense, 130 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 2: mix sense, yes, to the person we're talking about today, 131 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 2: So we are excited to get into this. Who did 132 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 2: you bring for us to discuss youse? 133 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: Today? We're talking about Sarah Bickford And the reason that 134 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: monopoly is related to this is because she was the 135 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: first an only black woman in Montana and the United 136 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: States to own a utility company. So that was not 137 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: something that wasn't something I was expecting to bring to 138 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: the show. I wasn't like, I wonder who the first 139 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: black woman to own the utility company was. Honestly, it 140 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: didn't end up that way, and I was trying to 141 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: figure out how I got to her. I don't know. 142 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: I was just as I do, just like going into 143 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: some rabbit hole and found out about her. So before 144 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: we were talking about her today, I wasn't familiar with 145 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: her story, but I probably happened upon it because I 146 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: do want to talk more about black women in the 147 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: American West, and I I don't. We've touched on some 148 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: people in the American West, but some black people in 149 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: the American West. But I think I could definitely bring 150 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: more of that to female first. And of course, I 151 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: mean we've talked about it a lot on this show. 152 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: But she just there's a lot about her story that 153 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: had to be uncovered and that wasn't known before. There 154 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: are some like unknown origins and reasoning for why she 155 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: did certain things. There was a lot of digging into 156 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: the archives that had to happen to find her stories. 157 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: I'll get to that in a second. But there is 158 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: a part of her story that just always intrigues me 159 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: and is just something I'm endlessly fascinated by and that 160 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: I'm always looking for in people's stories. Is that since 161 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:46,439 Speaker 1: that built in sense of mystery that black people have 162 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: and our ability to make myths in our own personal stories, 163 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: it's like we are just so down for coming up 164 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: with a birth date or coming up with a story 165 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:01,599 Speaker 1: or a birthplace. And I just think that the mythology 166 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:05,080 Speaker 1: around her life and the personal myth making is just 167 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: so that element of blackness in history because of the 168 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: gaps in our histories, is just so magical to me. 169 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: I think there's a way in which it can be 170 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: reclaimed where it came from places of violence and of forgetting, 171 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: and all of these things that can be considered negative 172 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 1: that can be turned into a positive and just can 173 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: be so fantastical too that I think is really cool. 174 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:32,200 Speaker 1: And I think there are parts of that in Sarah 175 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 1: Bickford's story. And when I mentioned the uncovering, I referring 176 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:41,079 Speaker 1: to doctor Laura Arada, who's a historian. She wrote a 177 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: dissertation and she has a book called Race in the 178 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: Wild West, Sarah Bickford, the Montana Vigilantes and the Tourism 179 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: of Decline eighteen seventy to nineteen thirty, And throughout the 180 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: course of this episode, just know that I'm pulling a 181 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: lot of the information that I got from her work 182 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: because she really dedicated time to digging more into her story. 183 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: Even though she didn't have any specific personal relation to 184 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:10,200 Speaker 1: Sarah Bigfort's story, she dug into it and found out 185 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: more things from the archive and was in touch with 186 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: Sarah Bigfort's family members that are alive today. So it's 187 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: just it's a really fascinating story. I'm excited to share it. 188 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,440 Speaker 1: I do want to stay upfront as a content warning, 189 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: there is mention of domestic violence, but it's a very 190 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,680 Speaker 1: short part of her story, and I'll let y'all know, 191 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: you know, once we get to that part that I'm 192 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: about to talk about it. 193 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 2: It is a really great story. And I when I 194 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 2: was looking into the name after you suggested it, I 195 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 2: was like, Oh, I've never thought like utilities. That's so cool. 196 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:49,319 Speaker 2: So I'm really really excited that you suggested this topic. 197 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 2: So shall I get to the history. 198 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 1: So, speaking of the unknowns, Sarah Bickford might have been 199 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: born in eighteen fifty two. Her birthdate is unconfirmed. It's 200 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: like I've seen I think eighteen fifty five, eighteen fifty 201 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,560 Speaker 1: six at various points when her name was listed in 202 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:21,840 Speaker 1: a census. What it didn't collaborate with like the time 203 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: that she said she was born or sources said she 204 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: was born with how old they said she was at 205 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: the time. But that could also be a miss documentation 206 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 1: of the people who were recording these things. Just we're 207 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:36,680 Speaker 1: saying eighteen fifty two though, and that was around the 208 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: time that she was born. Sarah would give her birthdate 209 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: as December twenty fifth, but I do wonder about that 210 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: as well. Because I can't remember who it was. But 211 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: we've talked in a previous episode about a female first 212 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: about person who said that their birthday was July fourth, 213 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: And it's not like this fills aligned with that. 214 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 3: To me. 215 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 1: It's like say, saying a date that is a a holiday. 216 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 1: It has a lot of spiritual, religious, major social implications 217 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: that are tied to it that makes a person's life 218 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,439 Speaker 1: steel bigger than it is. But me saying that out loud, 219 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: I don't even want to put it that way. It's 220 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: just like it feels appropriate for how they consider their 221 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: own lives. And so that's where she gave her birthdate 222 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 1: ass But she later told her children that she had 223 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: been born a slave in the western part of North 224 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: Carolina and that all of her immediate family had died 225 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: while she was young. Now, most sources point to her 226 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:42,720 Speaker 1: being born into slavery in Washington County, Tennessee. So there's 227 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:47,160 Speaker 1: some discrepancies around whether it was western North Carolina or 228 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 1: eastern Tennessee, but it's seemingly Washington County, Tennessee, and her 229 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: parents and slavers were the Blair family in Jonesboro, Tennessee. 230 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: There is very little information about her childhood and her 231 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,720 Speaker 1: younger years, but it is known that she did learn 232 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 1: to read and write when she was a child her 233 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:12,319 Speaker 1: daughter Mabel, who obviously we haven't gotten to that part 234 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: of the story yet but later on. Just know that 235 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: her daughter, Mabel later said that Sarah was separated from 236 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: her family at the end of the Civil War and 237 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: never saw them again. There are some of the sources 238 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: that were dug up that came from Mabel speaking about Sarah, 239 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 1: so that's where some of that information comes from. But yeah, 240 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:36,559 Speaker 1: by eighteen seventy, Sarah had made it to Knoxville, west 241 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: of Jonesborough, and there's little information once again on her 242 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: life in Knoxville as well, but she lived with an 243 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: aunt there who may have been Nancy Jones Gammon, she 244 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:53,559 Speaker 1: wasn't explicitly named. And while she was there in Knoxville, 245 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: Sarah got to know a man named John Lttrelle Murphy 246 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 1: who had been a Union officer for the US Colored 247 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: Troop sixtieth Regiment during the Civil War, but he later 248 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:08,439 Speaker 1: went to Montana Territory and became an associate justice there, 249 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: and Sarah went with him as he went west. She 250 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: cared for his children on the way over there. Not 251 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: fully clear why she decided to go west, but it 252 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: was rough in Knottsville in the years after the Civil War. 253 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: There were a lot of refugees there. Of course it 254 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: was Tennessee. There was the threat of racism, probably little 255 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: opportunity for work. So some of these things might have 256 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: driven her to seek a new lfe. But we don't 257 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: have the exact knowledge of why she chose to go 258 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: so far west. But also think of the conception of 259 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: the West in a lot of people's minds. It was 260 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: that way for white folks, it was that way for 261 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 1: some black folks as well, so she might have been 262 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: in part, might have speculation in part driven by that, 263 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 1: but that's just speculation based on the mythos of the 264 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: American West at the time. But yeah, so the background 265 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: of Montana a little bit here, it was pretty culturally 266 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: diverse in a certain way. There were indigenous folks that 267 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: were there, there were Chinese folks that were there, British, Germans, Italians, 268 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: because the conception of whiteness was a little different there, 269 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: so there was a lot of there were different communities 270 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: that were there, but black people were never more than 271 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: one percent of the total population of Montana itself, and 272 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: there was some lawlessness still, it was there. I mean, 273 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: there was a wild West element to it. The way 274 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: they say it. It was a little bit like that 275 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: there because in eighteen sixty three, residents were worried about 276 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: road agents who they thought were committing highway robbery and 277 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 1: murder on the roads from Virginia City out to the 278 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: other cities around, which I think, is this idea that's 279 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: really associated with the wild West. It is a part 280 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: of Sarah Bickfert's story and a part of her story 281 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: in Montana. So folks in Virginia City, which is the 282 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: city that we're talking about that Sarah Bickford moved to 283 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: Virginia City in Montana. So they people there thought this 284 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: group was led by official law enforcement, this group of 285 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:32,240 Speaker 1: bandits road agents, that they were led by official law enforcement. 286 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: So basically, these group of vigilantes that became known as 287 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: the Montana Vigilantes formed to address this concern. Stick with me, 288 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: because this is related to Sarah's story. We're only going 289 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: to touch on it here because that's its own history 290 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:51,800 Speaker 1: in itself. But they launched many people who were suspected 291 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: road agents starting in eighteen sixty three, and these were 292 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,320 Speaker 1: white vigilantes and suspected road agents. By the way, they 293 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: didn't necessarily target folks based on race, like it can 294 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,400 Speaker 1: be associated with extra judicial killings and other places around 295 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: the country at the time, and that would be the 296 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: case even more so going forth. There were, of course 297 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: racial dynamics. Like if anybody says there weren't racial dynamics 298 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 1: somewhere in the United States at this time, they're lying 299 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: to you. There there's always there are those elements of 300 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: that that are going to be involved. But it was, 301 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: but it didn't operate the same there as it did everywhere, 302 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: because you know, not everywhere it's the same. But since then, 303 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: like after, the Montana Vigilantes have been celebrated as it 304 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 1: is part of Virginia City's and Montana's history. So in 305 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: January of eighteen sixty four, the Montana Vigilantes hanged five 306 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,640 Speaker 1: men next to each other. And this is like one 307 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: of the important images, the important parts of note from 308 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,479 Speaker 1: the Montana Vigilantes history. One because that was like a 309 00:17:57,800 --> 00:17:59,640 Speaker 1: big part of what they were known for, but also 310 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: because is a big part of how Sarah big first 311 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:05,399 Speaker 1: story is related to them. But we'll come back to 312 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 1: that later on, So put a pin in that, remember 313 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:11,200 Speaker 1: that for later. Okay, So moving on to Sarah's time 314 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:13,920 Speaker 1: in Virginia City. So, at the time, Virginia City was 315 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 1: a territorial capital of Montana. She got there in early 316 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy one by sleigh. Apparently it is January when 317 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,640 Speaker 1: she got there, so it was super cold. Never been 318 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: in Montana, but I can only imagine how awful, how 319 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: awful that coldness, maybe because I can deal with the cold, 320 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:35,960 Speaker 1: but like I know, it's on a different level there. 321 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: But yeah, so she was about and she was young, 322 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: she was about like fourteen or fifteen, I think when 323 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: she made the trip, and Virginia City was this social 324 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,480 Speaker 1: hub in the state at the time. Didn't stay that 325 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: way for long, but at the time it was. And 326 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,920 Speaker 1: after Sarah got there, she started working as a cleaner 327 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: in the Madison House hotel. In October of eighteen seventy two, 328 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:03,400 Speaker 1: she married this Irish immigrant named John Brown. So this 329 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 1: is the part where we're going to talk a little 330 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:07,680 Speaker 1: bit about domestic violence. We won't go into any details, 331 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: but just if anybody wants to skip forward just a 332 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 1: little bit, then they are like welcome to at this moment. 333 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: So she went by the name Sally Brown a lot 334 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: throughout her documentation. You'll see her called Sally, and then 335 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 1: she took on different last names over the time. So 336 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,439 Speaker 1: Sally Brown was one of the names that was in 337 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: her records, and John Brown was a minor at am 338 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: I n e R. I got a bite, Claire Box 339 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: am I r okay. I caught myself on that one. Yes, yes, 340 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: big part of the industry there was mining, mining. 341 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 4: And gotcha, got ya, I'm. 342 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: There for the same page with you. She had three 343 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: children with him, James, Eva and William. So John beat 344 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:02,639 Speaker 1: an abuse Sarah. This this was like something that she 345 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:04,919 Speaker 1: had to deal with in her relationship with him. That 346 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 1: was very awful, tragically. Also, all of their children died 347 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,200 Speaker 1: young from illness at different times, but they all died 348 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 1: really young, and she did. It's like I cannot only 349 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 1: imagine how stressful this was. Like she was in a 350 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: new place. She had gone from the South all the 351 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: way over here to the west. She was black, she 352 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: was married to a white person, like she would there was. 353 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: She was facing domestic violence at home, and she opened 354 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:39,479 Speaker 1: she was still working out, so she opened the New 355 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,720 Speaker 1: City Bakery and restaurant around May of eighteen eighty. There 356 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: was an ad in this newspaper called Madisonian from April seventeenth, 357 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty about her bakery and boarding house, and it 358 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,200 Speaker 1: said the bakery and had fresh bread, cakes, pies, and confectionery. 359 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,880 Speaker 1: So she was still a working woman. She was dealing 360 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: what she had to do to provide for herself and 361 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: her family. But she was still going through those issues 362 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: at home. But she did file for a divorce from John, 363 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 1: and so according to these divorce which wasn't that wasn't 364 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 1: the norm, like that was not usual, especially for a 365 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,399 Speaker 1: black woman this time in Montana. So according to the 366 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:20,679 Speaker 1: divorce proceedings, John didn't support William, their child. He had 367 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: abandoned his family around eighteen seventy eight. There was even 368 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: a point where Sarah went to Lauren I think it's 369 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,199 Speaker 1: pronounced la u ri I n Montana for a time 370 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:36,719 Speaker 1: and she needed to support herself in Eva and John 371 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: left Virginia City and went to Deer Lodge where he 372 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 1: was served with his divorce papers and the divorce was 373 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: finalized on November thirtieth, eighteen eighty. That might have even 374 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,680 Speaker 1: been the first time that a black woman successfully divorced 375 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:55,439 Speaker 1: a white man in territorial Montana, so her daughter Eva 376 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,080 Speaker 1: the adding to the tragedy honestly of this part of 377 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,719 Speaker 1: her life and her story. Her daughter Eva died in 378 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty one, and she closed the bakery. She went 379 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: back to Tennessee in eighteen eighty one and then back 380 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,919 Speaker 1: to Virginia City. And I think an important part to 381 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 1: say that doctor Laura Arada does bring up in her 382 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: work on Sarah. She talks about how she was able 383 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 1: to travel back from Montana back to Tennessee and how 384 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:29,120 Speaker 1: that meant that she had a little bit of freedom. 385 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:33,119 Speaker 1: She had the amount of financial success to be able 386 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: to make that kind of travel at the time, which 387 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:39,439 Speaker 1: was notable. But sometime between eighteen eighty two and eighteen 388 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 1: eighty four, she got remarried a white minor, same kind 389 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:49,159 Speaker 1: as before, in her name Stephen Bigfidge. So this was 390 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: a different It seemed like a one to eighty from 391 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,879 Speaker 1: the relationship that she had before with John Brown. This 392 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: partnership seemed a lot more stable, a lot more positive. 393 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: They support each other in their business ventures, and the 394 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: first year they were together they lived in this cabin 395 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: near his mining claims and he ended up purchasing shares 396 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:12,920 Speaker 1: in the Virginia City Water Company in the eighteen eighties, 397 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 1: and she and him they had four children together from 398 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty four to eighteen ninety and those kids' names 399 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,959 Speaker 1: were Elmer, Virginia, Helena, and Mabel. And she sent all 400 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,960 Speaker 1: of her daughters to school, one even earned a master's degree. 401 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: So there are some wild stories, y'all. I can't get 402 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,400 Speaker 1: into them now, but like if y'all go read about 403 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,159 Speaker 1: her story, there are some wild stories about what the 404 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,920 Speaker 1: kids had to deal with in school. So we talked 405 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:47,119 Speaker 1: about doctor Laura Rata talked a lot about race and 406 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:50,160 Speaker 1: how race figured into her life, how it was treated 407 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,160 Speaker 1: in Virginia City and in Montana in general. Some very 408 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: fascinating stuff in there. So if y'all want a deep 409 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:57,920 Speaker 1: dive on that, you can't. But she talked a lot 410 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,399 Speaker 1: about how race wasn't mentioned a lot, if at all, 411 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,920 Speaker 1: like really when it came to like newspapers and media 412 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 1: outlets talking about black people in Virginia City at the time, 413 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: they just didn't mention race. However, they didn't mention race 414 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,719 Speaker 1: for people who were of Chinese descent, and it was 415 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 1: they were treated in a very spoken about in a 416 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: very derogatory way versus it was kind of an emptiness 417 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,119 Speaker 1: of the non mentioning of race when it came to 418 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,360 Speaker 1: the black people in a lot of aspects. Now, that 419 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: didn't mean that they weren't racist though, Like there were 420 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: a lot of stories that doctor Laura Rada told and 421 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 1: that were mentioned about Sarah's children when they went to 422 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:48,080 Speaker 1: school related to the menstrul se, the blackface, the singing 423 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 1: of the kun songs that the kids it was. It's 424 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:58,680 Speaker 1: really wild, y'all, And I just feel like it is traumatizing. 425 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,199 Speaker 1: It would have been trauma tizing for those children, But 426 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,080 Speaker 1: they were in such a specific they were mixed black 427 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:08,919 Speaker 1: and white children in Montana, in Virginia City in the 428 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,840 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds, and that is like they also didn't necessarily 429 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,719 Speaker 1: have the ability to contextualize the same way Sarah would have, 430 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 1: having come from Tennessee and being born in that place. 431 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:27,200 Speaker 1: So anyway, there's that. But when it comes to Stephen, 432 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:32,399 Speaker 1: Sarah's husband and their father, they said that he was tricked. 433 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,879 Speaker 1: Mabel later said there could be no disobedience of commands. 434 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,200 Speaker 1: They were not discussed but obeyed. And as I mentioned 435 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,560 Speaker 1: at the top of this episode. Some of her descendants 436 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,440 Speaker 1: are still alive, so there are living descendants of those children, 437 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:52,159 Speaker 1: and his children even said that they thought that he 438 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: might have even been a member of the Vigilantes that 439 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: is unconfirmed. May have been a sympathizer, a supporter of memory. 440 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,440 Speaker 1: There is speculation around that, but there isn't much that's 441 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:08,919 Speaker 1: been settled upon. But yeah, so Sarah probably been running 442 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: the Virginia City Water Company since around eighteen eighty eight, 443 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,440 Speaker 1: since Steven was off mining a lot of the time. 444 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 1: But around eighteen ninety three, Sarah and the family moved 445 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: to this farm called Romey's Gardens to make more money. 446 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: They had livestock, they had, they grew things, they sold things, 447 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: all of that. But by March of eighteen ninety nine, 448 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 1: Steven had gotten sick with the flu, and his illness 449 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: got worse and he had to stay home. Sarah's taking 450 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: care of him and Stephen Bickford ended up dying in 451 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 1: March of nineteen hundred. So after Bickford died, the water 452 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: company still needed to be ran. Sarah took over his 453 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,359 Speaker 1: shares of the Virginia Water Company, so at that point 454 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 1: she had two thirds ownership of the company, and that 455 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 1: made her the first Black American woman in the West 456 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,679 Speaker 1: who owned a public utility company. This is where her 457 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:07,199 Speaker 1: first comes in, and she would be pretty active in 458 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,879 Speaker 1: those first years in the company. She would visit the 459 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 1: homes and the offices of the customers of the company. 460 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: And there was of course, I mean it's a utility. 461 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:23,000 Speaker 1: I mean that's a lot of work. I mean at 462 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: the time, in that specific environment, that's a lot of work. 463 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,159 Speaker 1: And I couldn't imagine being in charge of that. But 464 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: there was of course maintenance and repairs that had to 465 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: be done because there were these super below freezing winter 466 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,800 Speaker 1: temperatures and as we know even in Atlanta, that can 467 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: be a problem when it comes to infrastructure. They had 468 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:49,439 Speaker 1: to replace they have wooden pipes, there was that they 469 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,600 Speaker 1: had to replace those, and when the metal pipes came around, 470 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 1: they would burst and so those had to be fixed. 471 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: And so there were issues that came up throughout the time. 472 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 1: There were of course customer complaints all these kinds of things. 473 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 1: But I mean the par for the course for running 474 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: something as major and as important and fundamental as a 475 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: utility for the people. So Sarah was like, I think 476 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 1: I need some more education to help with maintaining this business. 477 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 1: So she took a correspondence course, which is basically a 478 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,119 Speaker 1: distance learning course by mail, and she took that in 479 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:32,919 Speaker 1: business management from a school in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Yes, great Scranton, 480 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: stand up, do you have a connection to Scrants from 481 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: the office? 482 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 4: So I'm like, look at that. What is shout out? 483 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,960 Speaker 1: So she was really tapped into the tourism sector in 484 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: Virginia City too. People would gather in the city for 485 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 1: July fourth celebrations and they would pass through the city 486 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,480 Speaker 1: on the way to Yellowstone, So there was some environmental 487 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 1: recreation tourism happening there too, and there was the sentiment 488 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:14,719 Speaker 1: from like newspapers and people in the city that they 489 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: wanted Virginia City to be this better place for tourists 490 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: to stop. This is pretty relatable because this is still 491 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:21,720 Speaker 1: the kind of thing that happens today when cities are 492 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 1: trying to figure out what they need to make sure 493 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:27,040 Speaker 1: that their people are taken care of, that there's income 494 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: coming into the city and all these things. So they 495 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:31,600 Speaker 1: were like, how can we figure out how to build 496 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: up the city so that the people who are coming 497 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: through have a reason to stop and stay and enjoy 498 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: and spend their money here, and part of that was 499 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: including adding historic sites, and so that leads us for 500 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,640 Speaker 1: a moment back to that history of the vigilantes. So 501 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:55,840 Speaker 1: there was this what they call the Hangman's Building, and 502 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,880 Speaker 1: that is related to the people who had been hanged 503 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:02,760 Speaker 1: by the vigilante that I mentioned earlier. So there's this 504 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: nineteen oh one article in the Madisonian that said that 505 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 1: the Hangman's they called it this I'm not calling it this, okay, 506 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: they called it the Hangman's Building. That feels, you know, 507 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,760 Speaker 1: it's it feels pretty inappropriate because it definitely makes a 508 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,120 Speaker 1: light of the situation that people were hanged there. But 509 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 1: that's complex in itself, and there's also a particular history 510 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 1: behind this Hangman's Building and how that lynching was situated 511 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 1: among the others because it wasn't like the lynchings in 512 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: the South, and it was also it became celebrated as 513 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: a part of Virginia City's history. So yeah, there's all 514 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: of that. But it's called the Hangman's Building, not my moniker, 515 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: but the moniker that has been that it has been 516 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 1: christened with by other people. But so yeah, this article 517 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: said that it had been a pill shop, reading room, 518 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,360 Speaker 1: post office, meat market, ice cream parlor, and half a 519 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: dozen other things. I think it was also a law 520 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:11,640 Speaker 1: office at one point, and so Sarah ended up purchasing 521 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:16,040 Speaker 1: this building. Later, I think in nineteen seventeen, she purchased 522 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:19,200 Speaker 1: the Hangman's building and she moved the water Company's business 523 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: office there. So the city's thinking about tourism. The car 524 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 1: automobile tourism is picking up. There's this industry around here 525 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 1: ittage tourism that is growing and becoming more popular at Montana. 526 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:38,000 Speaker 1: At the same time, the population in the city was declining. 527 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: So that's the overall population, but that includes the population 528 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 1: of black people who were there. And there's this As 529 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:51,240 Speaker 1: time continues, of course, there's usually this. Most people are 530 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: going to feel compelled to increase modernization, you know, and 531 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: keep up with the times because you want to stay 532 00:31:57,400 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: relevant to people, you want to continue making money and 533 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 1: things like that. So the city is facing this challenge, 534 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 1: but it's also figuring out that it can turn to 535 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 1: highlighting the city's wild West ara of that history to 536 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 1: attract more visitors. And Virginia City started marketing itself as 537 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: a cradle of Montana history. And this Hangman's bab had 538 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:32,480 Speaker 1: been covered up in the building, but apparently Sarah exposed it, 539 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: and in the nineteen twenty she even ended up opening 540 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:40,160 Speaker 1: up the building for tourism. There is this rumor that 541 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: doctor al Arada Minshett that that she had kept some 542 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:47,000 Speaker 1: rope in her desk and that she would sell pieces 543 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: of it to visitors as souvenirs of the original rope. 544 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:54,360 Speaker 1: She'd be like, here you go, I mean you get 545 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 1: this original rope. Yeah. So I don't know how true 546 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: that is, but there's a room or that she did that, 547 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:06,760 Speaker 1: and Sarah's children ended up all moving away from Virginia City. 548 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,360 Speaker 1: You hear this story a lot. I would be curious 549 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 1: to know what Sarah's feelings about them moving away would be, 550 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:16,320 Speaker 1: because I know parents often face this struggle of kind 551 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: of where they want their kids to remain. Where you 552 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,400 Speaker 1: know they were, where their foundations are, you know where 553 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,240 Speaker 1: the family businesses, and you know where they're parts of 554 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:28,480 Speaker 1: their heritages and all these things. So I would be 555 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 1: curious to know how she felt about that. But they 556 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 1: all moved away from Virginia City. There's various places, I 557 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: think Chicago, d C, New York. Over the course of 558 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 1: you know, time, So they went a bunch of different places. 559 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 1: Though her child, Elmer, did come back in the mid 560 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties to help with the water company and he 561 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:52,000 Speaker 1: also did some plumbing work there. But by the nineteen twenties, 562 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,360 Speaker 1: like basically kind of like all the black population in 563 00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:59,720 Speaker 1: Virginia City was gone and it was a very different 564 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,080 Speaker 1: place it was when Sarah first moved there. She did 565 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: die at home in Virginia City on March twenty second, 566 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty one, and she's buried there in Virginia City 567 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:15,880 Speaker 1: next to Stephen Bickford. And after she died, the Hangman's 568 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,400 Speaker 1: Building became one of the most popular tourist attractions in 569 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:23,920 Speaker 1: the city. There is I can't tell you what the 570 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:27,239 Speaker 1: answer is. It doesn't seem like historians can fully pin 571 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:29,719 Speaker 1: down what the answer is. Only Sarah would be able 572 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: to say. But the question remains at the end of 573 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,840 Speaker 1: her entire stories, like why did she promote the Hangman's 574 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,560 Speaker 1: Building as this tourist element, as a black woman who 575 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:47,920 Speaker 1: was born in slavery in the South, why did she 576 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:52,640 Speaker 1: promote the building? Questions? It was it just a business opportunity? 577 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:59,239 Speaker 1: Was it that the vigilantes she supported the vigilantes because 578 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:01,480 Speaker 1: they kicked John Round out of town after he had 579 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:08,200 Speaker 1: abusing her, because there was some stories about them, you know, basically, 580 00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:13,239 Speaker 1: there was retribution to get the people who committed domestic 581 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:17,800 Speaker 1: a violent domestic violence. Was it that, don't know? Was 582 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:22,319 Speaker 1: it that her late husband Steven supported the vigilantes. Was 583 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:26,960 Speaker 1: he one of them? Was he sympathetic? Don't know. It's 584 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 1: not fully clear, but it is clear that it is 585 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:35,920 Speaker 1: a pretty it's pretty like complicated and fascinating part of 586 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:40,280 Speaker 1: her story that she bought this building. To me, thinking 587 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:42,400 Speaker 1: about it in the way that I think about things personally, 588 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 1: it does in a way feel like a sort of reclamation. 589 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:49,360 Speaker 1: And let me just be clear that I am placing 590 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 1: this narrative on it right now because I'm just doing 591 00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:54,279 Speaker 1: my acts of wondering that I do when I'm reading 592 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:57,280 Speaker 1: people's stories. But it's like I went to a different 593 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 1: part of I'm speaking as Sarah, like I went to 594 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:02,960 Speaker 1: a different part of the country, somewhere where I went 595 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,200 Speaker 1: before lynching was happening, as it did in the early 596 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:10,880 Speaker 1: early nineteen hundreds, And she went before then, and so 597 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:14,799 Speaker 1: lynching hadn't become it wasn't that same exact thing that 598 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:16,680 Speaker 1: it was after she had left and she was living 599 00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:19,839 Speaker 1: in Montana, and also she was in a different geographic 600 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:24,359 Speaker 1: space in the country by being there, and she was 601 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,680 Speaker 1: it was also related to this history of lynching that 602 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 1: was more about like it was in some ways what 603 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:32,880 Speaker 1: some people would have considered their imagine it kind of 604 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:39,120 Speaker 1: punching up because they were targeting people who were shady 605 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:44,160 Speaker 1: law enforcement officials who weren't treating the people of Virginia 606 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:48,560 Speaker 1: City correctly. And so I wonder if there was a 607 00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:52,040 Speaker 1: reimagining there, if there was any sort of empowerment that 608 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,080 Speaker 1: was in it for her, if I just wonder what 609 00:36:55,160 --> 00:37:00,759 Speaker 1: kind of like recontextualization and n narotizing narrative there was 610 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:04,359 Speaker 1: there for her. But I'm not sure. Her children did 611 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,879 Speaker 1: continue to own and operate the water company for more 612 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:11,600 Speaker 1: decades after she died, So her story arranges the gamut 613 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 1: of the thing she did in her life too and own. 614 00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:15,319 Speaker 1: So over the course of her life she had run 615 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:19,680 Speaker 1: a boarding house, catering business, restaurant, and ice cream saloon, 616 00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:22,680 Speaker 1: which I am partial to because I love ice cream. 617 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:26,319 Speaker 1: I wish I could taste ice cream that was in 618 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:30,479 Speaker 1: her ice cream saloon. But yeah, she was mark Grave 619 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:33,840 Speaker 1: was marked. You know, her name was written in the 620 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:37,760 Speaker 1: newspapers even at the time. On April tenth, twenty twelve, 621 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:41,080 Speaker 1: she was inducted into the Gallery of Outstanding Montana's and 622 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 1: the Capitol Rotunda. And there's an image on the wall 623 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,680 Speaker 1: in a Hayman's building that includes information about Sarah's life. 624 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:52,480 Speaker 1: And there are a couple of pictures of her, not 625 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:54,640 Speaker 1: many so as far as I know, they're just too 626 00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:57,520 Speaker 1: There might be more than that, but that I'm not 627 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:01,520 Speaker 1: privy to. But there's one of her that if you 628 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:03,359 Speaker 1: google her, you'll probably see that one first. And then 629 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:07,239 Speaker 1: there's another one that I saw that doctor la Vada 630 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,440 Speaker 1: shared of her later in life, closer to her death. 631 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:14,960 Speaker 1: That is very kind of it's pretty moving to see, honestly. 632 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:17,160 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you could learn a lot through 633 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:19,600 Speaker 1: a picture, even if that's just like, you know, an 634 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:24,839 Speaker 1: emotional learning that's happening through looking at a picture. So yeah, 635 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:28,480 Speaker 1: the Hangman's building still standing, as well as the building 636 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:32,200 Speaker 1: where her bakery was. And I just wanted to share 637 00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 1: this quick quote from the historian doctor Laura Roda's dissertation 638 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:39,800 Speaker 1: just to end. So this is what she said, perhaps 639 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:43,279 Speaker 1: Bickford's story is most remarkable because it is in many 640 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,960 Speaker 1: ways unexceptional. She accomplished incredible things, running a public utilities 641 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,720 Speaker 1: company and providing the town of Virginia City with water 642 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:53,759 Speaker 1: for three decades before her day in nineteen thirty one. 643 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:57,239 Speaker 1: But Bickford never cast her success or either of her 644 00:38:57,239 --> 00:38:59,680 Speaker 1: two marriages to white men in terms of race, and 645 00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:03,359 Speaker 1: she was never notorious within her own community. Rather, she 646 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:08,040 Speaker 1: was integrated, respected, and almost never identified by existing accounts 647 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:14,200 Speaker 1: of contemporaries in terms of race. So that is that's 648 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:18,120 Speaker 1: that's what That's what doctor Laura abowt to say it. 649 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,680 Speaker 1: That is something she was situating in terms of comparing 650 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:26,839 Speaker 1: her to other black women, specifically who had histories in 651 00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:30,839 Speaker 1: the American West, like Mary Fields, stagecoach Mary as some 652 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:34,319 Speaker 1: people I know that we've talked about her before on 653 00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:38,040 Speaker 1: the show, And so a lot of times when people 654 00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:41,520 Speaker 1: stand out in history is because they have this anomalist 655 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:45,400 Speaker 1: character or they did anomalous things, they stood out in 656 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:48,279 Speaker 1: their communities in certain ways. And so I do think 657 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:53,160 Speaker 1: it was interesting that doctor rata Like made this connection 658 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:56,200 Speaker 1: that in this case, Sarah Bickford was a black woman 659 00:39:56,239 --> 00:40:01,240 Speaker 1: in the American West, and what she did was pioneering 660 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:05,520 Speaker 1: and it was singular, but it wasn't necessarily remarkable because 661 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:09,239 Speaker 1: of her outside like her larger than life character per se, 662 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:13,400 Speaker 1: and something like a utility company is so foundational, you know, 663 00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:17,160 Speaker 1: it's not so it's not as much of a spectacle 664 00:40:17,239 --> 00:40:20,000 Speaker 1: if you put it that way. So I do think 665 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:26,600 Speaker 1: that that was interesting that she pointed that out. And yeah, 666 00:40:26,719 --> 00:40:30,440 Speaker 1: the race thing is a whole a whole other element 667 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:33,520 Speaker 1: to it, because you know, it was notable that she 668 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:35,880 Speaker 1: was married to two white men over the course of 669 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:39,640 Speaker 1: her life there, but there also that's what was there, 670 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:43,040 Speaker 1: Like she wasn't surrounded by a lot of other black 671 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:48,520 Speaker 1: men either. So it's her story is just really fascinating. 672 00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:50,759 Speaker 1: And I think if folks want to dig into the 673 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:56,279 Speaker 1: history of vigilantism of indigenous people in the area, of 674 00:40:56,360 --> 00:41:00,640 Speaker 1: how Chinese people of Chinese descent were treated in Montana, 675 00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:03,720 Speaker 1: of the history of Montana, of the history of mining, 676 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:07,319 Speaker 1: I mean, it's a lot in there that that you 677 00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:08,719 Speaker 1: can dig into if you want to look more into 678 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:17,600 Speaker 1: serious history. 679 00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:23,680 Speaker 3: Look, this story just is definitely like the Wild West 680 00:41:23,719 --> 00:41:27,239 Speaker 3: story that I like, it's such a separate state of 681 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:30,160 Speaker 3: being compared to the South, like the timelines, I don't 682 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:33,200 Speaker 3: even get it. Yeah, I can't even put it together 683 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:35,920 Speaker 3: because in my mind they are such separate worlds and 684 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:39,839 Speaker 3: separate stories. So I could definitely understand because especially with 685 00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:46,440 Speaker 3: a vigilante story West, justice versus racism, and all the 686 00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:48,520 Speaker 3: cultural contexts that was happening in the South and over 687 00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:52,600 Speaker 3: in the East area seems so separate that it kind 688 00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:55,600 Speaker 3: of made sense to me of her like yeah, obviously, 689 00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:57,640 Speaker 3: Like I was actually expecting you to say that she 690 00:41:57,680 --> 00:41:58,319 Speaker 3: was a part of this. 691 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:00,400 Speaker 4: Like that's kind of where I thought it was. 692 00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:02,719 Speaker 3: For a second, I was like, oh, but she this 693 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:06,239 Speaker 3: bad thought of force with some gun slinging doing her thing, 694 00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:07,680 Speaker 3: Like yes, let's let's go. 695 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:08,560 Speaker 4: We need that story. 696 00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:12,759 Speaker 3: I'm just kidding. I'm not promoting violence in any way, 697 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:16,160 Speaker 3: but I'm just saying, in like the historical context, it 698 00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:19,719 Speaker 3: made sense that she's like yeah, like it's not necessarily 699 00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:22,400 Speaker 3: what we know. It could also make sense again because 700 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:25,200 Speaker 3: the West Wild West has its own loss that she 701 00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:27,520 Speaker 3: was just making money and this is one of the 702 00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:29,759 Speaker 3: ways to do it, and it's just like one more 703 00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:33,160 Speaker 3: thing to add to her like legacy of I'm gonna 704 00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:36,839 Speaker 3: survive and this is what I'm doing, but it's so fascinating. 705 00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:43,040 Speaker 1: Yeah it is, And yeah, I think who knows, maybe 706 00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:44,400 Speaker 1: she did have something to do with it and she 707 00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:46,759 Speaker 1: just never told me body or we don't have that 708 00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:48,400 Speaker 1: record of documentation. 709 00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:50,840 Speaker 4: So she was that good at hiding it, like she 710 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:51,520 Speaker 4: was one of them. 711 00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:55,520 Speaker 3: To truly pull off something, you need to be like yeah, lowly, 712 00:42:55,600 --> 00:42:57,399 Speaker 3: it needs to be a secret. So she really held 713 00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:01,400 Speaker 3: it in regards to that. That would be an amazing story. 714 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:03,000 Speaker 3: So when this is also one of those is I'm like, 715 00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:04,560 Speaker 3: I need a movie. 716 00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:07,040 Speaker 1: I was thinking that. I was like, yeah, like how 717 00:43:07,239 --> 00:43:09,279 Speaker 1: how could you know? They would have to up the 718 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:11,959 Speaker 1: drama in the spectacle And that's why I'm where I'm like, yeah, 719 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:13,719 Speaker 1: I don't know, but I would love to see this 720 00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,879 Speaker 1: told as I would honestly love to see her story dramatized, 721 00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:18,680 Speaker 1: Like I think it would be pretty cool. 722 00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:21,400 Speaker 3: He's pretty satisfying that she got a divorce from an 723 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:23,960 Speaker 3: evil man like that that you don't need to do 724 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:27,120 Speaker 3: much more that the fact that she had the audacity 725 00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:30,560 Speaker 3: to actually file for divorce. I'm like, come on, yeah, 726 00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:33,480 Speaker 3: that especially in this time as yeah, against a white 727 00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:36,279 Speaker 3: man who could have made it worse. So good thing. 728 00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:37,960 Speaker 3: He had to run away anyway, but like there's so 729 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,240 Speaker 3: many things to that, and like that's hard to do today. 730 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:45,160 Speaker 1: Sometimes I'm laughing because you're thinking, like you're thinking like 731 00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:49,000 Speaker 1: a Hollywood writer. You're like, yes, there actually is a 732 00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:51,919 Speaker 1: dramatic story here, and it is the story of a 733 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:56,239 Speaker 1: wife's revenge. Okay, right, and then nothing else, everything else 734 00:43:56,280 --> 00:43:56,840 Speaker 1: doesn't matter. 735 00:43:57,239 --> 00:43:59,160 Speaker 3: But at top of the fact that she owned and 736 00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:02,160 Speaker 3: I'm just trying you again, this is from my knowledge 737 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:04,920 Speaker 3: of entertainment and just a few of the Westerns that 738 00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:07,680 Speaker 3: I've seen. In any of those because Montana also, we 739 00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:09,680 Speaker 3: had a guest on here was from Montana. I was like, 740 00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:13,040 Speaker 3: I've never met a person from Montana. And that's not 741 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:16,600 Speaker 3: the sentence that I hear in general even today. But 742 00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:21,719 Speaker 3: like in that like water was really precious. Again, this 743 00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:25,000 Speaker 3: is my very small knowledge in entertainment life, and like 744 00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:27,200 Speaker 3: because they had a lot of livestock, they had all 745 00:44:27,239 --> 00:44:29,520 Speaker 3: these things, and like it was pretty best lands and 746 00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:31,520 Speaker 3: it was hard to get to get like all these things. 747 00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:34,680 Speaker 3: And for her to be a utilities person that control 748 00:44:34,719 --> 00:44:37,160 Speaker 3: the water and helped make sure that it was accessible, 749 00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:41,239 Speaker 3: that seems like a huge undergoing test but also a 750 00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:45,640 Speaker 3: huge like power, not like in this level of like 751 00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:48,520 Speaker 3: during a time where water is precious and it is 752 00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:51,240 Speaker 3: today obviously, but it seems like a story in itself 753 00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:51,680 Speaker 3: as well. 754 00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:56,600 Speaker 1: Wow, Samantha, that really that was really moving. I didn't 755 00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:59,520 Speaker 1: really I didn't really think about that. I'm serious that 756 00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:05,400 Speaker 1: that that really that touched me because you're right, like's 757 00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:10,200 Speaker 1: it was a precious resource. And I think this is 758 00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:12,760 Speaker 1: something I was trying to situate as I was reading 759 00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:16,560 Speaker 1: Sarah Bigfot's story because also my focus right now in 760 00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:18,120 Speaker 1: the work that I do is a lot about how 761 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:22,760 Speaker 1: black people are related to the land environment. I'm focused 762 00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:25,040 Speaker 1: more on environment and the outdoors in the land. And 763 00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:27,760 Speaker 1: I knew that that I felt that through her story. 764 00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:31,279 Speaker 1: One because it's Montana and it's it's the time that 765 00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:34,719 Speaker 1: it was, but also because she was in public utility. 766 00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:38,160 Speaker 1: But there was something that wasn't fully connecting with me, 767 00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:41,000 Speaker 1: which like, I know this is an outdoor and environmental story, 768 00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:44,640 Speaker 1: but I'm not fully sure about what that is yet 769 00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:48,520 Speaker 1: because that's not necessarily how her story was presented through 770 00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:51,919 Speaker 1: doctor Laura Arada's work. So that is very a suit 771 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:59,240 Speaker 1: point because she she like Virginia City was not an 772 00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:02,960 Speaker 1: insignificant place if it was this cradle of Montana's history 773 00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:06,160 Speaker 1: and it was this social center at the time that 774 00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:10,600 Speaker 1: she got there, and for her to have that power, 775 00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:13,440 Speaker 1: like you say, I will, that power of being the 776 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:16,200 Speaker 1: person who people had to come to when they had 777 00:46:16,719 --> 00:46:19,200 Speaker 1: issues with water and the person who was delivering that 778 00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:23,799 Speaker 1: very necessary part of people's everyday lives. Yeah, I must. 779 00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:26,920 Speaker 1: I mean I must have imagined it's so big. That's 780 00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:31,160 Speaker 1: that is really big. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. 781 00:46:34,160 --> 00:46:37,439 Speaker 2: No, it is. And it's funny when, like I said, 782 00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:39,200 Speaker 2: when I was like, oh, who are we talking about? 783 00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:41,640 Speaker 2: What did they do? And I was like utilities? But 784 00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:44,920 Speaker 2: when you think about it, it is like so important 785 00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:48,480 Speaker 2: and it matters so much like when your utilities are 786 00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:51,440 Speaker 2: not working. That is when you're like, oh, I didn't 787 00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:56,360 Speaker 2: realize how valuable and important this is. So I do. 788 00:46:56,560 --> 00:46:58,440 Speaker 2: I think all the elements are there for them to 789 00:46:58,520 --> 00:47:03,960 Speaker 2: make Hollywood. The story is there, the myth making is there. 790 00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:06,200 Speaker 2: Like you said, Eves, there's a lot of cool like 791 00:47:06,520 --> 00:47:08,399 Speaker 2: rumors they could pursue. 792 00:47:08,600 --> 00:47:11,600 Speaker 1: There was one instance in her story of like she 793 00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:15,680 Speaker 1: didn't sue. She sued one person in her the course 794 00:47:15,680 --> 00:47:17,279 Speaker 1: of her so she got into there were some people 795 00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:18,960 Speaker 1: who came it was like, yeah, this isn't this payment 796 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:20,799 Speaker 1: isn't right, the water blah blah blah. You know, they 797 00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:25,560 Speaker 1: had issues with her. But there was one a known 798 00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:29,360 Speaker 1: person who she had to like bring legal action against, 799 00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:38,960 Speaker 1: And I could imagine inserting some some imagina there, right, yeah, yeah, 800 00:47:39,040 --> 00:47:40,719 Speaker 1: but yeah. 801 00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:43,800 Speaker 3: I'm also interested because this should be the basis of 802 00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:47,319 Speaker 3: generational wealth, like this should be the conversation where she 803 00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:50,040 Speaker 3: was able to help set up her family for the 804 00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:52,440 Speaker 3: rest of their lives, like all of and the generations 805 00:47:52,440 --> 00:47:54,879 Speaker 3: to come in order to take care of them, because 806 00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:57,399 Speaker 3: this is what we see with like the beginning of 807 00:47:57,880 --> 00:48:01,319 Speaker 3: the establishment of the US or before. Yeah, where are 808 00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:02,880 Speaker 3: our descendants? Do we know? 809 00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:07,800 Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know much about where they are. 810 00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:13,360 Speaker 1: Seemingly from what was said about her children, because it 811 00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:15,960 Speaker 1: would be her children's children who could still be alive. 812 00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:21,960 Speaker 1: But from what they said about her children, it was 813 00:48:22,040 --> 00:48:26,680 Speaker 1: that they were pretty well off when they did they 814 00:48:26,719 --> 00:48:28,480 Speaker 1: were doing well when they moved to other parts of 815 00:48:28,520 --> 00:48:30,880 Speaker 1: the country. I think one was married. One of her 816 00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:35,719 Speaker 1: children was married to the Howard professor she worked out. 817 00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:39,040 Speaker 1: I can't remember something like this, But in terms of 818 00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:41,879 Speaker 1: where they want where her children went at the time, 819 00:48:41,920 --> 00:48:44,080 Speaker 1: I think they were doing pretty well, But I don't 820 00:48:44,120 --> 00:48:47,720 Speaker 1: know about the state of her the rest of her, 821 00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:48,640 Speaker 1: her family. 822 00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:52,480 Speaker 3: I'd just say that because you know, as we're talking 823 00:48:52,520 --> 00:48:55,480 Speaker 3: about monopolies and as we talk about the level of 824 00:48:55,600 --> 00:48:58,000 Speaker 3: wealth that has happened over the years in the US 825 00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:02,120 Speaker 3: for a lot of people, like, of course, it would 826 00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:06,000 Speaker 3: be an interesting, like a phenomenal thing to see a 827 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:08,480 Speaker 3: black woman to be able to establish that. And she 828 00:49:08,520 --> 00:49:12,040 Speaker 3: should have been if she was in that same conversation 829 00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:15,120 Speaker 3: with the equity that should have been given to her. 830 00:49:15,719 --> 00:49:17,759 Speaker 3: But of course, you know, that's the whole different thing. 831 00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:20,120 Speaker 3: I just wondered where that was because she could been 832 00:49:20,280 --> 00:49:22,760 Speaker 3: like it could be a measure of what we could see. 833 00:49:23,719 --> 00:49:25,400 Speaker 3: And then like I could also see her fear of 834 00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:27,640 Speaker 3: her the children leaving. And I know you didn't get 835 00:49:27,680 --> 00:49:29,839 Speaker 3: into us get into it, but like if she had 836 00:49:29,880 --> 00:49:35,759 Speaker 3: experienced the times of enslavement and seeing those repercussions in 837 00:49:35,800 --> 00:49:38,640 Speaker 3: the East, her children going back to that had probably 838 00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:41,479 Speaker 3: been horrifying, even though they didn't but. 839 00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:44,000 Speaker 1: Like they did, so they did go back to Tennessee. 840 00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:46,720 Speaker 1: She took them back to Tennessee at a certain point, Yes, 841 00:49:46,840 --> 00:49:48,759 Speaker 1: and there was part of her story that we didn't 842 00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:50,960 Speaker 1: get a touch on today that was about how she 843 00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:56,480 Speaker 1: felt about who her children should marry, and she did 844 00:49:56,640 --> 00:50:01,799 Speaker 1: want them to, you know, understand, be around other black 845 00:50:01,840 --> 00:50:05,040 Speaker 1: people basically at certain times. And so, yeah, there is 846 00:50:05,520 --> 00:50:08,040 Speaker 1: a little part of her stories. It seems pretty complicated 847 00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:10,000 Speaker 1: in how she viewed race because, like I said, she 848 00:50:10,080 --> 00:50:15,040 Speaker 1: was also married to white men and there was someone 849 00:50:15,080 --> 00:50:16,799 Speaker 1: who wanted her children got married to who was black 850 00:50:16,920 --> 00:50:18,279 Speaker 1: she didn't want them to be married to, but there 851 00:50:18,280 --> 00:50:19,799 Speaker 1: was also a white person she didn't want them to 852 00:50:19,800 --> 00:50:23,080 Speaker 1: be married too. So it wasn't a cut in dry 853 00:50:23,320 --> 00:50:30,600 Speaker 1: situation for her seemingly, but she did. As far as 854 00:50:30,640 --> 00:50:35,360 Speaker 1: what I can tell and what is written about her history, 855 00:50:36,239 --> 00:50:40,239 Speaker 1: it wasn't She didn't seem to speak much about any 856 00:50:40,320 --> 00:50:44,920 Speaker 1: resentment or it didn't seem to be much of a 857 00:50:44,960 --> 00:50:48,120 Speaker 1: point for her because she did go back, So it 858 00:50:48,160 --> 00:50:52,280 Speaker 1: wasn't like I'll never go back to Tennessee. There seemed 859 00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:54,960 Speaker 1: to be still a connection there for her that wasn't 860 00:50:55,640 --> 00:51:00,279 Speaker 1: a completely lost cause if that makes any sense. Yeah, 861 00:51:00,280 --> 00:51:05,279 Speaker 1: it does so much depth. Yeah, it's tough for. 862 00:51:06,760 --> 00:51:07,520 Speaker 4: Movie times. 863 00:51:07,880 --> 00:51:09,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think a mini series, I think it's a 864 00:51:09,880 --> 00:51:10,560 Speaker 2: mini series. 865 00:51:11,239 --> 00:51:17,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, people are liking the wild the wild West situation. 866 00:51:17,320 --> 00:51:19,840 Speaker 3: Actually so last movies like that is the thing, and 867 00:51:19,920 --> 00:51:24,279 Speaker 3: this is like exactly her going at a young age 868 00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:24,759 Speaker 3: on a sled. 869 00:51:25,160 --> 00:51:26,359 Speaker 4: Come on the. 870 00:51:26,440 --> 00:51:33,200 Speaker 2: Sled right, Yeah, well pretty, we can only hope, We 871 00:51:33,239 --> 00:51:38,279 Speaker 2: can only hope. Thank you so much has always used 872 00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:42,560 Speaker 2: for bringing this story to us. It's a great conversation. 873 00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:46,239 Speaker 2: I really loved learning about her. Where can the good 874 00:51:46,239 --> 00:51:51,120 Speaker 2: listeners find you? Y'all can find me on my website. 875 00:51:51,160 --> 00:51:52,640 Speaker 2: You can just go there and get to all of 876 00:51:52,680 --> 00:51:56,960 Speaker 2: the other things. But my website is Eves Jeffcoat dot com. 877 00:51:57,120 --> 00:52:02,879 Speaker 2: That's y v es j E F fcat dot com. 878 00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:06,680 Speaker 2: Y'all can also go to Instagram I'm at not apologizing, 879 00:52:07,719 --> 00:52:09,800 Speaker 2: or you can just go to listen to a bunch 880 00:52:09,840 --> 00:52:13,000 Speaker 2: of other episodes of stuff Mom Never Told You with 881 00:52:13,200 --> 00:52:18,280 Speaker 2: me talking about other female first. Yes, yes, can't wait 882 00:52:18,880 --> 00:52:20,839 Speaker 2: to check back in with you, Eves and see what 883 00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:26,560 Speaker 2: new adventures, new skills you've acquired next month. But listeners, 884 00:52:26,600 --> 00:52:28,920 Speaker 2: go check out all of that stuff if you haven't already. 885 00:52:29,120 --> 00:52:31,200 Speaker 2: If you would like to contact us, you can you 886 00:52:31,239 --> 00:52:33,160 Speaker 2: can email us at hello at stuff Onnever Told You 887 00:52:33,200 --> 00:52:34,839 Speaker 2: dot com. You can find us on Blue Scott Mom 888 00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:38,000 Speaker 2: Stuff podcast on Instagram and TikTok at Stuff I've Never 889 00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:40,920 Speaker 2: Told You. We're also on YouTube. We have some merchandise 890 00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:42,399 Speaker 2: at Coombureau and we have a buck you can get 891 00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:44,439 Speaker 2: wherever you get your books. Thanks to So It's Too, 892 00:52:44,640 --> 00:52:46,719 Speaker 2: our super produce Christina or Executi Produce My and your 893 00:52:46,719 --> 00:52:49,320 Speaker 2: contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you for listening 894 00:52:49,440 --> 00:52:51,279 Speaker 2: Stuff Never Told You to protection my Heart Radio for 895 00:52:51,280 --> 00:52:52,920 Speaker 2: more podcast from my Heart Radio, you can check out 896 00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:55,080 Speaker 2: that heart radio app, Apple Podcast wherever you listen to 897 00:52:55,120 --> 00:52:55,920 Speaker 2: your favorite shows