Bold Spirit
Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America
In 1896, a Norwegian immigrant and mother of eight children named Helga Estby was behind on taxes and the mortgage when she learned that a mysterious sponsor would pay $10,000 to a woman who walked across America.
Hoping to win the wager and save her family’s farm, Helga and her teenaged daughter Clara, armed with little more than a compass, red-pepper spray, a revolver, and Clara’s curling iron, set out on foot from Eastern Washington. Their route would pass through 14 states, but they were not allowed to carry more than five dollars each. As they visited Indian reservations, Western boomtowns, remote ranches and local civic leaders, they confronted snowstorms, hunger, thieves and mountain lions with…
$34.00
January 11, 2005Linda Lawrence Hunt, an associate professor of English at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, now directs the Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship with her husband, Jim. An engaging speaker and freelance writer, she has published articles in regional and national publications, and has traveled throughout America and Norway. Hunt is the author of Bold Spirit, Pilgrimage through Loss, In the Long Run, and many more.
