Chapter One
San Francisco
The steamship to Colón, Panama, took two weeks, with strong winds speeding them southwest down the Atlantic.
The railroad crossing over the isthmus took only a few hours, but Anna found it difficult to walk or sit because she kept feeling as if the floor was tipping under her feet.
But she persevered and was rewarded twenty days later, glimpsing the wide bay of San Francisco spreading out in front of the ship’s prow.
All she had left behind in Boston was a letter, which was in safekeeping with the local parish priest. Her female traveling companions were not a mixed bunch.
The selection process had been far too rigorous for any bad apples to slip through.
While every woman hailed from a modest background, they were exactly what the advertisement had asked for: eligible brides without the means to meet the man of their dreams in New England.
The female passengers were divided into two groups. One group of women had already communicated with a man out west and been invited to become his mail-order bride. The mail-order brides who responded to matrimonial advertisements knew exactly what waited for them at the end of the journey.
Then, there were the women who were generally referred to as “potluckers.” The company was paid to match a New England woman with a West Coast man on his behalf.
Those men who were too busy or disinterested to bother with long-distance communication found it easier to pay for the privilege of a match being made for them.
Anna was a potlucker. Back in Boston, the recruitment officer had taken one look at her when she entered the small office and made a mark in his ledger.
He asked for her name and details before sending her to the Sisters of Notre Dame with a note.
The nun explained to her that she must be checked for parasites and purity before the company could recommend her as a viable candidate.
She knew the nun from her days at the orphanage. “I’m the same as I was when I left here, Sister Magdalene.”
“Headstrong and self-sufficient… but a good girl at heart?” Sister Magdalene’s eyes twinkled.
Anna chuckled. “Yes.”
Once she was approved, the officer took her under his wing. “You’re the perfect mail-order bride for Mr. Nate Smith, landowner and farmer. He wants a practical, open-minded wife who will be at ease in all society, both high and low.”
“If it means I must treat servants and bosses the same, I can do that.”
Fortunately for Anna, the officer must have thought she was joking.
“Now, remember, Miss Fairleigh. If the man doesn’t like the look of you once you reach the other side, you will still be paid a living wage for six months and owe nothing on your traveling expenses.
It’ll be up to you if you want to come back here or try your potluck in the wild West. The place needs women to civilize it, and the men need taming. Are you up for it?”
“I like those odds, sir.” The officer had left out any mention of how she would get to walk away from the deal if she didn’t like the look of Mr. Smith, but Anna was an optimist and presumed her options were the same.
She had kept that positive outlook with her, all the way from packing her trunk, walking on board, and throughout the grueling sea voyage.
And now, close to the end of their odyssey, all the ladies gathered on deck in excited groups. Boston was behind them. The West Coast, and all it had to offer, was in their sights.
Curious, Anna asked one of the women on board about her westward beau.
“I’m far better off than you are, Anna. Milton gave me all the details about his prospects and the size of his land during our correspondence courtship.
” She dug in the drawstring purse hanging from her wrist and withdrew a gilt-framed Cabinet Photograph that showed an image of a stiff-looking man who seemed to be staring rigidly at the starboard side of the ship.
Anna noted that his suit and shirt were tailor-made and not churned out in an overworked Boston garment factory, then handed back the frame. “You are blessed, and may you both be very happy.”
The woman thanked her and smiled.
Ellie Pearson, a merry-eyed redhead, joined them at that point.
“Look at that view. I see miles and miles of bachelors.” Ellie told Anna that she hadn’t found a husband in Boston because she wasn’t a Catholic.
“After all the ship’s biscuit and snoring, Anna, I can taste the freedom. Men won’t be so fussy out here.”
Anna chuckled at Ellie’s accurate description of the journey.
Women had been packed into their berths like sardines on a steamship not built for passengers.
They were locked into the cabins in the hull every evening to ensure there was no fraternizing with the crew, but that was the last thing on any female passenger’s mind if she was so lucky as to go on deck in the middle of the night.
Whenever it had been Anna’s turn to fetch fresh water from the barrels on deck, she was swept away by the view.
The starlight and moon reflected in the inky ocean soothed her soul almost as much as the fresh air.
To get a few minutes away from the humid cabin with the rattling snores of other passengers was almost as nice as being served porridge for breakfast—not a daily occurrence, as when they reached the second week of traveling, the kitchen always ran out of oats.
“If I ever taste another bowl of mush made with water and ship’s biscuit, I’ll cock up my toes and die,” Ellie said dramatically. “What is it made out of? Sawdust?”
Another woman then came to stand at the prow with them. “Flour and salt, mostly. Mixed into a paste with water and then baked two times to harden it so it doesn’t mold and spoil. What I wouldn’t do to get a taste of hot, sweet tea.”
Ellie giggled. “I’m hoping that some wealthy buckaroo takes a liking to sweet little me!”
The women quieted down when the ship’s captain came to stand with them at the prow. He was an elderly man with white hair and beard, his face sallow and wrinkled, but he looked kind.
Irrepressible, Ellie piped up. “Where are you from, Captain? Do you know this side of the world well?”
He shook his head. “I’m a Yankee, just like you, Miss. Out west is too wild for me.”
Anna didn’t like the sound of that. “Are you talking about the people or the countryside, sir?”
That got him laughing. “I like to feel the passage of time and count the seasons. This place doesn’t have a proper winter, and that doesn’t sit right with me. So, aye, it’s not the mild weather that’s wild out here, but the folks.”
He shuffled his feet and puffed his pipe while staring at the rugged coastline.
“There ain’t much in the way of citified politeness once you leave the city, and the men reflect that.
That’s why Mr. Mercer got the idea to start bringing women over.
At the end of the day, a man needs the civilizing influence of a woman in his life. ”
One of the ladies crossed herself. “That’s why God made Adam and Eve.”
The captain touched the brim of his hat. “Yes, ma’am. That’s straight out of Genesis. ‘And God said it is not good that a man should be alone; I will make him a helper’.”
Ellie crowed loudly so everyone in the small group could hear her. “I’ve been helping myself for fifteen years in Boston, Captain. I hope the man I’m matched with has more to offer than simply asking for a helping hand!”
Lighthearted laughter rippled through the group, loud enough to drown out what the captain said. But Anna heard him because she was silently watching the ship dock.
“Laugh while you still can, ladies. Life out west is harsh enough for you to cherish every smile when it comes.”
That gave Anna a lot to think about. She could feel the temperate air on her cheeks—the warming sun was just enough to turn the fog into white wisps in the bay.
When she looked further, she was struck by the awesome sight of green forests and rolling hills stretching as far as the eye could see.
There was a forest of ships’ masts in the bay, too, as they all waited for their turn to anchor by the shoreline.
The tedious rigmarole of docking and disembarking took a while.
Anna looked up at the steamship after treading carefully down the gangplank.
It had been her home for over a month, but now she was ready to start the next chapter of her life.
No matter what, she would never take the ship back east. If her potluck partner didn’t work out, she would get a job as a seamstress instead.
The harbormaster was waiting to greet the group led by the captain. “The calico cargo arrived safely, Mr. Gerber. Every lady is present and correct.”
Anna smiled. He made it sound like a military maneuver. “Aye, thank you, Captain Montague. I’ll take it from here—or at least my wife will.”
Mrs. Gerber addressed the group of women loudly. “Mail-order brides on one side of the room, please. All you others congregate on the other side and wait!”
“She makes us sound like potential mail-order bridesmaids,” Ellie whispered to Anna. “Does she know we were specially selected as the perfect match for one of the company’s paying customers?”
Anna tried to stay positive. “They can’t do all of us in one go, Ellie. Let’s wait and see what happens.”
Her friend huffed, leaned against the wall, and crossed her arms. Anna set her heavy carpet bag on the floor. Her trunk was on a trolley, and there was a neatly printed ticket tied with string to its handle. Only her name was on the ticket, because she had no address yet.
Mrs. Gerber called a woman’s name off her list. “Alicia Meadows, step forward. And Mr. Stanley Denoon, come up and claim your bride.”