Sheer Determination

Mary Ringo — Just after dawn on the morning of July 30, 1864, Mary’s husband Martin accidentally killed himself as he was reaching for his shotgun. The incident, which occurred twenty five miles east of Casper, devastated Mary. Her diary records the event. “And now Oh God comes the saddest day of my life for this day my husband accidentally shot himself and was buried by the wayside and oh, my heart is breaking…my little children are crying all the time and I-oh what am I to do…” Widowed, Mary succeeded in reaching California with her family, and with “sheer determination Mary raised her family unaided.”