15
Mrs. Estby fears that the woman with whom the wager was
made will refuse to pay the $10,000…. that the daughter’s
sprained ankle will not be allowed to count as sickness.
—NEW YORK WORLD
DECEMBER 24, 1896
Almost two weeks later, in early December, the dusty, “tired, but brave” mother and daughter arrived in Sewickly, Pennsylvania. The local newspaper described Clara as “sprightly,” and noticed she “did not appear to dread the remaining distance.” Helga, seen as a “slight built, but a determined-looking woman,” presented the signatures of governors and officials of all the states and cities through which they had passed as proof they had visited these places. Each new destination strengthened Helga’s sense of achievement as she reiterated her confidence to the reporter. “Mrs. Espey [sic] was confident she would reach her destination on time and carry off the $10,000 prize.”1
In western Pennsylvania, men began to harass the mother and daughter, exactly what others warned them about before they left Spokane. Walking through coal-mining country, the miners and highwaymen threatened them so constantly, Helga said “they didn’t hesitate to brandish their revolvers.” After rarely encountering trouble with other “tramps” along the journey, they told a Lebanon, Pennsylvania, reporter that “people were much too lenient with them here.”2
They walked from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg, where they visited Governor Daniel Hastings in the capitol building. Because the contract required only the signatures of mayors after Chicago, they must have enjoyed the receptions they received if they chose to drop in on the governor. Then they traveled through the Pennsylvania Dutch county of Berks. Here the people treated them “exceptionally well and showed them very marked attention.”3 These Amish and Mennonite farmers fled to America from Germany and Switzerland so they could practice their religion without fear. They developed a peaceful land, where the patchwork of neatly laid out farms reflected the settlers’ industry and care. The kindnesses they gave Helga and Clara inevitably included meals from their productive crops. However, “the strange dialect spoken by the natives almost caused the westerners to die of laughter.”4
Jubilation mixed with anxiety as their deadline loomed. Helga and Clara took a rare opportunity to ride on a trolley after they left Hummelstown at 6 o’clock in the morning. They rode through Annville, Lebanon, and on to Myerstown, “from where they were obliged to walk to Womelsdorf, when they could take the trolley again.” Mrs. Estby said, “Among the stipulations of the contract we made are that we must not beg and [we can] either walk or ride on electric cars.”5
Possibly the contract allowed the electric car rides because of safety factors within industrial cities. Or perhaps it was a “free ride,” thus not breaking the stipulation against paying for rides. Other than the free wagon ride near Walla Walla, this was the only time they admitted not walking. Clearly, time pressures made them hurry at this point. However, as this ride occurred in a very public environment, and Helga herself reported the ride to a journalist she knew was writing up their story, it was unlikely they risked breaking their contract.
Rising excitement about the enormity of these women’s achievement led to even socialites welcoming them when they arrived in Reading, Pennsylvania, on December 19. They stayed at the Hotel Penn where they received numerous callers, “including some well-known society people.”6They recounted their experiences “most entertainingly,” and the women, though bronzed by exposure, were otherwise “looking none the worse for their exploits.” The Reading Times reporter concluded, “The girdlers feel jubilant over the near approach of the completion of their journey.”7
Now within striking distance of their long-sought goal, when the two reached Phillipsburg, New Jersey, somebody misdirected them through Morristown. They walked forty-five miles off their course, “a grievous mistake that caused them to be caught in last night’s storm,” noted the New York World. So close to fulfilling their dream after seven months of exertion and more than 3500 miles, the weary women returned to the right road and pressed on toward New York City. “When they reached Jersey City this forenoon they were happy. They saw the tall buildings of New York and knew that their journey was nearly at an end.”8
Numerous callers, including some “well-known society people,” came to the Hotel Penn in Reading, Pennsylvania, to meet the astonishing women.
Courtesy The Historical Society of Berks County, 5916.
Shortly after 1 o’clock on December 23, seven months and 18 days after they left Spokane, Helga and Clara set foot on Manhattan Island. To reach their destination, the World newspaper office, required only a few minutes. What triumphant thoughts surged through Helga and Clara as they stepped into this newspaper building—the same publisher that first announced their intentions last April 26? Did they window shop on the city streets as they walked downtown, imagining what glorious Christmas gifts they could bring home to the family? The reporter caught a hint of their impatient delight, “The elevators were slow to carry them upstairs, they thought, so eager were they to end their journey.”9
Impressed with the mental abilities and physical appearance of the winsome women, the reporter expressed amazement over the wonder of their achievement, stating that Mrs. Estby and her daughter were “the only women who ever walked across the continent.” Helga was described as an “intelligent, very witty, good conversationalist” and a well-educated thirty-eight year old who has traveled considerably. The enamored writer also observed that she is “in excellent physical condition and lost only one pound on the journey.” Clara, now nineteen, was described as a well-educated graduate of a Spokane high school “with a full round face and sparkling blue eyes and … a plump, well-developed figure.” A full description of their walking outfits included: bicycle skirts, reaching a few inches below their knees; stout cycle shoes with boot tops encased their feet; short black coats buttoned closely to the neck; low-crowned alpine hats; and warm woolen gloves.10 Whatever internal triumph Helga felt that day appeared to be shadowed by anxiety, fearful that the woman who made the wager might refuse to pay the $10,000 because they missed the stipulated deadline.
Helga and Clara arrived at the New York World newspaper building in New York City Hall Park, on December 23, 1896, jubilant at their achievement.
Courtesy Collection of The New-York Historical Society, photo circa 1892, 43550.
Detail of this photograph on this page.
Helga and Clara’s feat attracted the attention of several other New York daily newspapers. Like in earlier news articles, reporters expressed strong interest in the fact that two women earned over $300 for the trip expenses through their own labor, noting that their work stops “aggregated to around two months.” On Christmas Eve, the New York Times reported on this remarkable performance for women, acknowledging that “a pedestrian trip from the Pacific to the Atlantic is a big task for men, but when women perform it, it becomes remarkable.” Then several paragraphs described the wager, the particular difficulties they overcame with highwaymen, storms, and Clara’s ankle accident. But the New York Times’ strongest fascination appeared to be in the impressive stature of signatures the women garnered along the way. Besides President and Mrs. William McKinley, Mrs. William Jennings Bryan, and “General” Coxey, the signatures included many of America’s leading governors and mayors.11
The New York Herald also covered their feat and added news on their contract and concerns. After referring to the ten-day delay caused by Clara’s sprained ankle, information was included on their extreme efforts to make up this lost time. “By forced marches, the women were able to make up six days of the ten.” The question loomed over whether the wealthy sponsor would quibble over the delay caused by Clara’s ankle sprain and not count these days as sickness. This “will have to be settled before the travelers know whether they win or lose the wager.”12
Wire services picked up these articles and the Christmas Eve Spokane Chronicle and the Spokesman-Review announced their safe arrival and successful achievement, most likely the first time their family and friends learned of their stunning accomplishment. After covering their accomplishment, the Spokesman-Review admitted that “it was not generally believed the proposed trip would be completed” when they left last spring. The reporter noted that Mrs. Estby left a husband in Mica Creek to take care of the balance of the family while “the two female globe-trotters are out for the alleged wager.” Then the reporter added a commentary on Spokane community attitudes toward Helga’s character and reputation. “Mrs. Estby, though regarded as rather peculiar, was a determined woman, and when she said she was going to walk to New York, those who knew her said she would carry out the determination. Doubt, however, exists about the $10,000 which she said she was to receive.”13
MRS. ESTBY AND HER DAUGHTER WALK ARMED FROM SPOKANE.
An artist for the New York World newspaper drew this sketch of Helga’s and Clara’s astounding achievement, which was published on Christmas day, 1896.
Courtesy General Research Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.
The Estbys always celebrated Christmas Eve with a festive Norwegian dinner, with the special preparation of lefse, sour cream pudding with lingonberry sauce, lutefisk, and almond cookies made by Helga. December of 1896 was a lonely Christmas for Ole and the seven children. Ole knew more than anyone the truth of the observations that Helga was “peculiar, but determined.” He had seen his wife, bedridden with pain just five years earlier, boldly risk innovative surgery to restore her health and then exert the physical strength to walk across America. But now the world knew they were delinquent on taxes and in danger of losing their farm, an embarrassing truth for this hardworking husband and father. The local newspaper article also may have raised Ole’s fears that all his wife’s heroic efforts might have been in vain.
Late on Christmas Eve afternoon, Helga and Clara returned to the World newspaper with troubling news. Somehow, after being in New York City less than four hours, they had lost all their money. What worried Helga most was not that she lost her money but that “the pocketbook contained most of the diary of her trip.” The pocketbook had Mrs. Estby’s Spokane address in it, and that of her present home on No. 6 Rivington Street.14
Perhaps because health promoters in the 1890s, such as Lydia Pinkham, urged women to drink various herbal and other vegetable compounds to gain strength for their frail bodies, the reporter added, “The daughter never drank anything but milk. The mother allowed herself but one cup of coffee a day. Neither of them took stronger stimulants.”15
A newspaper artist for the World drew an original rendition of Helga and Clara wearing their reformed costumes and toting knives and guns. The caption read: “Mrs. Estby and Her Daughter Walked Armed from Spokane,” and it was signed J.C. Fineman. Then one brief sentence gave the ominous news that had shattered the trust, dreams, and determination of a mother and daughter to rescue their family, crushing their earlier exhilaration. Evidently, they discovered on Christmas Eve afternoon that the mysterious sponsor refused to honor the contract. The World reported Helga’s news: “The object of the long tramp was to make money, but the woman who engaged them to do it has gone back on her contract.”16
The sponsor not only refused to honor the contract but also refused to provide train money to return home, a tragic omission that ultimately shaped the destiny of the Estby family. Helga had put such faith in a stranger’s promises. The reporter provided no information on the identity of the sponsor or the women’s profound disappointment. Only Helga’s concern was noted by the reporter: “She is wondering how they are going to get home.”17
Stunned by this harsh betrayal, Helga and Clara spent Christmas Eve among a crowded city of strangers, so far away from the family they loved. Now destitute and homeless, did they still light a candle on this most silent of nights?