Posted inWestern Lit/Books

Gold dust woman: In ‘Bridget’s Gambit,’ a 59-year-old Irish widow leads her family overland to California in 1849—and builds a fortune

In 1849, Bridget Miranda Evoy, 59, led her extended family—which included two toddlers—from St. Louis to California, across 1,800 miles of plains, desert and mountains. Once in California, her family made a fortune and rose to the top of the region’s social pyramid.

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