May - by Mary Barmeyer O'Brien (Paperback)

About the Book

Spinster May Arkwright Hutton went West in her low-cut, bright colored dresses and made a living for herself cooking for the men who mined in the silver fields of Idaho alienating the "proper" women of town and making important friends among the miners and merchants. When she and her husband (a man she met in her cafe) struck it rich, she devoted the rest of her life to philanthropy and social causes leaving a legacy of good works that still affects residents of the Pacific Northwest to this day. As related through the skilled storytelling of Mary Barmeyer O'Brien, this larger than life woman's story becomes a compelling book and an important piece of Western history."

Book Synopsis

An adventurous single woman who knew how to cook, twenty-three-year-old May Arkwright moved -- alone -- to the remote valleys of northern Idaho in 1883. She opened a one-table restaurant for the silver prospectors near Wallace, serving her homemade berry pies and hot dishes. Before long, she was a well-known part of the fledgling mining district.
May, a large, outspoken woman who favored low-cut, brightly colored dresses, scandalized the "proper" women of town. But her self-confidence and ease with people helped her make important friends among the miners, merchants, and railroad men who ate at her table. After she met and married local train engineer Al Hutton, the two invested in a mine upstream from Wallace. After several long years they struck it rich and moved to Spokane, where May spent the rest of her life working on philanthropic projects that still affect residents of the Pacific Northwest to this day. As related through the skilled storytelling of Mary Barmeyer O'Brien, this larger-than-life woman's story adds a compelling new element to the history of the West.

About the Author

Mary Barmeyer O'Brien's books on the pioneer experience include Toward the Setting Sun: Pioneer Girls Traveling the Overland Trails; Heart of the Trail: The Stories of Eight Wagon Train Women;Outlasting the Trail: The Story of a Woman's Journey West; and Across Death Valley. She lives in Polson, Montana.