Charlotte's Mail Order Husband (New Montana Brides series) by Susan Leigh Carlton

 
    chapter one
    Prospecting For Gold
    Zebulon Parsons came to the Grasshopper Creek area prospecting for gold in 1862, as a member of a small group of miners from Colorado. He left the group to set out alone, and walked along the creek, looking for a place to make camp.
    At a bend in the creek, he scooped a pan of sand from the outside wall of the curve. He shook the pan to wash the sand and spotted some color in his pan. He had found placer gold. He backtracked up the creek to make camp, in an effort to conceal his discovery. After checking to make sure he was alone, he staked his claim, using piles of rocks as markers.
    His luck held . He was alone in the area for over three months, before others began coming into the area. It was not long, until the area was overrun with miners. Before that happened, he had accumulated a small fortune in the precious metal.
    He stayed in the area for several weeks, traipsing up and down the creek , but had no further luck. His wanderings led him to Last Chance Gulch in 1865, where Lady Luck smiled on him once again… Big time. His claim in the Gulch produced enough gold over the next two and one half years to allow him to give up the hard life of a miner forever.
    In his correspondence with his sister , Mary Tarleton, in Baltimore, he spoke of a lack of eligible women to marry, Together, they devised a plan, where she would interview prospects among the many available, unmarried women in Baltimore. If she found someone she deemed suitable, and who was willing to consider marriage to someone she had never met, Zebulon would pay for her transportation to Helena, Montana, where they would be married.
    Zebulon wrote to his sister:
    My Dear Sister, I believe our plan has a chance of su ccess. I would prefer you to limit your search to those you deem as strong women. Life in Montana can be harsh, especially in winter. To be sure, as a mining town there is a certain lawless element in Helena. I have established a ranch along the Missouri River, five miles from town. My nearest neighbor is about three miles away.
    I would request someone with a comely appearance , and weight proportional to height. They can be assured, should they not find satisfaction, I will provide return transportation, but I would urge you to look for a willingness, and ability to adapt in those you interview.
    Your b rother, Zebulon.
    She placed an ad in the Baltimore Sun that read:
    Prosperous, never married business man, age 28, is desirous of corresponding with a lady with marriage as an objective. Interviews will be scheduled with those having an interest.
    Mary received twenty queries from young women in search of a husband. She did not take her responsibility to her brother lightly, and was determined to find a suitable candidate. She dismissed five of them out of hand, when they were more concerned with the degree of prosperity. Her process took two weeks before she made her selection, Charlotte Jenkins.
    Charlotte Jenkins was a red-haired daughter in an Irish immigrant family. She was attractive with the unblemished fair complexion exhibited by many red haired persons, Her eyes were green, and she was five feet six inches tall, with a slender build. Her lustrous red hair reached to the middle of her back.
    Mary handed her a book and asked her to read a passage, a challenge she met with no hesitation. “Miss Jenkins, what led you to choose this path?”
    “Please, call me Charlotte or Lottie. I want to have children, and convention holds that you must be married in order to do that. There are very few eligible single men and I have found none satisfactory to me. May I ask questions?”
    “Yes, of course you may. I would be disappointed if you didn’t,” Mary said.
    “This man looking for a wife, who is he? How did you come to undertake the search, instead of him doing it himself?”
    “Those are both good questions. To your first question, he is my brother. He is twenty-eight years old and has never been