The Monday After: 'Walking women' stopped in Canton in 1896

The headline Thursday, Dec. 8, 1896, in the Stark County Democrat was followed by an explanation set in smaller type.

"A Pair of Them Pass Through Canton on a Ten Thousand Dollar Wager."

The story below the headlines detailed the terms of that bet, the winning of which was based on Helga Estby and her daughter Clara striding across the country before the end of the year. Canton was merely a stopping point for the two women.

"Mrs. H. Estby and daughter, of Spokane, Wash., were registered at the Hotel Conrad Sunday," the Democrat's article reported. "The couple are walking from the western city to New York City for wagers.

"They left home May 6, 1896, and barring sickness, are to be in New York City by December 18. In the event of the accomplishment of this task, they will receive $10,000."

Illness was a major concern for the Estbys at the time they were in Canton, "having already been delayed by for six days by sickness."

"They were allowed $5 each to start with and were to pay their expenses simply by sale of their photos," the Democrat continued. "This trip has been an eventful one in the fact that they were held up in Oregon by a highwayman, who was promptly shot by Mrs. Estby."

Mother and daughter caused quite a stir in communities along their trek, the article noted. Before reaching Stark County they "called on" William Jennings Bryan, the unsuccessful Democrat candidate for president in 1896. Bryan's wife fed them and bought photographs, although her husband was away campaigning at the time. Later, while in Canton, they met with then President-elect William McKinley.

"They left this morning at 4:30 walking along the Fort Wayne to Pittsburgh (road)," the Stark County Democrat reported. "They average about twenty-eight miles a day, although they have traveled as far as thirty-eight miles a day."

Who were the Estbys?

Helga Estby was a suffragist who marched "coast to coast to save the family farm," according to information posted at the website for Spokane Historical Society.

"In 1887, Norwegian-born Helga and Ole Estby purchased 160 acres of land in 'Little Norway,' an enclave in the town of Mica Creek, 25 miles southest of Spokane," the posting noted. "Shortly after the Panic of 1893, Ole injured his back and was unable to work the family farm.

"In a desperate attempt to keep their land and support their eight children, Helga and her daughter Clara took up a $10,000 offer to walk from Spokane to New York. Under the conditions of the contest, the ladies had seven months to finish their journey, could only begin their trip with five dollars, had to wear bicycle skirts, were not allowed to beg, must visit political leaders in every state capital, and were forbidden to use the railroad."

According to the posting, the Etsbys carried "light pouches" that contained "only the necessities," which included "a Smith-and-Wesson revolver and a curling iron for Clara's hair."

Although the two walkers could not use the railroad, they did occasionally follow railroad routes to keep from getting lost, and they slept in railroad depots for safety.

The women did not solicit assistance, but the kindness of strangers often made their journey easier. Residents of many communities fed and lodged the walkers.

Still, at some points of their trip the Estbys were vilified. Interestingly, one of the worst reactions was in their home state.

"Washington's residents refused to sell food to the ladies because they were considered vagrants," recalled the historical society's posting. "It was a popular opinion that a woman's place was in the home with her family. As a suffragist, Helga hoped to prove otherwise."

Repository reports success

Tom Haas, a researcher in the Ramsayer Research Library at Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum in Canton, found the Democrat's article about the Estbys.

Articles in The Evening Repository also came to light, and they focused on the end of the Estbys' journey, which initially was believed to have been a success.

In a brief article on Christmas Eve, a story datelined New York City, the Repository told its readers that Helga Estby and her daughter had "won their wager" by arriving in Manhattan the previous day.

"Mrs. H. Estby and her daughter, Clara, 19, completed the journey from Spokane, Wash., to this city at 1:30 p.m.," said the one-paragraph article.

Readers will recall that an arrival just before Christmas would be well beyond the mid-December deadline.

An article in the Repository published on Jan. 3, 1897, attempted to explain the delay.

"If any sickness befell either of them, the time consumed and lost was to be subtracted from the total time," the article noted, adding that "The last few days of the tramp were very trying, and the women began to feel the nervous strain. One man in New Jersey directed them 50 miles out of their direct course, which caused them to be caught in a snowstorm."

Nevertheless, the Estbys arrived at their destination before what they believed was their goal. Alas, although their quest was achieved, their reward was not received.

Helga and Clara were "shocked to learn that they would not get the $10,000," explained a posting at the website for historylink.org. "Possibly the sponsor (a New York woman) had not expected them to succeed and did not have the money to pay them. The facts are not known."

Losing the farm

To make matters worse, Helga and Clara, left stranded in New York, learned that two of Helga's other children had died of diphtheria during her cross-country journey.

"To most 1890s Americans, Helga's trip was reckless family abandonment and folly," said the historylink.org posting. "Now, destitute in New York, two days before Christmas, Helga and Clara had to figure out how to get home."

After other charitable options were exhausted, railroad magnate Chauncey Depew provided the means for their return to Washington. Depew gave them rail passes to Minneapolis, where Helga Estby told news reporters that she would earn the $10,000 from a New York publisher by writing a book about the cross-country walk.

Unfortunately, her travel journals were stolen or misplaced in New York City, the historylink posting said, and that book never was published.

The family farm was lost and after Helga and her daughter made it the rest of the way back to Washington, the Estbys moved to Spokane where Ole worked as a carpenter and Helga unsuccessfully attempted to write.

"With the travel journals gone, Helga and Clara's story had to be written from memory and Helga began her trip memoirs," said historylink.com. "But Estby family was unsupportive and upon Helga's death, a family member burned her writings."

Still, the story continues to live through family memories, old newspaper articles and books that have been written by others.

One of those books, "The Year We Were Famous: Helga and Clara Estby's Walk Across A Changing America," was written by Carole Estby Dagg, Helga's great-granddaughter. A novelization of Helga and Clara's walk, the book was based largely on the old newspaper articles published during the cross-country trip and captures the excitement that the journey by Helga and her daughter generated in such stops as Canton.

"In two hundred thirty-two days, they wore out thirty-two pairs of shoes, crossed mountains, deserts, and plains, and survived a highwayman attack, flash flood, blizzards, and days without food and water," notes a review of the volume at Amazon.com. "For a year, they were famous as they met governors and mayors, camped with Indians, and visited the new president-elect, William McKinley."

Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com. On Twitter: @gbrownREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: The Monday After: 'Walking women' stopped in Canton in 1896