The 1859 gold rush to Colorado is on! "Pike's Peak or bust!" was the saying of many a fortune hunter who headed out west, but what about those left behind? In this episode, passages from a newly married woman's diary are read, and we discuss some aspects of the gold rush itself. Mira missed her husband Ziba dearly and she wrote down her deepest thoughts. Imagine today having to wait months to learn about a loved one's situation, or possibly hearing nothing at all until they returned. There were physical and emotional hardships on both ends during a time when many people died separated from each other.

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Please go to: https://diarydiscoveries.com to see episode photos and read our blog. Thank You.

"Holy Jumpers", an Immigrant girl named Olga, and a shootout between a "revenue posse" and a moonshining family in the hills of Kentucky, all of which have a connection to Effie Waller Smith, the teacher and poet from our last episode. Sally's favorite Diary was written by Olga, and in this episode we explore the connective threads from Effie to Olga in the Metropolitan Holiness Church and then Effie's connection to the shootout. You will hear a "colorfully" written newspaper article read by us with a little "extra" added because this article simply demanded more from us-- for you!

Fiddle music by Charlie Smith, from Arkansas. Recorded on the street in Salida, Co

Shotgun, rifle, and pistol sound effects from: Free Sounds Library www.freesoundslibrary.com and Sound Effects + www.soundeffectsplus.com

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Please go to: https://diarydiscoveries.com to see episode photos and read our blog. Thank You.

Two women born the same year-1879, both given the same first name, both poets, and living only 150 miles apart. One was a black woman, the other, a white woman. Both eventually were known as Effie Smith. What are the odds? In this episode, we uncover the fact that one writer's work has been credited to the other. Sally aquired a 1906 diary and two journal like composition books filled with short stories, essays, and poems. The author's name was not in any of the three manuscripts but when Sally read the diary and used the clues within, she discovered the author's name; Effie Smith! But which Effie? Listen and you will find out. We would like to thank writer/poet Leatha Kendrick for her scholarly work on this subject and the time she gave us in our interview.

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Please go to: https://diarydiscoveries.com to see episode photos and read our blog. Thank You.