Etta P page 1

Etta P page 1 by ric gustafson


Etta looked out the window of the parlor car at the rocky walls of the Little Cliffs. She had just woken up from a long nap because of the long train ride. From Chicago, the train window showed her a Missouri prairie and the plains of Kansas.
She was impressed with the El Capitan even though it was only a parlor car seat. Her employer, the Fred Harvey Company rented this train from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The year was 1898 and the town of Grand Junction Colorado had only been in existence for sixteen years. The train was full of girls like herself who were going to Grand Junction to start a new chapter in their lives. Their new job was to run the Harvey House and be a Harvey Girl.
After several months of serving meals to patrons, she was starting to feel comfortable in her new job. Etta and her friend Laura Bullion shared a room together and enjoyed each other's company.
On May 29 1899, someone attempted to rape Etta. She resisted and tried to get on her horse to get away. The man pulled a revolver and tried to shoot her. Etta reacted by taking her Winchester 73 rifle out of her saddle holster and shot him dead.
The man Etta murdered was Earl Charmichael Dixon and he was a Grand Junction mining heir.
Etta Place was believed to be the first woman in Grand Junction to be charged with first degree murder.


research help: ' Etta' by Gerald Kolpan


Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric