Elsa Jane Forest Guerin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elsa Jane Forest Guerin
|
|
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Mountain Charley |
| Occupation | Cabin boy, brakeman, trader, saloon owner, spy |
| Years active | Mid-nineteenth-century |
| Spouse(s) |
H. L. Guerin
(m. 1860) |
| Children | 2 |
| Military career | |
| Nickname(s) | Charles Hatfield |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service | Union Army |
| Rank | First lieutenant |
| War | American Civil War |
Elsa Jane Forest Guerin, known as Mountain Charley, was an amazing woman who lived most of her life dressed as a man. She explored the American frontier and even fought in the American Civil War.
She first started dressing as a man to find jobs and travel west. Guerin joined the army during the Civil War and became a first lieutenant because of her brave actions. She wrote a book about her life called Mountain Charley: Or, The adventures of Mrs. E. J. Guerin, who was thirteen years in male attire. Some people wonder if her story is completely true, which makes her even more mysterious!
Contents
Her Early Life and Big Changes
When Elsa Jane was five years old, she went to school in New Orleans. We don't know much about her very early years. In her book, she wrote that she got married at age twelve. By the time she was fifteen, she had two children.
Sadly, her husband died unexpectedly. After this, Guerin left her children with the Sisters of Mercy. She decided to dress as a man to find work and support herself. She would visit her children once a month, dressed as a woman. For her job, she worked as a cabin attendant on a steamer boat that traveled between St. Louis and New Orleans.
Adventures in the Wild West
In the 1850s, Elsa Jane traveled to the Sacramento Valley in California. She was looking for the person responsible for her husband's death. She tried to mine for gold, but she wrote that she wasn't strong enough for that kind of work.
So, she opened a business that was a popular gathering place. She later bought a ranch called Shasta. Guerin also worked as a cabin boy, a brakeman on a train, and a trader for a fur company.
Two years later, Guerin was in Colorado. There, she ran a bar and a bakery. Her business was called the Mountain Boy's Saloon. While in Colorado, she found the person she had been looking for. They had a dangerous encounter, and both were injured. Around 1860, she married H. L. Guerin, who worked with her at the bar.
Serving in the Civil War
The next year, Guerin moved to St. Joseph, Missouri. This is where she wrote her life story, Mountain Charley: Or, The adventures of Mrs. E. J. Guerin, who was thirteen years in male attire. The book was first published in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1861.
After writing her book, she joined the Union Army during the Civil War. She used the name "Charles Hatfield" and served in Iowa. She even acted as a spy for the Union Army, sometimes dressing in women's clothing to gather information from the Confederate forces. Because of her bravery and service, she was promoted to first lieutenant.
See also
