Spouse W. F. Harvey. Born in Vermont July 1864. Married about 1897.

Mrs. Myrtle Harvey—Clark

Mrs. Myrtle Harvey was the epitome of the familiar phrase
from Pony Express days that "rain or shine, the mail must go
through". For more than 33 years she was a rural mail carrier who went through weather and roads that would have stopped others.

When she wrote the Civil Service examination to qualify for
the position of rural carrier she was warned that her chances of getting on were slim, as preference would always be given to men applicants. She had previously substituted for her husband and when Tom Dean, another rural carrier, resigned, there were no mail applicants who qualified, so Mrs. Harvey got the job.

She had a 30-mile route across angling prairie trails which
was extended to 63 miles before she retired. With horses hitched to a small mail wagon—it was put on sled runners for winter—it was an all-day task. If she made unusually good time she would be home by five, but most often she would arrive home long after dark. The horses had to be changed halfway through the route at which time she would have the lunch that she had brought with her.

The mail wagon was a box-like affair about the size of a
telephone booth cut off. A thermos of hot coffee and a charcoal foot warmer were the only comforts. Breaking roads in the winter was a nightmare. One New Year's Day the roads were blocked and her horses were floundering in a drift with the wagon almost buried. She climbed out through the front window of her rig past the hooves of the plunging horses, clambered up onto the back of one horse after
unhitching them, and rode to the nearest farmhouse where she
borrowed a hayrack on sled runners, hitched up her team and
took the mail through.

Mrs. Harvey usually drove broncos because they were wiry
and tough, but they were also tough to handle and she had
runaways. They would become so accustomed to the route that
they would stop of their own accord at every mailbox—also at
every post where formerly there had been a mailbox.
If the roads were extremely bad, neighbors would gather to
shovel a way through or break a path with teams and bobsleds.

She served under four postmasters: O.H. LaCraft, Homer
Brown, A.H. Seim, and George Brown. When she had her babies
she was given a two-week leave of absence and then she would
be back on the route again with the new baby in a clothes basket in front of the mail wagon. The doctor told her that if she could stand it, the babies could and they thrived on the sunshine and fresh air. On Sundays they would refuse to take naps until they were put outside in the fresh air—sometimes Mrs. Harvey would have to hitch up and drive around the block.

There were 10 children in her family—Ralph E. joined the
lyceum and chautauqua circuit before he settled down to the life of a merchant in Bremerton, Washington; James Francis
(Frank) was an electrical engineer in Wichita, Kansas; Percy
and Harland; Montel and Howard of Clark; Eileen (Hubbard)
became a photographer in Shawnee, Oklahoma; Elloa (Saari)
an optometrist in Hibbing; Eleanor (Hoffman), a teacher in
Vancouver.

In 1914 the rural carriers switched to automobiles, but this
was really no treat as the early cars had problems and it was a constant effort to keep them running, so it was almost with relief that they would switch to horses again in the winters.

Mrs. Harvey drove 325,000 miles and never had an accident.
Each of the babies who were born after she started the route
averaged about 8,000 miles during their first year of life.
In 1947 she was honored by the "Sioux City Journal-Tribune"
being named for the first Woman of Achievement Award
presented by that paper. Each year following she was also
honored when other Women of Achievement were named. At
their presentation ceremony, she was called the "Madonna of
the Mails".

Taken from the Clark County Centennial History Book 1881-1981. The book is not copyrighted.