The Casper Daily Tribune
Tuesday, February 7, 1922
Page 1 & 8
'Miracle Woman' Of Indian Fame Is Dead
Eighteen Great Grandchildren in City Survive Mrs. Mary Janes Fales, Who Came to This State in '60's.
Mrs. Mary Janes Fales, 84 years of age, endeared through her ministrations to pioneer families of this section of Wyoming and more affectionately known as "Old Mother Fales," has passed to the great beyond. The earthly remains of this kindly spirit are now lying in state at the Bowman mortuary so that hundreds of residents of Casper and this vicinity who knew her and loved her can pay their last respects before the body is interred at Highland cemetery.
One of the peculiarly high types of womanhood who followed the frontier as it mover (sic) ever westward, the woman to whom scores of pioneers are now paying tribute had one great function while history was in the making.
Having an inherent knowledge of medicine and having developed her talents in the great open places with the assistance of nature and without the specialized training of the present day, the pioneer woman nevertheless attained a reputation in the early days of having in her power never failing cure and a kindly spirit which enabled her to respond to the plea for assistance from the needy.
In the earlier days when the Indian was contesting the white men's right to the great open ranges of the west the pioneering spirit of this tiny woman took her among the Red men and in many places she was hailed as the miracle woman. Indians everywhere paid her homage because of the miraculous benefits which members of their tribes derived from her ministrations.
It is also chronicled that two Indian tribes, one of which was the Arapahoes and the other lost in history's making clashed over this lone woman, the Arapahoes having elected to defend her when her tiny cabin was beset with danger from the other tribe, a wandering outfit which chanced to come upon this habitat which was nothing other than the semblance of the hated white man.
Actual hostilities between the two Indian tribes was averted by the woman herself who acted as mediator of the trouble and demonstrated her power over the red man by having the homage of the two tribal chiefs when the pipe of peace was smoked.
She accomplished this result mainly by temporarily delaying the hostilities while she administered to one of the members of the tribe which beset her cabin, who was injured in the first outbreak of warlike tactics on the part of the Arapahoes.
This little history of pioneer Wyoming was enacted on the Rattlesnake mountains, which lie to the west and south of Casper.
At her tiny home 1117 North Howard street, Mrs. Fales maintained to the end the spirit of the pioneer. The home itself is located at the extremem northeast end of additions to Casper. The tiny hut is a replica of many homes in which she has lived throughout her lifetime and as through the years she is surrounded on all sides by members of her family.
In Casper there are three sons, 17 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren to mourn the loss of this woman. It is peculiar that she was "mother" to all of them. Her only other child, Mrs. Sarah Roberts lives at Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The children who survive Mrs. Fales have a total age of 230 years. They are Sam Redsaul, 65; Martin Ashcraft, 61; John H. Fales, 53; and Mrs. Roberts, 51.
Mrs. Fales whose maiden name was Mary Jane Boyle was married three times. Her first husband Sam Bedsaul senior died shortly before the outbreak of the civil war and shortly after their son Cam Jr. was born. Mrs. Bedsaul then married Jonathan Ashcraft in Indiana in 1860. To this marriage one son, Martin Ashcraft was born in 1861. Shortly after the father joined the Union colors and fought gallantly on the northern side until he was killed at Little Rock, Ark.
The widow then married John Fales, Sr., and with her two children then went to Omaha, Neb. This pioneer family arrived in Omaha when that thriving industrial center of today possessed one saw mill, a boarding house for saw mill employees and one tiny store which outfitted the bands headed west.
The Fales family then settled down at Omaha and nearby for a short time before again heading west. On arriving at Sidney, Neb., in the early '60s progress was temporarily stopped as the government army authorities at that point refused the family permission to continue its journey to the Black Hills until more frontier famillies were going that way.
It was while waiting at Sidney that Mrs. Fales first met Buffalo Bill, Johnny Baker and Rod Wolf, famous Indian scouts who were also waiting there at that time to escort the early settlers to the Black Hills.
After a short stay there Mother Fales and her family then journeyed to Cheyenne, Wyo., then a straggling hamlet which was just experiencing the beneifts of a railroad. This was not far enough on the frontier so the family continued it journey on to Laramie City and thence to Rawlins beyond the railroad at that time.
The call of the great open spaces persisted and Mrs. Fales, her husband and their family left the railroad line and traveled north into Wyoming, coming eventually to the Rattlesnake mountains where the Indian war was nearly enacted.
It was during their stay there, according to the children who survive that Mr. Fales first realized the potential mineral resources of the then territory of Wyoming and located in 1883 what is known today as the Iron Creek oil and gas field.
Mr. Fales died in 1895 near Iron Creek and he was buried with simple frontier ceremony by members of his family and other frontier families at a point near what is now Pathfinder dam.
Mother Fales then gathered her tiny brood, consisting of four children and herself passed through what is Casper today and went to Glenrock. At that time Glenrock's population consisted of the Will Imball, M. Farrell and Emery Mastorson families. J. O. Higgins came a little later and opened a tiny grocery store in what is known as Old Town.
Broken from the shock of burying three husbands, sons of the pioneer woman say that she pledged never to marry again and for the past 45 years has been a widow.
After a short residence to what is now Casper, and residence has been maintained in this vicinity ever since.
As the town continued to grow Mother Fales had an outlet for kindly ministrations and many Casper families today can verify her power with medicine and her ministrations as a mid-wife.
Old Mother Fales as she has been affectionately called for years, is said to have been the person who furnished the incentive for John F. Leeper then a cowpuncher, to become a physician. Dr. Leeper who died a few years ago attained the position of one of Casper's most prominent and successful physicians and surgeons prior to his death.
Up to an hour before her death Mrs. Fales had full use of all her senses, except her eyes which were injured years ago when she suffered from snow-blinding. Her passing was a marked contrast to the life of trouble and turmoil that she has lived.
Surrounded by many members of her family who noticed no difference in Mother Fales, the tiny woman asked her sons to turn her around last night so that she could watch them more easily. A short while later the boys went to her and found her dead.
None of the three boys who survive Mother Fales have ever been away from her for longer periods than three months. She has had the constant companionship of one or more of her sons and during the declining years of her life the boys have been with her constantly except for a period of three months, which she spent visiting her daughter at Idaho Falls last winter.
Other than her children and relatives here, Mrs. Fales is survived by one sister, Mrs. Isabel McIntosh of Omaha. Other relatives, including descendants of President Rutherford B. Hayes, who was a cousin of Mrs. Fales, survive her in all parts of the country.
Casper Herald no. 172
Wednesday, February 8, 1922
Page 1
Mrs. Mary J Fales, age 84, pioneer of Wyoming and Casper, died at her home, 1119 North Howard Street, at an early hour Tuesday morning of senility. She had lived her for nearly 60 years. She was one of the class of womanhood who came to Wyoming while it was still at territory.
Because of her practice of assisting and healing the needy, partly thru knowledge of medicine and also through her kindly spirit, she became known as "the healer". This ability to heal won her homage from Indians in this state.
In Casper, alone Mrs. Fales is survived by three sons, 17 grandchildren, and 18 great grandchildren. Mrs. Sarah Roberts, her only other child, lives at Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The four children who survive her are Mrs. Roberts, Sam Redsaul, Martin Ashcraft, and John H. Fales. Mrs. Fales had been married three times. Her maiden name was Mary Jane Bovie.
Her first husband died soon after the outbreak of the civil war. her second husband was killed at Little Rock, Ark., while fighting on the union side in the civil war. Her third husband died at Iron Creek, close to the location now known as an oil and gas field.
It was in the early "sixty's" that the Fales decided to come west. They stopped for a time at Sidney and then came on to Cheyenne, and finally up into the district near Casper. Following the death of Mr. Fales at Iron Springs, she went with her family to Glenrock, then a city of three families.
It is said that she urged John F. Leeper, then a cowboy, to become a physician. Mr. Leeper became one of the noted pioneer physicians of Casper and later was elected mayor of the city.
Her first husband was Sam Bedsaul, Sr. He is the father to Cam, Jr. Her second husband was Jonathan Ashcraft. They married in Indiana in 1860. He is the father of Martin Ashcraft who was born in 1861. She then married John Fales, Sr.
Laramie Republican no. 165
February 22, 1922
page 8
Miracle Woman of Indian Tribe Dies at Advanced Age
Casper, Wyo., Feb. 22 - With the death here recently of Mrs. Mary Jane Fales, the "Miracle Woman" of the Indians, passes a frontier character, because of which two Indian tribes met in battle. Mrs. Fales was named the "Miracle Woman", for her medical ministrations to the Indians when they were contesting, foot by foot, the White Man's right to the open ranges of the west. Yet these same Indians, who were the fear of the early pioneers paid Mrs. Fales, a frail, little woman, homage because of the miraculous benefits members of their tribes derived from her simple aid.
It is chronicled how two Indian tribes, one of which was the mighty Arapahoe, the other lost in history's making, clashed over this lone woman when the Arapahoes elected to defend her tiny cabin from the other tribes, a wandering crew, which chanced to sight it snuggled on the open prairie.
The hostilities were checked by Mrs. Fales herself, while she ministered to one of the wounded Indians.
Her power over the Red Man again was demonstrated when the tribal chiefs paid her homage over a pipe of peace.
On moving west in the early 60's the Fales family was halted at Sidney, Nebr., by military authorities until a sufficient number of families were gathered to insure safe passage through the Indian infested regions.
It was at Sidney that Mrs. Fales became acquainted with Buffalo Bill, Johnny Baker, and Red Wolf, famous Indian scouts, who acted as a guard for the prairie caravan when families had gathered and the perilous journey was started to the Black hills.
Here again did she make friends with the tribes of the hills, exerting a strange influence over them, which continued as the family moved to the struggling village of Cheyenne and north to the present site of Casper, where Mr. Fales died forty-five years ago.
Woman Who Helped Needy Passes Away
Mrs. Mary Fales, One Of State Pioneers, Succumbs
Tuesday, February 7, 1922
Page 1 & 8
'Miracle Woman' Of Indian Fame Is Dead
Eighteen Great Grandchildren in City Survive Mrs. Mary Janes Fales, Who Came to This State in '60's.
Mrs. Mary Janes Fales, 84 years of age, endeared through her ministrations to pioneer families of this section of Wyoming and more affectionately known as "Old Mother Fales," has passed to the great beyond. The earthly remains of this kindly spirit are now lying in state at the Bowman mortuary so that hundreds of residents of Casper and this vicinity who knew her and loved her can pay their last respects before the body is interred at Highland cemetery.
One of the peculiarly high types of womanhood who followed the frontier as it mover (sic) ever westward, the woman to whom scores of pioneers are now paying tribute had one great function while history was in the making.
Having an inherent knowledge of medicine and having developed her talents in the great open places with the assistance of nature and without the specialized training of the present day, the pioneer woman nevertheless attained a reputation in the early days of having in her power never failing cure and a kindly spirit which enabled her to respond to the plea for assistance from the needy.
In the earlier days when the Indian was contesting the white men's right to the great open ranges of the west the pioneering spirit of this tiny woman took her among the Red men and in many places she was hailed as the miracle woman. Indians everywhere paid her homage because of the miraculous benefits which members of their tribes derived from her ministrations.
It is also chronicled that two Indian tribes, one of which was the Arapahoes and the other lost in history's making clashed over this lone woman, the Arapahoes having elected to defend her when her tiny cabin was beset with danger from the other tribe, a wandering outfit which chanced to come upon this habitat which was nothing other than the semblance of the hated white man.
Actual hostilities between the two Indian tribes was averted by the woman herself who acted as mediator of the trouble and demonstrated her power over the red man by having the homage of the two tribal chiefs when the pipe of peace was smoked.
She accomplished this result mainly by temporarily delaying the hostilities while she administered to one of the members of the tribe which beset her cabin, who was injured in the first outbreak of warlike tactics on the part of the Arapahoes.
This little history of pioneer Wyoming was enacted on the Rattlesnake mountains, which lie to the west and south of Casper.
At her tiny home 1117 North Howard street, Mrs. Fales maintained to the end the spirit of the pioneer. The home itself is located at the extremem northeast end of additions to Casper. The tiny hut is a replica of many homes in which she has lived throughout her lifetime and as through the years she is surrounded on all sides by members of her family.
In Casper there are three sons, 17 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren to mourn the loss of this woman. It is peculiar that she was "mother" to all of them. Her only other child, Mrs. Sarah Roberts lives at Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The children who survive Mrs. Fales have a total age of 230 years. They are Sam Redsaul, 65; Martin Ashcraft, 61; John H. Fales, 53; and Mrs. Roberts, 51.
Mrs. Fales whose maiden name was Mary Jane Boyle was married three times. Her first husband Sam Bedsaul senior died shortly before the outbreak of the civil war and shortly after their son Cam Jr. was born. Mrs. Bedsaul then married Jonathan Ashcraft in Indiana in 1860. To this marriage one son, Martin Ashcraft was born in 1861. Shortly after the father joined the Union colors and fought gallantly on the northern side until he was killed at Little Rock, Ark.
The widow then married John Fales, Sr., and with her two children then went to Omaha, Neb. This pioneer family arrived in Omaha when that thriving industrial center of today possessed one saw mill, a boarding house for saw mill employees and one tiny store which outfitted the bands headed west.
The Fales family then settled down at Omaha and nearby for a short time before again heading west. On arriving at Sidney, Neb., in the early '60s progress was temporarily stopped as the government army authorities at that point refused the family permission to continue its journey to the Black Hills until more frontier famillies were going that way.
It was while waiting at Sidney that Mrs. Fales first met Buffalo Bill, Johnny Baker and Rod Wolf, famous Indian scouts who were also waiting there at that time to escort the early settlers to the Black Hills.
After a short stay there Mother Fales and her family then journeyed to Cheyenne, Wyo., then a straggling hamlet which was just experiencing the beneifts of a railroad. This was not far enough on the frontier so the family continued it journey on to Laramie City and thence to Rawlins beyond the railroad at that time.
The call of the great open spaces persisted and Mrs. Fales, her husband and their family left the railroad line and traveled north into Wyoming, coming eventually to the Rattlesnake mountains where the Indian war was nearly enacted.
It was during their stay there, according to the children who survive that Mr. Fales first realized the potential mineral resources of the then territory of Wyoming and located in 1883 what is known today as the Iron Creek oil and gas field.
Mr. Fales died in 1895 near Iron Creek and he was buried with simple frontier ceremony by members of his family and other frontier families at a point near what is now Pathfinder dam.
Mother Fales then gathered her tiny brood, consisting of four children and herself passed through what is Casper today and went to Glenrock. At that time Glenrock's population consisted of the Will Imball, M. Farrell and Emery Mastorson families. J. O. Higgins came a little later and opened a tiny grocery store in what is known as Old Town.
Broken from the shock of burying three husbands, sons of the pioneer woman say that she pledged never to marry again and for the past 45 years has been a widow.
After a short residence to what is now Casper, and residence has been maintained in this vicinity ever since.
As the town continued to grow Mother Fales had an outlet for kindly ministrations and many Casper families today can verify her power with medicine and her ministrations as a mid-wife.
Old Mother Fales as she has been affectionately called for years, is said to have been the person who furnished the incentive for John F. Leeper then a cowpuncher, to become a physician. Dr. Leeper who died a few years ago attained the position of one of Casper's most prominent and successful physicians and surgeons prior to his death.
Up to an hour before her death Mrs. Fales had full use of all her senses, except her eyes which were injured years ago when she suffered from snow-blinding. Her passing was a marked contrast to the life of trouble and turmoil that she has lived.
Surrounded by many members of her family who noticed no difference in Mother Fales, the tiny woman asked her sons to turn her around last night so that she could watch them more easily. A short while later the boys went to her and found her dead.
None of the three boys who survive Mother Fales have ever been away from her for longer periods than three months. She has had the constant companionship of one or more of her sons and during the declining years of her life the boys have been with her constantly except for a period of three months, which she spent visiting her daughter at Idaho Falls last winter.
Other than her children and relatives here, Mrs. Fales is survived by one sister, Mrs. Isabel McIntosh of Omaha. Other relatives, including descendants of President Rutherford B. Hayes, who was a cousin of Mrs. Fales, survive her in all parts of the country.
Casper Herald no. 172
Wednesday, February 8, 1922
Page 1
Mrs. Mary J Fales, age 84, pioneer of Wyoming and Casper, died at her home, 1119 North Howard Street, at an early hour Tuesday morning of senility. She had lived her for nearly 60 years. She was one of the class of womanhood who came to Wyoming while it was still at territory.
Because of her practice of assisting and healing the needy, partly thru knowledge of medicine and also through her kindly spirit, she became known as "the healer". This ability to heal won her homage from Indians in this state.
In Casper, alone Mrs. Fales is survived by three sons, 17 grandchildren, and 18 great grandchildren. Mrs. Sarah Roberts, her only other child, lives at Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The four children who survive her are Mrs. Roberts, Sam Redsaul, Martin Ashcraft, and John H. Fales. Mrs. Fales had been married three times. Her maiden name was Mary Jane Bovie.
Her first husband died soon after the outbreak of the civil war. her second husband was killed at Little Rock, Ark., while fighting on the union side in the civil war. Her third husband died at Iron Creek, close to the location now known as an oil and gas field.
It was in the early "sixty's" that the Fales decided to come west. They stopped for a time at Sidney and then came on to Cheyenne, and finally up into the district near Casper. Following the death of Mr. Fales at Iron Springs, she went with her family to Glenrock, then a city of three families.
It is said that she urged John F. Leeper, then a cowboy, to become a physician. Mr. Leeper became one of the noted pioneer physicians of Casper and later was elected mayor of the city.
Her first husband was Sam Bedsaul, Sr. He is the father to Cam, Jr. Her second husband was Jonathan Ashcraft. They married in Indiana in 1860. He is the father of Martin Ashcraft who was born in 1861. She then married John Fales, Sr.
Laramie Republican no. 165
February 22, 1922
page 8
Miracle Woman of Indian Tribe Dies at Advanced Age
Casper, Wyo., Feb. 22 - With the death here recently of Mrs. Mary Jane Fales, the "Miracle Woman" of the Indians, passes a frontier character, because of which two Indian tribes met in battle. Mrs. Fales was named the "Miracle Woman", for her medical ministrations to the Indians when they were contesting, foot by foot, the White Man's right to the open ranges of the west. Yet these same Indians, who were the fear of the early pioneers paid Mrs. Fales, a frail, little woman, homage because of the miraculous benefits members of their tribes derived from her simple aid.
It is chronicled how two Indian tribes, one of which was the mighty Arapahoe, the other lost in history's making, clashed over this lone woman when the Arapahoes elected to defend her tiny cabin from the other tribes, a wandering crew, which chanced to sight it snuggled on the open prairie.
The hostilities were checked by Mrs. Fales herself, while she ministered to one of the wounded Indians.
Her power over the Red Man again was demonstrated when the tribal chiefs paid her homage over a pipe of peace.
On moving west in the early 60's the Fales family was halted at Sidney, Nebr., by military authorities until a sufficient number of families were gathered to insure safe passage through the Indian infested regions.
It was at Sidney that Mrs. Fales became acquainted with Buffalo Bill, Johnny Baker, and Red Wolf, famous Indian scouts, who acted as a guard for the prairie caravan when families had gathered and the perilous journey was started to the Black hills.
Here again did she make friends with the tribes of the hills, exerting a strange influence over them, which continued as the family moved to the struggling village of Cheyenne and north to the present site of Casper, where Mr. Fales died forty-five years ago.
Woman Who Helped Needy Passes Away
Mrs. Mary Fales, One Of State Pioneers, Succumbs
The Casper Daily Tribune
Tuesday, February 7, 1922
Page 1 & 8
'Miracle Woman' Of Indian Fame Is Dead
Eighteen Great Grandchildren in City Survive Mrs. Mary Janes Fales, Who Came to This State in '60's.
Mrs. Mary Janes Fales, 84 years of age, endeared through her ministrations to pioneer families of this section of Wyoming and more affectionately known as "Old Mother Fales," has passed to the great beyond. The earthly remains of this kindly spirit are now lying in state at the Bowman mortuary so that hundreds of residents of Casper and this vicinity who knew her and loved her can pay their last respects before the body is interred at Highland cemetery.
One of the peculiarly high types of womanhood who followed the frontier as it mover (sic) ever westward, the woman to whom scores of pioneers are now paying tribute had one great function while history was in the making.
Having an inherent knowledge of medicine and having developed her talents in the great open places with the assistance of nature and without the specialized training of the present day, the pioneer woman nevertheless attained a reputation in the early days of having in her power never failing cure and a kindly spirit which enabled her to respond to the plea for assistance from the needy.
In the earlier days when the Indian was contesting the white men's right to the great open ranges of the west the pioneering spirit of this tiny woman took her among the Red men and in many places she was hailed as the miracle woman. Indians everywhere paid her homage because of the miraculous benefits which members of their tribes derived from her ministrations.
It is also chronicled that two Indian tribes, one of which was the Arapahoes and the other lost in history's making clashed over this lone woman, the Arapahoes having elected to defend her when her tiny cabin was beset with danger from the other tribe, a wandering outfit which chanced to come upon this habitat which was nothing other than the semblance of the hated white man.
Actual hostilities between the two Indian tribes was averted by the woman herself who acted as mediator of the trouble and demonstrated her power over the red man by having the homage of the two tribal chiefs when the pipe of peace was smoked.
She accomplished this result mainly by temporarily delaying the hostilities while she administered to one of the members of the tribe which beset her cabin, who was injured in the first outbreak of warlike tactics on the part of the Arapahoes.
This little history of pioneer Wyoming was enacted on the Rattlesnake mountains, which lie to the west and south of Casper.
At her tiny home 1117 North Howard street, Mrs. Fales maintained to the end the spirit of the pioneer. The home itself is located at the extremem northeast end of additions to Casper. The tiny hut is a replica of many homes in which she has lived throughout her lifetime and as through the years she is surrounded on all sides by members of her family.
In Casper there are three sons, 17 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren to mourn the loss of this woman. It is peculiar that she was "mother" to all of them. Her only other child, Mrs. Sarah Roberts lives at Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The children who survive Mrs. Fales have a total age of 230 years. They are Sam Redsaul, 65; Martin Ashcraft, 61; John H. Fales, 53; and Mrs. Roberts, 51.
Mrs. Fales whose maiden name was Mary Jane Boyle was married three times. Her first husband Sam Bedsaul senior died shortly before the outbreak of the civil war and shortly after their son Cam Jr. was born. Mrs. Bedsaul then married Jonathan Ashcraft in Indiana in 1860. To this marriage one son, Martin Ashcraft was born in 1861. Shortly after the father joined the Union colors and fought gallantly on the northern side until he was killed at Little Rock, Ark.
The widow then married John Fales, Sr., and with her two children then went to Omaha, Neb. This pioneer family arrived in Omaha when that thriving industrial center of today possessed one saw mill, a boarding house for saw mill employees and one tiny store which outfitted the bands headed west.
The Fales family then settled down at Omaha and nearby for a short time before again heading west. On arriving at Sidney, Neb., in the early '60s progress was temporarily stopped as the government army authorities at that point refused the family permission to continue its journey to the Black Hills until more frontier famillies were going that way.
It was while waiting at Sidney that Mrs. Fales first met Buffalo Bill, Johnny Baker and Rod Wolf, famous Indian scouts who were also waiting there at that time to escort the early settlers to the Black Hills.
After a short stay there Mother Fales and her family then journeyed to Cheyenne, Wyo., then a straggling hamlet which was just experiencing the beneifts of a railroad. This was not far enough on the frontier so the family continued it journey on to Laramie City and thence to Rawlins beyond the railroad at that time.
The call of the great open spaces persisted and Mrs. Fales, her husband and their family left the railroad line and traveled north into Wyoming, coming eventually to the Rattlesnake mountains where the Indian war was nearly enacted.
It was during their stay there, according to the children who survive that Mr. Fales first realized the potential mineral resources of the then territory of Wyoming and located in 1883 what is known today as the Iron Creek oil and gas field.
Mr. Fales died in 1895 near Iron Creek and he was buried with simple frontier ceremony by members of his family and other frontier families at a point near what is now Pathfinder dam.
Mother Fales then gathered her tiny brood, consisting of four children and herself passed through what is Casper today and went to Glenrock. At that time Glenrock's population consisted of the Will Imball, M. Farrell and Emery Mastorson families. J. O. Higgins came a little later and opened a tiny grocery store in what is known as Old Town.
Broken from the shock of burying three husbands, sons of the pioneer woman say that she pledged never to marry again and for the past 45 years has been a widow.
After a short residence to what is now Casper, and residence has been maintained in this vicinity ever since.
As the town continued to grow Mother Fales had an outlet for kindly ministrations and many Casper families today can verify her power with medicine and her ministrations as a mid-wife.
Old Mother Fales as she has been affectionately called for years, is said to have been the person who furnished the incentive for John F. Leeper then a cowpuncher, to become a physician. Dr. Leeper who died a few years ago attained the position of one of Casper's most prominent and successful physicians and surgeons prior to his death.
Up to an hour before her death Mrs. Fales had full use of all her senses, except her eyes which were injured years ago when she suffered from snow-blinding. Her passing was a marked contrast to the life of trouble and turmoil that she has lived.
Surrounded by many members of her family who noticed no difference in Mother Fales, the tiny woman asked her sons to turn her around last night so that she could watch them more easily. A short while later the boys went to her and found her dead.
None of the three boys who survive Mother Fales have ever been away from her for longer periods than three months. She has had the constant companionship of one or more of her sons and during the declining years of her life the boys have been with her constantly except for a period of three months, which she spent visiting her daughter at Idaho Falls last winter.
Other than her children and relatives here, Mrs. Fales is survived by one sister, Mrs. Isabel McIntosh of Omaha. Other relatives, including descendants of President Rutherford B. Hayes, who was a cousin of Mrs. Fales, survive her in all parts of the country.
Casper Herald no. 172
Wednesday, February 8, 1922
Page 1
Mrs. Mary J Fales, age 84, pioneer of Wyoming and Casper, died at her home, 1119 North Howard Street, at an early hour Tuesday morning of senility. She had lived her for nearly 60 years. She was one of the class of womanhood who came to Wyoming while it was still at territory.
Because of her practice of assisting and healing the needy, partly thru knowledge of medicine and also through her kindly spirit, she became known as "the healer". This ability to heal won her homage from Indians in this state.
In Casper, alone Mrs. Fales is survived by three sons, 17 grandchildren, and 18 great grandchildren. Mrs. Sarah Roberts, her only other child, lives at Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The four children who survive her are Mrs. Roberts, Sam Redsaul, Martin Ashcraft, and John H. Fales. Mrs. Fales had been married three times. Her maiden name was Mary Jane Bovie.
Her first husband died soon after the outbreak of the civil war. her second husband was killed at Little Rock, Ark., while fighting on the union side in the civil war. Her third husband died at Iron Creek, close to the location now known as an oil and gas field.
It was in the early "sixty's" that the Fales decided to come west. They stopped for a time at Sidney and then came on to Cheyenne, and finally up into the district near Casper. Following the death of Mr. Fales at Iron Springs, she went with her family to Glenrock, then a city of three families.
It is said that she urged John F. Leeper, then a cowboy, to become a physician. Mr. Leeper became one of the noted pioneer physicians of Casper and later was elected mayor of the city.
Her first husband was Sam Bedsaul, Sr. He is the father to Cam, Jr. Her second husband was Jonathan Ashcraft. They married in Indiana in 1860. He is the father of Martin Ashcraft who was born in 1861. She then married John Fales, Sr.
Laramie Republican no. 165
February 22, 1922
page 8
Miracle Woman of Indian Tribe Dies at Advanced Age
Casper, Wyo., Feb. 22 - With the death here recently of Mrs. Mary Jane Fales, the "Miracle Woman" of the Indians, passes a frontier character, because of which two Indian tribes met in battle. Mrs. Fales was named the "Miracle Woman", for her medical ministrations to the Indians when they were contesting, foot by foot, the White Man's right to the open ranges of the west. Yet these same Indians, who were the fear of the early pioneers paid Mrs. Fales, a frail, little woman, homage because of the miraculous benefits members of their tribes derived from her simple aid.
It is chronicled how two Indian tribes, one of which was the mighty Arapahoe, the other lost in history's making, clashed over this lone woman when the Arapahoes elected to defend her tiny cabin from the other tribes, a wandering crew, which chanced to sight it snuggled on the open prairie.
The hostilities were checked by Mrs. Fales herself, while she ministered to one of the wounded Indians.
Her power over the Red Man again was demonstrated when the tribal chiefs paid her homage over a pipe of peace.
On moving west in the early 60's the Fales family was halted at Sidney, Nebr., by military authorities until a sufficient number of families were gathered to insure safe passage through the Indian infested regions.
It was at Sidney that Mrs. Fales became acquainted with Buffalo Bill, Johnny Baker, and Red Wolf, famous Indian scouts, who acted as a guard for the prairie caravan when families had gathered and the perilous journey was started to the Black hills.
Here again did she make friends with the tribes of the hills, exerting a strange influence over them, which continued as the family moved to the struggling village of Cheyenne and north to the present site of Casper, where Mr. Fales died forty-five years ago.
Woman Who Helped Needy Passes Away
Mrs. Mary Fales, One Of State Pioneers, Succumbs
Tuesday, February 7, 1922
Page 1 & 8
'Miracle Woman' Of Indian Fame Is Dead
Eighteen Great Grandchildren in City Survive Mrs. Mary Janes Fales, Who Came to This State in '60's.
Mrs. Mary Janes Fales, 84 years of age, endeared through her ministrations to pioneer families of this section of Wyoming and more affectionately known as "Old Mother Fales," has passed to the great beyond. The earthly remains of this kindly spirit are now lying in state at the Bowman mortuary so that hundreds of residents of Casper and this vicinity who knew her and loved her can pay their last respects before the body is interred at Highland cemetery.
One of the peculiarly high types of womanhood who followed the frontier as it mover (sic) ever westward, the woman to whom scores of pioneers are now paying tribute had one great function while history was in the making.
Having an inherent knowledge of medicine and having developed her talents in the great open places with the assistance of nature and without the specialized training of the present day, the pioneer woman nevertheless attained a reputation in the early days of having in her power never failing cure and a kindly spirit which enabled her to respond to the plea for assistance from the needy.
In the earlier days when the Indian was contesting the white men's right to the great open ranges of the west the pioneering spirit of this tiny woman took her among the Red men and in many places she was hailed as the miracle woman. Indians everywhere paid her homage because of the miraculous benefits which members of their tribes derived from her ministrations.
It is also chronicled that two Indian tribes, one of which was the Arapahoes and the other lost in history's making clashed over this lone woman, the Arapahoes having elected to defend her when her tiny cabin was beset with danger from the other tribe, a wandering outfit which chanced to come upon this habitat which was nothing other than the semblance of the hated white man.
Actual hostilities between the two Indian tribes was averted by the woman herself who acted as mediator of the trouble and demonstrated her power over the red man by having the homage of the two tribal chiefs when the pipe of peace was smoked.
She accomplished this result mainly by temporarily delaying the hostilities while she administered to one of the members of the tribe which beset her cabin, who was injured in the first outbreak of warlike tactics on the part of the Arapahoes.
This little history of pioneer Wyoming was enacted on the Rattlesnake mountains, which lie to the west and south of Casper.
At her tiny home 1117 North Howard street, Mrs. Fales maintained to the end the spirit of the pioneer. The home itself is located at the extremem northeast end of additions to Casper. The tiny hut is a replica of many homes in which she has lived throughout her lifetime and as through the years she is surrounded on all sides by members of her family.
In Casper there are three sons, 17 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren to mourn the loss of this woman. It is peculiar that she was "mother" to all of them. Her only other child, Mrs. Sarah Roberts lives at Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The children who survive Mrs. Fales have a total age of 230 years. They are Sam Redsaul, 65; Martin Ashcraft, 61; John H. Fales, 53; and Mrs. Roberts, 51.
Mrs. Fales whose maiden name was Mary Jane Boyle was married three times. Her first husband Sam Bedsaul senior died shortly before the outbreak of the civil war and shortly after their son Cam Jr. was born. Mrs. Bedsaul then married Jonathan Ashcraft in Indiana in 1860. To this marriage one son, Martin Ashcraft was born in 1861. Shortly after the father joined the Union colors and fought gallantly on the northern side until he was killed at Little Rock, Ark.
The widow then married John Fales, Sr., and with her two children then went to Omaha, Neb. This pioneer family arrived in Omaha when that thriving industrial center of today possessed one saw mill, a boarding house for saw mill employees and one tiny store which outfitted the bands headed west.
The Fales family then settled down at Omaha and nearby for a short time before again heading west. On arriving at Sidney, Neb., in the early '60s progress was temporarily stopped as the government army authorities at that point refused the family permission to continue its journey to the Black Hills until more frontier famillies were going that way.
It was while waiting at Sidney that Mrs. Fales first met Buffalo Bill, Johnny Baker and Rod Wolf, famous Indian scouts who were also waiting there at that time to escort the early settlers to the Black Hills.
After a short stay there Mother Fales and her family then journeyed to Cheyenne, Wyo., then a straggling hamlet which was just experiencing the beneifts of a railroad. This was not far enough on the frontier so the family continued it journey on to Laramie City and thence to Rawlins beyond the railroad at that time.
The call of the great open spaces persisted and Mrs. Fales, her husband and their family left the railroad line and traveled north into Wyoming, coming eventually to the Rattlesnake mountains where the Indian war was nearly enacted.
It was during their stay there, according to the children who survive that Mr. Fales first realized the potential mineral resources of the then territory of Wyoming and located in 1883 what is known today as the Iron Creek oil and gas field.
Mr. Fales died in 1895 near Iron Creek and he was buried with simple frontier ceremony by members of his family and other frontier families at a point near what is now Pathfinder dam.
Mother Fales then gathered her tiny brood, consisting of four children and herself passed through what is Casper today and went to Glenrock. At that time Glenrock's population consisted of the Will Imball, M. Farrell and Emery Mastorson families. J. O. Higgins came a little later and opened a tiny grocery store in what is known as Old Town.
Broken from the shock of burying three husbands, sons of the pioneer woman say that she pledged never to marry again and for the past 45 years has been a widow.
After a short residence to what is now Casper, and residence has been maintained in this vicinity ever since.
As the town continued to grow Mother Fales had an outlet for kindly ministrations and many Casper families today can verify her power with medicine and her ministrations as a mid-wife.
Old Mother Fales as she has been affectionately called for years, is said to have been the person who furnished the incentive for John F. Leeper then a cowpuncher, to become a physician. Dr. Leeper who died a few years ago attained the position of one of Casper's most prominent and successful physicians and surgeons prior to his death.
Up to an hour before her death Mrs. Fales had full use of all her senses, except her eyes which were injured years ago when she suffered from snow-blinding. Her passing was a marked contrast to the life of trouble and turmoil that she has lived.
Surrounded by many members of her family who noticed no difference in Mother Fales, the tiny woman asked her sons to turn her around last night so that she could watch them more easily. A short while later the boys went to her and found her dead.
None of the three boys who survive Mother Fales have ever been away from her for longer periods than three months. She has had the constant companionship of one or more of her sons and during the declining years of her life the boys have been with her constantly except for a period of three months, which she spent visiting her daughter at Idaho Falls last winter.
Other than her children and relatives here, Mrs. Fales is survived by one sister, Mrs. Isabel McIntosh of Omaha. Other relatives, including descendants of President Rutherford B. Hayes, who was a cousin of Mrs. Fales, survive her in all parts of the country.
Casper Herald no. 172
Wednesday, February 8, 1922
Page 1
Mrs. Mary J Fales, age 84, pioneer of Wyoming and Casper, died at her home, 1119 North Howard Street, at an early hour Tuesday morning of senility. She had lived her for nearly 60 years. She was one of the class of womanhood who came to Wyoming while it was still at territory.
Because of her practice of assisting and healing the needy, partly thru knowledge of medicine and also through her kindly spirit, she became known as "the healer". This ability to heal won her homage from Indians in this state.
In Casper, alone Mrs. Fales is survived by three sons, 17 grandchildren, and 18 great grandchildren. Mrs. Sarah Roberts, her only other child, lives at Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The four children who survive her are Mrs. Roberts, Sam Redsaul, Martin Ashcraft, and John H. Fales. Mrs. Fales had been married three times. Her maiden name was Mary Jane Bovie.
Her first husband died soon after the outbreak of the civil war. her second husband was killed at Little Rock, Ark., while fighting on the union side in the civil war. Her third husband died at Iron Creek, close to the location now known as an oil and gas field.
It was in the early "sixty's" that the Fales decided to come west. They stopped for a time at Sidney and then came on to Cheyenne, and finally up into the district near Casper. Following the death of Mr. Fales at Iron Springs, she went with her family to Glenrock, then a city of three families.
It is said that she urged John F. Leeper, then a cowboy, to become a physician. Mr. Leeper became one of the noted pioneer physicians of Casper and later was elected mayor of the city.
Her first husband was Sam Bedsaul, Sr. He is the father to Cam, Jr. Her second husband was Jonathan Ashcraft. They married in Indiana in 1860. He is the father of Martin Ashcraft who was born in 1861. She then married John Fales, Sr.
Laramie Republican no. 165
February 22, 1922
page 8
Miracle Woman of Indian Tribe Dies at Advanced Age
Casper, Wyo., Feb. 22 - With the death here recently of Mrs. Mary Jane Fales, the "Miracle Woman" of the Indians, passes a frontier character, because of which two Indian tribes met in battle. Mrs. Fales was named the "Miracle Woman", for her medical ministrations to the Indians when they were contesting, foot by foot, the White Man's right to the open ranges of the west. Yet these same Indians, who were the fear of the early pioneers paid Mrs. Fales, a frail, little woman, homage because of the miraculous benefits members of their tribes derived from her simple aid.
It is chronicled how two Indian tribes, one of which was the mighty Arapahoe, the other lost in history's making, clashed over this lone woman when the Arapahoes elected to defend her tiny cabin from the other tribes, a wandering crew, which chanced to sight it snuggled on the open prairie.
The hostilities were checked by Mrs. Fales herself, while she ministered to one of the wounded Indians.
Her power over the Red Man again was demonstrated when the tribal chiefs paid her homage over a pipe of peace.
On moving west in the early 60's the Fales family was halted at Sidney, Nebr., by military authorities until a sufficient number of families were gathered to insure safe passage through the Indian infested regions.
It was at Sidney that Mrs. Fales became acquainted with Buffalo Bill, Johnny Baker, and Red Wolf, famous Indian scouts, who acted as a guard for the prairie caravan when families had gathered and the perilous journey was started to the Black hills.
Here again did she make friends with the tribes of the hills, exerting a strange influence over them, which continued as the family moved to the struggling village of Cheyenne and north to the present site of Casper, where Mr. Fales died forty-five years ago.
Woman Who Helped Needy Passes Away
Mrs. Mary Fales, One Of State Pioneers, Succumbs
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