The Commodore's Mine

Penelope is a sophisticated socialite from Philadelphia who inherited her uncle's mine in Montana. Montana's government was almost none existent and what did exist at the time was pretty much infested with men who fashioned laws to deprive the unwary of their possessions. This historically accurate novel depicts the trials and tribulations of the time period when the smell of gold nurtured the greed of worthless individuals who gambled on the isolation and inaccessibility of the area to wield their particular brand of tyranny upon individuals whose only wish was to prosper in peace. Penelope Highbridge had all the answers, or so she thought. Her uncle passed away unexpectedly and she inherited his mine. All she had to do was to go out to this place they call Montana and take possession of it. That was a simple enough task. It should be rather simple for one who is on the Board of Directors of one of the world's largest shipbuilding companies. Little did Penelope know she is about to immerse herself into a world where everything is completely different than the life she was used to. Where rules change almost hourly and you either adapt or you die. She is going into a land which is inhabited by hostile Indians, hostile white men, hostile and corrupt government officials, hostile weather and wild animals. This strange land is a land where only true justice can be attained through the barrel of a gun. The question is can she adapt quick enough? Some people have returned from this strange land rich. Some people returned penniless and with their spirit broken. And then some people never returned at all. Which one was she going to be? This 77,280 word saga chronicles the adventures of Miss Penelope Highbridge in the year of 1869. About a month after the Golden Spike was driven. It starts out aboard a steamboat on the Missouri River above Decatur, Nebraska and winds up in Virginia City, Montana Territory. It also chronicles the transformation of a spoiled highly sophisticated elite woman from Philadelphia to one who could hold her own on any frontier and yet keep her femininity.