She Rode The Rails

She Rode The Rails is based on the life of traveling photographer Mrs. Mary Jane Wyatt, a contemporary of J. B Silvis of the Union Pacific Railroad and pioneer photographer, Solomon Butcher. She owned and operated a traveling photograph car on a Nebraska railroad in the late 1800s. She ran studios in Roseville, IL, and in Nebraska towns for over three decades. Mary Jane took many portraits of early pioneers and western landscapes, some of which are included in this book and published for the first time. The story unfolds as her son, Charles Sears, remembers her life. He recalls how Mary Jane began as an unwed mother working as a lowly housemaid in Ohio to become a successful traveling photographer in Nebraska. With the support of her husband, sheriff and Burlington Missouri River RR engineer, Andrew A. Wyatt, she overcame many obstacles and operated several galleries in a time when women were expected to stay home. The author seems to have done meticulous research about Mary Jane and the time period in which she lived. The information about photography and trains is quite interesting, as is the background on real hardships Union soldiers experienced during the Civil War. This book will find its place in our national memory. Midwest Review.