This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Claire, Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/WMB.2ACE/4868 Message Board Post: The following article was published in a St. Louis newspaper in February of 1912. The Grand-Leader referred to in this article is the St. Louis department store which later became known as Stix, Baer and Fuller, one of the largest and most opulent department stores in St. Louis. GIRL ON RIDE TO EAST. Young Woman With Pony and Dog at Grand-Leader. Miss Alberta Claire, the girl from Wyoming, is a demonstration of health and huskiness, acquired from living in the open. She is telling crowds about it at the Grand-Leader this week. Miss Claire has made 6,800 miles on a pony from Sheridan, Wy. She is on her way to Buffalo. If Miss Claire gets to Buffalo by April 2 she will win a 3,800 acre ranch and $1,000. The easiest part of her jhourney is before her and she has time to throw away. She, her pony and dog are to be seen every day this week on the fifth floor of the Grand-Leader -- next to the nursery. Miss Clair measures one inch less than 5 feet, with energy enough to supply two women of normal height. She weighs 100 pounds. On her way here she experienced many hardships such as going long distances without water and food and being caught in the mountains at night without shelter. She had several narrow escapes, but was aided by mountaineers and lumbermen. Miss Claire was educated at Cheltan College, England. Her father was an American, her mother English. She talks well and interingly and is proving an attraction as a lecturer at the Grand-Leader. ====================================== Click Icon below to view photograph of Alberta Claire being greeted at finish line in Buffalo, New York at end of her 10,000 mile journey. (Note: If you're viewing this message via the mailing list, you'll have to click on link above and come to message board to view photo.)