Three days of riding through a January landscape in the Blue Mountain region: snow-covered ground, freezing temperatures, the terrain broken and difficult, the horse loaded with children and supplies.

There was no cleared trail.

There were no other travelers, no emergency supplies, no shelters.

Navigation depended on her knowledge of the country and her ability to read the landscape.

At the end of three days, she arrived at Pierre’s camp.

He was dead.

The sources indicate that the attack had already occurred.

The Legends of America account, drawing on period sources, describes her reaching the cabin and finding Pierre inside, dead.