Florence Nightingale is known the world over as the Mother of modern-day nursing. With her small band of ladies, she went to Russia to take care of wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War in the mid 1800s. But Florence Nightingale wasn't the only such person. America had a similar heroine at about the same time.

    In the 1800s, the West was being developed and settlers were setting up townships and homesteads. Medicine and medical care was scarce, and the nearest doctor might be several days ride away. When a smallpox outbreak occurred in a small mining town in Idaho, all the townspeople could do was to isolate the victims and send word for a doctor.

    The seven miners were sent to an abandoned cabin above Dry Gulch, just outside the town. When the doctor arrived a few days later, he found a woman there, too. She said her name was Jane and that she would stay there to cook and look after the men. The doctor warned her of the danger but she said she would take her chances.

    And she did care for them with what little medicine was available at the time, calling down to the miners below for supplies and hauling them up on a rope. When one of the sick men died, she had those below dig a grave, then dragged the corpse down herself and buried him. Eventually, the crisis passed and four of the seven men were still alive, and the doctor credited Jane with saving them.

    Of course, Jane was remembered in that little mining town. But, as the years went by, in other places, other catastrophes occurred. This woman, Jane, kept appearing whenever help was needed, whether it was to help flood victims, to care for the sick, or minister to people affected by some other disaster. In time, her name came to be associated with these events, for whenever trouble occurred, Jane would be there, to help and give of herself so unselfishly.