Left: My husband Allen and I standing on what used to be the main street of Last Chance, CA. Taken summer 2008.

Right: Four old fence posts in the formation of a corral. Very possibly the location of the blacksmith shop. Square nail heads show these posts date to the time of my book, pre-1890s. 

Left:  The remains of the Last Chance cemetery, where Ethan Allen Grosch is buried.

Right:  Last Chance hotel. The upstairs could only be accessed by a ladder on the outside of the building. Mostly unmarried miners used the large room. This building fronted Main Street.

Left:  Meadow where the spring is located and where the apple orchard used to be. About 10 yrs ago (or so) vandals cut down the 150-year-old trees.  

Right:  The canyon country the mule teams had to traverse to get to Last Chance; the elevation changes 3,000&ndash5,000 feet in this section.

We live less than an hour from the old town site of Bridal Veil, and we spent a couple of hours with a local historian who gave us a tour of what used to be Bridal Veil and the old mill/town site of Palmer. Very little still exists—just the railroad tracks, a small post office (not there during the time of the book), and a church. All the historic houses and businesses were torn down by a nature preservation group who purchsed the twenty-acre parcel of land where the town used to be. 

Two different views of Bridal Veil Falls taken from the base, rather than the top, where most tourists go. 

On the left: The stream where Margaret sat when she needed to think

Right:  Tom (the local historian) and I in front of the second smallest (in use) PO in the United States. The post mistress hand stamps thousands of wedding invitations per year that are sent to her to receive a special Bridal Veil post mark. 

Left: The Golden Eagle Brewery, later called the Crystal Palace and featured in my new book.

Right: Stage coach on Allen Street, the original main street in Tombstone and still much as it was at the turn of the century.

Left: The Oriental Saloon. After a fire in 1882, the building was rebuilt from two stories to one. It was a two-story at the time of my book.

Right: The Tombstone Epitaph, a newspaper dating back to 1880 and still in business today. 

Left:  Looking down Allen Street on the left side

Right:  Looking down Allen Street on the right side

Left:  St. Paul's Episcopal Church was finished and in use toward the end of 1881.

Right:  City Hall, in use during the time of my book in 1881. Ground floor is the fire department.

Left: Yes, there really IS a Toughnut Street! The other sign points to the Good Enough mine.

Right: Nellie Cashman's Russ House (boarding house/restaurant) where Nevada stays.