"别以为我任性": 诺拉 Saltonstall in the First World War

诺拉 Saltonstall was born in 1894 in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, a daughter of Richard M. 和埃莉诺·布鲁克斯·索尔顿斯托尔. She grew up in a family that traced its origins back to the founding of New Engl和, but also had a strong tradition of public service: her older brother Leverett later would be elected governor 和 a United States senator. 诺拉 attended the Winsor School in Boston 和 Miss Ferris's School in Paris. 她是波士顿的名媛, but also an athlete 和 enthusiastic participant in outdoor activities—a rider 和 sailor who also loved fishing.

1914年第一次世界大战爆发时, 诺拉 Saltonstall started to participate in war preparedness activities 和 in October 1917 she went back to France as a Red Cross volunteer. 她在巴黎帮助了几个月的难民, but quickly sought service in a more active role closer to the front. 1918年1月, she explained her reasons for transferring to the Red Cross staff of a French mobile surgical hospital in a letter to her family, where she had to balance her desire for more important 和 fulfilling service with the natural concern of her family, 尤其是她的父亲, 为了她的安全:

别以为我任性 & seeking excitement; I'm not, but I have been hunting for a job which is real work & 哪个是直接帮助, 即使这只是沧海一粟, 直到战争的最后结束. 我有必要的身体素质，年轻人 & strong & 未婚, & 在战争时期，我们不要胆怯，不要担心，我们都要勇往直前 & 抓住机会.

在接下来的十个月里, 做司机和机械师, 她见过很多现役军人, 和 1918年11月获得十字勋章 for evacuating civilians under fire during the last great German offensive earlier that year. The bronze star affixed to the ribbon of her medal indicates that she was mentioned in dispatches. 1919年3月, 当她回到美国时, 诺拉 Saltonstall resumed the active social 和 outdoor life that she had left behind, 和 in June she travelled west to join a friend Katherine Thayer Russell 和 her teenage son Harry on an auto tour of western national parks: from Yosemite north to Crater Lake 和 the Pacific Northwest, 然后向东到达冰川国家公园, 黄石公园, 和杰克逊霍尔. 诺拉 和 her companions intended to complete their trip by driving back across the United States.

“最好的是火山口湖”

诺拉 Saltonstall's trip was part of an "automotive invasion of the West" by a new generation of tourists that had begun as early as 1901, 早期的汽车被禁止进入约塞米蒂公园. Car travel soon changed the character of visits to national parks 和 scenic locations. Although by 1919 诺拉 Saltonstall was a very experienced driver 和 auto mechanic, the Pierce-Arrow sedan in which she 和 her friends travelled was a chauffeur-driven "camper" with tent extensions that extended from both sides of the car. Everyone (the party included Harry Thayer's tutor) pitched in with the cooking 和 chores 和 the trip became an idyllic progress from—perhaps for 诺拉's benefit—one prime fishing location to another:

过去的几天几乎是最美好的. If you look on a map of Oregon you will see Rogue River which we have camped on several times. It is quite renowned for its fishing, runs rapidly mostly through forest & 非常漂亮. 你知道你在西部看到的钓鱼的照片, 大松树环绕着宽阔的河流, 好吧, 这正是我们一直在享受的事情. 然而，最好的是火山口湖. I am surprised that you don't hear more about it in the East because it is much more extraordinary & 比优胜美地还要神奇. It is 7000 feet in altitude, a lake, the crater of a mountain about 6 miles wide & 近乎完美的圆形.

At Crater Lake, even though it was July, 诺拉 struggled across snowfields to fish 和 被拍到骄傲地抱着她的猎物他写道:“我从来没有享受过比这更多的3个小时。”. 

诺拉 Saltonstall's trip took an unhappy turn just as the travelers left Crater Lake. 当他们到达波特兰时, young Harry Thayer had been feeling "seedy" for more than a week 和 a blood test indicated that he had contracted typhoid fever. Harry's mother 和 诺拉 expected to have to wait through a long period of Harry's convalescence, 所以他们取消了剩下的行程. 在哈利慢慢恢复的时候，他留在波特兰, 很明显，诺拉也感染了伤寒. Although her parents were able to reach her side, she died there on 2 August 1919. 她当时24岁.