The Wild Woman Philanthropist & Angel of the Mining Camps

By Jacqui Nelson

In mining camps—where gold fever and greed ran rampant—an angel appeared. Meet the wild woman philanthropist who used her business sense, her strong work ethic, and her unstoppable determination to earn money for charitable causes and save lives.

Ellen “Nellie” Cashman

~ Aka the Angel of the Mining Camps ~

( born 1845 in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland ) 

 Nellie Cashman
San Francisco - 1874

Nellie was a businesswoman, boardinghouse owner, restaurateur, nurse, gold prospector, and philanthropist who also became known nationally as a frontierswoman.

In 1850, Nellie’s mother brought her and her sister to the United States to escape the poverty of Ireland’s Great Famine. As an adolescent, Nellie worked as a bellhop in a Boston hotel.

In 1865, her family moved to San Francisco.

In 1874, she struck out on her own and set up a boardinghouse for miners at Telegraph Creek, British Columbia, Canada. She asked for donations for the Sisters of St. Ann’s St. Joseph’s Hospital in return for the services at her boardinghouse.

Sisters of St. Ann, British Columbia, Canada

While delivering a $500 donation to the Sisters of St. Ann (in Victoria, British Columbia), she heard that miners had been stranded by a snowstorm and were starving in the Cassiar Mountains. She led a rescue party that hauled 1,500 pounds of food and supplies. It took 77 days to find the miners but her efforts saved 75 souls.

Cassiar Gold Rush, British Columbia 

In 1880, she moved to Tombstone, Arizona, where she raised money to build the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, did charitable work, and became a nurse. In 1883 when her sister died, she assumed the role of raising her five nieces and nephews.

In the late 1880s, she set up several restaurants and boardinghouses in Arizona. Legend says that a client once complained about Nellie's cooking. Fellow diner Doc Holliday drew his pistol and told the customer to repeat what he'd said. The man replied, "Best I ever ate."

Nellie Cashman

From 1898 to 1905, Nellie took up prospecting in the Yukon’s Klondike Gold Rush. She also opened a store in Dawson Creek. She used her earnings to help fund a new hospital in Fairbanks.

In 1925 when Nellie developed pneumonia, friends took her to the Sisters of St. Ann and the hospital that she’d raised donations to help build half a century earlier. When she died, she was buried in Victoria's Ross Bay Cemetery.

St. Joseph's Hospital, Victoria - past

St. Joseph's Hospital, Victoria - present (June 2019)

Nellie Cashman - 1924, Arizona Historical Society

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I live only a 5-minute walk from St. Joseph's hospital (which is now an apartment for seniors). On the other side of the street is the Sisters of St. Ann's Academy and Orchard (which still has its apple trees but is also a lovely public park). I walk along this footpath worn into the field every time I go to visit my sister and nephew.

St. Ann's Academy and Orchard, Victoria - June 2019

Only a few weeks ago I sat on the steps of Victoria's Parliament Building alongside Danni Roan (my fellow Cowboy Kisses blogger) and listened to Nellie Cashman and Queen Victoria reenactors talk about their part in British Columbia's history.

Nellie Cashman & Queen Victoria reenactors - June 2019

It often catches me by surprise that I live so close to all this adventurous history. As my mom used to say, it's in our backyard. All I have to do is pause for a moment and look for it. I think I'm going to pause and look more often :)

Do you have an interesting historical tale from your "backyard"? I'd love to hear about it. Leave a comment below. 

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The Sisters of Mercry at Cripple Creek, Colorado

Sisters of Mercy, Bennett Ave, Cripple Creek, circa 1899

Cripple Creek, Colorado is a small town nestled in the Rocky Mountains, west of Colorado Springs. The town originally had a population of about 500 people. The gold rush in the 1890’s led to the population booming to 10,000 and later to 50,000. Saloons, brothels, shops and hotels lined East Bennett Avenue, the main thoroughfare through town. Most structures were made of wood, and folks from various walks of life ventured there to either live or strike it rich. Once such group residing in Cripple Creek at that time was the Sisters of Mercy.

The Sisters of Mercy was founded in Dublin, Ireland, circa 1831, by Catherine McAuley. Catherine was born into a Catholic family. She was orphaned at age nineteen and went to live with relatives who had suffered financial loss and disapproved of her religious beliefs. She was forced to find employment and residence elsewhere and took a position as household manager for William and Catherine Callaghan, and as Mrs. Callaghan’s companion. McAuley spent the next two decades administering to the sick and the poor, especially women. When the Callaghans’ passed, she inherited their home. In 1827, she opened the first House of Mercy in Dublin. The House of Mercy provided religious, educational and social services to poor women and girls.

Through her work, and with the support of the Dublin clergy and two associates, Catherine established the Religious Institute of the Sisters of Mercy. Members were known as ‘walking nuns’ as they assisted the sick and the poor. When Catherine died in 1841, the organization had over 100 members, with 10 foundations in Ireland.

The Sisters of Mercy came to the United States in 1843, by invitation from the Bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Within ten years, the organization expanded to New York, San Francisco and other parts of the country, establishing schools and hospitals. They arrived in Colorado in 1882 to establish a school and hospital in Durango. In 1889, the sisters were working in Denver and in 1894, Sister Mary Claver Coleman was sent to Cripple Creek to establish Cripple Creek’s first hospital, St. Nicholas Hospital.

Like many of the buildings in Cripple Creek, the sisters’ hospital was constructed of wood. A major fire erupted in Cripple Creek, circa 1896. It began on one side of the street and worked its way to the other side. Eventually, the fire was put out, but another major fire erupted four days later. With flames raging, men tossed sticks of dynamite into buildings in an effort to slow down the fire. The Sisters of Mercy scrambled to get their patients out of the hospital and to safety when one anti-Catholic man entered the hospital and tossed a stick of dynamite into the stove’s chimney, hoping to destroy the hospital. The dynamite exploded prematurely. He lost his leg, and the sisters evacuated and treated him, too. After he healed, he repented and thanked them for saving his life.

St. Nicholas Hospital, Cripple Creek, circa 1902

The original hospital survived the fire, but the Sisters saw a need for a modern, safer structure. They built a new hospital of brick, complete with electric lights, hot and cold running water and a surgery department. The first two floors of the new building were dedicated to patients. The sisters’ quarters were on the third floor and an orderly lived in the attic. The hospital received its first patient in 1898 and was named for and dedicated to Bishop Nicholas Matz. The Sisters eventually left Cripple Creek in 1924. The hospital was purchased and operated by local doctors. It eventually closed in 1972 and in 1995 was refurbished into the Hotel St. Nicholas.   

Today, Cripple Creek is host to several casinos and receives many tourists, local and from afar, daily.