Mona Bell
Encyclopedia
Mona Bell was an American
rodeo
rider, newspaper reporter, and the mistress of entrepreneur Samuel Hill
.
Born in East Grand Forks
, Minnesota
, she went for one year to the University of North Dakota
across the state line in Grand Forks
, North Dakota
; she apparently stood out there for her skills at basketball
. She was also a fine rider of horses and good with a rifle
and a pistol
. By her own account, she appeared in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show
, although her biographer John A. Harrison was unable to verify that. In any event, it is clear that she was both a rodeo rider (in male disguise) and later a reporter.
In 1910 she met Samuel Hill
, a prominent entrepreneur 33 years her senior, who was by then almost entirely estranged from his wife, although they never divorced. She moved to Portland, Oregon
, in 1920 to be near him, and in 1928 he bought her 35 acres (141,640.1 m²) on the Columbia River and built her a 22-room house, to which she added an elaborate garden. That same year, she bore him a son. An arranged marriage to Hill's cousin Edgar Hill allowed the son, Sam B. Hill, to be raised as legitimate
. The house was eventually lost to the construction of the Bonneville Dam
.
In her 20s and 30s she had a career as a reporter for various newspapers around the United States, including becoming, in San Francisco, the first female crime reporter in the country. Some time before 1926 she swam the Straits of Juan de Fuca, an achievement possibly exceeding Gertrude Ederle
's famed 1926 feat of swimming the English Channel
.
Hill was clearly the love of her life, although she had two brief marriages, one to a dentist and one to a doctor. Hill had other lovers besides Bell and, indeed, had two other children besides Sam B. outside his marriage, each by a different woman.
In 1933, the U.S. government decided to obtain Bell's land for the Bonneville Dam
project. They offered her US$
25,000. She went to court and in 1935 received $78,661, ($72,500 plus interest). After a two year round-the-world voyage including six months in Africa
, she moved back to Minnesota, where she raised her son, then in 1953 to Riverside, California
. In both places, she was known for her elaborate gardens.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
rider, newspaper reporter, and the mistress of entrepreneur Samuel Hill
Samuel Hill
Samuel Hill , usually known as Sam Hill, was a businessman, lawyer, railroad executive and advocate of good roads in the Pacific Northwest...
.
Born in East Grand Forks
East Grand Forks, Minnesota
-K-12:The East Grand Forks School District enrolls over 1,000 students and operates two elementary schools , Central Middle School, and East Grand Forks Senior High School. There are also two private Christian schools. Sacred Heart School is a Roman Catholic elementary, middle, and high school...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, she went for one year to the University of North Dakota
University of North Dakota
The University of North Dakota is a public university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of North Dakota, UND is the oldest and largest university in the state and enrolls over 14,000 students. ...
across the state line in Grand Forks
Grand Forks, North Dakota
Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 52,838, while that of the city and surrounding metropolitan area was 98,461...
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
; she apparently stood out there for her skills at basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
. She was also a fine rider of horses and good with a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
and a pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
. By her own account, she appeared in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show
Wild West Shows
Wild West Shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe. The first and prototypical wild west show was Buffalo Bill's, formed in 1883 and lasting until 1913...
, although her biographer John A. Harrison was unable to verify that. In any event, it is clear that she was both a rodeo rider (in male disguise) and later a reporter.
In 1910 she met Samuel Hill
Samuel Hill
Samuel Hill , usually known as Sam Hill, was a businessman, lawyer, railroad executive and advocate of good roads in the Pacific Northwest...
, a prominent entrepreneur 33 years her senior, who was by then almost entirely estranged from his wife, although they never divorced. She moved to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, in 1920 to be near him, and in 1928 he bought her 35 acres (141,640.1 m²) on the Columbia River and built her a 22-room house, to which she added an elaborate garden. That same year, she bore him a son. An arranged marriage to Hill's cousin Edgar Hill allowed the son, Sam B. Hill, to be raised as legitimate
Legitimacy (law)
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
. The house was eventually lost to the construction of the Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Oregon, in the Columbia River Gorge. The primary functions of...
.
In her 20s and 30s she had a career as a reporter for various newspapers around the United States, including becoming, in San Francisco, the first female crime reporter in the country. Some time before 1926 she swam the Straits of Juan de Fuca, an achievement possibly exceeding Gertrude Ederle
Gertrude Ederle
Gertrude Caroline Ederle was an American competitive swimmer. In 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Gertrude Ederle was the daughter of a German immigrant who ran a butcher shop on Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan; she was born in New York City. She was known as...
's famed 1926 feat of swimming the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
.
Hill was clearly the love of her life, although she had two brief marriages, one to a dentist and one to a doctor. Hill had other lovers besides Bell and, indeed, had two other children besides Sam B. outside his marriage, each by a different woman.
In 1933, the U.S. government decided to obtain Bell's land for the Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Oregon, in the Columbia River Gorge. The primary functions of...
project. They offered her US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
25,000. She went to court and in 1935 received $78,661, ($72,500 plus interest). After a two year round-the-world voyage including six months in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, she moved back to Minnesota, where she raised her son, then in 1953 to Riverside, California
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
. In both places, she was known for her elaborate gardens.
Further reading
- John A. Harrison, A Woman Alone: Mona Bell, Sam Hill and the Mansion on Bonneville Rock (2009), Frank Amato Publications, ISBN 1571884521.