Not too long ago, only boys were supposed to be brave.  Only boys were supposed to have adventures.  Not girls!  Oh, no! But a young girl with a brave heart dared to be different.  She risked everything she had to help build a new town in the Indian Nations.

Her name was Mattie Beal.  She lived in Wichita, Kansas.  Mattie worked as a telephone operator.  One day Mattie went to see her friend Florence.  Florence was a dressmaker.  She was making a dress for Mattie, and Mattie had to try it on. Florence fitted the dress.  The two girls talked to Mattie’s mother about the land lottery.  Anyone who entered had a chance to win some land. 

“Let’s go down and register,” Mattie said.  “Let’s do it today!" 

"Both of us!” Florence said firmly.  Wherever Mattie led, Florence was willing to follow.

“Why, Mattie Beal, I won’t hear a word of it!” Mattie’s mother said.  “It's too dangerous for two young girls!”

The girls did not care if it was dangerous. They wanted to register for the lottery. So they put on their prettiest starched dresses.  They laced up their high button shoes and topped their long braids with hats.  They went to catch a train leaving Wichita for El Reno.  This was where people could register for the lottery.  The two girls tried and tried to get on the train. But there was no place for them to sit.  Men, women, and children were sitting any place they could.

Then Mattie and Florence saw a newspaper reporter they knew.  He was going to El Reno to work.  The reporter found Mattie and Florence a seat on the crowded train.  Nothing very harmful happened.  Nobody stole their money or their bags.  Nobody tried to kidnap them.

Their friends warned Mattie and Florence that hotels in El Reno were dangerous for single women.  They would be lucky to even find a room.  But the newspaper reporter had friends living in El Reno.  He was able to get Mattie and Florence a room with his friends.  The room had six cots in it. Mattie and Florence had to pay $2.00 each to sleep on these cots.