Emmons, Della Gould

Della Gould Emmons was born on August 12, 1890 in Glencoe, Minnesota. She attended the University of Minnesota and studied linguistics. After college, Emmons took a job teaching school in Sisseton, South Dakota. Emmons married Allen B. Emmons, a train dispatcher for the Northern Pacific Railroad. After marriage, Emmons taught at numerous Pacific Northwest towns along the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Lewis and Clark Trail including, Aberdeen (South Dakota) Miles City (Montana), Harlowton, (Montana), Three Forks (Montana), Missoula (Montana), Pasco (Washington), Yakima (Washington), and finally Seattle, where she lived for nineteen years.

Emmons' proximity to the Lewis & Clark Trail prompted her to investigate the life of Sacajawea, and in 1943, Binfords & Mort of Portland, Oregon published Emmons' historical novel Sacajawea of the Shoshones. The novel was successful, and in 1955 the book was adapted for the motion picture Far Horizons, featuring Charlton Heston, Fred McMurray, and Donna Reed.

Jerome Peltier was a bookman and scholar of Spokane, Washington, who wrote numerous books about the fur trade. Peltier corresponded with Emmons about her book, and specifically whether or not Sacajawea died in 1812.

From the guide to the The Della Gould Emmons Collection, 1944, (Lewis & Clark College Special Collections and Archives)