Minerva (Pool) Smith (1882 - 1906)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Minerva's lifetime.

In 1882, in the year that Minerva (Pool) Smith was born, on April 3rd, 34 year old outlaw Jesse James was shot in the back of the head by trusted friend and partner Robert Ford. Suspected of colluding with the Governor of Missouri, brothers Robert and Charley Ford were arrested, indicted, plead guilty, sentenced to be hung - then pardoned by the Governor. All in one day.

In 1890, when she was only 8 years old, on December 29th, the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred in South Dakota on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation . The U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment said that they rode into the Lakota camp "trying to disarm" the inhabitants. One person, Black Coyote - who was deaf - held onto his rifle, saying that he paid a lot of money for it. Shots rang out and by the end at least 153 Lakota Sioux - some estimates say 300 - and 25 troops had died. The site of the massacre is a National Historic Landmark.

In 1894, by the time she was just 12 years old, large reserves of oil were discovered on the Osage Indian reservation in Oklahoma. Previously thought to be "useless" land - not even good for farming - the tribe had bought the land themselves. The discovery of oil made the Osage the "richest group of people in the world" at the time.

In 1906, in the year of Minerva (Pool) Smith's passing, Finland became the first European country to give women the vote and to allow them to run for political office. (Women in Australia and New Zealand already had that right but couldn't run for office.) Although Finland belonged to the Russian Empire, there was great unrest and the Tsar wanted to broker a quick peace. As a part of the brokered peace, women got the vote.