The REAL woman behind the books

I’ve gotten this question before, and the answer is yes. So what is the question? “Have I ever used real women as inspiration for my characters?”

Anyone who knows my dad knows he likes to tell stories. One afternoon while visiting my parents, he started telling me this story about the woman who founded a small town that sits between Tonopah and Hawthorne called Mina. Her name was Ferminia Sarras.

After 1900, rich discoveries in Tonopah and Goldfield transformed Nevada’s mining landscape. Investors scoured the state, hoping to cash in on the next bonanza, and Fermina’s claims attracted attention. Investors, eager to capitalize on these opportunities, took notice of Sarras’s copper claims. In June 1902, she successfully bonded 25 of her claims at $8,000 each, solidifying her reputation and earning her the title of Nevada’s Copper Queen.

Her influence was further recognized in August 1905 when officials of the Tonopah & Goldfield railroad established a new terminal north of Belleville in Soda Spring Valley. They named this burgeoning town “Mina,” a nod to Fermina’s regional contributions. Subsequently, in September 1905, she sold a group of 40 claims for $90,000, followed by another sale in 1907 for $65,000.

Sarras had a distinctive approach to safeguarding her wealth. Preferring gold over banknotes, she often insisted on payments in gold coins, which she then hid in her chicken coop, trusting the vigilant nature of her chickens to deter intruders. Known for her generosity, she never turned away those in need. However, she also had a penchant for luxury. After significant sales, she would indulge in the finest offerings of San Francisco. Once her funds dwindled, she would return to the Nevada desert, don her overalls, and resume prospecting.

The best part of her life story is her travels to San Francisco.  She spent her whole life mining and traveling back and forth from the desert to the city. Once she would gather large sums of money, she would ride to the city and blow her fortune on fancy hotels, fine dining, and hoards of younger men, some of whom would travel back to her mines with her. As soon the money was gone, she would say,

“I guess I better get back to the desert.”

She’d return to her mines, don her overalls, and take to the hills again. Throughout her life, Sarras married multiple times, often to younger men. Some historians suggest these unions were strategic to protect her mining interests. Tragically, many of her husbands met violent ends, with one dying in a gunfight defending her claims.

Sources: Nevada Women’s History https://nevadawomen.org/