More Collections at Home
Her home, a slightly old-fashioned building painted in soft gray with a
bright rust colored roof, contained additional collections. On the walls
hung valuable old pictures and maps, Navajo rugs were on the floor, and opposite the front door was a picture of ChiefWashakie of the Shoshones. Her study in the “Doctor’s Inn” was loaded with historical documents and manuscripts upon which she continually worked. Steadily, almost without intermission, for some 40 years Dr. Hebard investigated western history. She hired a team and buggy, in the days of their use, to ride over South Pass near Lander, thus testing a theory that Thomas Fitzpatrick was the first white man to go by that route. Her own trip proved to her satisfaction that he could have gone over the Pass without knowing it. Dr. Hebard was a thorough investigator. She left no source unplumbed. For that reason she is remembered as a distinguished character in the field of historical research. “I have believed nothing,” she said, “until I have worked it out for myself.””