Helen Hunt Jackson wrote two books to show people how the Indians were mistreated in America.

Helen was born on December 15, 1831 in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her family was religious and liked learning. When she was two years old her brother died. A few years later when she was 12 her mother died and 3 years later her father died.

When she was 21 Helen got married to Edward Hunt. He was a captain in he army. He was killed in an accident during the Civil War. She had 1 boy who died when he was one year old. Then she had another son named Rennie. When he was 9 years old he died of diphtheria. She wrote a whole bunch of poems and stories to help her get over her sadness. She became famous for her writing.

In 1875 she married William Jackson in Colorado Springs.

In 1879 Helen heard a lecture. She found out how badly the Indians were treated, so she started trying to get things changed. She wrote a book called A Century of Dishonor. The book did help the Indians a little bit but it didn't help as much as she planned. Then she wrote a story about a Indian girl named Ramona. The book is called Ramona. It probably did more to help the Indians than any other book written in its time.

Helen died in 1885 and asked her husband to bury her on Cheyenne mountain.

We got our information from:
Colorado Chronicles Volume 2: Famous Colorado Women
"Decrying Dishonor" by Beth Haverkamp Powers, Cobblestone Magazine, March 2002 and the
Colorado Women's Hall of Fame web site