The Girl from Montana characters

Elizabeth

Also known as Bessie, Bess

A resourceful, innocent young woman raised in the Montana wilderness who travels east to seek education and family. She is independent, compassionate, deeply religious, and determined to protect herself.

As drawn: a girl about eighteen, unusually beautiful, with long, thick fine hair, a clear profile, and dark skin that gradually whitens. She is slight at first, later rounding out a little, and wears a dark-blue serge skirt and coat with a white shirt-waist, a battered felt hat, and a leather belt holding two pistols.

George Trescott Benedict

A young, city-bred man from Pennsylvania who becomes lost while hunting and travels with Elizabeth. He is honest, weary, educated, emotionally wounded by an unrequited love, and protective toward Elizabeth.

As drawn: a young man with a nice-looking, refined appearance. He wears well-cut early-twentieth-century gentleman's suits and formal evening clothes.

Mrs Brady

Elizabeth's maternal grandmother, a hardworking Philadelphia washerwoman who is practical, outspoken, and strongly concerned with financial survival and social respectability.

As drawn: an elderly woman, broad, plump, and well-cushioned, with an ample bosom, plump arms, and neatly combed gray hair. Her face is careworn and forbidding; she wears a calico wrapper open at the throat, a gingham apron, and glasses for reading.

Lizzie

Elizabeth's cousin and Grandmother Brady's other granddaughter. She works hard, loves fashionable clothing and sweets, and is sometimes jealous of Elizabeth's wealth and attention.

As drawn: a teenage girl dressed showily in pink, including an elaborate pink organdie dress trimmed with roses, pink plumes, long white silk gloves, and a pink parasol.

Aunt Nan

Also known as Nan

Elizabeth's aunt and Lizzie's mother, a practical, hardworking woman who helps support the family and discourages Elizabeth from pursuing school instead of earning money.

As drawn: a middle-aged woman, tall and thin, with faded brown hair and a faint family resemblance to Elizabeth's mother. Her shoulders stoop slightly, and she wears plain, workaday dressmaker's clothing.

John Bailey

Also known as pa, father

Elizabeth's father and Mrs. Brady's son-in-law. He came from a wealthier, socially elevated family but is portrayed as a drunken, unreliable man whom Elizabeth's mother nevertheless chose and married.

As drawn: a man shown in youth as handsome and polished, with a beautiful face, heavy wavy hair tossed back from his forehead, and a haughty, imperious expression. He wears refined gentleman's clothing, with a fine diamond stud.