died. In 1880, her mother Margaret decided to send the boy crazy Amy to a finishing school in Dresden, Germany. There she was presented at court and had her first love affair and engagement with Prince Alexander of Saxe Weimar. Crocker broke off the engagement and quickly had a brief entanglement with a Spanish bullfighter. In 1883, Crocker made headlines when she was traveling to Los Angeles on her honeymoon with first husband, Porter Ashe. The train carrying the eloping couple broke loose at the summit of a hill in Tehachapi, killing twenty one people and seriously injuring another twelve. Ashe, whose forefathers had given their name to Asheville, North Carolina and whose uncle was the great Civil War Admiral David Farragut, was credited with pulling people to safety. The New York Times reported that Ashe, “exhibited a great deal of cool heroism at the burning of the cars. After drawing his wife and her maid through the window of the sleeper, he rescued ex-California Governor John G. Downey from between broken timbers, and saved his life.” Not long after the birth of their daughter, Alma, Crocker and Ashe's marriage collapsed. Ashe plunged into a score of speculations, none of which proved successful. He spent a small fortune on horse racing studs, and then sold off many of them to settle gambling debts. His friendship with actress Lillie Langtry was the source of much gossip. The breakup of Crocker's first marriage became a national scandal after Porter and his brother, Sidney, kidnapped Alma in Los Angeles, while Crocker and her mother attended a wedding. Charges and counter charges made daily news during the custody battle. Courthouse proceedings attracted a crowd of hundreds. In spite of Ashe's reputation as a notorious gambler, his kidnapping charge and a weapons charge, he was awarded sole custody of Alma. Crocker was considered the more unsettled of the pair. The child was later adopted by Crocker's mother who changed her name to Gladys. Family tree Life in the Far East After the public humiliation of losing her child to her ex-husband, Crocker decided to accept an invitation that she got years earlier by King Kalākaua to tour Hawaii, then known as the Sandwich Islands. Kalākaua was so enamored with Crocker that he gave her one of his islands and an official title: Princess Palaikalani—Bliss of Heaven. She found an occasional traveling companion in her second