a young schoolgirl, Gay Carrey, who boarded with her during the academic year during this time. In 1924 she moved back to the now completed cabin on Salmon River. On August 4, 1933, Shepp came to visit Bemis and found her lying on the ground, incoherent and incapacitated following what may have been a stroke. On August 6 she was taken to Grangeville, Idaho, where she stayed in the Idaho Valley Hospital for three months. Loquacious during her hospitalization, she spoke about many details of her life, and on November 5 a lengthy newspaper article was published about her. On November 6, 1933, Bemis died of myocarditis in Grangeville, Idaho at the age of 80. Two days later, Bemis was buried in Grangeville, Idaho. After Klinkhammer's death in 1970, his sister bought a marker for Bemis's grave. Legacy In 1987, the cabin, known as Polly Bemis House, was restored. Bemis's body was reburied on the grounds by the cabin, which is located 17 miles north of Warren, Idaho. The cabin became a museum, and in 1988, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1987, a dedication ceremony was held and Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus stated, "The history of Polly Bemis is a great part of the legacy of central Idaho. She is the foremost pioneer on the rugged Salmon River." Bemis was inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame in 1996. Bemis is the subject of a series of paintings, Chinese in Idaho, by Chinese-American artist Hung Liu. The University of Idaho has described her as "Idaho's most famous Chinese woman," and offered an anthropology course called "The World of Polly Bemis". Ongoing biographical debates Current biographers continue to debate the details of Polly Bemis' life. For example, there is little evidence that she was ever actually known as "Lalu" or that "Hong King" was really her owner's name. Also, there is no evidence that Bemis was actually a prostitute; from a cultural standpoint, it is more likely that Bemis was a concubine. One National Park Service site claims she was an indentured dance hostess. Finally, as she neared death, Bemis denied the long-standing public belief that she was "won in a poker game." According to a summary of author McCunn's research in the San Francisco Chronicle, "Charlie married Polly to prevent her from being deported as a result of the 1892 Geary Act, which required