laundry and nursing skills, Bemis was an expert at angler fishing in the Salmon River. Personal life On August 13, 1894, Bemis married Charlie Bemis, son of a Connecticut Yankee jeweler. They moved from Warren to a site 17 miles north by trail at a spot that came to be called both Bemis Point and Polly Place. Peter Klinkhammer, the couple's friend, reported that this was a marriage of convenience as Polly needed to establish legal residency in the US and Charlie Bemis needed someone to take care of him. Bemis's struggle for legal permanent residency went to the courts in Moscow, Idaho and her residency was finally granted on August 10, 1896, in Helena, Montana. Together, Charlie and Polly Bemis filed a mining claim, becoming among the first pioneers to settle along the Salmon River (The River of No Return), only several yards from the riverside. Even today this house is not accessible by road. Boats are a common means of access. Although the couple had no children—Bemis was 40 when they married—she was noted for her concern for children. They also were known to garden and care for a number of animals, including horses and a cougar. Bemis was also noted for her nursing skills, fishing, friendliness, wit, and sense of humor. Bemis saved Charlie's life a second time. In the summer of 1922, a fire gutted their home on the Salmon River, possibly caused by an untended or overheated woodstove. Charlie was inside at the time, and Polly, along with their friend Shepp, rescued him from the burning house. The Bemis' moved across the Salmon River to live with mining partners Peter Klinkhammer and Charlie Shepp, both German, who had been long-time neighbors and friends. In late October 1922, Charlie Bemis died. He had been ill in the last several years, reportedly due to a lung ailment (probably tuberculosis). Klinkhammer and Shepp rebuilt a new home for Bemis in the same spot as the one that burned down, with the understanding that they would inherit this from her in exchange for their labor and for looking after her in her old age. During construction, she moved to Warren. While on a trip to Boise, Idaho, she stayed at the Idanha hotel and saw her first movie, rode her first streetcar, and had her first elevator ride. Bemis gave the photo of herself in her wedding dress to