by the government and the only other venue for Stinson to fly. In 1918, Stinson approached Benjamin Lipsner, superintendent of the Post Office Department airmail operations, about undertaking a long-distance mail service flight from Chicago to New York City as a publicity stunt. She encountered strong headwinds on the flight and flew non-stop from Chicago to Binghamton, New York, where she had to stop for fuel. The airplane flipped over on landing in a field and took several days to repair. Stinson then flew from Binghamton to New York City, completing the mail route. Unable to find stable aviation work, she applied to Lipsner once again, but this time as a regular mail service pilot. She was hired and assigned to the New York City-Philadelphia route. On her first trip, she followed her instructor, veteran airmail pilot Maurice Newton, down to Philadelphia. He showed her the landmarks, emergency landing fields, and other pertinent tips for the route. The following day he followed her back to New York City to make sure she had the route mastered. The press mistakenly reported this as she had beat her instructor back to New York City in a race. This reporting caused animosity at work, and she quit the mail service after the one round-trip. Stinson then left for Paris to be an ambulance driver for the Red Cross during WWI, ending her aviation career. Later life The weather and wartime conditions in Europe affected her health, and she came down with tuberculosis. Returning from the war, she went to the New York Sanitarium and then to the dry climate of New Mexico in 1920 to help combat the disease. Stinson's tuberculosis diminished after four years. In 1927, Stinson married ex-army aviator Miguel Antonio Otero Jr., a district judge and son of the former territorial governor of New Mexico. They raised four adopted children. Stinson worked as an award winning architect and Pueblo style home designer for many years in Santa Fe, New Mexico. One of the houses she designed belonged to anthropologist Sallie Wagner in the 1970s. Death and honors After a long period as an invalid, she died in 1977 at the age of 86. She is buried in Santa Fe National Cemetery. Stinson's flying inspired her brothers to form the Stinson Aircraft Company. An early Laird biplane looped by Stinson is on display at the Henry Ford Museum. A replica of