In the 1800s, typical social norms dictated that taking care of home and children was the primary purpose of women. These norms often fell by the wayside in the wild west of Montana out of necessity or, perhaps, because the social police weren’t watching and passing judgement. Frontier men died or deserted their families and left women and children alone to manage homesteads, farms, and ranches. Women also took up roles traditionally held by men; doctors, storekeepers, Indian scouts, and gun slingers, such as the infamous Calamity Jane.

Clara Belle, the daughter of patriarch Charles Anderson in The Anderson Chronicles fell into a different, but just as important, category of frontier women. Clara Belle rebelled against living on a vast lonely ranch. She longed for the clamor and bustle of town, even a frontier town the size of Anderson. Charles, a man of high morals, attempted to control his daughter by setting her up in the suitable business of a hair salon and hotel. Clara had other ideas. In an area of the country where men greatly outnumbered women, Clara Belle recognized the business concept of supply and demand. Under cover of the hotel and salon, she opened a lucrative brothel. Lonely men desired the companionship of a woman and Clara Belle filled that need.