The Keeper Wore Skirts: The Pioneer Lighthouse Keeper
Mary Jane (Belknap) Fiester/Vail/Adams was one of the first white women to settle in the Oregon Territory. She outlived three husbands, operated on a mans eyes, and was the assistant keeper at the Smith Island and Cape Flattery Light Stations. She was born Jane Belknap in 1822. At the age of 17 she left her native Ohio for Illinois where she met and married Henry Fiesten. Henry was a skilled tailor who moved from town to town always seeking a more affluent life. Jane became used to the itinerant life.