Photo by Robert Murray on Unsplash
To download these free stories, please enter the newspaper publication you represent with your email address.
We will email you when we add new stories each month. Thanks!
Note: We are committed to keeping your e-mail address confidential. We do not sell, rent, or lease our contact data or lists to third parties.
Please see our privacy policy for details.
Please enter your organization and email above before downloading these articles.
Download PDF
Word .doc
Download Photo .jpg
We like our heroes larger than life, and we like them to be uncompromising in their determination. Mary Fields was tall, and as a recently freed slave in the 1860s, she was also fearless. She was good with a gun and not above a good fight. It was said that she “had the temperament of a grizzly bear,” which is probably how she survived the lawless West with its array of characters, each looking to get the jump on greenhorns.
Mary worked her way northwest on riverboats and taking odd jobs until she reached Toledo, Ohio, where she ended up in a most unlikely place: the Sacred Heart Convent. Here she was taken in by Sister Dunne, but Mary was quick to make a stir with her hard drinking, cursing and difficult nature. Yet she worked hard and fastidiously kept the convent gardens beautiful, albeit sometimes by cursing out nuns who crossed her lawn.
When Sister Dunne caught ill in Montana after being called there to start a school, Mary was off to take care of her. Sister Dunne regained her health, thanks to Mary’s devoted care. But it wasn’t long before Mary’s temperament got her kicked out of the newly established convent. Apparently, the bishop didn’t take kindly to her cursing, drinking, wearing men’s clothing and pulling a revolver on one of the janitors during an argument.
Turns out that Mary’s temperament and skill with a gun suited her perfectly in a different job as a mail carrier. It was a dangerous and arduous job. Mailbags were unloaded from a train onto a stagecoach and driven over rocky roads into a no man’s land where it seemed there were more bandits than settlers.
Mary was an imposing figure, with a rifle across her lap and a revolver on her hip. She scared off would-be thieves with her accurate shooting and drove the stagecoach hard through barren lands, often without stopping to rest. On days when the snow was too deep for the stagecoach, Mary strapped on snowshoes and carried the bags of mail on her back. She became as legendary as Paul Bunyan, braving every obstacle and maintaining the lifeline of communication between relatives, friends, businesses and the law.
Stagecoach Mary became larger than life on the trail, but she was even bigger to the locals. Children loved her, and she was always kind and generous to them. She was often treated to free meals at restaurants and drinks at the saloon, where the regulars chatted with her until closing time.
Through her grit and steady devotion, Mary “Stagecoach” Fields forged a path into the heart of the West that many would follow. When she died, the funeral was the largest her town had ever seen.
Grit... PassItOn.com®
Copyright ©2022 The Foundation for a Better Life. All rights reserved. Available under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License (international): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
The Foundation for a Better Life, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, gives your newspaper permission to publish these stories in print and electronic media (excluding audio and video), provided the stories are published in their entirety, without modification and including the copyright notice. For any modification, permission must first be obtained from the Foundation by emailing media-relations@passiton.com. Thank you.
Your CommentsFor Soccer Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, Every Day is Mother’s Day.
Fortune and fame have allowed the soccer great to take care of his mother after all she has done for him.
Let the Music Move You.
Bob Geldof has spent a lifetime seeking harmony in the world.
A Hero for Accessibility.
How an 8-year-old girl captured the attention of the nation and motivated Congress.
A Custom of Respect.
How the Japanese soccer team brings sportsmanship to the game.
Give Peace a Chance.
How a Mexican-American Marine negotiated peace speaking Japanese during WWll.
Never, Ever Give Up.
The incredible story of the 12-year-old cancer patient who brings joy to half a million children fighting cancer.
The Future Belongs to Kids.
So far, things look pretty bright.
Cross Safely.
How one man made sure his retirement years were spent helping kids move safely through life.
The World Awaits You.
The story of the first woman to circumnavigate the world.
Finding Our Way.
Using the natural elements around her, Kala Baybayan Tanaka navigates the ocean in a canoe for up to three weeks using nothing but observations of the natural elements around her.
Going the Distance.
Why top collegiate and professional athlete Dillon Shije will never stop running for his people.
Reach for the Stars…
No Matter How Long it Takes.
Laughter is the Best Medicine.
While filming ‘Schindler’s List,’ weekly calls from Robin Williams helped Steven Spielberg ease the weight of directing such a heavy film.
How Far Would you go for a Friend?
The story of Dindim, the penguin who travels 5,000 miles every year to visit with its rescuer.
To Stay or Run?
The courageous story of a collegiate wrestler who fought a grizzly bear to save a friend. With thanks to the Cowboy State Daily.
Billy Mills
The story behind America’s first and only 10,000-meter Olympic champion.
Overcoming Fear Sometimes Requires a Patient Friend.
How a flight attendant took the time to comfort a passenger who was having panic attacks.
Turning Tough News Into Hope.
How 11-year-old Jordan Phillips raised $120,000 to help fund cancer treatment.
Taking Responsibility.
How one high school student supported her family during the pandemic.
Never Give Up.
Lessons learned from Preston Tucker, creator of one of the most innovative cars in American history.
How to Honor Your Mother.
Warrick Dunn played in the NFL for 12 seasons. His most impressive stat: He’s built 200 homes for single mothers. And he’s not done.
Beatrice Shilling
The motorcycle daredevil who became a mechanical engineer and saved the lives of countless pilots in WWll.
Education is for Everyone.
Reading and writing are the basics of an education. See why a 90-year-old Kenyan great-grandmother went back to primary school.
Being a Mother…
The roundabout journey to a dream fulfilled.
Taking Care of the Most Vulnerable.
Pam Tully dedicates 6 months a year to rescuing baby flying foxes alongside the volunteers who help her.
Taking Care.
How one woman turned a life of neglect into a lifetime of taking care of people.
Going Deep to Deliver Kindness.
Free-dive record holder Enzo Maiorca rescues a trapped dolphin, then watches as it gives birth.
The Brotherhood in Sports Goes Beyond the Field.
How a men’s rugby team supported one of their own.
Recognizing the Need.
How a neighbor took a disaffected young man under his wing and taught him how to be a man
The Last Person you Think of Should Probably be the First.
How a group of high school boys practiced the art of inclusion.
The Calm in the Storm.
Being that one voice of encouragement in a community makes all the difference.
The History of Us.
How a football coach develops young men by teaching them their own history.
Using the Write Words
How an African American Woman Wrote her Way to Freedom.
Finding a New Family at the Mountain Man Rendezvous.
How a Vietnam vet pulled himself out of drug addiction by going back in the past.
Our Local Heroes in Scrubs.
How health care workers saved the day.
A Diamond in the Making.
How an everyday superhero saved the day by taking time to go through the garbage to find a stranger’s wedding ring.
Born to Make a Difference.
Kids who are changing their world.
Ramping Up to Help those in Need.
How a community came together in a time of tragedy.
It’s Not Your Lifespan, it’s Your Wingspan.
How one girl’s 16 years of life impacts thousands.
When the World Says You Can’t, Listen to the Inner Voice that Says You Can.
The legacy of Susan La Flesche, the first Native American to earn a medical degree.
The Curse of Texting and Driving.
How one father turned personal tragedy into triumph for thousands of teenagers by creating the Honor Connor Scholarship Fund.
Bigger than Life.
How Premier League superstar Sadio Mané is changing the world beyond soccer.
Stay Curious.
The remarkable underwater life of Jacques Cousteau.
Overcoming Our Own Worst Mistakes.
Kaelin Clay made an unpardonable error in football. And he owned it.
A Most Unlikely Friendship.
How the war in Ukraine brought two families together from opposite sides.
Beyond the Moon with an Eye on Mars.
The story of a young woman who dreamed of pushing the boundaries and now designs launch systems for NASA.
Bringing the Moon to your Living Room.
How 14-year-old Philo Farnsworth tinkered his way to the technology that broadcast the moon landing.
Teamwork that Saves Lives.
How a high school baseball team lifted a car off one of their classmates pinned underneath.
If You Love Dogs, You’ll Love this Story.
A German shepherd slept at his owner’s gravesite.
Road Trip Across America.
A discovery of what unites us.
For the Cost of a Box of Cereal.
How just noticing makes all the difference in the world.
You’re Never Too Old to Make a Difference.
British WWll veteran Captain Tom Moore raised over $45 million for charity at age 100.
Playtime is for Everybody.
A dad sells off his business and builds a theme park for disabled kids.
The Little Things that Make the Biggest Difference.
How one man created a forest the size of Central Park by planting one tree a day.
Respecting Your Customers.
As the Great Depression impoverished the country, many families stretched their budgets by making clothes out of flour and seed sacks. What companies did next may surprise you.
Including Everybody Means Everybody.
How Inclusion Films is making movies using crew with developmental disabilities.
The Science of Happiness.
How a high school senior made sure an entire elementary school got Halloween.
Something Healthy for All of Us
How 17-year-old Barron Prize Winners Annie and Shirley Zhu provide fresh food for 1,400 people a year.
Don’t Let a Bad Day Trick You Into Believing You Have a Bad Life.
Allie Newman not only survived cancer but also helps hospitals better meet the needs of teenage cancer patients.
Photographs that Changed the World.
How the searing photographs of Walker Evans’ America during the Depression created a national change in attitude toward the poor.
Sometimes the Wrong Direction is the Right Way.
How a wrong number, a wrong text and a mix-up led to long-lasting friendships.
Living Alone doesn’t Mean you Have to be Lonely.
How a community in Maine supports those who want to be left alone.
How to Land an Airplane Without Landing Gear.
17-year-old Maggie Taraska landed her airplane without landing gear on her way to flying solo cross-country.
Everybody Gets on Base.
Measuring the victories of life, one single at a time.
The Legacy of Dorothy Vaughan.
The Hidden Figure who Helped Put a man on the Moon.
Listening to the Music Inside.
The long journey of Maria Tallchief from the Osage Nation in Oklahoma to prima ballerina in New York City.
No Strings Attached.
How a 7-year-old girl brings joy to neighbors with her violin.
Laughter is the Best Teacher.
How humor and history go together in this classroom.
A Lesson We Should Never Forget.
The incredible story of American POWs smuggling rations to Russian prisoners at Stalag-B.
The Art of Pitching.
A little confidence at the right time goes a long way.
More Than Just Dancing
How inclusion helps overcome mental illness.
The Birth of Superman.
How two awkward teenage boys dreamed up the world’s most popular superhero.
If You Don’t Know Anything About Orangutans, You Don’t Know Jack.
Meet Jack Dalton, Barron Prize Winner and the nature conservationist who started by saving the orangutans at age 8.
No Matter Who You Are, You Can Always Help.
The day Muhammad Ali rushed to save a stranger who was about to take his own life.
Not Out of the Way, Along the Way.
Taking the long way to school makes for a long friendship.
An Impossible Journey.
How John Wesley Powell navigated the Colorado River and Grand Canyon in wooden boats.
Love Rules.
How Rick Moranis shrunk his role as an actor to be with his kids.
Everybody Can Be a Hero.
How window cleaners brightened the day at a children’s hospital.
Fix it Yourself.
How one couple moved hundreds of miles from home to run a center for pregnant teenage girls.
Are You Smarter Than a Seventh-Grade Business Owner?
How Kidpreneur Alejandro Buxton is making money for college and helping others.
The Least Likely to Help.
How a bedridden attorney still fights for the rights of others.
Let the Kids Give it a Try
How 17-year-old Dasia Taylor developed sutures that detect infection.
Click the like button above to access our facebook page, then ‘like us’ to get a dose of positivity in your feed.
No thanks