Salika Virginia Gentry

Born: June 8, 1825

Age: 34

Description: Eyes: Blue-green; Hair: whitish-blonde

Actress: Barbara Stanwyck

Summary: Salika was only fifteen years old when she fell in love with Tucker Jackson Gentry. When her strict father forbade her to ever see Tucker again, Salika packed her belongings and ran away from home. Scared to go to Tucker for fear of what her father might due to him if he caught them together, Salika hid out in a grove that had been the setting for many of her and Tucker's meetings. Within an hour of her father's departure from the Gentry farm, Tucker arrived in the grove with his own belongings and enough money to buy them a small wagon and supplies for a new life together. They joined a small wagon train heading to Wyoming and were married by a traveling minister along the way.

Salika's joy at being with the man she loved was destroyed when, during a river crossing, their wagon tipped over and tossed both into the icy water. Salika was tossed free, but the wagon landed full force onto Tucker and he drowned. The wagon train halted long enough to bury Tucker and to collect as many of Salika's sodden belongings as they could before moving on, Salika given a place to ride in another young couple's wagon.

Some of the life returned to Salika when she realized a few short weeks after Tucker's death that she was carrying his child. Upon arrival in the small town of Three Crossings, Salika rented a room in the hotel and set about looking for work. Utilizing her skills as a cook and seamstress, Salika soon struck a deal with the hotel owner that proved profitable for both. By the time Jerusha Eugenia Gentry joined her mother six months later, Salika had managed to save enough money to purchase a small piece of land in town to which she promptly built a bakery with living quarters above it for her and Jerusha.