Mary Peace Finley
Award-winning author of books for young people
"Adventure stories are always exciting, and they are even more exciting when the
adventures are happening to real people. Mary Peace Finley has made Southwest
history come alive with her SANTA FE TRAIL TRILOGY and with THE MYSTERY OF
BENT'S FORT. And now she brings alive for us another action-history story about incorrigible
Raephy McDowell, Rapehy's family including the dog, Jinx, and the 1886 surprise-founding
of the town of Lamar, Colorado, all in a new adventure, THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF BLACKWELL
STATION."
--Kathleen Phillips, author, editor, and co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of
Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
"The Midnight Ride of Blackwell Station is an engaging story about a little-known episode
in Colorado history, set in a bygone time when the railroad telegrapher was responsible
for keeping the trains running safely and on time. Mary Peace Finley has captured very
well the informal way that railroad stations were run in the 1880s, especially if the operator was a
woman and had a family to help out."
--Thomas C. Jepsen, author of "Women Telegraph Operators in the Civil War"
© Mary Peace Finley 2012
