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Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm

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Jenny Kaplan and this is Wamanica.

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Historically, women have been told to make themselves smaller,

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to diminish themselves. Some of

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used that to their advantage, disappearing into

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new identities. For others,

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a disappearance was the end to their stories, but

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the beginning of a new chapter in their legacies.

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This month, we're talking about disappearing acts.

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Today we're talking about a writer whose legal

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woes kreemed her career and life off

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the map and out of the public eye. Let's

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talk about Ida hillis Attis. Ida

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was born in Kansas around eighteen fifty seven.

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After the American Civil War began, her

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family moved to Mexico. Her

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father was a photographer. His

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work took him all over the country. Ida

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often accompanied him on these

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trips. She got to see Mexico through a different lens,

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a lens that uplifted the country's indigenous

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cultures, history, and the oral

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tales one generation passed down to the next.

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When she was fifteen years old, Ida's family

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moved to Los Angeles. Ida

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graduated high school there and got a job teaching.

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In her spare time, she wrote fictional prose

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for a San Francisco paper called The Argonaut.

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Because of her upbringing in Mexico, Ida

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was fluent in Spanish, so she also

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wrote and contributed to Mexican newspapers

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and periodicals. She was

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possibly the first American writer to translate

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Mexican legends into English.

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Her work told tales of the supernatural

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and centered women protagonists adventuring

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through love and romance. She

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wrote about life in California and in Mexico.

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Her story depicted cross cultural understanding

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and introduced US audiences to the traditions

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and history of Mexico.

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Ida's work gained momentum, and soon she was

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writing for publications like Harper's Monthly,

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The Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Times.

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Her wit and charm translated off the page

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into real life. With her success

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came the attention of many men.

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In eighteen eighty seven, Ida accepted a

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marriage proposal from former California

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Governor John G. Downey, but

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they never made it to the altar. His

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family disproved of the relationship, and

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the governor called it off. I'da

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sued him for half a million dollars for breach

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of promise, and so

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began Ida's life in court. To

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take the heat off of her After going to court,

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Ida went back to Mexico, but

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trouble managed to find its way below the border.

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While there, the wife of Ida's editor

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accused Ida of stealing her husband. Ida

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was named as a co defendant in the wife's lawsuit

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against her husband. With

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two scandals to her name, Ida

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tried her luck again in California. She

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was working on her book, A History of sis southern

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California Counties. Her

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research led her straight into the arms of attorney

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Charles Stork. The couple

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married on September tenth, eighteen ninety.

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Ida finished writing her book and retired

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to take care of her new husband's teenage son.

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So when Charles cashed the four hundred dollars check

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from Ida's book deal and didn't give her a dime,

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Ida was particularly hurt.

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She left him and told her story to an La

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Times reporter. According

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to Ida, her husband began abusing

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her three weeks after the marriage. The

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story prompted an angry letter from Charles

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back to the La Times. He

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tried to discredit Ida, saying

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she tried to take her own life, took

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extreme dislike to his son, and threatened Charles's

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life twice. It

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was an arduous process. The

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case moved up through court after court

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for years until the divorce was officially

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granted in eighteen ninety five. Charles

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was ordered to pay alimony and Ida's

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attorney fees. Unfortunately,

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the nightmare didn't even end there. Charles

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continued to appeal. It

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wasn't until eighteen ninety seven that the California

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Supreme Court forced Charles to pay

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up. During this debacle,

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Ida moved to San Francisco and resumed

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writing stories. Her writing

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was sharper than ever. Her

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stories always had themes of feminism, but

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now they were stronger and more focused.

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In eighteen ninety eight, the Santa Barbara News

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Press, the paper Charles published, and

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a few local officials, received anonymous letters.

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These letters accused one doctor Winchester,

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of engaging in a moral and scandalous

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conduct. The

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doctor in question had testified against

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Ida in her divorce case, and

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the handwriting on the letters looked just like

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Ida's. All

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signs pointed to Ida.

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Ida denied her involvement and insisted

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she was set up by her ex husband's employee,

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a man named Teddy Grant Jackson. But

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despite her protests, Ida was charged

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with criminal libel. While

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awaiting her sentence, Ida took matters

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into her own hands. She broke

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into Jackson's home. She

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said all she did was beg him to confess

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to framing her. He said

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she tried to kill him with chloroform while he was

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sleeping. Either way,

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Ida was thrown in jail for eight months with an

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attempted murder charge hanging over her head.

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The case was eventually dismissed, and

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months later she won an appeal on her libel

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case too.

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After she was released, Ida disappeared from

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California and the public eye completely. Her

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name ceased to appear in newspapers and public

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records. Some stories

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say that after years of legal battles persecuting

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her on the grounds of insanity, she

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did check herself into a mental institution. According

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to another story, her only planned

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post incarceration was to leave Santa Barbara

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for good and go somewhere she wouldn't be persecuted.

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The truth about her post incarceration life

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largely remains unknown. What

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we know for sure is that in her

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disappearance, she left an impressive body

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of written work and a whirlwind of

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tabloid stories in her wake. All

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month we're talking about disappearing acts. For

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more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram

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at Wamanica Podcast special

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thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator.

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Talk to you tomorrow