The sisters develop a very close relationship. Child visits neighboring Indian tribes. These visits provide a foundation for her earliest fiction. Debates over Native American rights introduces her to the political arena. Adopts Native American rights as one of her many causes.
Maine votes for statehood.
Top Moves to Gardiner, Maine to teach school. Missouri Compromise passed. This made Maine's admission to statehood contingent on Missouri's entrance and maintained the balance of slave and free states. The first review appears in July. Interracial marriage between a white woman and an Indian man is a major aspect of the novel.