 Now a single mother, McKibbin chose to return to Santa Fe. She loaded her possessions into a Ford Model A, and accompanied by Kevin and Joseph's sister Maggie, drove there. It was almost a month before they arrived on June 11, 1932. Between the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl drought, jobs were hard to find, but McKibbin found employment as a bookkeeper for the Spanish and Indian Trading Company, a small firm that sold handicrafts and artworks. The owners, Norman McGee and Jim McMillan left the day-to-day running of the business in the hands of McKibbin, whom they paid 50c an hour.
