How an illegitimate daughter of Ohio became Idaho’s most feared political voice

May Hutton’s Journey from Cook to Suffrage Champion

May Arkwright Hutton went from cook to kingmaker in Idaho’s Silver Valley.

Born out of wedlock in 1860, she moved to Idaho in 1883, ran a boarding house, and wed train engineer Levi Hutton. They put cash into the Hercules Mine, which struck silver in 1901 and soon made them rich.

May then fought for women’s votes, first in Idaho, then in Washington after they moved to Spokane. Despite her size and rough ways, she rose to power in both states.

The streets of Wallace still hold her story, where you can trace her path from cook to suffrage champion at the Barnard-Stockbridge Museum.

She started with just a boarding house and a dream

May Arkwright was born out of wedlock in Ohio in 1860.

Her blind grandfather raised her and took her to political meetings, sparking her interest in politics and fairness.

In 1883, May moved west to Idaho’s Silver Valley and got a job cooking at a saloon in Wardner Junction (now Kellogg).

She worked hard and saved money to open her own boarding house, feeding miners and railroad workers who came looking for riches.

Her marriage to a train engineer changed everything

May fell in love with Levi Hutton, a train engineer who often ate at her place. They got married in 1887 and moved to Wallace, Idaho, where May ran the Wallace Hotel restaurant.

Unlike most women back then, May kept working after she got married. The couple saved every penny they earned.

They shared not just a marriage but dreams for their future, working together to build something better.

The Hercules Mine gamble paid off beyond their wildest dreams

The Huttons took a big risk by putting their savings into the Hercules Mine, which most people thought was worthless. For years, they worked the mine themselves during their time off, not giving up despite small returns.

Their hard work finally paid off on June 2, 1901, when partner August Paulsen hit a rich silver-lead vein. By 1906, their investment made nearly two million dollars as the mine produced six percent of the nation’s lead.

Money couldn’t buy social acceptance for this outspoken woman

May didn’t fit in with high society. Big, straightforward, and working-class, she broke all the rules about how ladies should act.

She wore practical clothes instead of fancy dresses, spoke her mind, and refused to follow social rules. Rich people often looked down on her background and behavior.

One society woman said she’d "rather appear in public with a prostitute" than with May. But her new wealth gave her power that went beyond social barriers.

Women’s right to vote became her life’s mission

May helped women get the vote in Idaho in 1896 and proudly worked on Wallace’s board of elections. Her political dreams grew, and in 1904, she ran for Idaho State Legislature, losing by just 80 votes.

When the Huttons moved to Spokane in 1906, May lost her right to vote since Washington hadn’t given women that right yet. This made her want to change the law.

She became vice-president of the Washington Equal Suffrage Association.

The battle for Washington women’s votes faced fierce opposition

Alcohol companies and old-fashioned politicians fought hard against women voting in Washington. They feared women would support banning alcohol and other new ideas.

May used her money to fund campaigns, host meetings, and travel across the state speaking for the cause.

Her working-class background helped her connect with regular people, while her wealth gave her access to political power. Washington women won the vote in 1910.

Political power came quickly after winning the vote

After women got the right to vote, May jumped into politics right away.

She served as a delegate to the 1910 State Democratic Convention, making her one of the first women to hold such a job.

In 1912, she reached an even higher political level when she attended the Democratic National Convention in Baltimore as a Washington delegate.

Her rise from cook to political leader happened in less than 30 years.

Her wealth funded causes that helped working people

May never forgot where she came from. She used her money to support labor unions, hospitals, and children’s charities throughout the Northwest.

During the 1899 miners’ strike, she fed hungry strikers and their families from her own kitchen. Later, she helped start Spokane’s Florence Crittenton Home for unwed mothers and gave to many other causes.

May focused on helping working-class people gain financial security and political rights.

The Huttons’ mansion became a center for political activism

With their mining money, the Huttons built a fancy house in Spokane’s most fashionable neighborhood. Instead of hosting social teas like other rich homes, May turned her house into a headquarters for political work.

People fighting for women’s votes, labor rights, and new political ideas gathered there to plan campaigns. The mansion showed how far she had come from her days as a boarding house cook.

Her death cut short a remarkable American success story

May died of Bright’s disease on October 6, 1915, at just 55 years old.

Her funeral became one of the largest Spokane had ever seen, with people from all walks of life coming to pay respects to the woman who had fought for their rights.

In her memory, her husband Levi founded the Hutton Settlement orphanage in 1919, creating a home for children that continues operating today.

The Settlement embodied May’s lifelong belief that everyone deserved opportunity regardless of their background.

Her legacy lives on in women’s rights across the Northwest

Today, May Arkwright Hutton is remembered as one of the most influential women in Pacific Northwest history. Streets, buildings, and organizations bear her name across Idaho and Washington.

Her journey from illegitimate child to political powerhouse embodies the American dream.

While largely forgotten nationally, regional historians recognize her crucial role in securing women’s suffrage years before the 19th Amendment.

May proved that wealth alone didn’t create power – it was how she used that wealth to fight for others that made her truly remarkable.

Visiting Wallace Historic Silver Valley, Idaho

You can explore May Arkwright Hutton’s remarkable story at three Wallace museums.

The Barnard-Stockbridge Museum at 312 Fourth Street, Northern Pacific Depot Museum at 219 Sixth Street, and Wallace District Mining Museum at 509 Bank Street all tell her journey from boarding house cook to suffrage champion after striking it rich at Hercules Mine.

A museum pass covers all three for 24 hours. The entire downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• How a Montana dam almost killed off Idaho’s 1,000-pound “living dinosaurs”
• The little Ohio newsstand that could: the Barkalow Brothers and Boise Depot
• When Canadian morals met American frontier life in 1885 Idaho