The Mystery of Sarah Slater — Betty J. Vaughn

Hired by the Confederate government in Richmond when it was already in its death throes, Sarah Slater was the perfect agent for a courier between Richmond and the Confederate outpost in Montreal, Canada. Beautiful of face, curvaceous in form, spunky, flirtatious, and fluent in French she was the ideal candidate for a role that saw women often better suited for courier. Male agents faced hanging, women far less punishment. An additional benefit of her French fluency, she could claim protection as a Canadian citizen during casual interrogation. On her third and final trip to Canada in April of 1865 as Richmond lay in ashes, Sarah disappeared in New York. The messages for the Montreal office and the Confederate gold she was supposedly carrying also vanished. That mystery has fascinated historians for over 150 years. The Mystery of Sarah Slater...solved?