Sister Blandina Segale was an Italian immigrant who came to the Wild West town of Trinidad, Colorado, at the age of only 22. Amid her efforts to start schools and hospitals, she intervened against lynch mobs, conversed with outlaws, and lived such a life that she is now a candidate for sainthood.

Her life and the history of 1870s Trinidad have inspired a television series in development called “Trinidad,” in which Sister Blandina will be the main character. Much of what we know about Sister Blandina’s life comes from a series of letters she wrote to her sister, Sister Justina Segale, who lived in Ohio. The compiled correspondence, first published in 1941, spans the years 1872–1894.