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Show Chapter Two. Mesa Verde. The Chief Ranger didn't knovi what to do with her. Not only was Janey the first woman ranger ever assigned to Mesa Verde, she was in the protective division! In an area ivihere ancient Indian dwellings lean against sheer-faced cliffs or perch beneath sweeping overhangs of sandstone, vihere some of the crumbling ruins can be reached only by steep ladders, how could a woman handle search and rescue missions, fight fires, enforce laws? The Chief Ranger was not at all certain that she could. Days and weeks passed as Janey viaited for duties to be assigned to her, but nothing happened. She vias a real ranger novi, in an important national park, but she might have been another tourist for all the notice her supervisor gave her. The scenery vias splendid, 52,000 acres of desert and mountain set near the corner vihere Utah, Colorado, Nevi Mexico and Arizona meet. After far too many hours spent watching purple sunsets, exploring Indian ruins, and settling her belongings into the house the Park provided her, Janey vianted to go to viork. But the Chief Ranger continued to ignore her and the permanent male rangers viere skeptical about her ability. After a while Janey's confidence in herself grew shaky. "I had to have somebody believe that I was going to be all right and that I was going to do a good job," Janey recalls, "but the others just didn't think I could do it. And I let it happen, I let their lack of confidence hamper me. When they told me I couldn't handle the work, I began to assume they were right." |