One key incident that showed Antonia’s strength of character and determination to succeed on her own terms was her failed engagement to Larry Donovan. Antonia had enjoyed some relatively carefree aspects of being a single girl, but she fell in love with Larry. Refusing to believe that he was a shallow charmer, she agreed to marry him and, after waiting a while for him to send for her, moved to Denver to be with him. Unfortunately, whether his intentions were good or not, he would not set a date for the wedding, lived a profligate lifestyle, and then ran off to Mexico. By this time, Antonia was pregnant. She returned home to Black Hawk in disgrace.

Antonia had to start anew life on her own, with the support of only a few close friends. At first she hid her pregnancy, and even gave birth at home alone. Once the baby was born, she was pressured to give the baby up for adoption. She keep him, with some help from her sister so she can continue working. She has photographs taken of him, which Jim sees when he visits the photographers’ studio. As a single mother, she tries to create a normal life for her child.

Antonia is a realist who faces several challenges in her life. When her father kills himself, any hopes she had for her future are put aside, and Antonia must work in the fields like a man. Later, Antonia becomes pregnant and is abandoned by the father of her child before they can be married. She accepts this hardship and later becomes the mother of a large, loving family. I think Jim says it best when he thinks about Antonia:

She lent herself to immemorial human attitudes which we recognize by instinct as universal and true. . .She was a battered woman now, not a lovely girl; but she still had that something which fires the imagination. . .All the strong things of her heart came out in her body. . .She was a rich mine of life, like the founders of early races.