Snowshoe Thompson (Amazon link) was a real person. An immigrant from Norway, he came to Placerville, California in the 1850's in search of gold. While he did not strike it rich, he did become a legend in that part of the country by daring to transverse the frigid Sierra Nevada mountains in the dead of winter in order to deliver the mail: a feat, I should say, that was only made possible because of his knowledge of cross country skiing. In order to make this story accessible to children, the aut