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March 2, 2020 marks the 100^{th<\/sup>anniversary of the day Mary Pickford was granted divorce from her husband, Owen Moore.\u00a0 On February 21st<\/sup>, 2020, we made a pilgrimage to northern Nevada to follow the steps Mary took during her stay.<\/p>\n}

Mary Pickford\u2019s divorce to Owen Moore not only led way to the legacy of her marriage to Douglas Fairbanks but also the amendment to Nevada divorce law.<\/p>\n

Mary and Doug\u2019s love affair began when his mother, Ella, died in December 1916.\u00a0 He made his divorce to his first wife, Beth, official in March 1919.\u00a0 Mary feared that if she too got divorced from Owen and married Doug that her career would be ruined.\u00a0 She stated in her autobiography, \u201cby the certainty that people would be saying I bought off one husband to acquire another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary Pickford has been credited with starting the tradition of Hollywood stars, particularly before the 1960s, rushing to Nevada for divorces. The great scenes in the 1939 movie, The Women<\/em>, where the characters flock to a ranch in Reno, Nevada to obtain divorces from their husbands, is a reflection of the stir Mary Pickford caused.\u00a0 The Saturday Evening Post\u00a0<\/em>(December 11, 1937) even said, \u201cMary Pickford gave Reno its best ad.\u201d The Reno Divorce Racket <\/em>(1931) stated \u201cMary Pickford, who first made Reno divorces famous.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Mary Pickford did not get divorced in Reno nor its county, Washoe.\u00a0 Mary actually got her divorce in Minden which is about 45 minutes south of Reno in Douglas County.<\/p>\n

Mary Pickford never gave a finer performance than she did during the divorce trial.\u00a0 Despite her sworn statements it appears the following events discussed were planned between Pickford and Moore.\u00a0 Her lawyer, Pat McCarran, must have been party to the deception.\u00a0 McCarran, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada.\u00a0McCarran would later become a United States Senator from 1933 to 1954 (if you have ever flown into the Las Vegas airport, you will notice it is called\u00a0McCarran International Airport\u00a0<\/em>after him). Years later, McCarran boasted he had a hand in the original law\u2019s wording.<\/p>\n

In 1915, it was approved by Nevada Legislature that there will be a six-month residency requirement to get a divorce.\u00a0 Pickford most certainly did not want to stay in Nevada longer than she needed to.\u00a0 The reason for her ability to receive a divorce after only a 16-day residency was in the peculiar wording.\u00a0 The first half of the sentence stated divorces could be obtained by any resident in a county where the defendant in a divorce action could \u201cbe found.\u201d Only in the second half of the sentence was the six-month residency requirement:<\/p>\n

\u201cDivorce from the bonds of matrimony may be obtained, by complaint under oath, to the district court of the county in which the cause therefor shall have accrued, or in which the defendant shall reside or be found, or in which the plaintiff shall reside, if the latter be either in the county in which the parties last cohabited, or in which the plaintiff shall have resided six months before suit be brought\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Though her divorce to Owen was finalized in 1920, suits and appeals for fraud and bigamy continued against her and Pat McCarran, until it was finally upheld in 1922.\u00a0 After 1923, the requirement was cut to three months and then to six weeks.\u00a0 Reno became notorious as the nation\u2019s divorce capital.<\/p>\n

The Timeline of Moore vs. Moore Divorce<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mary Pickford’s reasoning for taking up residency in Nevada was for health issues. \u00a0In her divorce testimony, she stated that around Christmas time, she had a nervous breakdown and her doctor recommended that she relocate to a new place where she can relax.<\/p>\n

Pickford\u2019s divorce excursion started when she left California on February 13^{th\u00a0<\/sup>in 1920.\u00a0 She arrived at the Southern Pacific Railroad passenger depot in Reno on February 15th<\/sup>.\u00a0The 27-year-old was greeted by her lawyer, Pat McCarran. Mary was introduced to McCarran by her manager, D.F. O\u2019Brien.\u00a0 Pat McCarran took Mary and her mother, Charlotte, by automobile to a ranch owned by a friend of his, James (and his wife Jane) Campbell in Genoa, Nevada.<\/p>\n}

Genoa, Nevada<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genoa is a small town nestled at the base of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Range.\u00a0 Founded in 1851, it was the first settlement in the Nevada Territory and settled by Mormon Pioneers.<\/p>\n

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As we drove into the town on Hwy. 206, we were able to get the feel of the chilly February afternoon with the slight dust of snow on the foothills that Mary would have experienced as she arrived into the community.<\/p>\n

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