"Columbus" was read by Governor John Wesley Hoyt of Wyoming Territory during the patriotic celebration at the Woman's Building, World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893.

[9] Messenger moved in early life to Arkansas[3] When she was a young child, she delighted in oratory, in climbing hills, and imitating speakers she had heard, in either prose or verse.

[4] The study of astronomy and natural philosophy dispelled so many fond illusions concerning the mystery of the clouds, that she almost regretted knowledge.

[7] While still a school girl, she began her literary career, being encouraged and introduced by M. C. Galloway, Solon Borland, and Geo.

"[7] Her maiden poetry appeared in the "Memphis Avalanche," under the nom de plume of "Zena Clifton,"[2][10] but gaining confidence, she began writing under her own signature.

[1] In 1861, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, she married North Allen Messenger,[1] a native of Tuscumbia, Alabama, an editor.

[4] During the American Civil War, when the Federal troops plundered Tuscumbia, they took a journal of manuscripts, principally lyrics, belonging to Messenger.

[2] For four years she resided at Tuscumbia, devoting her life to rearing her son, North Overton, and to an active literary career.

The prose consisted of short paragraphs, generally embracing a single thought; the poems were brief, with such titles as "Old loves.

[12] Of "The Vision of Gold," it was said that there was difficulty in detecting the meaning of her rhapsodies, as they were tangled meshes of rhetorical extravagances.