Miss Emelie Motz lived in Baltimore, the large port and commercial center on the Chesapeake Bay in central Maryland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore
In August of 1912, Emelie received a postcard from Pauline.
Pauline wrote the postcard in the city of Quebec, the beautiful capital of Quebec Province and the center of French culture in Canada.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City
The face of the postcard is a photograph of a magnificent monument to Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm, a hero of the French conquest of Canada.
(Below, I share a better view of this statue from a website page of “The Quebec Chronicle Telegraph”.)
The Marquis de Montcalm (1712-1759), born into a noble family of Candiac (near Nimes) in southern France, pursued a military career from his youth.
Montcalm saw action in the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession – and his military prowess led to his commission as a Brigadier General by Louis XV.
In 1756, Montcalm was sent to “New France” as the Commander of French forces in the battles against the British in the Seven Years War (French and Indian War to the US).
After initial successes in defending the French dominion, Montcalm was severely challenged by a huge mobilization by the British (and lack of a working relationship with the French Governor General- the Marquis de Vaudreuil – in 1759.
In a decisive battle on the Plains of Abraham (outside the city of Quebec), Montcalm led the French defenders against an assault by the British Army and the British Royal Navy.
Montcalm lost his life in the one-hour clash (as did the English General, James Wolfe), and the French were forced to retreat from Montreal – and the French Dominion was ceded eventually to the British crown in the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Joseph_de_Montcalm
Although Quebec had an older obelisk monument to both Generals, Montcalm and Wolfe – this statue to General Montcalm alone was raised (with a triumphal French theme) in 1911.
The sculptor was Leopold Morice.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monument_Montcalm_-_01.jpg
On the reverse, Pauline writes only, “Best Wishes” and her name.
It may be that Pauline, like many travelers in the early 20th century, was expected to send dozens of postcards to friends and family members from the places that she visited.
Unfortunately, we do not learn how Pauline responded to the sights of Quebec or to the expressions of French culture that one finds there.
(Canada, which is officially bilingual, has experienced periods of social and political unrest about the preservation and prestige of French language and culture in the Francophone provinces.)
Emelie seems to have been pleased by the souvenir postcard as she preserved it throughout her life.
One hopes that Pauline returned safely to her home and that she shared tales of her travels with Emelie.
