Julia is an American lawyer, an English solicitor, and an international arbitrator. She began working on Bone Necklace more than twenty years ago, after visiting the Big Hole Battlefield in Wisdom, Montana. She first became interested in the Nez Perce story because of the great injustice the tribe had suffered. What kept her interested was their conduct during the war. While many books have been written about the 500+ Nez Perce who were captured or killed during the war, Julia focuses instead of the nearly 300 who escaped.