When money for her schooling ran out, Zintka moved into Clara's home in Portland, Oregon. 1905 was a big year for the Northwest city. The Lewis & Clark Centennial & Oriental Exposition opened, and Portland was placed upon the map of important American cities. Just before the Expo began, The Oaks (now Oaks Park Amusement Center) was opened, just a trolley ride away from downtown Portland. The Oaks was a Coney Island of the West, with a large skating rink, boat rides, amusements and novelties. It was a place that people of all colors could freely associate, and the sounds of Zintka's favorite music - Ragtime - always poured out onto a diverse, delighted crowd.

Zintka worked for a short while at the Expo, where her mother gave more lectures about Suffrage. She was often compared to the Sacagawea statue, unveiled for the public by Susan B. Anthony herself. (The statue remains to this day in Portland). But now it was eczema that attacked Zintka, and she lost her job.

The new year of 1906 was full of heartbreak for Clara. Leonard Colby filed for divorce in September 1905, and covered with promises of money, the divorce was finalized around Christmas. A lawsuit followed, and Clara succeeded in her countersuit, on the grounds of abandonment and lack of support. She won the suit, but true to form, Colby paid hardly any alimony or support.

Shortly after the new year, Susan B. Anthony died. Despite her protests about Clara's family and its "distractions from the Cause," Anthony had remained Clara's friend and mentor to the end. Clara's Suffragette colleagues in Oregon were disdained by the movement at large, and Clara found herself more and more alone in her struggle.

The Oaks in Portland had opened a new world up for Zintka. She began to rediscover a world inside herself, one that didn't quite fit the White model she was presented her whole life.