In Portland, Clara (now 63 years old) had become friends with Albert Chalivat. He frequented her home, and was planning a two-year canoe trip through the Hudson Bay country in Canada.

When Zintka finally returned to Portland, she met Chalivat. Clara introduced the two, and stopped out briefly to visit a friend. Upon her return, Clara was given the news that Zintka and Albert were going to get married - only a couple of hours after their meeting. Since Oregon had outlawed "mixed marriages," the two were wed in May 1909 in Vancouver, Washington. At Chalivat's insistence, Zintka wore buckskins in front of the Justice of the Peace.

It did not take long for Zintka to receive the tragic wedding present from her husband: Syphilis. Zintka was furious, and Chalivat quickly went the road of an alcoholic. By the end of the month, Chalivat was kicked out of Zintka's life.

Zintka had been sick most of her life. The White Man's food and diseases wreaked havoc on her body. Her recurring trachoma affected her eyes, and left a large white speck in her iris that would never disappear. And now syphilis, a disease which had no cure, placed a sentence upon the rest of her life.