Rosalind Ashford helped the group to distinguish themselves from the other girl groups in the label including the pop-oriented Marvelettes and the doo-wop-influenced Supremes with a rougher, brassier gospel-influenced sound. Reeves was a brassy alto while Annette was a deep contralto, and Rosalind was a high soprano. Like the Supremes' Florence Ballard, the Marvelettes' Wanda Rogers and The Four Tops' Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Ashford registered as the high background vocal in Vandellas records. After "Quicksand" gave the group a third top forty pop hit, Beard left to start a family with her new spouse. Reeves recruited a former member of The Velvelettes,
David W. Ballard Horace C. Gilson had embezzled most of the territory's funds while serving as acting governor between Lyon and Ballard's administrations. A Republican who supported the Union during the Civil War, Ballard often clashed bitterly with the overwhelmingly Democratic and pro-Confederate territorial legislature. At the time many of the top federally appointed officials in Idaho Territory hailed from Oregon, particularly from Yamhill County. These officials were strongly linked to Radical Republican policies, which were deeply unpopular in Idaho Territory. Although Ballard was not from Yamhill County, as an Oregonian he was often associated with this group. Upon his arrival, Ballard learned