Rose was the step-sister of James Howlett, the future X-Man Wolverine. She looked after him, at the request of his father and mother, because he was a sickly child. She also became friends with the groundskeeper Thomas Logan's son, Dog Logan.
Dog became convinced that Rose wanted him, so he tried to force himself on her when in the garden maze on the Howlett Estate. She escaped from Dog and returned to James, not knowing that the boy had seen everything.
When James' parents both died, Rose and James left the Estate due to the trauma. They eventually came upon a mining camp where they were hired, and Rose eventually fell in love with the foreman, "Smitty". Despite James' (who was now going by the name of Logan) initial dislike of the idea of Rose marrying someone, he eventually agreed to let it happen. When Logan went to give Smitty his blessing, he came upon Dog in the street and a fight ensued. During the fight, Rose was accidentally killed by James, and Dog disappeared.
Years later, when Logan was near-death, on the cusp of giving in a figure very much like Rose told him that he could allow himself to die and be with her. She said that doing so would also reveal all of his memories - including who she was. At that point, Logan chose life.