Tomboy Bride, 50th Anniversary Edition: One Woman's Personal Account of Life in Mining Camps of the West

by Harriet Fish Backus

Overview

A Colorado favorite, Tomboy Bride presents the first-hand account of a young pioneer woman and her life in a rough and tumble mining town of the Old West.

In 1906 at the age of twenty, Harriet Fish hopped on a train from Oakland, California, to the San Juan Mountains of Colorado in search of a new life as the bride of assayer George Backus. Together, the couple ventured forth to discover mining town life at the turn of the twentieth century, adjusting to dizzying elevation heights of 11,500 feet and all the hardships that come with it: limited water, rationed food supplies, lack of medical care, difficulty in travel, avalanches, and many more. As she and George move from Telluride’s Tomboy Mine to the rugged coast of British Columbia, to the town of Elk City, Idaho, and then back to Colorado’s Leadville, Harriet paints a poignant picture of a world centered around mining, sharing amusing and often challenging experiences as a woman of the era.

With a new foreword by award-winning author Pam Houston, this 50th anniversary edition also includes previously unpublished black and white photographs documenting Harriet's journey. Tomboy Bride endures as a classic of the region to this day as it captures in heart-felt emotion and vivid detail the personal account of Harriet Backus, a true pioneer of the West.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781513262055
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	05/09/2019
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1010L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

Harriet Fish Backus traveled around the West with her husband, George Backus, and is best known for her personal account of life as a young pioneer woman near the Tomboy Mines of Telluride, Colorado. Her story continues to resonate for the courage, strength, and tenacity she embodied as a woman of the time. Backus passed away at the age of ninety-two.

Read an Excerpt

“The sled will be here at ten o’clock,” George informed me. “Wear your warmest clothes. It’s a long, cold ride. And let’s eat again because we may not reach the mine until late afternoon.”

Bundled in a dark-blue wool dress with red piping on the collar and cuffs, a full ankle-length skirt, two petticoats and tights to keep my legs warm underneath, fleece-lined gloves, a soft, black sealskin cap with earflaps, surely I would never feel cold. George was equally bundled in his woolens, and under his hat a stocking cap covered his ears.

It was snowing when the sled arrived. Bill Langley, the driver for Rodgers Brothers’ Stable, tall and rugged, looking huge in a long, heavy mackinaw, greeted us.

“Good mornin’, folks. Sure hope you’re dressed warm. Ever been in the mount’ns before?”

“I haven’t,” I said, “and I’m overwhelmed by the grandeur.”

“Wonderful country, this here,” he agreed and tucked a heavy fur robe around George and me as we snuggled close together in the back seat of the sled. Wrapping himself in a fur robe, Bill gathered the reins, slapped the horses on the rump and soon I was to enjoy my first sleigh ride.

We turned off the main road at an easy trot and glided straight toward the foot of the mountain only a few hundred yards distant. The road clung to the rock wall, zigzagging back and forth around ravines and overhanging rocks. I grew tense. The horses slowed to a walk as the increasing altitude made breathing more difficult. Steeper and ever steeper we ascended, and deeper plunged the gorge beside us. An occasional glimpse was all I dared take. Only a few inches separated the sled from the menacing drop below. I kept my gaze on the peaks beyond the canyon and the wall of rock we skirted within arm’s length. George explained the clicketyclack that we heard was the sound of ore-laden buckets passing over supports on the tram towers that carried the cables.

Biting cold began to penetrate our wrappings. My toes and fingers were getting stiff, and there was a long pull ahead with no turning back.

Table of Contents

Foreword Pam Houston xi

Part I The San Juans 1

Part II Britannia Beach 125

Part III The Heart of Idaho 161

Part IV Leadville, City in the Clouds 221

Epilogue 259

Afterword Robert G. Walton 261

Timeline 267

Book Club Discussion Questions 268

Interviews

"I've often had a fantasy that one day, while cleaning out the barn or digging in the garden, I might uncover a diary or a pack of letters, some written message left from the past that neither time nor weather nor pack rats have carried away. Then I would learn what life was like for the woman who lived on this land a hundred years before me, a woman who was the wife of a rancher or a miner, somebody who believed a good life and untold riches were to be found in this valley tucked under the Continental Divide. Discovering 'Tomboy Bride' was like finding that diary."

Editorial Reviews

"As the classic Telluride read, Tomboy Bride has held the #1 spot on the annual bestseller list at BTC for over a decade. An amazing story the first time you read it, and fun to gift to those who wonder what living in the wild alpine west was like. We joke that the summer Jeep tours that visit the old Tomboy mine and townsite should end the tour in front of the bookstore because once people hear about her life and actually see where she lived, they want to read the book."

Between the Covers bookstore Daiva Chesonis

"As the classic Telluride read, Tomboy Bride has held the #1 spot on the annual bestseller list at BTC for over a decade. An amazing story the first time you read it, and fun to gift to those who wonder what living in the wild alpine west was like. We joke that the summer Jeep tours that visit the old Tomboy mine and townsite should end the tour in front of the bookstore because once people hear about her life and actually see where she lived, they want to read the book." -Daiva Chesonis, Between the Covers bookstore

From the Publisher

"In the early 1900s, Harriet Backus went to live with her new husband, an engineer, in the remote mining community of Telluride, CO. Tomboy Bride, her account of her experiences and struggles, is remarkable. The couple endured bitter winters, dangerous conditions, limited food, no running water, and plenty of other hardships, yet the spirited Harriet found it all fascinating—and readers will, too. Harriet's unembellished first-hand account of her day-to-day life will certainly appeal to fans of history and biography, and to anyone loves a good outdoor adventure."

Robin Lenz