Customer Reviews

The Led-Horse Claim;: A romance of a mining camp (Americans in fiction)

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Cecil Conrath meets and falls in love with Hilgard, superintendent of the Led-Horse Mine. Cecil's brother is a scoundrel, however, and plans to tunnel into the Led-Horse from his own mine, the Shoshone, and jump it. A fight breaks out between the two mines and Conrath is killed. Because of this Cecil refuses to marry Hilgard. He goes to NY, becomes ill, and Cecil comes to nurse him. He recovers and they marry after all. Later her brother is discovered still living, still a ner-do-well. How the brother escaped death is not explained. Although quite a bit of the story is far-fetched and hard to believe, Foote's realistic writing style is admirable.

Living close to the actual setting of the story, I can say with all assurance that the author has brought real life to the wonderful mountain scenery and its affect upon humans. Most of all she has suceeded in making one feel there at that time...when mining was at its hayday and all the possible problems that normally evolved. The mine scenes truly give one an accurate picture of what it was like to be going down into an underground shaft at that time. And her well-developed characters are believable enough so that you will find yourself getting sincerely concerned about what happens to them in this fast-paced, action packed tale of decision making, daring-do and the romance of ,in some ways, a milder time.