A true pioneer of the West, Harriet Backus writes about her amusing and often challenging experiences with heart-felt emotion and vivid detail. New foreword by Pam Houston and afterword by author's grandson Rob Walton are featured.
Tomboy Bride (The Pruett Series)
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Is a woman's named Hattie's personal account of life in the mining camps of the American West, beginning with her marriage to George and concluding in 1964 when George died, literally in her arms. Tomboy Bride is divided into four parts: The San Juans; Britannia Beach; The Heart of Idaho; and Leadville, City in the Clouds. Tomboy Bride is an engaging from the very start, reading more like a novel than a biography. Tomboy Bride is highly recommended for women's studies and American West reading lists! -- Midwest Book Review
From the Back Cover
"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."
Pam Houston, from the foreword
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By robwalton
Format:Paperback
...
My grandmother, Harriet Fish Backus, wrote Tomboy Bride. My mother was born in 1909 in Telluride, after her mother came down to the "town" from the Tomboy Gold mine, 2000 feet above Telluride, to give birth to her first child. There are several photos of my mom as a young girl in the book. She typed several early editions of the book on a manual typewriter before it was published. Harriet Fish Backus was a remarkable woman and the afterword that appears in the new version of this book tells about her life after the book. It is still an inspiring story and our family enjoys hearing from interested readers from all over the world.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although I don't often read autobiographical, historical books, I found this one to be excellent. I was initially drawn to the book because of its content about Britannia Beach, which is not far from where I live. I was delighted to find that I could hardly tear myself away long enough to put the book down, a quality which I have not found in many fictional reads lately! And this despite the fact that the book's content revolves around mining history - not something that I'd put high on my list of interests! Mrs Backus penned an absorbing narrative of her and her family's adventures throughout the Rockies and on the BC coast, and I recommend it highly.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Excellent book about life as it was lived before 1900. Well written couldn't put it down. And, ended up giving it to my grand kids they loved it, from what I understand it is being still lent out to others. Fantastic read, very happy it came back in print again. Books like this are a rare treat.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I grew up with my Grandmother, Harriet Backus, telling stories about her life in the mining camps. She always wanted to see her stories in print, and finally wrote them down and published the book. History professors have used this personal narrative as a source for their work,and one told me everything he checked in the book proved to be historically accurate; we knew Grandma had a perfect memory! My mother, Harriet, is in the book, and there is a picture of her as a little girl. She is here with me at Thanksgiving, 1998, and I was able to show her this advertisement for her mother's book on the internet. She was thrilled! She's 89 and remembers some of the stories. The book still sells well, especially in Telluride and Leadville. I'd welcome questions or comments via the internet.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By L. Look
Format:Paperback
If you have ever wondered what life was really like (what did they eat, do for entertainment, get medical care, what the housing was like?, etc.), Mrs. Backus gave wonderfully practical descriptions of this fascinating but difficult life. Although quite Victorian and proper in what she discloses, I felt as she had told me about the down and dirty details as well as how a woman adapted and grew with her environment. In addition, it was a suspenseful read to find out what would happen next. Mrs. Backus was truly a woman with a GOOD ATTITUDE.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
After our second Jeep ride that just happened to go through the Tomboy Mine, I read about this book on the Ouray, CO web site and ordered it. The reviews were right--I couldn't put it down either. I've ordered more copies to give away.
I immediately ordered Duane Smith's A Visit With the Tomboy Bride. He is a Colorado professor who has used Mrs. Backus' book in his history classes and had correspondence with her for many years. Now I'm finished with it and sad for it all to end.
I swore I would not take another Jeep ride down that trail. It's still just like Mrs. Backus described and showed it--very scary. Now, I really want to go back to the Tomboy Mine one more time!
I immediately ordered Duane Smith's A Visit With the Tomboy Bride. He is a Colorado professor who has used Mrs. Backus' book in his history classes and had correspondence with her for many years. Now I'm finished with it and sad for it all to end.
I swore I would not take another Jeep ride down that trail. It's still just like Mrs. Backus described and showed it--very scary. Now, I really want to go back to the Tomboy Mine one more time!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Alice Anyone
Format:Paperback
Mrs. Backus embodies an amazing frontier spirit, good cheer in the face of nearly every disaster, and in the course of her gentle discussions of daily live at a time of awesome change in Colorado, shows us the most fascinating details of how people lived when our state was growing up. Her personality and individuality come through clearly fifty years after the book was written, and she seems a woman I would have loved to have known. Well written and edited, clear, easy to read yet containing hidden depths, and a joy throughout, it was very hard to put down even between chapters! A great look at frontier mining life. *It was also very nice to see the note here from her granddaughter - it seems the pleasant disposition and good cheer has carried well through the generations.*
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I visited Telluride and purchased this book while there. I read it, loaned it to several friends and they read it and loved it. My daughter loved it so much she didn't return it, so I purchased a second book. The author has a knack for writing and has led an extremely interesting life. At first I thought I enjoyed the book because I had visited a lot of the places that she talked about, but later found that people who had never been to CO enjoyed the book as much as I did.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tomboy Bride Review
This book was an awesome account of life in the mining camps of Colorado, full of history and reality, but was presented in fictional-type reading. Read more
Published 4 months ago by C. S. Jamison
5.0 out of 5 stars
Right here in Colorado where I live!
Loved this book! I have been living in Colorado since the seventies and am familiar with the locations of the mines and towns in the book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. H. Church
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tomboy Bride
Excellent accounting of the early days of Women in the Colorado mining towns. Liked it so much have passed it on to my friends
Published 4 months ago by Bev
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great read!
Tom Boy Bride was fun to read. I have always wondered about the folks doing all the gold and silver mining in the Colorado mountains and what their lives must have been like. Read more
Published on September 22, 2010
5.0 out of 5 stars
An amazing time capsule -- like a grandmother on steroids
For anyone with a passing interest in history and the West, this book strikes me as a must-read. I picked it up visiting Telluride, and it lingered on my nightstand for months. Read more
Published on August 23, 2010 by Andrew Kent
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tomboy Bride Review
We had to get this for my daughters history class. Not only did she read it but I did too and enjoyed it greatly. Read more
Published on December 12, 2009 by S. L. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Trails to Explore
If you are a Jeeper and love to climb the backroads around Ouray, Telluride and Silverton you will recognize many of the trails mentioned in this book. Read more
Published on September 6, 2009 by Ansel Adams
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Diary That Reads Like a Novel
Harriet Backus chronicles her everyday life with a riveting narrative of her experiences in the early 20th century mining camps of the west. Read more
Published on August 9, 2008 by Patrick Rogers
5.0 out of 5 stars
Have read it more than once
I rarely read a book more than once but this one is worth the time to do that. What a life the bride lived.
Published on July 15, 2008 by Amie Pen
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of best books I've ever read!
Since so many have commented on the story, I'll skip repeating all the wonderful things others have already said. Read more
Published on July 14, 2008 by Roger
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