Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Tomboy Bride

by Harriet Fish Backus, Pam Houston (Goodreads Author) (Foreword by)

4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 · rating details · 226 ratings · 56 reviews

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.

It is a woman named Hattie's personal account of life in the mining camps of the American West, beginning with her marriage to George and conclu...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published January 1st 1977 by Pruett (first published January 1969)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Nine Years Among the Indians, 1870-1879 by Herman Lehmann

Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

The Old West in First Person

96th out of 96 books — 13 voters

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. Bird

A Literary Map of Colorado

28th out of 50 books — 4 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 358)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Nov 23, 2009 Kristel rated it 5 of 5 stars

On route to the Tomboy Mine which hovered 3,000ft above the mountain town of Telluride, CO. A sleigh driven by two, over-worked horses pulled Harriet and George Backus up an ever winding and steep road covered with ice that clung to a rock wall. Treacherous switchback after switchback with just inches separating the sled from the thousand foot sheer drop offs. Stricken with frigid temperatures and an altitude that made every breath an ever increasing difficulty; this was the predicament of Harri...more On route to the Tomboy Mine which hovered 3,000ft above the mountain town of Telluride, CO. A sleigh driven by two, over-worked horses pulled Harriet and George Backus up an ever winding and steep road covered with ice that clung to a rock wall. Treacherous switchback after switchback with just inches separating the sled from the thousand foot sheer drop offs. Stricken with frigid temperatures and an altitude that made every breath an ever increasing difficulty; this was the predicament of Harriet Backus and her husband George as they climbed to their first silver mining camp in the late 1890’s.
Ever wonder what life was like for women living in mining camps at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries? Some of these women lived year round at the top of 11,800ft mountains along with their families. These women experienced many fascinating hardships, such as how to: cook, find fresh food, give birth, bathe, stay warm, overcome illnesses, overcome storms and avalanches, walk in ten feet of snow, and to survive at high altitudes. Harriet Backus, author of The Tomboy Bride: A Woman’s Personal Account of Life in Mining Camps of the West has done a superb job documenting her encounters and obstacles as she left her home as a teacher and telegraph worker in San Francisco and began her long journey with new husband George Backus, to the rugged, high country mining camps. Their adventure would take them to Telluride, Colorado, the British Columbia coast, Idaho, and even Leadville, CO.
It was a time when the mining industry helped shape Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming into becoming states in the latter half of the 1800’s. Mining became a mass-production industry. Silver mining had evolved into one of the number one driving forces of settlement in the western United States. In addition to silver, there were also findings of gold, lead, coal, and other valuable minerals. This boom created many small mining camps littered throughout the west with little or no supplies, doctors, housing, food, schools, or other amenities found in the large cities of the United States.
The Tomboy Bride: A Woman’s Personal Account of Life in Mining Camps of the West is written in chronological order pertaining to the true events of Harriet Backus’s diary. This was a great way to get a true sense of her struggles from beginning to end. She captures the reader with her intriguing story of hardship from one mining camp to the next. The majority of the events initially take place at the Tomboy Mine in Telluride, Colorado, but also take place at the Britannia mine in British Columbia, Elk City, Idaho, and the Climax mine in Leadville, Colorado.
In the late 1890’s Harriet Fish set out to marry George Backus, an “assayer at the Japan Flora Mine” (3). She had no idea where they were to live, or what was ahead of her. After being married in Denver, Colorado they traveled by several trains to Telluride, Colorado. George told her nothing, but to pack her warmest clothes, and to buy a high altitude cookbook. Then they set out by sleigh to climb over 3,000ft on a narrow trail through the mountains to the top of Tomboy Mine. This is a menacing trail well known for mules having lost their footing and plummeted to their death down the arduous mountainside. As they arrived at the mining camp, the sleigh pulled up to what would be their first home, a two room shack. Harriet’s first step off the sled sent her descending into waist high snow. This was the start of roughing it for Harriet.
Harriet began her life as the wife of a miner by beginning to learn housekeeping and cooking chores. She found one tub in their shack which was to be used both as a bathtub and a tub for washing dishes. Water was in high demand and was rationed to five gallons per week, so baths were cut down to once a week in only a few inches of water. Harriet would bathe first, and then George because he was covered in filth from the mines.
Supplies were a constant hassle as they could only be ordered once a month, and were usually late due to weather. “My monthly order list of meat generally included two legs of mutton, three dozen veal, pork, and mutton chops, half a ham, a slab of bacon, several beef steaks, two roasts of beef and a beef tongue” (53). There were no refrigerators so the meat was hung outside where it froze. Milk, fruit, and vegetables were bought by the case, but were never guaranteed to be fresh as the length of time to arrival varied with the weather. Many shipments arrived rotten, including the meat. Harriet was not a good cook in the first place, so these hassles with supplies only burdened her more.
Yet another obstacle arose when Harriet became pregnant. As her due date approached, George rented out a bedroom in the town of Telluride for her to stay in until she gave birth. It was too dangerous to try and stay up at the mine, as weather could possibly deter her getting to the doctor for days. It was a good thing that they had traveled into town, as an avalanche wiped out the Trout Lake Dam of the Telluride Power Company, taking out the town of Placerville. There were over thirty miles of train tracks and roads cut off and all telephone and telegraph communication was at a standstill. Wagons carrying food were unable to make it into town for weeks, only small pack mules could make it in; which left a town encompassed by about five thousand people very hungry. It was at this time that Harriet Backus gave birth to a little girl, Harriet Anna Backus. They waited another month before climbing the mountain back to their cabin at the mining camp.
By 1910, they had decided to move to a milder climate. They packed all their worldly possessions onto a sleigh guided by two horses embedded to their waists in the snow. Harriet, George, and the baby had to sit on top of their boxes, as there was no room left in the sleigh with their feet dangling off the side of a thousand foot cliff. “Dear Little Harriet, completely hidden in blankets…how did she get air to breath...what would I do when her diaper needed changing or when she must be nursed” (139)? Soon after, baby Harriet started a screeching cry for milk. It was impossible to nurse her in those conditions, and Harriet’s hands were numb from the cold. Luckily they encountered the wagons at the bottom of the trail fairly quickly. One of the men at the bottom, amazed to see a baby in that weather, forced Harriet to hand over her baby so that he could ride her out of the blizzard on his horse and get warm. It would take over an hour for Harriet and George to make it into town to find their baby cuddled next to the fire with the gentleman that quite possibly saved her life.
These are only a few of the hardships encountered by Harriet Backus while living in the San Juan Mountains near Telluride, Colorado. A story of vivid strengths in this pioneer woman of the west.
Harriet Backus wrote this fascinating novel based on her diary and her experiences alone. Her background in teaching most assuredly helped with the beautiful flow of the book. The entire novel is derived from factual evidence and her own recollection of the struggles along the way.
This novel is similar to the novel, Desperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West by Ethan Rarick. He wrote his fascinating novel based on facts alone, just as Harriet Backus. He quoted diaries left by each of the members from the Donnor Party, and also used diaries from future parties to compare notes on obstacles, scenery, and location. The only reason why The Tomboy Bride: A Woman’s Personal Account of Life in Mining Camps of the West differs from Desperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West is because it is a biography written by Harriet Backus herself from her own diary, whereas Ethan Rarick used the diaries of others several years later. Ethan Rarick used endnotes throughout his novel, which helped with the factual dates of certain events from several different people’s diaries. Harriet Backus did not need to use endnotes because her novel is written chronologically from her own diary. Her life in the mining camps was well documented by her diary entries and photos.
The photos Harriet Backus used were of herself, her children, the mines, their homes, miners, pack trains, mountain views, friends, and even the trail they climbed to their first home. These photos give the reader a true sense of what it was like to live in those times and conditions, and a true impression of the struggles and hardships along the way. The Tomboy Mine, for example, closed in 1925 and all that is left are a few remnants, and pieces of wood. Her photo inclusion of the mine in its heyday is quite interesting as it depicts an era lost in the rubble. Looking at what is left of the mine today, there is no way to realize the extent of its historical popularity. Therefore, the photos included are of great importance to the novel.
The copyright of The Tomboy Bride: A Woman’s Personal Account of Life in Mining Camps of the West was in 1969. It was first published in 1977 by Pruett Publishing Company in Boulder, Colorado. This book review is based upon the 1977 publishing.
This novel was written from the heart of Harriet Backus an authentic female pioneer of the rugged western mining towns. Her novel is for the true history buffs that enjoy the painstaking struggles endured by the first women in the west. Or even the average woman that is curious about what it must have been like to live in the mountains, without electricity, running water, fresh food, warmth, no diapers, or other amenities. This book is for experts and amateurs alike, as it captures the reader’s attention within moments of reading it. It will especially catch the eye of anyone who has traveled the lengthy, steep four-by-four trail of switchbacks up to the mine.

(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 21, 2009 Sharae rated it 3 of 5 stars

On a recent trip to Teluride, CO I found a book written by Harriet Fish Backus. I decided to buy it after listening to a guide tell us about her life during a four wheeling trip up the steep and scary mountain that she used to travel with her husband by horseback and wagons. I found her history of living in mining towns during the early 1900's to be fascinating. After reading this book I feel even more grateful to be born in this era of time when walking through 3 or 4 feet of snow to get somewh...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 02, 2009 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was a really fascinating look into the life of a woman living as the wife of a mine engineer in some of the most remote areas of the US around 1910. This book is not a drama, there's no flowery descriptions of emotional solitude or deep looks into the human soul. It is simply a first person account of what Mrs. Backus did to ensure her family's health and survival.

The best part of the book is that she is as much a product of her times as we all are. 1910 was far past the gold rush yea...more

like · see review

Sep 17, 2012 Sarahandus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

I was misled by the title and have a hard time giving a rating to this book, honestly I would say I didn't like it but that wouldn't be fair. Tomboy is the name of the mine where the story started, not the attitude of the bride.
While I was enchanted at the beginning because I was born in the region and the names of towns and places sang with memories of childhood, I am not in the mood for a story about women's lives.

The book is very well written story of Harriet Backus' life as the wife of min...more

like · see review

Jun 26, 2012 Michele rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an autobiography of a woman who lived in the late 1800s to the 1900s. She basically chronicles her early married life as the wife of a miner, providing details of the places they lived, the hardhips of life at that time, and details about the mining industry. The first 100 pages were a little slow for me, but after that I really enjoyed her story. Amazing to think how harsh and primitive living conditions were in mountainous areas back then. Yet, she enjoyed the challenges and never seem...more

like · see review

Apr 13, 2011 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Her style is very personal and it was like listening to someone tell stories from their life. In my experience with autobiographies/memoirs, that tone is very difficult to achieve and if you can do it, it makes the book infinitely more readable. A lot of the locales and people she described and knew were familiar to me but her perspective was new. I recognized some of the names only from buildings or street or town names in Colorado but didn’t know anything about the people so this book filled i...more

like · see review

Jul 27, 2012 Steve Howes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to go on a geology/jeep tour of the Savage Basin above Telluride, Colorado. On the trip, we passed the ruins and other industrial detritus of several old mining operations (circa early last century)and I wondered how people lived and worked in what was essentially a cirque basin located above 11,000 feet elevation and that was covered with snow for a good part of the year. One of the largest operations was the Tomboy Mine and the author's husband was...more

like · see review

Aug 29, 2009 Lucy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read Tomboy Bride as part of a church bookgroup that I decided to crash (it wasn't my ward) with the hopes of being taken up to the Tomboy Mine near Telluride as part of the book's discussion.

The tour of the mine and mountain ghost settlement never happened, but a really fun discussion with a member of a Victorian society present made the entire experience of reading this book a lot more fun than I expected.

As far as the book goes, I was enchanted with Harriet Fish Backus living as a new bride...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 10, 2013 WCBS Wild Clover Book Services added it

Shelves: a-literary-map-of-colorado

"I heard more incredible stories of packrat ingenuity and achievement but no one could tell why the rats hid the food instead of eating it."
The author recounts life at the Tomboy Mine nearly 12,000 feet high in a mountain near Telluride. She retells their lives moving around to British Columbia, Idaho and Leadville. After numerous rejections, it was finally published when she was 84 years old. This is an important memoir from Colorado mining history and the conditions of the families who endured...more

like · see review

Apr 04, 2010 Katielin317 rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is such a great and interesting account of one woman's life and hardships that she faced at the turn of the century married to a mining man and learning everything that she did regarding mining, the landscape, housekeeping, and becoming a mother. It is not a sad book, which is a relief. She writes with such an innocent voice and humor strewn throughout. It was a pleasant read and I am glad to know a bit more about that particular life style.

like · see review

May 15, 2012 Sue rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-women

An excellent journal of life in mining communities in early 1900's in the western states. Upbeat, Harriet Fish Backus writes about winter's with snow over the roof of their uninsulated house with the privy being 50 to 100 feet behind the house, medical care sometimes being 3-5 hours away by horse down snowy mountain passes, water & coal having to be carried from distances that would tax any of us today. A great historical journal!

like · see review

Nov 16, 2012 J A rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love the author's description of her life at the Tomboy mine. Her experiences there were quite extraordinary. The reason I did not rate this book higher is because I could tell by reading the book that the author herself became bored with it after a certain point, the point being her and her family's departure from the Tomboy.

like · see review

Feb 12, 2012 Evlyn Vander Vliet rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone

What a wonderful real-life adventure story! I loved experiencing this woman's joys, challenges, and new scenery. Her memoir is full to the brim of unbelievable excursions, tragic accidents, questionable living arrangements, and happy endings. It was refreshing to read a tale so full of joy and so devoid of materialism.

like · see review

Jun 06, 2012 Rhonda rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was such an interesting look at life in CO in the early 1900's and life in mining towns like Telluride and Leadville. It made me want to go visit these areas again. Colorado is rich in minerals, mountains and tough mining folks who created this beautiful state. Thanks for a nice slice of CO history Hattie!

like · see review

Jan 28, 2009 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you like memoirs by women who lived in mining camps in the early 1900's as much as I do, then you willl LOVE this book. Harriet was an amazing woman who didn't seem to mind living in a log cabin at 10,000 ft., walking to an outhouse in a blizzard or having to order all your food for the entire month and wait for the mules to deliver it. It was a great read.

like · see review

Aug 01, 2011 Georiscs rated it 4 of 5 stars

Delightful book -- the author is a wonderful writer who shares as a young bride and mother, the joys, perils and hardships of living at high altitudes in the beautiful and unforgiving mountains of Colorado and Idaho and California. I recently visited these areas mentioned which made the book come alive! However, one might wish to read another more exciting book alongside (which I did) and go back and forth between books to keep things interesting. Some might find the book a little boring, it is...more

like · see review

Jan 30, 2011 Chris Babcock rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: colorado

I have read this book multiple times and it never fails to keep me interested. Backus joined her engineer husband at the Tomboy Mine in the mountains above Telluride, Colorado. Winter proves to be difficult, but manageable in the deep snows and friendships run deep as well.

like · see review

Apr 29, 2009 Sharmin rated it 5 of 5 stars

I bought this book while on vacation in Ouray, Colorado. I love local history and this book is great. It's wonderful to be able to "see" the old mining camps as they were in the heyday. The sites are now ghosttowns. I just finished it for the second time.

like · see review

Sep 15, 2009 Mylinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

fascinating srory of a woman who marries a miner and their lives in mining camps (the first being the tomboy thus the name) a lot of fascinating history and fun stories. Some autobiography is just better than others and this is a good one.

like · see review

Dec 29, 2008 Helen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is one of my favorite books of all time. I have read it aloud several times to elderly friends and have loaned it to many people. If you appreciate historical autobiographies, this one is wonderful. I highly recommend it.

like · see review

Jul 05, 2012 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Loved this book. Its so much fun to explore the Colorado ghost towns and this book is an account by a lady who lived in mining towns in Colorado, Idaho and Canada around the turn of the century. Those abandoned buildings will have a new sense of life about them to me from now on! Very interesting and well-written by Harriet Fish Backus.....like a novel.

like · see review

Dec 19, 2008 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fun fast read about what it was like to live in Colorado during the height of mining. These people faced unbelievable odds and hardships. It makes me value our easy life with modern conviences!

like · see review

Nov 30, 2012 Stacy Ehrlich rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fabulous account of gold mining life at the turn of the century. Fascinating, personal account of one of my favorite vacation spots -Telluride. Brought a tour of an old, dilapidated camp to life.

like · see review

Feb 14, 2009 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Grandma gave me this book to read, and I thought it might be boring, but it really wasn't. It was very interesting, a fun story to read and kept my interest really well.

like · see review

Mar 26, 2012 Nancy Geise rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am so grateful to my daughter for purchasing a copy of this book for me. I had never heard of it. It is a remarkable true story of a young bride and her husband who lived in areas so remote that I can hardly comprehend all they endured.

It is a simple story in its writing of a courageous and loving woman whose spirit never falters as she strives to create a sense of order out of her anything but normal circumstances. Having spent several years living in Colorado, I cannot imagine facing what s...more

like · see review

Feb 26, 2009 Joanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED this book. Colorado history is one of my passions, so this novel, set predominantly in Telluride and Leadville, Colorado was very interesting to me. Harriet Fish Backus tells wonderful details about beginning her life with George Backus as a young bride, not even knowing how to cook. They encountered blizzards, avalanches, freezing temperatures, and isolation while building their lives together in a shack on the edge of a mountain. Only once a month would food be delivered to them by mul...more

like · see review

May 14, 2012 Michelle Varrin rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the best first person accounts of life in the Colorado mountains every written. Absolutely loved this book.

like · see review

Oct 30, 2012 Alaina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: womens-history

A sweet memoir. Harriet Fish Backus is such a cheerful person, her account was a joy to read.

like · see review

Jul 09, 2012 Mariana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting, but she never really challenges the status quo. I like the part about Colorado.

like · see review

Jun 27, 2009 Ellenh rated it 4 of 5 stars

Interesting to read about the places we visited. Hard to belive anyone would have been living like that by choice!

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 next »

Biography

7 users

Literature > American

2 users

Western

2 users

See top shelves...

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Tomboy Bride

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Tomboy Bride
avg rating	preview: Tomboy Bride Goodreads rating: 4.02 (226 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/332850.Tomboy_Bride?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348299857l/332850.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/332850.Tomboy_Bride?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Tomboy Bride by Harriet Fish Backus[/url]

Tomboy Bride

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)

Genres

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Tomboy Bride

Tomboy Bride

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (1)

Genres

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Tomboy Bride

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)