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Cripple Creek Days
Mabel Barbee Lee has written a rousing tale of early days in Cripple Creek, Colorado. She speaks with authority because she arrived there as a child in 1892, and with wide-eyed wonder saw the whole place turn to gold.With his divining rod, Mabel's father tapped gold ore on Beacon Hill but missed becoming a millionaire by selling his claim short. Nonetheless, life was rich for young Mabel in a booming town with points of interest like Poverty Gulch, the Continental Hotel, and a fantastic house called Finn's Folly; with characters around like the promoter Windy Joe and (seen from a distance) the madam Pearl De Vere; with something always going on, whether a celebration or a disastrous fire or train wreck or a no-nonsense miners' strike.
Mabel Lee's book brings back a time and place with affection. The foreword is by Lowell Thomas, who was her pupil when she was a young schoolmarm in Cripple Creek.
Mabel Lee's book brings back a time and place with affection. The foreword is by Lowell Thomas, who was her pupil when she was a young schoolmarm in Cripple Creek.
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 14, 2018
Amazing! A prospector heads for Colorado in search of gold, bringing his reluctant wife and daughter, in 1892. They commence a hard-scrabble existence in the mining camps, hoping the hard-drinking but honest dad will strike it rich. This is the story of a little girl, Mabel (Mabs), telling us about her family, town, and mining life, from the perspective of an 8-year-old. As she grows up, she comes to know about gambling parlours and bordellos and high rollers with new money - alongside a background of raging plagues, raging fires and raging outlaws. It is intimate and epic at the same time: Mabs watches her weakened, coughing father come down the hills from the mines, and at the same time, watches her town fill up with new train stations, grand hotels and millionaires' mansions. She is a clear-eyed, unsentimental child. The book was published in 1958 when the author was 74. She integrated a complete social history of the town and the era. Highly recommended!
This book was recommended to me by Cat @ ecocatlady.blogspot.com
This book was recommended to me by Cat @ ecocatlady.blogspot.com
August 5, 2013
Cripple Creek Colorado, if you have not been there I highly suggest it. A beautiful little town that still has a bit of that old mining history remaining. The last time we were there you could still tour the Molly Kathleen mine. Since Colorado has now brought in a different kind of enterprise, limited stakes gaming, there are some pretty nice places to stay such as the Double Eagle. Well enough with the tour guide stuff and on to this book. Originally published in 1958 this one is an oldie, and it shows. The story, as it is written, does need some polish but that is a very minor detail for those wanting the real deal. This woman was there in the very early days when this was just a mining camp and gold fever was all over the hills. She grew up in Cripple Creek while her father attempted to find that always elusive strike. A very neat look back in time at this little town in Colorado, a place I still call home.
April 13, 2009
Very interesting account of Cripple Creek's early days, as seen through the eyes of a miner's daughter. These books I always find fascinating; they help me picture what Colorado looked like when it was being settled, particularly in the days of the gold rush, and it is neat to look at a map and visit these places now to see what they are like today.
July 1, 2021
I lived in Cripple Creek Colorado for a while and fell in love with the history of the area. I have actually read this book a few times, but it is one of those books that is a pleasure to reread.
Cripple Creek Days tells the story of Mabs Barbee's arrival in CC and events that occured while she was growing up there. The stories are charming, sad, funny- everything! She tells of the ladies of the night on the infamous Myers Avenue, the miners who worked so hard and were ashamed to admit to lung ailments from their work, the illnesses that ravaged the camp almost constantly, the living conditions in the tent and eventually house that she lived in with her parents, the interesting neighbors who lived nearby, and so much more. You get such a great sense of what life was like in the gold camp in the late 1800's to early 1900's. The historical details make me want to visit the town again.
Mable lived there during from near the beginning through the highest point of gold production in Cripple Creek so her story has a first hand perspective for so many important events in CC history. This is an excellent read for anyone interested in gold mining or pioneer life in that time period.
Cripple Creek Days tells the story of Mabs Barbee's arrival in CC and events that occured while she was growing up there. The stories are charming, sad, funny- everything! She tells of the ladies of the night on the infamous Myers Avenue, the miners who worked so hard and were ashamed to admit to lung ailments from their work, the illnesses that ravaged the camp almost constantly, the living conditions in the tent and eventually house that she lived in with her parents, the interesting neighbors who lived nearby, and so much more. You get such a great sense of what life was like in the gold camp in the late 1800's to early 1900's. The historical details make me want to visit the town again.
Mable lived there during from near the beginning through the highest point of gold production in Cripple Creek so her story has a first hand perspective for so many important events in CC history. This is an excellent read for anyone interested in gold mining or pioneer life in that time period.
April 8, 2023
I am so lucky to have a wealth of local history to read. This is one book that I love because I know the area and I too love the area. It's my backyard (practically) and so since I'm in love with it, I should love the story.
It's great to read primary sources from the turn of the century 1900's because what you think was just in the old timey westerns is actually real. The corny way people talked was real. The way that the old movies were acted seemed real. (If the author is to be believed). This is just a story of a little girl who came up at an interesting time in Colorado and I ate it up.
5 stars because I couldn't put it down. Not sure if anyone would care though if you weren't familiar with the area.
It's great to read primary sources from the turn of the century 1900's because what you think was just in the old timey westerns is actually real. The corny way people talked was real. The way that the old movies were acted seemed real. (If the author is to be believed). This is just a story of a little girl who came up at an interesting time in Colorado and I ate it up.
5 stars because I couldn't put it down. Not sure if anyone would care though if you weren't familiar with the area.
July 14, 2023
Cripple Creek Days
By Mabel Barbee Lee
This is a fascinating account written by a woman who was raised in the gold mining town of Cripple Creek, Colorado. This nonfiction telling doesn’t shrink away from the very real dangers faced by the camps residence, from cave-ins, fires, weather, and those bad actors with a propensity for violence. The author includes some very colorful and interesting characters. Her writing gives the reader a very clear picture of what it was like in the hay-day of the goldrush. I highly recommend this book for those interested in the late 19th and early 20th century.
D.W. Hogan author of Unbroken Bonds
By Mabel Barbee Lee
This is a fascinating account written by a woman who was raised in the gold mining town of Cripple Creek, Colorado. This nonfiction telling doesn’t shrink away from the very real dangers faced by the camps residence, from cave-ins, fires, weather, and those bad actors with a propensity for violence. The author includes some very colorful and interesting characters. Her writing gives the reader a very clear picture of what it was like in the hay-day of the goldrush. I highly recommend this book for those interested in the late 19th and early 20th century.
D.W. Hogan author of Unbroken Bonds
June 21, 2024
This is a fascinating little memoir from a woman who lived through the gold rush days in Cripple Creek. Actually, her father was a miner who successfully located veins by dousing. He didn't have the money to develop the claims so would sell one and look for another. I learned a lot about the financial situation of gold prospecting, including how many men worked in other peoples mines, and the struggles of unions to improve their situations.
March 2, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. Since I live in Colorado and having visited this place years ago I could envision what it was like from her descriptions. Colorado history told from the viewpoint of growing up there as a child gives a different and wonderfu perspective.
November 11, 2017
Wonderful historical fiction.
December 31, 2022
Stories of a gold rush town during its prime told from the author's experience growing up there.
September 22, 2024
Reminiscent of Little House but closer to home.
July 21, 2025
Well-written adventure of growing up in a Colorado mining town.
June 29, 2014
Mabs (the author's nickname) did a fantastic job of describing what it was like growing up in a small Colorado mining community in the shadow of Pike's Peak. We actually bought this book at the train station after having an early dinner in downtown Cripple Creek and then riding the historic Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad. I think this knowledge and her writing style greatly enhanced her message.
I never expected to get such a detailed account of the lives of the people who lived there. She did not candy-coat the sad events. While she experienced many tragedies during her life, she also lived through many unbelievably uplifting events. I'm convinced that Mabs truly loved the people of her youth.
By the time you come to the end of the book you too will learn to understand, forgive and love many of those who, as the Bible says, trespassed against her.
I never expected to get such a detailed account of the lives of the people who lived there. She did not candy-coat the sad events. While she experienced many tragedies during her life, she also lived through many unbelievably uplifting events. I'm convinced that Mabs truly loved the people of her youth.
By the time you come to the end of the book you too will learn to understand, forgive and love many of those who, as the Bible says, trespassed against her.
February 12, 2008
I really enjoy autobiographies, and this was one was interesting and pretty well written. It's not a big book, so it was a quick read. It's about the gold mining town called Cripple Creek, set in the late 1800s-early 1900s. I learned a lot about what it must have been like to be a miner and the hardships they faced -- and brought upon themselves, sometimes. A man could make and lose a fortune in a day!
October 21, 2016
I never studied Colorado history in elementary school because I didn't grow up here, so I took a college level Colorado history course during my last semester and this book was assigned reading! It's a quick read and more suited for young kids, but it gives a really cool up close and personal picture of life in a Colorado mining town. I found the references to places and historical people incredibly fascinating and I feel like I have a better handle on the timeline of the state's "settlement."
August 18, 2008
A brief history of one the most prolific gold mining towns. Cripple Creek is just 45 minutes or so from here, so it was interesting for me to read. The author does a good job of including the most notable and/or bizarre events of the day. No battles (other than random drunk violence), so it was a little slow for me, but it did its job well.
October 12, 2009
Mining camps are great places to grow up in. They are not lasting places so there is always a "sad" ending, either they become a ghost town or a tourist town. I, too, grew up in one in the 1950s and it was a great place with wonderful people with great personalities. Modern suburbia so so bland and modern cities are all alike (except NYC). A fun book.
June 12, 2014
A colorful historical look at Cripple Creek in its early days. Times were hard for everyone who lived there: some folks went from rags to riches and back to rags in a very short time. I had no idea what a dangerous place it was to live with all the epidemics, mine accidents, and a very high degree of lawlessness that pervaded. An interesting read, especially for Coloradans.
September 15, 2009
I'm really enjoying reading these first hand accounts of life about a hundred years ago right here where I live. This one was again about a miners life but from the perspective of the daughter. Very interesting.
March 23, 2013
This was an amazing book! Mabel Barbee Lee had such a knack at making you feel like you were there living her life right beside her! It was so neat to learn some history of the areas I call home as well...just couldn't get enough of this one! :)
April 17, 2008
Originally published 80-100 years ago.
August 17, 2009
A good book to learn a bit more of Colorado history- it was pretty entertaining, too! I want to go visit Cripple Creek now!
December 2, 2010
Makes we want to go there and imagine the glory days.
March 24, 2014
Book Club- November 2013
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews