Rabbit Creek Country: Three Ranching Lives in the Heart of the Mountain West

by Jon Thiem, Deborah Dimon (Primary Contributor)

In 1997 Jon Thiem was hiking in Livermore country near Fort Collins, Colorado. Following one fork of Rabbit Creek, he discovered an abandoned house and literally walked into the lives of John and Ida Elliott and Miss Josephine Lamb. Always curious about earlier inhabitants of this land, and conscious of the changes wrought by modern sprawl on its use and character, Thiem pursued the story of these former ranchers for nearly a decade. What Thiem and research associate Deborah Dimon discovered is that the three had an unconventional living arrangement that endured for over forty years, a relationship that had as much to do with their love of the land as of each other. John Elliott's father moved his growing family from Iowa to Kansas in the 1880s, then to northern Colorado in 1890 when John was twelve. He worked as a ranch hand and eventually became one of the biggest landowners in the area. Ida Meyer ventured west from Nebraska in 1897. A serious amateur photographer, she worked as a waitress, and pie lady, at the local hotel until she was in her early thirties. She and John finally tied the knot in 1908, and in 1910 he bought a thousand acres on Middle Rabbit Creek. Josephine Lamb grew up in the country west of Fort Collins. Graduating from high school in 1916, she became a mountain teacher, traveling to small remote schools. Miss Lamb moved to the Elliott's ranch in 1919 to teach their only child, Buck, until he left for high school. She lived at Rabbit Creek Ranch, possibly as John Elliott's lover, for many years after that, acquiring her own land as time went by. Tracing the flawed humanity of these three intertwined lives opens a window on life in the mountain West throughout the last century, including ranching methods and women's changing roles as wives, mothers, and property owners.

Genres: History

468 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 2008

Reviews

[David Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Jon Thiem succeeds in resurrecting the lives of three early ranchers in the isolated northern Colorado community of Livermore in the first half of the 20th century. These are not ordinary ranchers, though--a male rancher (John) and his wife (Ida) invited a female rural teacher/rancher (Josephine) to live with them so that the teacher could instruct the couple's son, and then Josephine stayed on for 43 years. Over that time, Josephine and John became partners (both in business and in affection), while Ida faded into the woodwork yet never moved out or divorced John. Thiem's treatment of this unconventional arrangement is measured and thorough, and he successfully conveys the details of the landscape, the isolation, and his characters' lives. The book incorporates numerous black-and-white photographs of the landscape and of the three main characters.

However, the book is far too long, verbose, florid and redundant; a good editor would have insisted that Thiem trim 100 of the 359 pages of text.

In addition, while the book includes a good general map of the location of the trio's ranches in northern Colorado, much of the ranching takes place 20 miles westward in the Laramie River valley and the Medicine Bow Mountains, but Thiem does not include a map of that area. In fact, several maps of the "home" ranches and how they their boundaries changed over the 43 years covered by the book would have been useful. I live in the area covered by the book so I am familiar with the landscape, but readers with less of a grounding might well find themselves lost.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This offers a fascinating view of local history, in part of places that I have hiked, though more in places that I have driven past. This certainly opens up a sense of what built these areas and how they used to be managed.

But...

I really would like this to have been covered by a historian. Especially one who works on queer histories. Definitely not the comparative literature professor who wrote this. The citations (or mostly lack there of) really tell the tale, along with every time the author said something about one of the subjects motivations without any backing evidence. And, really, I would like to see at least an attempt to question the narrative about the relationships of the three main subjects that had been propagated by rumors, especially rumors that kept these people away from the society of people that they lived near.

Frankly, while the relationships between the subject are presented as straight, there are hints that the two 'women' may have been queer in one way or another. The author even catches one seemingly referring to herself as a boy, but goes nowhere with it. The authors interpretations could be correct, but it seriously needed some level of a historian's analysis, not repackaging of rumors as most likely true.

[timv · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a local history book about a ranch and family in the first half of the 20th century near Livermore Colorado. I thought it gave a good insight into their lifestyles, personalities and the realities of living on an isolated ranch in the early part of the 20th century. Life was tough and options were limited. My compliments to the author(s). This is one of my favorite Colorado History books.

[Deb.mcquillangmail.com · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book. I especially enjoyed it because we had hiked in to the old homestead with our son. That is what prompted me to do some research and find this book.