Rating: 
Summary: My Grandmother's Book!
Review: ... 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.
Rating:
Summary: My Grandmother's Book!
Review: ... 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.
Rating:
Summary: I hated for it to end!!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Reading!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Very Well Written and Interesting
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: My mother wrote this book.
Review: I am writing this review with my mother, Harriet Walton, who is the daughter of Harriet Fish Backus, author of Tomboy Bride. Harriet 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 Harriet as a young girl in the book. She typed several early editions of the book for her mother before it was published, on an old manual typewriter. 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. You can e-mail us at soccerrgw@aol.com
Rating:
Summary: My mother wrote this book.
Review: I am writing this review with my mother, Harriet Walton, who is the daughter of Harriet Fish Backus, author of Tomboy Bride. Harriet 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 Harriet as a young girl in the book. She typed several early editions of the book for her mother before it was published, on an old manual typewriter. 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. You can e-mail us at soccerrgw@aol.com
Rating:
Summary: My Grandma wrote this book; I love this family history.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Rarely do we find out what every day life was like
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Woman
Review: 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.*
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