Tomboy Bride: A Woman's Personal Account of Life in Mining Camps of the West (The Pruett Series) - Tapa dura

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 years of the 1860s, so the mines were more established and, in her view, higher tech. Her views on women's duties, race identity, class roles, parenting and world politics are all in the subtext. It feels like a real glimpse into the diary of a woman living an interesting life in interesting times. Kate, Goodreads, June 2, 2009

Harriet Backus writes about her life as an assayer's wife and true pioneer of the West with heart-felt emotion and vivid detail. Sharing her amusing and often challenging experiences as a new bride in the high San Juan Mountains where the Tomboy Mine operated above Telluride, Colorado, she paints a poignant picture of the people, and the life centered around silver mining where most of the book takes place. It is a skillfully written account from a women's perspective in a rough and tumble mining town that has made this book a classic for women's studies. Harriet's life followed her husband George's career which took them many places beyond the San Juan Mountains including the rugged coast of British Columbia, and the mountainous mining town of Elk City, Idaho and back to Colorado's Leadville. Although both Hattie and George were from the San Francisco bay area where they eventually retired, her heart never quite left the rugged mountain trails of the high San Juans of Colorado.