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 Mabels 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 Finns 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 Lees 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.