The Bad Old Days of Colorado: Untold Stories of the Wild West - Softcover

Samuelson-Brown, Randi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1493046527 ISBN 13: 9781493046522

Publisher: TwoDot, 2020

Synopsis

The Bad Old Days of Colorado celebrates the state’s glorious and rowdy past. Many people born and bred here relish just how “bad” things used to be: the terrain, the inhabitants and especially the quality of whiskey. It almost goes without saying that Colorado had all the characteristic Wild West elements ― and in abundance! The chapters focus on the infamous and notorious rather than the law-abiding and civic-minded settlers. These pages, like the state, recount the tales of people who came west seeking if not their fortune, at least opportunity. It is no secret that Colorado was settled by the adventurous willing to brave the harsh conditions and to prevail. Whether on the right or the wrong side of the law, all settlers and pioneers made unique contributions to the state’s complex culture. Certainly, in the nineteenth century, Colorado was not for the faint of heart.

About this title

About the Author

Randi Samuelson-Brown is a native of Colorado, originally from Golden. Her ancestors came to the state in the 1880s/1890s, a fact she is proud of. She is the author of the Beaten Territory, an award-nominated historical fiction set in a vice-riddled Denver and Leadville during the 1890s.

From the Back Cover

Reading line: An unvarnished look at the wicked side of the Old West The Bad Old Days of Colorado celebrates the Centennial State's glorious and rowdy past. Many people born and bred here relish just how "bad" things used to be: the terrain, the inhabitants, and especially the quality of whiskey. While fearless lawmen, industrious entrepreneurs, and resilient miners and ranchers were the backbone of society, its underbelly teemed with gambling "hells", seedy brothels, and shady characters who rarely did an honest day's work. Read about some of Colorado's most scandalous episodes and nefarious ne'r-do-wells, such as: Nathan Cook Meeker, a nonconformist idealist whose attempt to create a utopian temperance colony resulted in not only disappointment but several fatalities, and whose ignorance of the Ute culture led to the murder of several white settlers and of Meeker himself; Ada LaMont, a nineteen-year-old minister's wife from Missouri who holds the dubious distinction of being the first non-Indian woman to open up a brothel in Denver; Horace Tabor, who serendipitously made a fortune out of an apparently worthless mine that had been "salted" with silver-rich ore; then, after an expensive (and illegal) divorce, created a scandal by marrying a woman one-third his age who died alone, widowed and penniless; and Brown's Hole, Colorado's own outlaw hideout, where Butch Cassidy and his gang found refuge among sympathetic locals between "jobs" and where the neighbors themselves often didn't have much use for the tedious legal processes involved in appropriating both cattle and land. Randi Samuelson-Brown is originally from Golden, Colorado, and holds a BA in History. Now living in Denver, Randi is passionate about preserving Colorado's little-known history. The Bad Old Days of Colorado is her first non-fiction publication. She is also the author of The Beaten Territory, a historical fiction novel.

Edition details

• Publisher: TwoDot
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1493046527
• ISBN 13: 9781493046522
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216