Silverheels

by Tara Meixsell

Tara Meixsell brings us the inspiring legend of Silverheels, a woman who braved many dangers to help save an entire Colorado mining town from a smallpox epidemic. Meixsell has then added a story of love, adventure, and tragedy. Josie Pye comes to Buckskin Joe to begin life anew. She eventually recovers from her affair with a married man and falls in love with a local businessman. Her dancing at a fundraiser earns her the nickname Silverheels. After risking her life to care for others, she herself contracts the dreaded disease, survives, and then disappears. An actual mountain near the ghost town of Buckskin Joe bears the name of Silverheels. Tara Meixsell did extensive research into a story that some feel is legend and others suspect is historical fact. Either way, Silverheels is a story of love and sacrifice that should never be forgotten.

Genres: Historical Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book at a Goodwill store, and it made for a quick read the other night. I enjoyed this book primarily for its historical significance and the author's ability to create an original story out of the urban myths surrounding the ghost town of Buckskin Joe, Colorado. This novel would have been excellent except for a few significant flaws, most of which stem from the lack of a really good editor. There were many examples of incorrent spelling, grammar, and punctuation throughout, which really detracts from the overall impression of the book. Also, the story suffers from being a bit disjointed--the plot development is not very smooth, and there is a significant portion of the book dedicated to exposition, and the real conflict in the story is relegated to the last quarter (or less) of the book. I would recommend this book to other readers, especially those interested in Colorado pioneer history, and I look forward to future work by the author, but I do wish that someone had provided more insight and editorial work before the final publication of this story.

[amourelectrique · Rating 1 out of 5]

Buckle up, you guys, I’m about to tear this book apart.

I’ll ease in with a little fun fact. FUN FACT: I visited the cemetery of this Colorado mining town, located near Alma, Colorado, back in 2003. The cemetery is supposedly haunted by Silverheels (even noted with a huge sign located ON the cemetery gates stating so). I have video footage and countless photographs of my time spent meandering throughout the cemetery. At the time of my visit there was still an old mine located near the cemetery. We had to stop there to turn around and I took a small piece of pyrite that I found littered on the ground as a souvenir.


First and foremost I just need to say that… really, Tara Meixsell?
“Josie Pye”?!
Really?!
Ok, so you blatantly “borrowed” a fictional name from a widely popular series of books as your main character’s name. (For those who might not recognize the reference it’s from Anne of Green Gables.)

With that out of the way, I’ll say that this fictional story of was alright, for the most part. However I just wish that the author would have kept to the legend as well as historical facts, not to mention common sense facts. I just feel like it would’ve helped keep it interesting. We really didn’t need the unnecessary, fictional details. We also didn’t need the blatant racism, weather ignorance, or filler details about characters who do not matter to the plot. Maybe call the book by any other name than ‘Silverheels’, that’s all I’m saying.

The back of the book states that the author “did extensive research into a story that some feel is legend and others suspect is historical fact”. Ok, what do you consider “extensive research” because I visited the place (towns and cemetery) ONCE, did my own research and talked with locals and I personally feel that I have more knowledge on the subject. My family has a cabin on Mt. Princeton near Buena Vista. So I immediately knew the route mentioned in the book about Tin Cup Pass to Buena Vista. I mean, that’s where I left from on my little journey to South Park and Alma back in 2003. St.Elmo is also mentioned in the book. Funny, St. Elmo is just a few miles away from our cabin. Definitely more than four days round trip on horseback during the winter.
I personally feel this way as a seasonal guest to the state and that cannot be right, you know? More about beautiful Colorado later in the review.

Anyway. For the review, I’ve written it a key. •I’ve written in what folklore and history states to be true to legend, followed by an asterisk * where this book and the author comes in to play.

•Every story of the legend says that one spring day a beautiful veiled woman stepped off the stage from Denver. It’s always known that she came from Denver.
*This book has her emerging from a train which came from St.Louis.

•Historically she told people her name was Silver Heels (Silverheels) and she came to work. No one knew her name or where she hailed from. She was always referred to as Silver Heels (the interchangeable spelling, Silverheels). One account states that her name came from being a dancehall girl and everyone just referred to her by the moniker.
*This book gives her a name, a stolen fictional name that is immensely recognized at that. Spelling be damned, we all know. Everyone in town refers to her by her first and surname throughout the book. The name being Josie Pye.

•Soon she [Silverheels] became the talk of the town and everyone fell in love with her as she danced at the saloon with her little silver-heeled slippers.
Legend never implied that she had, how do I say this, a suitor (or many suitors for that matter). It has stated that although she “flirted”, danced, and brought in money for the town that no one was ever invited into her cabin save one female friend who was referred to as Aunt Martha. It is gross to imply that she did have a suitor just based on the fact that she flirted while dancing. I mean, come on!
•Side-note: Aunt Martha was the last person to see Silverheels alive.
*This book has some ridiculous story about having a pair of black “dancing shoes” with silver heels made for Josie at Christmastime because, and I’m trying not to laugh as I type this out, they’ve all heard what a wonderful dancer Josie is! “A little bird told us that you used to dance on the stage. Aw, c’mon! For the children! Won’t you dance at least once?” Even though it was never brought up in her crazy backstory in St. Louis or any other time that she’s been in town since the Spring! 23 pages left before the book ends and she writes in “Oh yeah, she took dance classes back in St.Louis.” Also, she dresses up and dances like what is alluded to be a geisha, the actual book term is “Chinese dragon goddess”. An Aunt Martha is never mentioned. I guess that’s where the fictional “Kate” comes in. Who knows.
Also, W H A T?!? with the cultural appropriation.

*Also, Doc Holliday kept colts at a stable in Leadville. Oh but wait, he trades a colt for a pistol… ok.
•Are you serious with this? Did you research Doc Holliday at all?! Did you even research how ill that man was at this time of his life and the abruptly short stay he had in Leadville? My wild guess is a resounding NO. I’m going out on a limb here but I’ll say he didn’t have much time for horse breeding giving his stance with the law, being broke AF and still trying to gamble, not to mention the obvious his failing health.
*“Merry Christmas! This was one of Doc Holliday’s colts. Say, didn’t Doc just die over in Glenwood Springs? I’ll say! What a coincidence! Whatcha gonna name your new colt, boy? ‘Doc Holliday’?! Well I’ll say! How fitting. Let’s hope that the colt turns out better than his namesake! *wink wink, nudge nudge*”
•And here’s an OBVIOUS BLUNDER: Doc Holliday died from tuberculosis at least 20 years after the smallpox epidemic that happened where Silverheels lived! It’s a historical FACT that the smallpox epidemic happened in that particular part of Colorado (Park county) in 1861. For Pete’s sake, Doc was only TEN YEARS OLD when the smallpox epidemic hit Park county Colorado! Doc Holliday died in 1887 at the age of 36!
Your writing is immensely sloppy, Meixsell.

•Speaking of sloppy writing… as someone whose author picture on the back of the book is by a horse stable, one would think you might have a tiny inkling about equine breeding. You do not have to be well versed in equine reproduction to know that colts are unavailable for the Christmas season. Especially during the wintertime in the 1800s! Guess what, weather patterns have not changed much for Colorado. If anything, they’ve warmed up a bit now wouldn’t you say? Mountain passes are still impassable from October through April due to inclement weather. I have personally travelled the route mentioned in this book. I travelled said route in the summertime and there was STILL SNOW on the ground! Signs, everywhere, clearly stating that the pass will be closed from this date to the next. I’m more than positive that these exact same mountain passes were impassable back in the 1800s on horseback! But you’re telling me that back in 1860-something someone not only had a colt for sale (I’m stifling laughter as I write this), but someone drove a horse and possibly a carriage/buggy out in inclement weather up to their waist to purchase said colt as a Christmas gift? Let us not forget what that would have meant for these people when it came to keeping this colt fed and alive during the winter and early spring months. Why would you write that?

* “It was unseasonably warm, in the 60s for the Indian summer at Thanksgiving.”
Bih, it had been snowing since October!
•FACT CHECK: it reaches temperatures UP TO 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer for Park county Colorado, where this story takes place. Average high in January does NOT even reach 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Wintertime in Park county Colorado is know to start as early as late September and end the following May. But the author would have us believe that miraculously the temps warmed up back in 1860something so this kid could have a colt for Christmas. GTFO!

You cannot state on page 8 that she only took with her “two large traveling bags”. One of which “the one smaller bag” was filled only with books. Ok, so that leaves what in the other bag? Clothing and shoes, presumably. She went through all four seasons in Colorado, townsfolk noting along the way how nice her clothing was despite her not having any money. And then stating on page 93 that “she had brought her costumes with her to Colorado…”
Historically speaking, we know the weight of and layers of old stage clothing and costumes as well as the size of the bags used for travel back then. She not only has costumes, but also accessories and stage makeup. OK, Tara! It was stated that she had two bags, not trunks. Quite a major difference in the two. “Yards and yards of black ruffled petticoat”… Had Meixsell chose her wording more carefully, perhaps consulting a thesaurus, this statement would’ve made more sense.

•I cannot ignore this one thing, racism. If I’m going to be picky about a “historical novel” then I need to say something about the cultural appropriation. I touched a little bit on the “costumes” that the main character wears as she dances (basically a geisha and then as a Spanish woman) which is wildly unbelievable anyway. I understand that the author is trying to portray certain people in this book by their accents… however, I think we can all understand that maybe someone of Hispanic descent might speak in broken language if English is not their first language. But do we really need to read their dialogue like: “We weel come back for our wives and cheeldren in Mexico…” and “We shall be reech weeth the gold!” “Si, si, get reech!”
Those are direct quotes from the book, found on page 96! Tone deaf and racist AF! Do better, Meixsell.

•Like I stated before, smallpox hit around 1861 and, as she is most noted for, Silverheels (a.k.a Silver Heels the spelling is noted to be interchangeable I probably already mentioned that…) stayed behind with the sick tended to and cared for those who had contracted smallpox while everyone else who was “healthy” fled town.

I guess I’ll close this review by coming back to my first statement. Although this book was a fun read, albeit horribly written, I would have loved to have instead read about a mysterious woman only known by a moniker who sacrificed and did so much for so many. Maybe do a little more research, extensively, as this is a widely popular tale in Colorado folklore and history. I mean, there is even an entire mountain named for Silverheels! And for God’s sake keep Anne of Green Gables, folks from Tombstone, and blatant racism out of it! Just a suggestion.

[Janie R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, but very interesting historical novel, that takes place in the 1860's in a small mining town in the mountains of Colorado. I really liked the details and descriptions of the area, could almost feel that cool fresh mountain air, see the beautiful peaks on the mountains, and feel the cold chill wind whipping snow in all directions, chilling my bones enough to cause frostbite on my skin. The hardships these people went thru, and survived was astounding! Yet, they loved the mountains and their beauty, enough to sacrifice their lives to live there. Here's a quote from one of the characters, a survivor- "Life's a river, and we are but leaves upon it."

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty straightforward novelization of a very interesting local history story - worth a read if you have a bit of curiosity about the smaller stories that get lost in the epic image of the American west.

The writing is fairly straightforward, easy to process, some attempts are even made at making the character's tone and syntax echo that of the mid-nineteenth century. But those seeking prose or poetry will be disappointed.

Take it along a car trip with non-communicative travelers, or finish it on a long cold winter's night.

[Abigail (Abbe) · Rating 3 out of 5]

a nice colorado book.

[Meghan Kavanaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find the story of Silverheels fascinating, and this was a fun read!