Rabbit Creek Country (Nonfiction)

Walking in the northern Colorado foothills, the author discovered an abandoned ranch. Intrigued, he unearthed the social history of the area as well as the life stories of three eccentric people who inhabited the ranch in the first half of the 20th century. Rancher John Elliot ran one of the biggest spreads in Livermore. Ida Meyer, his wife, dedicated herself to the domestic demands of the remote homestead. Jo Lamb was their son’s teacher—more “cowboy” than “cowgirl”—yet became a business partner and lover to John. The narrative is not chronological but pieces together their shared love for the ranch, and it also reveals how time and unkindness took their toll on John, Ida and Jo.