Children's book

Nelly's Silver Mine A Story of Colorado Life is a children's book by Helen Hunt Jackson. It was originally published in 1878 by Roberts Brothers. The story is about a young girl and her family who move from their home in New England to a small town in Colorado, much as Helen left her home in New England to her new life in Colorado.

One of the passages in the book describes Nelly's first impression of her new home:

The first thing they saw as they walked out of the hotel door, was a long range of high mountains to the south. They looked down the street on which the hotel stood, and saw these mountains rising up like a great wall across the end of the street. They were covered with snow two-thirds of the way down. The lower part which was not covered with snow was of a very dark blue color; and the upper part, where the snow lay, shone in the sun so dazzling bright that it made their eyes ache to look at itl The sky was as blue as blue could be, and had not a cloud in it; and some of the sharp peaks of the mountains looked as if they were really cutting through the sky (Jackson, p 85, 1930).

The description above could very well have been her own first impression of Colorado. She was known to love the view of the mountains from her home in Colorado Springs.

Later work

Jackson has a wide body of work from poems, to short stories, to essays and her travel articles. A Century of Dishonor was her only full length nonfiction work. Besides, Ramona some other novels she wrote were, Hetty's Strange History and Mercy Philbrick's Choice. Ramona has withstood the test of time, unlike her other works of fiction.

Her extensive travels inspired much of her later writing. She wrote some of the following travel essays:

"A Glimpse of the Queen of England"
"An Afternoon in the Ghetto of Rome"
"The Foundling Hospital of London"
"Down the Arkansas River to New York"
"By Horse Cars into Mexico"
"In and Out of Boston"
"Breakfast in San Juan Capistrano"

They give an indication of the variety of places and topics that she included in her writings. The photo above is of San Juan Capistrano Mission circa 1899 (taken by Henry Jackson and digitally restored). It would have looked similar to this when she visited there and wrote "Breakfast in San Juan Capistrano".

Early work

Helen began writing at an early age, not surprising given her father's scholarship. Here is an example of a poem she wrote for him when she was eleven:

My dear papa tis very long,
Since I have had a vacation.
And now I write a little song,
To move your hearts compassion.
I'm tired to death of Latin,
As you no doubt do know.
I get on slow with practising,
Alas! Alas! how slow!
I think it is but fair,
That I should have some rest,
And tis my fervent prayer,
That you may think it best.
I'm but a child,
And rather wild,
As all the world doth know.
And this is why,
It seems so dry,
For me to study so.
That old brown book,
Has such a look,
It makes one sigh to see it.
And only think how long twill take,
For you to drag me through it.
Now if you'll grant a resting spell,
I think I then shall go on well.
I would write more but my thoughts are fled,
And mother says "Now go to bed."
I wish you'd answer this in rhyme,
If you can possibly find the time.
Your affectionate daughter, H.M. Fiske

(Jackson to Fiske, 1842)