Books published by publisher Filter Press

Rescue in Poverty Gulch transports the reader to 1896 Cripple Creek, Colorado, where gold was in the hills and the town was booming. Eleven-year-old Ruby May Oliver and her donkey, Maude, are happy with things just the way they are, traveling with Pa to mining camps to sell candlesticks to miners. However, life changes drastically when Ruby and her Pa are stranded in Cripple Creek. Spending days in a schoolhouse when she already knows her numbers and how to read, doesn’t strike Ruby as the best use of her time. To make things worse, Pa decides Ruby needs a ‘proper upbringing’. The hilarious antics of Maude, a menacing figure set on kidnapping Maude, and the historic backdrop of the destructive Cripple Creek fires of 1896 make for an exciting page-turning read.Nancy Oswald is author of two previous historical novels: Nothing Here But Stones and Hard Face Moon.“Rescue in Poverty Gulch is filled with delights. With eloquent charm, Nancy Oswald recreates life in the rough-and-tumble gold mining town of Cripple Creek.”—Margaret Coel, author of Chief Left Hand and the Wind River novels“Readers are sure to adore best friends Ruby and Maude. Her donkey, Maude, is the best friend a tomboy like Ruby can have! This is a page-turning adventure laced with twists, turns, humor, and a cast of memorable characters. We can only hope that Ruby and Maude team up for more fast and fun adventures.”—Randall Platt, Award-winning author of Hellie Jondoe“Nancy Oswald has the magical ability to let her young readers see life as it was a century ago. Ruby’s story gives the reader a great sense of 1896 Cripple Creek. This is a great read for kids!”—Jan Collins, Director, Cripple Creek District Museum, Cripple Creek, Colorado

Rescue in Poverty Gulch transports the reader to 1896 Cripple Creek, Colorado, where gold was in the hills and the town was booming. Ruby May Oliver and her donkey, Maude, are happy with things just the way they are, traveling with Pa to mining camps to sell candlesticks to miners. However, life changes drastically when Ruby and her Pa are stranded in Cripple Creek. Spending days in a schoolhouse when she already knows her numbers and how to read, doesn’t strike Ruby as the best use of her time. To make things worse, Pa decides Ruby needs a ‘proper upbringing’. The hilarious antics of Maude, a menacing figure set on kidnapping Maude, and the historic backdrop of the destructive Cripple Creek fires of 1896 make for an exciting page-turning read.Nancy Oswald is author of two other Ruby and Maude Adventures—Trouble on the Tracks and Trouble Returns—as well as the historical novels Nothing Here But Stones and Hard Face Moon. Rescue in Poverty Gulch is filled with delights. With eloquent charm, Nancy Oswald recreates life in the rough-and-tumble gold mining town of Cripple Creek. Margaret Coel, author of Chief Left Hand and the Wind River novels Readers are sure to adore best friends Ruby and Maude. Her donkey, Maude, is the best friend a tomboy like Ruby can have! This is a page-turning adventure laced with twists, turns, humor, and a cast of memorable characters. We can only hope that Ruby and Maude team up for more fast and fun adventures. —Randall Platt, Award-winning author of Hellie JondoeNancy Oswald has the magical ability to let her young readers see life as it was a century ago. Ruby s story gives the reader a great sense of 1896 Cripple Creek. This is a great read for kids! —Jan Collins, Director, Cripple Creek District Museum, Cripple Creek, Colorado

Elaine Pease wrote Safe at Last: True Stories of Horse Rescues based on her volunteer experience at Colorado Horse Rescue (CHR) in Longmont, Colorado. Her children’s book reflects her deep interest in horse rescue. The six rescue stories in Safe at Last give young readers an introduction to the whys and hows of animal rescues. Readers age 7 and up will enjoy the lively personalities of the individual horses and the happy endings to their stories.Beautiful photographs by Roxanne Capaul illustrate the stories and Mini Pearl, the ‘spokeshorse’ for CHR, pops up throughout the book with tidbits of information about horses.

When the bloodiest labor dispute in U.S. history burst forth in 1913-14 in the coal fields of Southern Colorado, the miners knew whom to praise, and the owners knew whom to blame. Mary Harris Jones, known from New York to Colorado as Mother Jones, could incite a riot or calm a crowd with her amazing oratory gifts. She dedicated her life to helping miners organize to negotiate, even demand, better wages and working conditions.“I hope there is no war in Trinidad,” Mother Jones had said, referring to the entire Trinidad coal field expanse, “for it will cause suffering. But if the war has to be made that the boys in the mines may have their rights let it come!” In the long run, did she help or harm the progress toward workers’ rights? Were the deaths of mothers and children at Ludlow too great a price to pay?“It is extremely important that readers of all ages know what happened at Ludlow, and the role played by that spectacular rabble-rouser, Mother Jones. Lois Ruby has told this gripping story with just the right balance of fact and dramatic power. The eyes of the nation were on southern Colorado in 1914, when much that has made America what it is—the lives of immigrants, the conflict between corporate power and organized labor—lay in the balance. This story will speak to our time as provocatively as it spoke a century ago, and this book will engage and inform anyone who gives it attention.”—David Mason, Colorado Poet Laureate

Elizabeth “Libby” Byers moved west to Colorado with her husband during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush of 1859. William Byers, was founder and publisher of the Rocky Mountain News, Colorado’s first newspaper. Elizabeth was notable as a civic leader in her own right and described herself as part of the “advance guard of civilization” in the boom town of Denver City. The Byers saw Denver grow from a boom-and-bust town into the thriving state capital of Colorado. She faced many challenges as she was burned out of one home and flooded out of another, but she also found humor in the hardship. “There is much that is pathetic in a pioneer’s life, and much that is awfully funny,” she wrote in her memoir. “We often laughed through tears.” Elizabeth Byers: Denver Pioneer is Number 19 in the Now You Know Bio series from Filter Press. J.v.L. Bell is also the author of two mysteries: The Lucky Hat Mine and Denver City Justice.

Stephen Harriman Long was a U.S. army explorer, topographical engineer, and railway engineer. As an inventor, he is noted for his developments in the design of steam locomotives. He was also one of the most prolific explorers of the early 1800s.In his 1820 expedition, Long and 19 men traveled up the North Platte River to the Rocky Mountains. After finding and naming Long’s Peak, the expedition journeyed down the South Platte to the Arkansas watershed.In his report of the expedition, Long wrote that the Plains from Nebraska to Oklahoma were “unfit for cultivation and of course uninhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture.” On the map he made of his explorations, he called the area a “Great Desert.” Stephen Long: Frontier Explorer is Number Eighteen in the Now You Know Bio series.

Elizabeth “Libby” Byers moved west to Colorado with her husband during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush of 1859. William Byers, was founder and publisher of the Rocky Mountain News, Colorado’s first newspaper. Elizabeth was notable as a civic leader in her own right and described herself as part of the “advance guard of civilization” in the boom town of Denver City. The Byers saw Denver grow from a boom-and-bust town into the thriving state capital of Colorado. She faced many challenges as she was burned out of one home and flooded out of another, but she also found humor in the hardship. “There is much that is pathetic in a pioneer’s life, and much that is awfully funny,” she wrote in her memoir. “We often laughed through tears.” Elizabeth Byers: Denver Pioneer is Number 19 in the Now You Know Bio series from Filter Press. J.v.L. Bell is also the author of two mysteries: The Lucky Hat Mine and Denver City Justice.