SILVIA PETTEM
THE BOOK LODE, LLC
Historical Research & Writing
CURRENT AND UPCOMING BOOKS
COLD CASE CHRONICLES: MYSTERIES, MURDERS & THE MISSING (published by Lyons Press, subsidiary of Rowman & Littlefield), tells the stories of victims –– some missing, some murdered and some with changed identities. All are true, and each are mysterious in their own ways. The cases in this nonfiction narrative date from 1910 through the 1950s and include evolutions in forensics, as well as historical context in order to view the men, women and children through the lens of time. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE –– CONTACT YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE OR ONLINE SELLER.
SOMEONE’S DAUGHTER: IN SEARCH OF JUSTICE FOR JANE DOE, UPDATED EDITION is being republished, in paperback, by Lyons Press, subsidiary of Rowman & Littlefield for RELEASE IN SPRING 2023.
This paperback edition will include the EPILOGUE (not in the hardback first edition).
IN SEARCH OF THE BLONDE TIGRESS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ELEANOR JARMAN is being published in both hardback and digital editions by Lyons Press, subsidiary of Rowman & Littlefield for RELEASE IN SPRING 2023.
Description to be posted soon.
THE LONG TERM MISSING: HOPE AND HELP FOR FAMILIES
When loved-ones go missing, the lives of their family members are turned upside-down. Some families are caged in by their grief, while others become proactive –– renewing police contacts, keeping up with the latest technologies, and educating themselves. With hope, answers, and practical advice, The Long Term Missing assists families in becoming their long-term missing persons’ advocates.
SOMEONE’S DAUGHTER: IN SEARCH OF JUSTICE FOR JANE DOE
In Someone’s Daughter, Pettem narrates a unique partnership among law-enforcement officials, forensic experts, and herself — a historical researcher with a desire to right a wrong. Decades after A Jane Doe was murdered, the team embarked on a quest to seek justice and to restore dignity to the unidentified victim. Be sure to read the EPILOGUE (see Epilogue page on this website), also included in the Kindle edition.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
COLD CASE RESEARCH: RESOURCES FOR UNIDENTIFIED, MISSING, AND COLD HOMICIDE CASES
Cases in which all investigative leads appear to be exhausted are frustrating for both investigators and victims’ families. Cold cases can range from those only a few months old to others that go on for decades. Presenting profiles and actual case histories, Cold Case Research illustrates how investigators can successfully apply resources that will enable them to reopen and solve cases gathering dust in the file room.
CONTACT AUTHORORDER CRC Press
BEHIND THE BADGE: 125 YEARS OF THE BOULDER, COLORADO, POLICE DEPARTMENT
Behind the Badge offers a new look at Boulder’s past. Beginning with the formation of the Boulder Police Department in 1878, the reader is taken through a fast-paced progression of challenges, innovations, setbacks, and triumphs. With a human-interest approach and 150 photographs, the book is packed with both high-profile and little-known crimes. It also features the department’s marshals and chiefs, pulling into its dragnet many of Boulder’s most colorful characters.
335-page paperback, $19.95 from author
SEPARATE LIVES: THE STORY OF MARY RIPPON
As a pioneer woman educator, Mary Rippon received wide acclaim for her teaching, but in order to keep her job, she hid her husband and child behind a curtain of secrecy. Now, for the first time, Separate Lives: The Story of Mary Rippon reveals the conflicts between this extraordinary woman's public and private lives.
278 page-hardback, $29.95 from author
Kindle edition, available from Amazon
ONLY IN BOULDER: THE COUNTY’S COLORFUL CHARACTERS
In Only in Boulder you'll vicariously mine for gold with Indian Jack, fight for temperance with Lena Dwight and dance to the tunes of Glenn Miller. You'll also learn of Horace and Baby Doe Tabors' elusive connection to Boulder County and visit the final resting place of outlaw Tom Horn.. This selected collection of Pettem’s history columns brings to life some of Boulder's most memorable and unique visitors, residents, activists, artists, and entrepreneurs.
AVAILABLE AT TARGET IN BOULDER CO
BOULDER: A SENSE OF TIME AND PLACE REVISITED
Journey with Pettem through Boulder’s history in this chronological collection of the author’s history columns. Watch the evolution from a frontier mining town to the “Athens of the West.” Learn of murder and bootleggersin the 1920s, survive the Great Depression and follow Boulder’s postwar growing pains as the city matures and residents reflect on its past. Each article is a story in itself but only a small piece of what makes Boulder the city it is today.
AVAILABLE AT TARGET IN BOULDER CO
POSITIVELY PEARL STREET: A CHRONICLE OF THE CENTER OF BOULDER, COLORADO, 1859 TO PRESENT
With two maps, 290 photographs, and well-researched text, Positively Pearl Street reveals Boulder from its frontier days to the present, as seen through the eyes of residents and visitors on Pearl Street, the city’s main thoroughfare. Boulder was settled by gold prospectors, but even before the dust settled its residents called their city “the Athens of the West.” Its educational, cultural, and health resources (combined with a magnificent mountain backdrop) shaped Boulder into the city we know today. 224-page paperback.
OUT OF PRINT –– Check with BookFinder.com.
LEGEND OF A LANDMARK: A HISTORY OF THE HOTEL BOULDERADO
The Hotel Boulderado has been landmarked by the City of Boulder is also on the National Register of Historic Places. It was named for the words “Boulder” and “Colorado” so that guests would always remember where they had stayed. This centennial edition covers the hotel’s first 100 years, from 1909 through 2009.
114 page-paperback,, $14.95 from author
EXCURSIONS FROM PEAK TO PEAK: THEN AND NOW
Excursions gives a historical perspective of the settlement of the Peak to Peak region, from the mining camps and the railroads to the tourists who came by train, stagecoach, Stanley Steamer, and the automobile to see Boulder County’s spectacular scenery.
130-page paperback, $12.00 from author
INN AND AROUND NEDERLAND: ACCOMMODATING THE TRAVELER THEN AND NOW
The Nederland, Colorado area was shaped by mining, railroads, and tourism. Silver was found in Caribou, gold in Eldora, and tungsten in the Nederland area. The narrow-gauge "Switzerland Trail of America” served both miners and tourists, while the standard-gauge "Moffat Road" crossed the Continental Divide west of Rollinsville at the scenic "top of the world.”
130-page paperback, $12.00 from author
BOULDER: EVOLUTION OF A CITY
(2006 revised edition)
Boulder: Evolution of a City has captivated newcomers, tourists, and longtime residents for years with its dramatic visual and narrative presentation of the birth and development of Boulder. In this edition, 322 photographs capture landmarks, buildings, major events, and quiet moments from the 1860s to 2006. Photographs showing the same locations at several intervals reveal Boulder’s continuum from past to present.
COLORADO MOUNTAINS & PASSES: DAY TRIPS IN THE ROCKIES
PRIMER PUBLISHERS
This glove-box-sized booklet is an overview of Colorado’s passes, complete with maps, photos, history, and factual information.
GUIDE TO HISTORIC WESTERN BOULDER COUNTY
Much of the information in this overview of western Boulder County’s mountain towns has been incorporated into EXCURSIONS FROM PEAK TO PEAK: THEN AND NOW, as well as INN AND AROUND NEDERLAND: ACCOMMODATING THE TRAVELER THEN AND NOW (see above).
OUT OF PRINT
Also out of print are the booklets:: EXCURSIONS FROM PEAK TO PEAK, BEGINNING IN BOULDER, as well as THE PEACEFUL VALLEY STORY.
For all OUT OF PRINT titles, check with BookFinder.com.
CHAUTAUQUA CENTENNIAL: A HUNDRED YEARS OF PROGRAMS
The rich 100-year history of Boulder’s Chautauqua, beginning in 1898, is told through its series of speakers, entertainers, musicians, and motion pictures –– all in the venue’s original auditorium.
OUT OF PRINT –– Check with BookFinder.com.
BROOMFIELD: CHANGES THROUGH TIME
Broomfield takes the reader through the community’s 19th-century homesteading days, covers the emergence of a small but flourishing agricultural town and transportation corridor, explodes with the creation of Broomfield Heights, and faces the community’s growth and maturity as it entered the challenges of the 21st century.
OUT OF PRINT –– Check with BookFinder.com.
RED ROCKS TO RICHES: GOLD MINING IN BOULDER COUNTY THEN AND NOW, by Silvia Pettem
Originaly published in 1980, RED ROCKS TO RICHES may be reprinted. Stay tuned!
PROSPECTING OUR PAST: GOLD, SILVER, AND TUNGSTEN MILLS OF BOULDER COUNTY, by Harrison S. Cobb (edited and published by Silvia Pettem)
This detailed account of Boulder County’s mills was written by an old-time prospector who methodically took the time to map, photograph, research, and describe the ruins and former locations of the county’s gold, silver, and tungsten industries. 155-page paperback, $19.95 from author
CONTACT AUTHOR
A STORY OF GOLD HILL: SEVENTY ODD YEARS IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES, by Mabel Montgomery with a Foreword by Silvia Pettem
This account of the mountain community of Gold Hill was written in 1930 by one of the town’s early settlers. Includes fold-out map of the Front Range, as viewed from Big Horn Mountain. Reprinted in 1987. 37-page booklet, $12.00 from author
CONTACT AUTHOR
PORTRAIT OF BOULDER, photography by Steve Mohlenkamp, with Foreword and text by Silvia Pettem
Once a mining supply town, Boulder has transformed itself into a high-tech city complete with Colorado’s largest university system campus and a robust economy. Photos and text include Boulder’s iconic Flatirons and the Pearl Street Mall.
FAR COUNTRY PRESS
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
RESEARCH SPECIALTIES:
Long-term missing persons
Unidentified remains
Cold case homicides
Boulder County, Colorado, history