author
Josie Moore Crum
1888–1972
A Colorado local historian with a strong feel for place, she wrote vivid accounts of the railroads, towns, and mining country of the San Juan Mountains. Her books are especially valued by readers who love Western history and narrow-gauge railroads.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Durango, Colorado, in 1888, she spent her life closely connected to southwestern Colorado and wrote history rooted in firsthand local knowledge. Published records identify her as Josie Mary Moore Crum, and surviving catalogs and reprints show that she wrote several books on the region's past.
Her best-known works include The Rio Grande Southern Story, The Rio Grande Southern Railroad, Three Little Lines, and Ouray County, Colorado. These books focus on the people, landscapes, and rail lines that shaped the San Juan country, especially around Durango, Silverton, and Ouray.
She died in Durango in 1972. Today, her work remains a useful and readable window into Colorado railroad history and the everyday life of the mountain communities she knew so well.