Mining Frontiers of the Far West, 1848-1880

Histories of the American Frontier Series

by Rodman W. Paul, Lamar, Howard R., (Series Editor), Martin Ridge (Series Editor)

The California Gold Rush was only the first of a series of rushes that brought the first permanent settlers to much of the Far West between 1848 and 1880. Despite a flood of popular writings on separate mining regions, this book is the first to view the entire movement as an integral part of the settlement process.

The author displays a thorough knowledge of all aspects of western mining: geology, technology, and economics, as well as history. His emphasis is not on bad men and vigilantes but on the ingenious contrivers of new techniques and machinery, the hardheaded capitalists who subsidized the development of the most promising mines, the builders of the transportation routes needed to link mining camps with markets.

This highly praised classic study of western mining is now available with three new chapters by Elliott West.

Genres: Research, Nonfiction, History, American History

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Rodman Wilson Paul was an American historian who taught at the California Institute of Technology. He was known primarily as a foremost authority on California mining and agricultural history.

Reviews

[Kathy]

This was delightful. Not only discussions of the similar progressions of mining towns developing in California, Colorado, and Nevada, but an analysis of cultures interacting and the overall impact mining towns had on the history and development of the United States.

My favorite passage was: "Luther Schaeffer wrote of Maidu women gathering roots and wild onions beside him as he panned for color in a creek near Grass Valley, California. Suddenly he and the women were laughing, great bellydeep guffaws, moved by each other's silliness in working so hard for what each considered worthless." An interesting perspective on world's colliding.

[Peter Tillman]

"A/A+", excellent. Reread sometime.
No copies at our local libraries! Darn. ILL? Thrift??