Digging Gold Among the Rockies

"Not all that glitters is gold," warns George Thomas Ingham in Digging Gold Among the Rockies, a Colorado and Dakota mining book for both the casual reader and hardcore mining historian. As a Deputy Mineral Surveyor for the United States during the late 1800s who was involved daily with the technical aspects of mining, Ingham infuses this book with a wealth of facts and a truly colorful history that defined the mining industry of the time. Digging Gold Among the Rockies provides a brief history of the discovery of gold and silver in the eastern United States and California, but quickly claims the Colorado Rockies and the Black Hills of the Dakotas as its primary focus. In this fascinating book, Ingham explains the differences between placer and lode mining and the equipment used for each. He writes about the first discoveries, early mining laws, mine locations, mining terms, towns that sprang-up in the mining areas, and the contagious boomtown atmosphere that was everywhere. He explains the "salting of mines," warns of robbers and thieves and the dangers of gambling and drinking, and also includes short biographies of some of the mining "giants" of his era. Yet, even with mining being central to this work, Ingham still takes the time to describe the pleasures he experienced while hunting in the mountains and fishing in the area's clear, rushing streams. This reprint of Ingham's original book is a "must read" for all who love the West.