ÒA prospector picks up a likely looking piece of float and then spends half a day squinting around to find correctly its true source. Another becomes intrigued with an abandoned Indian camp only to find a rich silver-lead vein. Green-stained rocks around a mountain spring lead to the discovery of copper ore. A party of travelers gets lost when clouds drop so low they obliterate a mountain trail. Dawn reveals scores of gold-bearing rocks bordering their blankets.Ó This is the classic book about fabulous mining booms, of men and women who braved some of the most remote, wild and desolate country east of the Sierra Nevada to find gold and other precious minerals. Many of the colorful characters who contributed to the legendary reputation of mining camps with names like ÒDogtownÓ and ÒSkidooÓ were personally interviewed by both Belden and DeDecker.