Traditionally the American frontier was the home of the self-sufficient individualist, a rural environment where settlers lived without the comforts of society. But from the first gold rush into the Rockies in 1859 until the 1890s, when most gold fields had been played out, the unsettled wilderness of the Rocky Mountains became the setting of a unique phenomenon―the Western mining camp. To be profitable, miners needed a community of support―including secure lines of transportation, farmers who could raise crops, and merchants who could supply equipment. The lure of easy money also attracted a drifting crowd of gamblers, prostitutes, and con men, and a saloon and a brothel often were the first businesses to appear in a prospering mining town. Unstable populations and a lack of planning exacerbated the problems of the mining camps, including lawlessness, destructive fires, and rough-and-ready vigilante justice, but most maturing communities stabilized and quickly established schools, churches, and libraries. In this absorbing history of the Rocky Mountain mining towns, Duane A. Smith traces their cycle of growth from birth to boom and either extinction or transformation into permanent agricultural-mining communities, and he recounts colorful histories of camps that sprang up overnight and developed into urban settlements.

Rocky Mountain Mining Camps: The Urban Frontier

History

Smith, Duane A.

Americas

Indiana University Press

Throughout the nineteenth century, miners were given virtually free rein to profit without having to worry about impacts to the land, water, and air. But during the twentieth century, the mining industry has evidenced serious concerns about its effects on the environment. Since the 1960s, mining and its consequences have become heated issues of public debate and legislative reform. By the mid-1970s, a number of industry hard-liners were still clinging to nineteenth-century values, but many more were accepting the legacy of mining's past and were beginning to integrate preservation and reclamation into their plans. 'Mining America" is a vivid account of the damage wrought by almost two centuries of mining, but its main focus is on the conflicting attitudes behind the destruction and on society's responses. Veteran author and historian Duane Smith asserts that the marriage of mining and environmental issues was bound to touch America's sensitive pocketbook nerve -- but the question now i

Mining America: The Industry and the Environment, 1800-1980 (Development of Western Resources)

Business & Money

Economics

Univ Pr of Kansas

Originally published in 1988, Mesa Verde National Park: Shadows of the Centuries is an engaging and artfully illustrated history of an enigmatic assemblage of canyons and mesas tucked into the southwestern corner of Colorado. Duane A. Smith recounts the dramatic 1888 "discovery" of the cliff dwellings and other Anasazi ruins and the ensuing twenty-year campaign to preserve them. Smith also details the resulting creation of a national park in 1906 and assesses the impact of more recent developments - railroads and highways, air pollution, and the growing significance of tourism - on the park's financial and ecological vitality. This revised and completely redesigned edition includes more than 50 illustrations and will be enjoyed by readers interested in environmental, Western, and Colorado history.

Mesa Verde National Park: Shadows of the Centuries

Mesa Verde National Park: Shadows of the Centuries (Development of Western Resources)

Mesa Verde National Park was America's first cultural park and also the world's first cultural heritage park. Created in 1906, it preserves the sites and materials of the prehistoric Puebloan people. Located in southwestern Colorado near the famous Four Corners, where the states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet, the magnificent Mesa Verde is situated in Montezuma County, just south of Cortez and directly west of Durango. The park's rich archaeological history was played out amid some of the most ruggedly beautiful landscapes in the West. The greater story of the evolution of the park encompasses the Ute people, Theodore Roosevelt, novelist Willa Cather, and other personalities. These remarkable vintage photographs tell that saga, which is as fascinating as that of the Puebloans.

Mesa Verde National Park (Images of America)

Arcadia Publishing

Trade Paperback. Western American History. This book is a happy combination of scholarly research, thoughtful interpretation, and lucid exposition. It is a significant contribution to the literature of the mining frontier in this decade when more worthwhile books on the subject have been published than in the entire last century.

Univ of Nebraska Pr

This is a lively history of three Rocky Mountain states in the twentieth century. With the sure hand of an experienced writer and the engaging voice of a veteran storyteller, the well-known historian Duane A. Smith recounts the major social, political, and economic events of the period with verve and zest. Smith is thoroughly familiar with his subject and has a genuine enthusiasm for the history of the region. Written with the general reader in mind, Rocky Mountain Heartland will appeal to students, teachers, and “armchair historians” of all ages.   This is the colorful saga of how the Old West became the New West. Beginning at the end of the nineteenth century and concluding after the turn of the twenty-first, Rocky Mountain Heartland explains how Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming evolved over the course of the century. Smith is mindful of all the factors that propelled the region: mining, agriculture, water, immigration, tourism, technology, and two world wars. And he points out how the three states responded in varying ways to each of these forces.   Although this is a regional story, Smith never loses sight of the national events that influenced events in the region. As Smith skillfully shows, the vast natural resources of the three states attracted optimistic, hopeful Americans intent on getting rich, enjoying the outdoors, or creating new lives for themselves and their families. How they resolved these often-conflicting goals is the modern story of the Rocky Mountain region.

Rocky Mountain Heartland: Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming in the Twentieth Century (The Modern American West)

University of Arizona Press

This is a lively history of three Rocky Mountain states in the twentieth century. With the sure hand of an experienced writer and the engaging voice of a veteran storyteller, the well-known historian Duane Smith recounts the major social, political, and economic events of the period with verve and zest. It is obvious that Smith is thoroughly familiar with his subject and has a genuine enthusiasm for the history of the region. Written with the general reader in mind, Rocky Mountain Heartland will appeal to students, teachers, and “armchair historians” of all ages. This is the colorful saga of how the Old West became the New West. Beginning at the end of the nineteenth century and concluding after the turn of the twentyfirst, Rocky Mountain Heartland explains how Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming evolved over the course of the century. Smith is mindful of all the factors that propelled the region: mining, agriculture, water, immigration, tourism, technology, and two world wars. And he points out how the three states responded in varying ways to each of these forces. Although this is a regional story, Smith never loses sight of the national events that influenced events in the region. As Smith skillfully shows, the vast natural resources of the three states attracted optimistic, hopeful Americans intent on getting rich, enjoying the outdoors, or creating new lives for themselves and their families. How they resolved these often conflicting goals is the modern story of the Rocky Mountain region.

"This is a first-rate volume that indicates once again that serious scholarship and interesting content are not incompatible." - Colorado Magazine In the 1850s, the first of hundreds of prospectors went to Colorado to make their fortunes. They took tents and shovels, enthusiasm and cameras. Thus, mining and photography developed simultaneously in Colorado. In this history of the state's most important industry, Duane Smith combines text and photographs to tell the story of Colorado mining from the gold rush of 1859 to the energy crunch of the 1970s.Over the years mining has changed drastically. The individualism that characterized the pioneer period has given way to twentieth-century corporatism: mining giants like Horace Tabor, Meyer Guggenheim, and Winfield Scott Stratton have been replaced by conglomerates like the American Smelting and Refining Company and the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.This book gives the reader glimpses of the drudgery, hope, and disappointment of miners. The miner, at work and at play, the freighter, railroader, merchant, investor, and scores of others all stood before cameras and thus ensured their own bit of immortality as well as a rich historical record. Smith captures in his text and pictures an era past, but one that produced Colorado today. Colorado scholars and buffs will surely enjoy this book.

Colorado mining: A photographic history

University of New Mexico Press

Stated first edition. Mylar protected dustjacket has edgewear. Former owner's inscription on ffep.

Rocky Mountain Boom Town: A History of Durango

Univ of New Mexico Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smith, Duane A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Smith, Duane A.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smith, Duane A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Rocky Mountain Mining Camps: The Urban Frontier

Mining America: The Industry and the Environment, 1800-1980 (Development of Western Resources)

Mesa Verde National Park: Shadows of the Centuries

Mesa Verde National Park: Shadows of the Centuries (Development of Western Resources)

Mesa Verde National Park (Images of America)

Rocky Mountain Mining Camps: The Urban Frontier

Rocky Mountain Heartland: Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming in the Twentieth Century (The Modern American West)

Rocky Mountain Heartland: Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming in the Twentieth Century (The Modern American West)

Colorado mining: A photographic history

Rocky Mountain Boom Town: A History of Durango