JUST PUBLISHED

Step into the depths of history and unearth the hidden tales of resilience, danger, and fortune. In this captivating collection of eleven short stories, we journey through a century of mining between the 1850s and 1950s, where men and women risked it all for a chance at a better life.

Come inside mining operations in Maine, Montana, New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, where coal, iron ore, silver, gold, lead, copper, gemstones, and peat were clawed from the earth. Experience it from the perspective of miners, spouses, suppliers, engineers, mine rescuers, children, parents, and even a mine mule.

Share their tensions, fears, and anticipation with each day of work and the moments of joy, satisfaction, and inspiration, where individuals overcame adversity and achieved significant and often unexpected results.  Feel the moments of exploitation and oppression, the anger and indignation, but also where it led to change, and addressing mistakes of the past.

But in the end, you’ll come away with a smile and a sense of hope and optimism, seeing how resilience and determination led to progress resulting in positive change.

So, grab your pickaxe of imagination and begin prospecting the living treasures that worked tirelessly to extract the resources hidden beneath the earth.

Years ago, before planes and cars connected dots on the American landscape, before highways and interstates, there was an era when transportation meant the people and goods of America moved by horses, wagons, boats and barges.
Then came the railroads, which pushed our imaginations and potential beyond the primitive canals and waterways that up to that time determined where Americans lived and worked.
Rails of steel opened previously unimaginable links between undiscovered parts of our country, created new cities and industries, and connected thousands of isolated towns and communities from coast to coast.
It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Western United States. But growth involves people, and the people who made it possible were those who built, operated, and used the railroads.
Would you like to get to know these people?
Come inside and experience railroad life in a way you’ve never seen before.
This volume is one of a collection of historically inspired works
describing people, places and events of several specific major American industries of the 1850’s through 1950’s.
Each volume is lavishly illustrated with archival photos and drawings, and includes glossary of industrial terms and an extensive reading list along with author commentary on the sources for the stories.