Anecdotes tell of the author's girlhood and young womanhood in the mining camps of Colorado during the Western boom town days of the 1880's and 1890's.

"Gary Ferguson spins tales about the vivid characters who have peopled this majestic region, from the original Indian inhabitants and their interactions with European explorers to the delirious victims of gold-rush fever, to hippies in the sixties, to today's adventure travelers in high-tech outerwear toting satellite phones into the wild. Throughout, he explores the ebbs and flows of America's attitude toward the vast expanses that embody our sense...

"Captures the grandeur and craggy beauty of the ever-changing landscape as Krakel tells the story of the West, its people, and their bond with the unforgettable land"--Cover.

Elliott Wests careful analysis of the role and development of the saloon as an institution on the mining frontier provides unique insights into the social and economic history of the American West. Drawing on contemporaneous newspapers and many unpublished firsthand accounts, West shows that the physical evolution of the saloon, from crude tents and shanties into elegant establishments for drinking and gaming, reflected the growth and maturity of...