Gambling on Ore: The Nature of Metal Mining in the United States, 1860–1910

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Gambling on Ore Mining the American West Duane A. Smith, Robert A. Trennert, and Liping Zhu, editors Boomtown Blues: Colorado Oil Shale, Andrew Gulliford From Redstone to Ludlow: John Cleveland Osgood’s Struggle against the United Mine Workers of America, F. Darrell Munsell Gambling on Ore: The Nature of Metal Mining in the United States, 1860–1910, Kent A. Curtis Hard as the Rock Itself: Place and Identity in the American Mining Town, David Robertson High Altitude Energy: A History of Fossil Fuels in Colorado, Lee Scamehorn Industrializing the Rockies: Growth, Competition, and Turmoil in the Coalfields of Colorado and Wyoming, David A. Wolff The Mechanics of Optimism: Mining Companies, Technology, and the Hot Spring Gold Rush, Montana Territory, 1864–1868, Jeffrey J. Safford Mercury and the Making of California: Mining, Landscape, and Race, 1840–1890, Andrew Scott Johnston The Rise of the Silver Queen: Georgetown, Colorado, 1859−1896, Liston E. Leyendecker, Duane A. Smith, and Christine A. Bradley Santa Rita del Cobre: A Copper Mining Community in New Mexico, Christopher J. Huggard and Terrence M. Humble Silver Saga: The Story of Caribou, Colorado, Revised Edition, Duane A. Smith Thomas F. Walsh: Progressive Businessman and Colorado Mining Tycoon, John Stewart Yellowcake Towns: Uranium Mining Communities in the American West, Michael A. Amundson Gambling on Ore U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s o f C o l o r a d o Boulder The Nature of Metal Mining in the United States, 1860–1910 Kent A. Curtis © 2013 by Kent A. Curtis Published by University Press of Colorado 5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C Boulder, Colorado 80303 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of the Association of American University Presses. The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, Utah State University , and Western State Colorado University. This paper meets the requirements of the ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Curtis, Kent A. Gambling on ore : the nature of metal mining in the United States, 1860–1910 / Kent A. Curtis. pages cm — (Mining the American West) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60732-234-4 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-60732-235-1 (ebook) 1. Metallurgy—United States—History. 2. Metal trade—United States—History. 3. Mines and mineral resources—Social aspects—United States—History—19th century. 4. Mines and mineral resources—Social aspects—United States—History—20th century. 5. Ores—United States. I. Title. TN623.C87 2013 338.2'74097309034—dc23 2013012681 Design by Daniel Pratt 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover illustration of Pearl Street Station, circa 1883, courtesy, Smithsonian Institution. Author photograph by Maxim Estevez-Curtis and Noah Estevez-Curtis. For Marcela Estevez, who made this book possible. “The modern world is forged amidst our inattention.” Richard White, The Organic Machine (1996) ...