Edited and with an introduction by T. Lindsay Baker; foreword by Larry Gatlin.

Once a busy industrial town of nearly 10,000, Thurber now boasts a residency of less than 10. For approximately 50 years, from 1886 to 1936, migrants from the United States, Mexico, Russia, Britain, and Eastern and Western Europe mined bituminous coal, manufactured bricks, and provided the labor for all of the residual businesses in an entirely company-owned town. The rich history of Thurber includes big-city investors, Texas Rangers, labor unions, railroads, sports, opera, diversity, tragedy, triumph, and the everyday lives of men, women, and children.

Unlike elsewhere, however, the miners' success at Thurber was not fraught with violence and loss of life; furthermore, in the strike's aftermath good relations generally characterized employer/employee negotiations.