Images from the archives of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I).

Depicts the history of more than one hundred Colorado towns abandoned after the end of the mining boom

High in the Inyo Mountains, between Owens Valley and Death Valley National Park, lies the ghost town of Cerro Gordo. Discovered in 1865, this silver town boomed to a population of 3,000 people in the hands of savvy entrepreneurs during the 1870s. As the silver played out and the town faded, a few hung on to the dream. By the early 1900s, Louis D. Gordon wandered up the Yellow Grade Road where freight wagons once traversed with silver and supplies and took a closer look at the zinc ore that had been tossed aside by early miners. The Fat Hill lived again, primarily as a small company town. By the last quarter of the 20th century, Jody Stewart and Mike Patterson found themselves owners of the rough and tumble camp that helped Los Angeles turn into a thriving metropolis because of silver and commercial trade. Cerro Gordo found new life, second to Bodie, as California's best-preserved ghost town.

A pictorial survey of the past history of more than one hundred former mining towns in Arizona

East of the Mississippi River, and just north of the Illinois-Wisconsin border, the soil was once fertile with huge deposits of lead and zinc. White men discovered these riches in the early 1800s, well before Wisconsin became a state in 1848. Miners, farmers, and merchants flocked to the region, some bringing along their families. Towns with names like Snake Digs, Cottonwood, and Etna grew very rapidly. Roads, bridges, and railroad tunnels soon connected these towns where schools, churches, and businesses developed. Today tourists are invited to visit museums, mines, and shops in the region to explore its colorful past.

Newly revised editions with 62 new color topo maps, numerous photos and descriptions of ghost towns, historic places, gold sites, recreation areas, and more throughout Nevada.