World War II would bring on a great expansion in both the output and method of copper mining with a shift from underground tunnels to an open pit mine which became the largest copper producer in North America. In 1996, that Morenci Open Pit Mine would set the world-record for mine production.

Across America, from big cities to small towns and rural hamlets, there are many stories of challenges, historic events, courageous people, tragedy, and success. Some of the best and most exciting tales may not be well known. Such is the case for the towns of Clifton and Morenci, Arizona. They survived labor strikes, rising and falling copper prices, devastating floods, outlaws and lawlessness, gambling houses, and saloons. All this added to the lore that these towns were some of the roughest communities in the West. Today, after 143 years of mining, Freeport-McMoRan's Morenci copper mine is the largest in North America. Expansion has required new homes in Clifton-Morenci, a modern library, and recreational facilities. Residents are proud of their communities.

This book traces the history of the area's mineral discoveries by cavalry troops in the 1860s, to when copper miners at the Morenci area mines worked with a shovel in one hand and a gun in the other to protect themselves from outlaws and from Geronimo's Apache band, and then on to the bad economic times of the Great Depression.