Gold high on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada brought hundreds of miners racing to California's Lake Mining District & the boom town of Mammoth City. MAMMOTH GOLD describes four tumultuous years, when hopes leaped sky-high upon The Mammoth Mine's discovery in 1877, then fell abruptly when the 40-stamp mill shut down barely two years after it was built. Not content with merely chronicling events, Caldwell points out the significant differences between the 1850's placer-mining camps & later years' hard-rock camps & addresses two major questions. First, who were the gutsy men & women that cast their lot with this harsh, isolated mining camp? Where did they come from? How did they manage? Did they strike it rich? Second, why did The Mammoth Mining Company fail? Was it just bad luck? Or mismanagement? Highgrading? A stock scam? Exploring for answers, Caldwell combines a historian's obsession with accuracy with his love for the people who worked & died in Lake District. MAMMOTH GOLD continues Genny Smith Books' tradition of quality books - with lively writing, exceptional illustrations, solid research & handsome design.