Situated among the North Cascade Mountains of Washington State, in the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area, Miners Ridge contains vast quantities of copper. Kennecott Copper Corporation's plan to develop an open-pit mine there was, when announced in 1966, the first test of the mining provision of the Wilderness Act passed by Congress in 1964. The battle over the proposed "Open Pit, Big Enough to Be Seen from the Moon," as activists called it, drew the attention of both local and national conservationists, who vowed to stop the desecration of one of the West's most scenic places. Kennecott Copper had the full force of the law and mining industry behind it in asserting its extractive rights. Meanwhile the U.S. Forest Service was determined to defend its authority to manage wilderness. An Open Pit Visible from the Moon tells the story of this historic struggle to define the contours of the Wilderness Act-its possibilities and limits. Combining rigorous analysis and deft storytelling, Adam M. Sowards re-creates the contest between Kennecott and its shareholders on one hand and activists on the other, intent on maintaining wilderness as a place immune to the calculus of profit. A host of actors cross these pages-from cabinet secretaries and a Supreme Court justice to local doctors and college students-all contributing to a drama that made Miners Ridge a cause cElEbre for the nation's wilderness movement. As locals testified at public hearings and writers penned profiles in the nation's magazines and newspapers, the volatile political economy of copper proved equally influential in frustrating Kennecott's plans. No law or court ruling could keep Kennecott from mining copper, but the pit was never dug. Identifying the contingent factors and forces that converged and coalesced in this case, Sowards's narrative recalls a critical moment in the struggle over the nation's wild places, even as it puts the unpredictability of history on full display.

Hydraulic mining was, and remains, controversial. It produced great wealth from the soil of California, yet damaged the land in such a way that the scars will remain for eons. Great hillsides were denuded of soil by streams of water which boggle the imagination, and the sediment which was washed away filled the streambeds of the valleys below, causing flooding which decimated agriculture and inundated towns. This important new work, the first book-length study of the subject, provides a complete history of hydraulic mining, its background and eventual demise. Mining techniques prior to the hydraulic period are described, as are the inventions which followed. The only true invention of a completely new method of mining to be introduced in the California gold fields was hydraulic mining. Today it seems almost incredible that it took so long for someone to finally get the rather simple idea of using a hose and nozzle under pressure to wash down a bank of gravel. The author gives detailed treatment to the inventions and technology developed for hydraulic mining. The story of the particular mines, of the litigation concerning them, labor problems in them, and individuals who played major roles in their operation are all discussed. The story of the richest gravel deposits in California, located in the area drained by three major river systems-the American, Yuba, and Feather and also a smaller, but strategically located stream known as the Bear River, are closely chronicled. The region in Nevada County known as the San Juan Ridge, considered by Waldemar Lindgren as the richest Tertiary gravel deposit in all of California, receives special attention. A magnificent water system was constructed in the Sierra which thrust the mining industry into the forefront of engineering and technological advances-but the way would be plagued by trial and error, disappointment and considerable failure. Neither a condemnation nor an apologia of hydraulic mining in California, this book attempts an unbiased look at this most controversial of subjects. Although most of the research materials available for this study, such as government mining publications, were written by persons mostly sympathetic to the industry, sufficient objectivity and balance have been maintained to help the reader come to a fair judgment regarding hydraulic mining. The author's notes and selected bibliography testify to the scope of the research materials utilized in this study. Illustrations and maps portray the mining areas and the tools and techniques used in hydraulic mining. The final court battles between the "anti-debris" forces and the miners is detailed and analyzed, as the demise of hydraulic mining was accomplished by its foes.

The hands of Cornish miners bore scars of one of the most sophisticated traditions of hard-rock mining in the world. Toughened "Cousin Jacks" brought generations of toilsome underground experience to the Americas from one of the oldest mining regions of the world. Once here, their skill with granite and ore won their fame as the industrial elite of western mining camps. Heirs of a perfected system of excavation, a valuable terminology, and the technical edge of a culture immersed in sinkings, stopes, and winzes, they were the world's best hard-rock miners. Pioneers in American mine operation, Cornish miners utilized tribute pay to raise output and made themselves partners with a grueling industry. Expertise made them company men, superintendents, captains, and drillers, with their success dependent almost entirely on their own initiative, coolness, and skill. They are part of a culture that has survived because its very roughness gave a resilience and durability that could be transplanted and take root in an alien soil. The courage and determination of these "Cousin Jacks" in their struggle against overwhelming odds is dramatically illustrated in numerous personal stories. The Atlantic crossing, and the journey overland to the new mining districts, were exhausting trials. Although their skill in working with rock and water was soon recognized, the extremes of weather and temperature, strange sicknesses, the constant danger of accidents, and the lawlessness of the camps, all made life hard to endure. Many did not survive to send home for their families, yet the majority persevered to spread their legendary mining skills and to bring social as well as religious stability to mining areas that extended from Wisconsin to California. In the continent-wide search for bonanzas, Cornish miners and their families played a vital part in the opening-up of the American West, and in the shaping of modern industrial America. The author follows them across the Atlantic to the lead mines and farms of Wisconsin, along the trails to Oregon and Death Valley, the Sierras and the Sacramento in California, then to the copper and iron ranges in the Hiawatha country of Upper Michigan; from there to the silver and gold canyons of the Rockies and the notorious Comstock Lode in Nevada, and finally to the deserts of Utah, Idaho, and Arizona. Originally published in 1967, this new edition contains an updated introduction by Dr. Todd. With extensive footnotes and index, handsomely printed on acid-free paper stock with cloth cover which is stamped in gold foil on the spine and cover.