The 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in northern California set off a mining explosion that greatly hastened the development of the American West. This new book gathers historic photographs of mining in the Old West, from "panning" for gold in the waters of California to deep mining throughout the Western Territorities. The photos capture the lives of miners and the tent cities and early towns that grew up around the mines. What is captured is the stuff of which legends were made: the old saloons, wooden sidewalks, and dirt streets. Readers look the old miners in the eye, where the harshness of their lives is etched. They also see the places where they worked: the makeshift mining operations rising on mountainsides just out of town, the deep and dusty shafts, the tools and machinery designed to mine the precious ore. With over 300 vintage images, this is a treasure trove for historians, Old West aficionados, and lovers of old photographs.

On April 17, 1906, San Francisco was a dense city bustling with people, and thriving businesses. On April 18, it was in ruins, the victim of a terrifying earthquake and dreadful fire. Over 170 vintage, photographs, some never published before delve into the first earthquake ever photographed. Images include photographs of various buildings and neighborhoods in the city before the earthquake and the fire, photographs of the fire as it burns through Front and Market Streets, the ruins and those left to cope with them in the aftermath and the efforts to rebuild the city. The text inside the book explores the tragic decisions made by the city's leaders that contributed to the horrifying devestation. Historians, collectors of vintage photographs, and anyone interested in California history will surely want this book.

Over 280 rare and often unpublished vintage photographs explore life in the Old West, from the Gold Rush to the First World War. Here are the stagecoaches, the horse drawn wagons, the towns, and the people who lived on the frontier of America. These are the emigrants who bet their lives, and many times the lives of their entire family, on a trip taking hundreds of days in cramped wagons through very dangerous territories. \nWhat is remarkably evident in this book is that there were photographers to record these events on film. Here they are given credit for capturing on film a historic chapter in the nations history. Their images speak for themselves and Demlinger shares them with the reader, so they may understand the work of these photographers who gambled that they had recorded images for our history.