Basins of Silver: The Story of Silverton, Colorado’s Las Animas Mining District | Center for Colorado & the West at Auraria Library Within Colorado boundaries are lands once claimed by Spanish kings and Mexican governors. Home › Basins of Silver: The Story of Silverton, Colorado’s Las Animas Mining District Basins of Silver: The Story of Silverton, Colorado’s Las Animas Mining EXPLORE BY MEDIA District Book Reviews Photographs Submitted by cowestadmin on 9-26-2009 07:35 PM Video Author: Eric Twitty Biographies New Publications Publishing: Lake City, CO: Western Reflections Publishing Company, Resource Guides 2008. Photos, maps, notes, bibliography, index. v + 386 pages. 6-1/2” County Newspaper Histories x 9.5-1/2”. $32.95 hardcopy. EXPLORE BY TOPIC Reviewer: Duane A. Smith Land & Natural Resources Reviewer Affiliation: Government & Law Fort Lewis College-Durango, Colorado Agriculture Mining Commerce & Industry Mining districts throughout Colorado should be the beneficiaries of a Transportation study similar to Basins of Silver: The Story of Silverton, Colorado’s Las People & Places Animas Mining District. This book could become an example of how Communication Healthcare & Medicine archaeology and history can be blended together to produce a readable, Education & Libraries in-depth, and scholarly examination of an important San Juan mining Cultural Communities district. This district, one of the longest operating mining ones in the Recreation & Entertainment Tourism United States, is significant in the history of Colorado and American mining. It has long needed its Religion “Homer,” and he has been found. Twitty, armed with a MA in history from the University of Colorado Denver, has become a recognized mining scholar and author. He owns a mining consulting business in EXPLORE BY CULTURE Hispanic Boulder that specializes in mining sites and history. His work on this district is outstanding. Native American Located just north of Silverton, high in the rugged San Juan Mountains, the Las Animas Mining District witnessed the entire spectrum of Colorado mining, from 1860’s placer mining to 1890’s corporation controlled mining to the final decline and 1950’s end of the district. There are still those, though, who believe it is far from played out. Hope springs eternal. The book is more than just the history of mines, however. It is the story of the people who owned them and the men that worked them. Well-known individuals make a bow, such as the Guggenheim family and Winfield Scott Stratton. Lesser known individuals also played major roles in the district—the Crooke brothers, Jack Slattery, Charles Chase, and the Stoiber brothers. The district’s famous mines are brought into clear focus, including the Highland Mary, Iowa, and Silver Lake. The successes and failures of mills and smelters, the key to successful operations, play a major role in the story. Mining camps and towns, for example Silverton, Quartzville and Howardsville, illustrate why mining was an urban West. The story of Otto Mears and his Silverton Northern Railroad traces the significance of the iron horse to Colorado and mining in general. Without that little narrow-gauge line, the district’s history would have been much different and chronologically shorter. The Las Animas Mining District contained some major mines, some coquettes that teased those who tried to work them, and a healthy group, which that old Nevada silver miner Mark Twain described as “a hole in http://coloradowest.staging.auraria.edu/book-review/basins-silver-story-silverton-colorado’s-las-animas-mining-district[12/8/2015 1:14:44 PM] Basins of Silver: The Story of Silverton, Colorado’s Las Animas Mining District | Center for Colorado & the West at Auraria Library the ground owned by a liar.” The successes and failures, the hopes and realities, and the rise and decline of nineteenth- and twentieth-century mining are all clearly illustrated. Basins of Silver includes maps, drawings, and scores of photographs, all of which help explain and illustrate the story as it unfolds. Eric Twitty has done a masterful job with a complicated subject and along the way keeps his readers clearly in mind. He carefully brings them with him as the story unfolds over the decades. When finished with the book the reader will gain a much clearer understanding of the vicissitudes of mining, which are clearly described. This book is recommended, for general readers and scholars alike, for Colorado and mining history. Reviewer Info: Duane A. Smith is a professor of history at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where he has taught Colorado history since 1964. Known as “The Sage of the San Juan” and “The Homer of the Hills,” Smith has authored more than fifty books and innumerable articles. Smith received his BA, MA, and PhD degrees from the University of Colorado. Add new comment Auraria Library 1100 Lawrence Street In the News 303-556-4587 Denver, Colorado 80204 Partners & Donations About Us Contact Us http://coloradowest.staging.auraria.edu/book-review/basins-silver-story-silverton-colorado’s-las-animas-mining-district[12/8/2015 1:14:44 PM].