Bob Lenon came to Yuma as a first-grader in 1914, only two years after Arizona became the last of the contiguous 48 states to join the union. He remembers vividly the transformation of that primitive land, with dirt roads and tire tracks where Interstate Highways stand today.

Bob grew up listening to tales of his neighbors--old prospectors and miners. Inspired by them, he became a mining engineer and an intrinsic part of the process by which copper, gold, and other metals were extracted from Arizona rock. In his 90 years of residence in Arizona, he has witnessed many changes, and, in fact,...

Bob Lenon came from Nebraska to Yuma, in 1914, just two years after Arizona had become the 48th state. He remembers seeing the Colorado River when it had no highway bridges and traveling on a plank road across dunes where an Interstate Highway now runs.

Because Bob grew up listening to neighbors' tales of gold in the hills, it was natural for him to make mining his life-as a prospector and as a mining engineer. He became an intrinsic part of the process by which copper, gold, and other metals were extracted from Arizona rock. In more than 90 years as an Arizonan, he has witnessed many...

Bob Lenon came to Yuma as a first-grader in 1914, only two years after Arizona became the last of the contiguous 48 states to join the union. He remembers vividly the transformation of that primitive land, with dirt roads and tire tracks where Interstate Highways stand today.

Bob grew up listening to tales of his neighbors--old prospectors and miners. Inspired by them, he became a mining engineer and an intrinsic part of the process by which copper, gold, and other metals were extracted from Arizona rock. In his 90 years of residence in Arizona, he has witnessed many changes, and, in fact,...

Bob Lenon came from Nebraska to Yuma, in 1914, just two years after Arizona had become the 48th state. He remembers seeing the Colorado River when it had no highway bridges and traveling on a plank road across dunes where an Interstate Highway now runs.

Because Bob grew up listening to neighbors' tales of gold in the hills, it was natural for him to make mining his life-as a prospector and as a mining engineer. He became an intrinsic part of the process by which copper, gold, and other metals were extracted from Arizona rock. In more than 90 years as an Arizonan, he has witnessed many...

Mining in the western United States entered its great era after 1860 through use of the double-jack, black powder, hand steel, Bickford fuse, wire rope, and the steam engine. Those were the years of bonanza strikes: Henry Wickenburg s Vulture Mine in Arizona Territory; the main hard-rock gold strike in the desert Southwest; Ed Schieffelin s discovery of vast silver deposits in Tombstone, Arizona; and the Tonopah-Goldfield strike in Nevada, which netted over one hundred million dollars.
"Black Powder and Hand Steel "describes the miners and the machinery they used. Otis E. Young, Jr.,...