Duane A. Smith is a professor of history at Fort Lewis College in Durango, and is the author or coauthor of more than fifty books on Colorado and the West. He also serves as chair of the Durango Parks and Forestry Board and on the Anima School House Museum Board.

"...a well-documented survey...of the destructive impact of American mining practice upon the environment, and of the increasing public and political reaction to the devastation that mining produces. In a time when there is more heat than light generated upon the subject, it is a pleasure to note that the author has remained fair and dispassionate."—Western Historical Quarterly

Duane A. Smith is a professor of history at Fort Lewis College in Durango, and is the author or coauthor of more than fifty books on Colorado and the West. He also serves as chair of the Durango Parks and Forestry Board and on the Anima School House Museum Board.

"...a well-documented survey...of the destructive impact of American mining practice upon the environment, and of the increasing public and political reaction to the devastation that mining produces. In a time when there is more heat than light generated upon the subject, it is a pleasure to note that the author has remained fair and dispassionate."—Western Historical Quarterly