Karen Wilkes, the granddaughter of an early 20th century hardrock miner, firmly grasps our hand and enthusiastically leads us into the remote and private world of a western mining town - Pioche, Nevada. We become insiders as we meet and form friendships with each of four miners and their families. We laugh, we struggle, and, "yes," we cry as we follow the lives and careers of these four strong, independent, but yet tender men. These miners represent four different eras of mining in Nevada, spanning over 100 years. Through these four intimately written biographies, the author takes us underground, and also through the legal machinations of large mining corporations, leaving us with a new and deeper understanding of the inner workings of the mining industry and of the miners who extract valuable minerals from deep within the bowels of the earth - sometimes at great risk to their lives.