Author John Reeves shares “the untold story” of mining on Colorado’s Western Slope. Reeves, the former president of Mid-Continent company, weaves the pioneering story of hard-working men and women who beginning in 1957 overcame some of the most adverse mining conditions known in the industry: 10,000 feet elevation, snow slides, poor roads, a distant railroad, lack of employee housing, volatile gasses erupting, and coal under heavy overburden.  In spite of the obstacles, the mines become some of the most productive in the United States, supplying the highest-grade coal to steel mills in the west up until their closure in 1991.