Deep Enough: A Working Stiff in the Western Mine Camps

By Frank A. Crampton

Book Overview

Of all the memoirs of the wild West, Frank Crampton's autobiography of his youth in the mining camps ranks with the very best.

Scion of a wealthy New York family, Crampton ran away from home in 1904 at the age of sixteen. Two bindle stiffs picked him up in a Chicago railroad depot and led him west as they taught him to survive first as a hobo and then as a hard-rock miner. In the first two decades of this century Crampton lived and worked in almost all of the important mining camps in the Westin California, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado as a miner, assayer, surveyor, and finally one of the West's best-known mining engineers.

In miners' lingo "deep enough" meant "I don't care" or "I've had it"; the term was applied to anything one did not like or wanted nothing more to do with. Many of the experiences that Crampton describes were of that order. He was trapped in a collapsed mine shaft for ten days. He was in San Francisco at the time of the great earthquake and in Ludlow, Colorado, during the Ludlow Massacre. He lived in Death Valley among the desert rats and witnessed the last days of the old French prospector John Lamoigne, who "never looked for anything where anyone else would expect to find it, but where others were afraid to try." He become so bored with barrooms and gambling dens at one time that he hired a girl of the line in Goldfield, Nevada, just for an hour's conversation.

So many adventures, so much camaraderie, novelty, and humor are crammed into this true-life story that fiction pales in comparison. Bindle stiffs, tinhorns, tenderhorns, bohunks, entrepreneurs, politicians, wives, and women of the evening crowd the pages. This reprinting of the 1956 edition of Deep Enough is enhanced by two new maps and additional photographs from the author's personal collection. In reading it, a new generation can share the extraordinary characters, hardships, and plain fun that Frank Crampton knew between the ages of sixteen and thirty.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806125292
• ISBN13: 9780806125299
• Release Date: March 1993
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

the life of a western hard-rock miner

An excellent book about life in the western mining camps in the early 1900s. Born to privilege and wealth in New York and with a good education, Crampton ran away from home, riding the blinds to the western US. He worked as an ordinary stiff in the toughest conditions, but unlike most of his fellow miners, his education also let him work as an assayer and surveyor, and later as a mining engineer. So he became thoroughly knowledgable about all the aspects--from prospecting in Death Valley to being chief engineer at large mines. About the only side of mining that he didn't experience was a Wall Street mineowner. His education also gave him fine writing skills--this is definitely not an "as told to..." book ghost- written by someone else. You'll encounter a plethora of wonderful characters, and a wealth of old photographs. There are stories about gold, silver, uranium--all the kinds of elements you can hard-rock mine for. Crampton was trapped for 10 days when a shaft collapsed. He shows what can happen when you use a metal spoon (rather than wood) to tamp down a shot hole. He was nearby Ludlow and barely missed being part of the massacre, but had friends killed. Deep Enough is not a social "cri de coeur" as are "The Banditti of the Plains" about the Johnson County War in Wyoming or Sinclair's "The Jungle". It's very honest and heartfelt, and completely up close. Crampton enjoyed the life, the camps, the people, and the work, and it shows. If you want an honest view about what mining was like, this it it.

A true American "outback" experience

A great way to learn about life in the American wild west arid zone in the early 1900's. The author describes his life experiences with a rich cast of rugged characters who are hard to find these days. If you have either visited or lived in a mining town or been to the Australian outback opal diggings, you'll have extra appreciation for the entertaining detail and perspectives on what really is important in life. One of the better books I have read in a while!

If one has ever worked underground in a mine this book is a

Frank Crampton didn't have to become a tramp miner, he chose too. Born well conneced, he gave it all up to discover what it is like to become a working stiff in the western mines. His discriptive writings of the every day workings under ground are so real one can smell the powder after a blast. His experience while being traped under ground in the Bingham Canyon Mine, and being cold boiled,made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. The loyalty of his fellow miners to rescue his crew,espically his two old friends who traveled hundreds of miles to help get Frank out can only be understood by a miner of that era. Frank Crampton's drive for self improvement is in it's self a blueprint for any young person to succeed the hard knocks of life. The Frank Crampton's built this country, what a wonderful gift he left us.

The best mining book ever writen.

Any one who has worked underground will love this book. I worked in my first mine in 1953, met some of the finest men I have ever known. These carry on the tradition of Frank Cramton,author of Deep Enough. What seemed so interesting to me was Mr Crampton's decision to leave the comforts of the easy city life, for the hard and unknown life of the western mine camps. His constant self improvement is a lesson for every young person who's goal seems beyond their reach. The Frank Crampton's of the world built America. This review is "Deep Enough".Ron Steele Moab Utah

Very good western mining history book

The author of this book gives an excellent first-hand account of mining techniques, work conditions, modes of travel, mine prospecting and mining operations at around the turn of the century. In addition, the author tells his story in an interesting and humorous way. I recommend this book to any mining history buff