The Richest Hill on Earth
A Novel
-
-
4.7 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
In this captivating historical novel, six-time Spur Award winner Richard S. Wheeler turns his storyteller's eye to a clash of towering ambitions in the American West, when the Copper Kings of Butte, Montana, wrestled each other for control of both the "richest hill on earth" and Montana's fledgling government.
The city of Butte looks like a cancerous mélange of smoky mine boilers and rudely constructed sheds when newspaperman John Fellowes Hall arrives on a cold spring day in 1892. Butte may be ugly, but it's the place to get rich. It's also a city full of stories—perfect for a journalist looking to make a name for himself. As an employee of mining titan William Andrews Clark, Hall becomes a part of the best story of them all: the fight among the Copper Kings.
Butte's three founding fathers were remarkable men with little in common other than ambition. Marcus Daly, a humble Irish immigrant, led the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. His political rival, the formidable William Andrews Clark, a brilliant but vain businessman, bought himself a United States Senate seat. And Augustus Heinze tried to steal the mines, using lawyers and bribed judges, only to be crushed by the Rockefellers. The Richest Hill on Earth captures their struggle as well as the stories of the ordinary people—the miners, their wives and children, the journalists, and even the psychics—trying to make their fortunes in the rapidly-changing West.
The Richest Hill of Earth is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Historical Fiction title.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The mine shaft and courtroom clashes of Butte, Mont.'s copper kings form the backdrop of the initially engaging latest from veteran western novelist Wheeler (Snowbound). In 1892, Butte sits on top of some of the world's richest mineral deposits, and three men vie to control its wealth: Marcus Daly, who employs only fellow Irish to work in his mines; William Andrews Clark, who insists on being called "Senator" even before he's bribed his way into office; and F. Augustus Heinze, who exploits mining laws to steal ore. They fuel their feuds with competing newspapers, and Clark hires splashy eastern journalist John Fellows Hall to run his propaganda sheet. His journalistic integrity quickly squashed, Hall transforms the paper into a bestselling scandal sheet, full of gossip, murdered prostitutes, and the predictions of a local psychic. Meanwhile, newly widowed Alice Brophy takes a job rather than another husband, discovers socialism, and becomes a notorious labor agitator. The first half of Wheeler's novel is lively and fascinating, with the riveting "Red Alice" crying out for a novel of her own. But as the story progresses, characters are sidelined and the narrative loses momentum. The fate of this hill is finally determined miles from Butte, in plodding passages far removed from the novel's promising beginning.
