Customer Reviews

Boom Towns & Relic Hunters of Northeastern Washington State

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Boom Towns & Relic Hunters Of Northeastern Washington by Washington State ghost town and historic site expert Jerry Smith showcases more than one hundred ghost town locations accessible to the traveler or tourist with a keen interest in these relics of American history. Enhanced with a wealth of true stories, folklore tales, black-and-white photographs, and more, Boom Towns & Relic Hunters Of Northeastern Washington is a truly fascinating book to leaf through, offering both on-the-road and armchair travelers a window to the rougher, fiercer Washington state of over a century ago.

In August 2005 I visited the mysterious "China Wall" in Okanogan County. If it had not been for Jerry's book, which included detailed directions on how to locate the China Wall, I would not have found this historic structure. Once I had arrived at these massive granite walls Jerry's book explained in detail the history of this mysterious wall from yesteryear.

Upon purchasing your fantastic book and reading many of the wonderful stories on the history of Washington State, we decided to do an article in our Nostalgia Magazine. Thank you for sharing your stories and photos, folks like you keep Nostalgia Magazine a favorite read.

I purchased a copy of Jerry's book. It was taken along with me as my personal history reference guide as I searched for his Boom Towns & Relic Hunters "Geo Relic Treasure Caches". His book explained the detailed history of the area I was visiting while conducting my historic treasure hunt.

I found a link to the book "Boom Towns and Relic Hunters of Northeastern Washington." The more I read about the book, and the author, the more intrigued I became. Thus, I purchased the book from Amazon.com. I found out that he personally owned several gold mines, and therefore I knew that his book would be a wealth of information about the diggings and mines and camps.
Author Jerry Smith's knowledge about Eastern Washington is impressive. A long-time member of the Okanogan Historical Society, he has family roots that go back generations. As an acknowledged expert, he has lent his expertise to various television documentaries and Mr. Smith also conducts paid expeditions through the area as weather permits.
In particular, his book describes in detail the old boomtowns of Kittitas, Chelan, Okanogan Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties. There is plenty to pique the interest of history buff's, such as this discussion of Ruby City, Washington:
I think you can tell just from the snips provided here that it's a great book, and makes a nice companion to help plan a trip to the area. He also lists some enticing Indian legends and briefly mentions some of the fighting that took place as the gold miners and the Indians clashed. Small quibbles: if there is ever a new edition, two items to look into are road maps and GPS coordinates, but those are "nice-to-haves".

Garret Romaine
Senior Writer, GPAA Magazine

The time was well spent and resulted in a top-notch product. In his book, Jerry takes you back in time to the Boom Town days of yesteryear and brings to life the ageless Old West mining-era days of Boom Towns, miners, prospectors, and pioneers. Yet the book goes far beyond providing simply a historical account and includes rare historic maps, 98 outstanding photos and exact locations of long-lost famous ghost towns and mines in Northeastern Washington State. Jerry also included a chapter on Metal Detecting and Relic Hunting, which offers advice on how to search out and locate those long lost valuable treasures from the past with just a little knowledge about research and using a metal detector. His book most certainly will keep the spirit of the Old West alive and well for many years to come.

Join famed ghost town explorer Jerry Smith as he hits the dusty trail in search of long-lost forgotten ghost towns and mining camps with his team of experts, and a Boom Towns & Relic Hunters crew on a quest to locate, photograph, document, and solve the mysteries of yesteryear's million-dollar mines and forgotten boom towns. See the oldest ghost towns & mining camps ever discovered in Northeastern Washington State. Relive the excitement of historic ghost towns & mines discovered by Jerry's team of experts , and probe the secrets of these unprecedented archaeological "time capsules" and the clues they offer to an extraordinary, pioneer days that dates back to over one-hundred years past.
Kjell Lester
White Buck Trading Company

Thanks for publishing such a good book, and bringing back so many fond memories of my younger years. My ventures to the Okanogan County have been very similar to yours. I'm 81 years young, and yes I still want to make another trip over to beautiful historic Okanogan country once again.

I am pleased to write a review for Jerry Smith. I found his book on relic hunting in old ghost towns of Eastern Washington to be the closest thing to being a kid again seeking buried pirate treasure.
Little did I know that my own book was being sold alongside of his here on Amazon.com, but even more odd was the discovery that we only lived one block away from eachother in Black Diamond, Washington!

Jerry has taken a lot of personal time to visit and document the finds he has written about in his book with detail, clarity, humor, and preservation. He has made all of Eastern Washington his relic museum of undiscovered treasures lying within the grasp of any weekend treasure hunter or prospector.
Many museums have added his book to their gift shop countertops and as many bookstores and school libraries have begged him to visit and give seminars. His only request is that once a child reads the book, that the school make it part of their library.

I have the deepest respect for his willingness to take the risk to share his secrets, his stories, and his winning advice on hunting for relics amongst these disappearing buildings in the deserts and mountains of Eastern Washington.

I am certain that you will find his book a well-worn cover within a short amount of time and your legs moving to find the #2 shovel and Garrett metal detector and gold pan in your family garage.

I found your book quite fascinating with so much interesting material that you have researched and then presented so well. I could say that there is a very welcoming and homely atmosphere in your book that one feels like throwing another log on the fire in the old cabin and settling back for a long read.