Uranium Frenzy: Saga of the Nuclear West [Paperback]

Raye Ringholz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2002

Now expanded to include the story of nuclear testing and its consequences, Uranium Frenzy has become the classic account of the uranium rush that gripped the Colorado Plateau region in the 1950s. Instigated by the U.S. government's need for uranium to fuel its growing atomic weapons program, stimulated by Charlie Steen's lucrative Mi Vida strike in 1952, manned by rookie prospectors from all walks of life, and driven to a fever pitch by penny stock promotions, the boom created a colorful era in the Four Corners region and Salt Lake City (where the stock frenzy was centered) but ultimately went bust. The thrill of those exciting times and the good fortune of some of the miners were countered by the darker aspects of uranium and its uses. Miners were not well informed regarding the dangers of radioactive decay products. Neither the government nor anyone else expended much effort educating them or protecting their health and safety. The effects of exposure to radiation in poorly ventilated mines appeared over time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a perceptive and touching narrative, Ringholz ( The Wilderness Handbook ) recalls that the Federal government in the early 1950s subsidized uranium mining for the coming atomic age. The policy set off a frenzy of prospecting and speculation in Utah and Colorado that resembled an old-time gold rush. Dogged adventurers made, and later lost, millions on a single strike. Big companies bought out small claim holders by the dozens while other investors gambled frantically on uranium "penny stocks." Meanwhile, health experts who detected longterm cancer-causing radiation in the mines and urged safety measures were thwarted by greed, inertia and bureaucratic red tape. Hundreds of miners died; many families received no compensation. Ringholz intrigues the reader with an expert blending of science, adventure, industry mania, finance, human triumph and despairand shameful official neglect.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The frenzied search for a reliable domestic source of uranium ore needed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in the 1950s is the subject of Ringholz's breezy narrative, which is populated with colorful characters. When Charlie Steen, a young, penniless geologist, struck it rich with a large find of high-grade uranium ore, the treasure hunt was off in the Colorado deserts. The fortune-seekers included solid prospectors, engineers, and financiers, but also get-rich-quick con artists and promoters of dubious penny uranium stocks. Some became overnight millionaires; many went broke. The real losers were the miners suffering from lung cancer from the deadly radon gas in the mines. This is good popular reading for general collections in public libraries.
- Harry Frumerman, formerly with Hunter Coll . , CUNY
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Utah State University Press; 1 edition (August 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874214327
• ISBN-13: 978-0874214321
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #944,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History of Uranium in the Colorado and Utah area., May 10, 2002

By 

tasha peters (Grand JUnction, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uranium Frenzy: Boom and Bust on the Colorado Plateau (Hardcover)

A good read for people interested in Uranium history. This book would especially interest people in the Four Corners area. Althought this goes into some of the history of U, it is mostly about one man Charlie Steen. This book is not technical.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hard to find, worth it, September 28, 2011

By 

eric ramirez - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Uranium Frenzy: Boom and Bust on the Colorado Plateau (Hardcover)

This book has given me new insite to the history of mining in the Moab area, as well as in the San Rafael Swell. I grew up playing in these places and there was always so much mystery shrouding their history because no one knew what happened, or no one around cared. Ringholz presents all the facts and all the pieces of the puzzle.

Now when I go to Moab I have stories to share and things make more sense as to why things look and are placed where they are.