Gold Mining in Maine

  I just finished C. J. Stevens' The Next Bend in the River, Gold Mining in Maine, and I found it truly inspirational. Stevens is a fine writer, as well as researcher, and his book really brings the reader close to the whole experience of gold mining, particularly around the end of the nineteenth century--the scent of campfires from the mining camps along the Swift River, the icy bite of cold river water in the early northern Spring, tiny nuggets of gold rattling around in the bottoms of pans.
  The history of searching for gold in Maine is much richer than I had previously thought. Stevens provides a page-long list early in the book of some of the towns where more notable discoveries were made, but makes it abundantly clear that gold in at least small traces can be found just about anywhere in the state. He regales us with tales of amazing gold discoveries and "gold fever" victims striking it rich, like the man in Mount Desert Island in 1926 who found a 7-pound nugget on the beach. He had it for years before a friend kindly told him what it was.

  With tales of gold-panning hermits, scheming crooks who set up fake discoveries to fool investors, murderers, lost loves, and flat-out liars; The Next Bend reads as good as any adventure novel. Not only will it give you a touch of your own gold-fever, it will tell you how to treat it.