The Gulch Miners

This catalog item contains a single serialized romance story rather than an anthology. "The Gulch Miners; or, The Queen of the Secret Valley," by W. J. Hamilton, is a frontier gold-mining romance set in the Sierra California quartz district. The narrative opens in the rough town of Oreton, where a diverse population of miners—Chinese, Welsh, Cornish, English, Mexican, French, Dutch, and American—live and work. The protagonist James, a six-foot Yankee, becomes embroiled in tensions with Haley, a bullying claim-jumper who had previously courted a woman named Ida Hayes. When Jan Ling, a Chinese miner of unusual height, seeks James's help avenging his beating by Haley, James initially refuses. Haley forces a quarrel, attacking James on a tavern veranda. James defeats him decisively in combat, earning the gratitude of Jan Ling and establishing himself as a formidable force in the region.