Mining is BC's second largest industry but you'd never know it to visit any BC bookstore. Books on logging, fishing, and tourism are there in abundance, but the subject of mining is practically untouched. As Tom Henry proves beyond a doubt in this lively volume, it is not for any lack of wonderful stories about the men and women who have been bitten by the rock-chipping bug over the years. Henry ctually took a course in exploration geology and experienced first hand the unique way of looking at the world peculiar to mineral hunters. Every rock is an "outcrop" with a story to tell about the forces that formed the local landscape, and what mineral treasures may be hidden beneath.

Following the Boulder Train is full of remarkable life histories of legendary prospectors who made fortunes but couldn't take enough time away from bushwhacking to enjoy them, and of others who enjoyed them too much, making and losing so many fortunes they can't remember them all. The book offers memorable insights into the driven, obsessed world of mineral exploration and the mining industry in BC.

Tom Henry was born in Duncan, BC in 1961. He earned his BA in history from the University of Victoria, and has worked on tugboats, in logging camps and owned his own firewood business. A former staff writer for Monday Magazine, Henry has authored several books including Westcoasters: Boats that Built BC (winner of the Bill Duthie Booksellers` Choice Award), The Good Company: An Affectionate History of the Union Steamships (winner of the BC Historical Federation's Lieutenant Governor's Award), Dogless in Metchosin, The Ideal Dog and Other Delusions, Paul Bunyan on the West Coast and Small City in a Big Valley: The Story of Duncan. Henry's audiotape of readings from Dogless in Metchosin is popular with listeners who know him from his CBC Radio "Country Life" column. He lives in Victoria, BC.

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Following the Boulder Train: Travels with Prospectors and Rock Doctors