Gold Fever! All the characters in this riveting and remarkably detailed outing of the gold mining scene in Maine have it — including author C. J. and wife Stella. It even comes through the printed page right into the mind of the reader, like some live thing that gets into the blood. One gets the urge to grab a frying pan and hip waders and head for the East branch of the Swift River without stopping for lunch.
 

Who thought there was gold at the bottom of those fast-flowing rivers and streams that meander out of the cold hills of our second most northern state? Apparently a sizeable chunk of the population in the northeast quadrant of the U.S., at least that’s how it seems when you read this fascinating history and commentary. The author’s penchant for exhaustively researching his subject is flawlessly exemplified by the full-flavored golden nuggets of unearthed characters he’s dug from Maine’s hidden past. They tumble across the graveled pages of the book like precious metal from his beloved streams.
 

There are the gentle souls whose vision extends only as far as the bottom of a gold pan, and the sophisticated, talented, inventive miners who think of little other than finding the “Mother Lode,” ferreting through every pocket in the rivers. Then there are those who would rather invent schemes to find gold already in the pockets of their fellow man. The stories of their efforts to separate successful miners and investors from their booty provide a truly fascinating study of the gullibility that a gold haze induces in so many people. It reminds one of Mark Twain’s definition — Gold mine: a hole in the ground ringed with liars.
 

Read “The Next Bend In The River.” If you don’t get gold fever, at least you will get the flavor of those hardy Maine folk who have been hell-bent to find the yellow metal for a century and a half. And if you do get the fever, author Stevens gives you a blueprint for how to scratch that itch. A highly recommended read.   
 

© 2004 R. Leland Waldrip