Although mining was a major player in the settlement of Northwestern Ontario, this mining heritage has all but been forgotten in many areas. Hazel Fulford captures the excitement of bygone days in her telling of two gold rushes in the Manitou Lakes, and their impact not only on the region's demography but also on the people who lived in Gold Rock, Wabigoon, Dinorwick, and Dryden. Most of all, it is a story about people we have known or wished we had met.