ABSTRACT
For nearly fifty years after adoption of the Mining Law the vast majority of federal lands were open to its operation. The only exceptions were military bases, Indian reservations, the (relatively few) national parks, and a handful of other areas subject to special withdrawals or reservations (see chapter 4). Although virtually all federal lands were visited by prospectors during this era, and many discoveries made and mines developed, some large tracts of land remained substantially undisturbed either because prospectors came up empty or the costs of development outweighed the value of minerals found.
