Living on a Dream
Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley by Brent Underwood (Harmony, 2024)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Stice
The idea of getting away from the ordinary and trying something challenging and unconventional has a seemingly timeless appeal. An element of danger only adds to the allure. This sentiment not only underlies many famous fiction and non-fiction narratives, it is at the heart of Ghost Town Living by Brent Underwood. In 2018, Underwood purchased Cerro Gordo, a California ghost town and its accompanying mines, located in the Inyo Mountains. In 2020, Underwood moved to Cerro Gordo full-time, planning to discover more about the property and develop it into a place that people would visit. His wild ride and the testing of his will that has followed is the subject of Ghost Town Living.
If you haven’t heard of Brent Underwood or Ghost Town Living, you probably haven’t heard of Cerro Gordo. According to Underwood’s YouTube, “Cerro Gordo was established in 1865 and went on to be the most prosperous silver mine in California's history. At it's peak, over 4,500 miners called Cerro Gordo home. Nearly $500 million worth of minerals were pulled from the hills. Law enforcement wouldn't go to Cerro Gordo and miners were expected to solve their own problems. This led to over a murder per week in it's heyday.” Now it’s a place with no people, no mining, and not really any water. Underwood’s restoration journey for the town is not a fait accompli.
Ghost Town Living is an interesting read (or listen). Underwood faces all kinds of challenges. Even simply navigating local roads and trails isn’t always easy. He is living in a ghost town, usually alone. But as isolated as the town seems to be, he makes friendships in the local area, at least one of them incredibly significant to him. Underwood gets by with help from friends, with some luck, and with his dogged persistence. Along the way, he explores the mine, learns more about the town, and ponders the significance of it all, especially when he comes across the things left behind by former residents and miners.
Ghost Town Living is an exciting story, but it is not always upbeat. Underwood has some close calls, because the dangers in his new environment are very real. The demands of his life are physically and emotionally taxing. He is attempting to turn Cerro Gordo into something profitable and sustainable. The low point in the book is undoubtedly when the historic inn, a great starting and focal point for his restoration, is burned down, along with so much else.
There is much in Ghost Town Living that will appeal to many readers. It has an interesting and exciting premise. And it has a distinctly American flavor. Many readers love the story of a guy going out to the edge, like Into the Wild or Desert Solitaire or so many things written by Jack London. The prose in Ghost Town Living does not rise to the heights of those authors, but the story is on theme. It reinforces the idea that risk has its own rewards. People also love the combination of a financial risk and a creative way to make money–it’s the basis of the popular podcast, How I Built This. Underwood is offering one version of the American Dream: a combination of the frontier spirit and the entrepreneurial ethic.
Ghost Town Living is also a good example of the overlapping worlds of social media and publishing success. Long before the book, Underwood was posting on YouTube. He has all kinds of videos, documenting Cerro Gordo and his adventures there. Some examples are videos like “How Much Does 1oz of Silver Cost to Make?” “I Made a Golden Pickaxe…” “Hiking to the CIA’s ‘Top Secret’ Plane Crash in Death Valley.” Even though he posts less frequently than many social media stars, he has 1.79 million followers. Some of his videos far exceed that number in views. He also has a second YouTube channel with shorter videos.
His efforts on social media have contributed to his success. In the videos, Underwood is entertaining and eager but also honest and often humble. He is not afraid to admit when he is lost on a hike. He is not too cool to be earnest or excited. Not only have the videos presented him well, the views have no doubt helped him get published. It is not uncommon for publishers to inquire about authors’ social media following. Viewers and listeners can be converted into readers. Ghost Town Living was a New York Times bestseller. Followers can also become friends and helpers, which is what happens after nearly everything burns down. There are sometimes real world benefits to social media presence which exceed expectations.
Ghost Town Living is a quick read that offers you the opportunity to be an armchair adventurer. It may make you want to buy your own abandoned town with a mine attached. Maybe there will still be some silver in those shafts. You know you would certainly discover more about yourself even if you didn’t find any precious metals. But Ghost Town Living will also remind you that buying a ghost town is a very hard way to make a living, or even to live. The rewards that come with life on the frontier are fought for before they are won. It’s still fun, and certainly easier, to just read about them for now.
Elizabeth Stice is a professor of history and assistant director of the honors program at Palm Beach Atlantic University. When she can, she reads and writes about World War I and she is the author of Empire Between the Lines: Imperial Culture in British and French Trench Newspapers of the Great War (2023).
