I found this brief tale of a miners life fascinating and wanted to share it. A link to the original source is below. 
Back in the day breakfast consisted of Bacon, biscuits, black coffee, a pull from the whiskey bottle and then cigars or a chaw from the plug of tobacco. Being a working miner living in a shack was a tough but rewarding existence. Daily survival was the driving force. Hunting & chopping wood was required to live. There were no supermarkets or mini malls. There was no air conditioning, running water, jacuzzi tubs, high speed internet, smart phones, big screen TV’s, or mail order warehouses that sell every widget know to man. In the summer we were hot, in the winter we froze.
If you were lucky enough to find some color in the rocks you had to constantly look over your shoulder for the next backshooter trying to steal your claim or from taking a shot at you from a distance! Old miners lived high on life, adventure, hard work, sweat, Elk loin & Elk jerky, but most of all whiskey straight from the bottle! — with Link Borland wannabe.
Original Source
Great pic, thanks for sharing. “The good ol’ days” are a mixed bag – life was simpler but also harder. Lives were fuller and families closer, but those lives were also shorter. Would I want to live back then? Hard to say. The Amish are my neighbors, and while I envy them for some things, I also see the amount of backbreaking labor that they put in and the discomfort that they suffer due to weather, illness, etc. I am spoiled and like my comforts; but I do enjoy turning off all of the electronics once in a while and sitting outside in the evening, listening to the crickets and watching fireflies. (Luckily, I live in a rural area.)
I agree Lisa. I’m so accustomed to the conveniences we take for granted that I don’t know that I could live like that now. But I do admire them for their determination and ingenuity. Thanks!