Rimrock Jones

In Short

Set against the stark deserts of Arizona and the predatory trading floors of New York, Rimrock Jones is a fast-paced early twentieth-century Western novel about money, pride, and corporate intrigue. When prospector Rimrock Jones discovers a massive copper vein at the Tecolote mine, his sudden wealth makes him the target of corrupt lawyers and ruthless Eastern financiers. Supported by Mary Fortune, an independent stenographer who demands a fair stake in his ventures, Rimrock struggles against stock manipulation, personal recklessness, and legal trickery. Dane Coolidge delivers a vivid portrait of boomtown frontier life and the sharp contrast between desert grit and Wall Street greed.

The Story

The story opens in Gunsight, Arizona, a sun-baked desert town fueled by copper mining and financial speculation. Rimrock Jones, a headstrong local prospector who has fallen on hard times, is desperate for funds to supply his pack-train. After securing a temporary loan on high-grade gold quartz from a skeptical local banker, Rimrock locks down control of promising mining claims known as the Tecolote property. To help fund his enterprise, he approaches Mary Fortune, a capable stenographer working in Gunsight for the opportunistic attorney Andrew McBain. Mary entrusts Rimrock with her savings in exchange for an undivided share in the mine.

As Tecolote’s true potential becomes clear, rival forces attempt to snatch the claims. McBain tries to jump the property by exploiting legal technicalities regarding the original Mexican locators. Warned by Mary, Rimrock confronts McBain on the ground. The conflict turns deadly when Rimrock shoots and kills McBain to protect the mine. Arrested and jailed in Geronimo, Rimrock insists on defending his own actions as justified frontier self-defense. While he waits out the scorching summer behind bars, a jury eventually acquits him, leaving him free to develop the mine alongside his financial backer, New York capitalist Whitney H. Stoddard.

With production underway, tensions mount inside the company. Rimrock insists on rewarding his old desert friends, giving saloon rights to Old Hassayamp Hicks and camp concessions to the Chinese merchant Woo Chong, despite the objections of Stoddard’s sleek general manager, Abercrombie Jepson. When Stoddard and his broker, Buckbee, attempt to flood the market with millions of shares of speculative common stock, Mary Fortune blocks the scheme on moral grounds, refusing to profit from stock manipulation that leaves small investors empty-handed.

Seeking to outmaneuver Stoddard, Rimrock travels to New York to fight the financiers on their own turf. He engages in high-stakes short-selling on Wall Street, encouraged by Mrs. Hardesty, a wealthy socialite, and broker Buckbee. But Rimrock’s arrogance and lack of market expertise prove fatal. Stoddard and Buckbee set a trap, squeezing Rimrock's short position and demanding six hundred thousand dollars he cannot cover without pledging his Tecolote stock. Refusing to yield control, Rimrock realizes he has been systematically ruined by the New York establishment.

Defeated in the East, Rimrock returns to Arizona only to face a final legal assault. Stoddard’s faction launches a lawsuit asserting that an obscure claim called the Old Juan constitutes the true apex of the entire Tecolote ore body. When court-appointed geological reports confirm the claim's validity, Rimrock loses legal title to his mine and prepares to leave for Mexico. However, Mary Fortune secretly maneuvers behind the scenes. Having quietly acquired the Old Juan claim herself, she outsmarts Stoddard's legal team, securing full ownership of the property. Reunited in Gunsight, Rimrock surrenders his revolver to Mary, renounces his wild ways, and agrees to build a shared future on her terms.

How It Unfolds

The desert struggle Down to his last dollars in Gunsight, prospector Rimrock Jones uses rich quartz samples to secure a bank loan, pay off his Mexican crew, and outfit a pack-train to work his hidden copper claims.

A business partnership Rimrock accepts four hundred dollars from Mary Fortune, a proud town stenographer, who refuses cash repayment and demands an undivided half-share interest in his newly secured mining property.

The killing of McBain Warned by Mary that her dishonest employer plans to jump the claims, Rimrock rides out to defend his property, shoots McBain dead in a confrontation, and faces trial in Geronimo.

Clashing over the camp After his acquittal, Rimrock clashes with company superintendent Abercrombie Jepson by establishing a saloon for Hassayamp Hicks and a camp supply store for Woo Chong against corporate wishes.

Blocking the stock scheme At a directors' meeting, Whitney Stoddard tries to float millions of speculative shares, but Mary Fortune joins Rimrock in voting down the plan on ethical grounds.

Ambush on Wall Street Lured to New York by market speculation and the influence of Mrs. Hardesty, Rimrock attempts to short-fight Stoddard’s network, only to end up financially cornered and stripped of his cash.

Defeat in court Stoddard uses expert geological reports on the Old Juan claim to prove apex rights over the Tecolote ore body, stripping Rimrock of his legal rights to the mine in a crushing trial decision.

The final surrender Planning to flee to Mexico, Rimrock discovers that Mary Fortune has secretly secured title to the Old Juan claim, and he turns over his sidearm to win back her trust and heart.

The People

• Rimrock Jones wants to retain absolute control over the mining empire he discovered, relying on physical courage and raw instinct. Blocked by corporate manipulators, financial panic, and his own impulsive temper, he loses his fortune in New York, eventually learning to abandon his lawless ways and yield to a partner smarter than himself.
• Mary Fortune wants independence, financial security, and a clean business enterprise conducted without fraud or bloodshed. Standing between Rimrock’s rash violence and Whitney Stoddard’s ruthless corporate greed, she uses her secretarial insights and ethical resolve to protect the mine, ultimately emerging as the legal owner of the contested property.
• Whitney H. Stoddard wants complete financial control of the Tecolote mine and maximum profits through stock manipulation. Standing in his way are Rimrock’s stubborn resistance and Mary’s unyielding principles, though he succeeds temporarily by using legal maneuvers and Wall Street short squeezes to crush Rimrock.
• Andrew McBain wants to grab title to the Tecolote claims by exploiting flaws in the original Mexican land recordings. Opposed directly by Rimrock's armed resistance, his career ends abruptly when Rimrock shoots him during a property dispute.
• Abercrombie Jepson wants to enforce corporate order and eliminate frontier elements like saloons and independent claim holders. Hindered by Rimrock’s fierce loyalty to his working-class friends, he acts as Stoddard's anxious proxy throughout the mine's legal wars.

In Its Own Voice

Rimrock eyed them sullenly, for a black mood was on him--he was thinking of his lost mine.

Rimrock watches the wives of local mining officials stroll past the hotel, bitterly reflecting on how town society ignores the ragged man who discovered the region's wealth.

"I gave you four hundred dollars--all the money I had--to get me a share in that mine, and now I want it."

Mary Fortune refuses Rimrock’s cash attempt to buy out her early investment, insisting on holding him to their original verbal agreement.

"I believe every doggoned woman and broker in the whole crooked city of New York is working for--Whitney--H.--Stoddard!"

Realizing he has been outmaneuvered in market short-selling, Rimrock confronts his broker as his financial position collapses.

What It's Really About

Beneath its frontier action, Rimrock Jones examines the conflict between raw western individualism and modern financial capitalism. Rimrock represents the old-style prospector who believes that discovery, hard physical labor, and armed self-defense entitle a man to ownership. In contrast, Whitney Stoddard and his Eastern network represent corporate power, where wealth is won through legal loopholes, stock dilution, and boardroom strategy. The novel asks whether personal honor can survive in an economy dominated by stock manipulation and predatory law. Mary Fortune provides the story's moral compass, arguing that ethics and strict legality—rather than gun violence or reckless speculation—are the only true safeguards against corporate exploitation.

Why Read It Today

Rimrock Jones offers a sharp, historically authentic look at the transition of the American West from a wilderness of lone prospectors to an industrial frontier owned by Wall Street syndicates. Readers who enjoy classic Westerns, financial suspense, and strong-willed heroines will appreciate Dane Coolidge’s direct style and deep familiarity with Arizona mining culture.

The narrative moves briskly, grounding its plot in detailed descriptions of mining operations, court battles, and stock market tactics. While modern readers will notice period-typical depictions of ethnic minorities and gender roles—such as references to "Cousin Jacks" and stereotyped Mexican laborers—the book balances these elements with a surprisingly modern female lead in Mary Fortune. She avoids standard damsel-in-distress tropes to act as an astute business operator. The dialogue captures authentic early twentieth-century Southwestern vernacular ("dad-burn ye," "jim-crow bank"), delivering an entertaining tale of desert grit meeting high-finance scheme.