The 1890s was an tumultuous decade in American history, with economic depression, war, heated politics, and labor conflicts surrounding America's emergence as a world power. Against this chaotic background, life in the rowdy western mining town of Durango, Colorado, and the quiet agricultural hamlet of Sandwich, Illinois, seemed to be worlds apart.

In A Tale of Two Towns, historian Duane Smith takes a comparative look at Durango and Sandwich in an effort to determine what life was like in these two small communities. His study, based on a close examination of papers, municipal records, and personal correspondence, offers a unique portrait of everyday life in these two towns.