Not all the mountains in our region are meant for climbing, some are meant for mining. Lawrence P. Gooley’s “Lyon Mountain: The Tragedy of a Mining Town” is the history of such a mountain — a history of industry, immigrant labor, and even baseball.

Mountain lions were present during Franklin County’s 19th century. Gooley recounts a story of a miner walking from Dannemora to Lyon Mountain with a mountain lion as an unwelcome companion. But the mountain and the town are named for Nathaniel Lyon, a Vermonter who traveled to the area in 1803. About the same time, William Bailey of Chateaugay discovered iron in the mountain. There was enough optimism in expanding mining operations that the prison in Dannemora was built in order to provide labor for mining and producing iron, writes Mr. Gooley. The supply of labor also prompted the building of the railroad from Plattsburgh to Dannemora, which enhanced the value of nearby Lyon Mountain.

By the 1880s, improvements in extracting ore and transporting it caused a labor shortage at the same time immigrants were leaving Europe in great numbers. Recruiters were sent to New York City to bring newcomers stepping off the boat to the mountain on Chateaugay Lake. Eventually, Lyon Mountain was home to people from “Austria, Canada, Denmark, India, Ireland, Italy, Judea, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, Syria, and Wales.” Predictably, the miners stuck “to their own kind,” finding comfort in shared languages and customs in their new, strange land.

But Gooley points out that the mine owners encouraged distancing and distrust among the immigrants because it made a labor union, which would seek improvements in the terms and conditions of employment, less likely.

But baseball was a unifier. From soon after World War II to the early 70s, Lyon Mountain’s high school produced very good baseball teams, winning about 78% of their games. But the school closed in the ’70s, soon after the mine closed, the students becoming part of the Northern Adirondack district.

The mines closed in 1967, but Gooley gathered the memories of a number of village residents in the early 80s. Their recollections are recorded in extended quotations, adding personality to a small town’s history. And their memories of the harsh working and living conditions, and the mine’s closure, explain the “tragedy” in the title.

“Lyon Mountain: The Tragedy of a Mining Town” is a good reminder of hard times in the North Country.