The production of coal, iron, copper, and other minerals has always presented a need for blasting and associated blast holes. Likewise, the blossoming of housing in America has demanded a continual need for water wells for a growing rural population. Bucyrus International, Inc. (formerly Bucyrus-Erie Company) has been a traditional supplier of the tools to meet that need. This book recounts the history of drilling, early manufacturers of drilling equipment, the emergence of drilling methods, rigs, drill bits, and the role of Bucyrus in furthering the science and art of water well and blast hole drilling.