A novel about the Mexican rubber industry, the contract-labor system, and mass deportations of the Yaqui Indians - all events that were taking place at the time of the book's original publication in 1909.Herman Whitaker (1867-1919) was also the author of The Mystery of the Barranca and of The Settler. A Berkeley socialist, whom Jack London so admired, he was a driving force in California Progressivism.In the early 1900's, writers including Jack London, poet George Sterling and short story writer Herman Whitaker gathered informally at the Coppa Club in the old Montgomery block in San Francisco. From these gatherings came the formation of the Press Club of Alameda and a faction split off to form the California Writers Club.