 The industry of Winthrop at this time consists of a well-equipped saw mill, several important dairies, raising cattle, and supplying the local mines with goods.Owen Wister, Waring's Harvard roommate, wrote "The Virginian", America's first western novel, after honeymooning in Winthrop.By 1915, most of the mines, except for a few in the Slate Creek area, had shut down.