A HISTORY OF

THE

COMSTOCK SILVER LODE & MINES

A HISTORY OF

THE

COMSTOCK SILVER LODE & MINES

__________

NEVADA AND THE GREAT BASIN REGION;

__________

LAKE TAHOE AND THE HIGH SIERRAS.

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THE MOUNTAINS, VALLEYS, LAKES, RIVERS, HOT

SPRINGS, DESERTS, AND OTHER WONDERS OF

THE "EASTERN SLOPE" OF THE SIERRAS.

__________

THE

MINERAL AND AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES

OF

"SILVERLAND."

__________

TOWNS, SETTLEMENTS, MINING AND REDUCTION WORKS, RAILWAYS,

LUMBER FLUMES, PINE FORESTS, SYSTEMS OF WATER

SUPPLY, GREAT SHAFTS AND TUNNELS,

AND THE MANY IMPROVEMENTS

AND INDUSTRIES OF

NEVADA.

__________

BY DAN DE QUILLE,

author of

"The Big Bonanza,"

The Wealth and Wonders of Washoe. The Arid Zone and Irrigation, Etc.

__________

PUBLISHED BY F. BOEGLE,

BOOKSELLER. & STATIONER,

VIRGINIA, NEVADA.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Entered According to Act of Congress, in the Year 1889, by

F. BOEGLE,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEW YORK AND SAN FRANCISCO,

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING COMPANY ,

OAKLAND, CAL.,

PRINTERS, STATIONERS, AND BINDERS.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTORY.

            THE central idea in the preparation of this little book has been to give, as concisely as possible, such information in regard to the silver mines of the Comstock as the visiting tourist is likely to require. In doing this it was thought best to begin by briefly introducing the whole State of Nevada. When shown a portion of a thing we generally have some curiosity in regard to the appearance of the whole. Though much more space has been given to the mines, mining works, towns, and industries of the Comstock Lode than to anything else, yet it has been found necessary to the plan of the work to include much of surrounding regions, both in Nevada and California. However, we have endeavored to keep on the "Eastern slope" of the Sierras—have poached very little on the California side. The Sierra Nevada Mountains are a towering, rocky range, which constitutes a natural dividing line between the regions of country on either side. All 0n the east side of the Sierras partakes more of the general character of Nevada

(iii)

iv         INTRODUCTION.

than of California—is characteristic of the Great Basin region. Although Owens River, Independence and Owens Valleys, Owens Lake and Mono Lake, are within the boundaries of California, yet they are essentially parts of that region the whole of which is known as the Great Basin.

            In speaking of the Comstock Lode, after giving an account of its discovery and something of its early history, it has been necessary in noting the progress of our towns and the improvements made in mining and milling operations and methods to go up into the Sierras to trace our water supply to its sources. It is also from the great pine forests of the Sierras that we derive our supply of lumber and timbers, and the Sierras are our natural sanitarium—it is to the lakes, valleys, and wilds of the "High Sierras" that our summer pleasure trips are made. For this reason mention has been made of lakes, valleys, mountains, and creeks not strictly our own—though a large slice of Lake Tahoe lies within our boundaries.

            In mentioning rivers, lakes, and railroads it has also been thought best to say something of all in the State. In the case of the railroads it became necessary to speak briefly of the towns they connect and pass through, with a passing glance at the country traversed.

INTRODUCTION.    v

            Although the Comstock Lode, and mining and milling in Western Nevada, are the principal subjects of this book, yet it is not wholly a book on Nevada. "No pent-up Utica" has for a moment been permitted to "contract our powers." We have been guided more by the natural than the political divisions of the country, therefore our little book takes in the western edge of the Great Basin, climbing up to the top of the Sierras, and peeping over in a few places.

CONTENTS.

                                                                                                            PAGE.

THE STATE OF NEVADA                                                               11

BOUNDARIES AND AREAS.                                                          11

PHYSICAL ASPECT OF THE STATE                                               13

THE RIVERS OF NEVADA                                                             17

            Humboldt River                                                                     17

            Truckee River                                                                        19

            Carson River                                                                          21

            Walker River                                                                          23

            Owyhee River                                                                        23

            Reese River                                                                            24

            Other Nevada Rivers.                                                            24

MINERAL TREASURES OF NEVADA                                          26

AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES                                                    28

THE COMSTOCK MINES                                                               31

PLACER MINING ON GOLD CANYON                                       32

THE DISCOVERY OF SILVER                                                        32

THE GRAND RUSH OVER THE SIERRAS                                   38

THE DISCOVERERS AND THEIR FATE.                                     39

EARLY MINING AND MILLING                                                    40

MINING DIFFICULTIES AND INVENTIONS                               42

VARIOUS MINING AND MILLING APPLIANCES                      44

THE COMSTOCK AS A SCHOOL FOR MINERS                        45

VIRGINIA CITY AND SURROUNDINGS                                     45

CITY IMPROVEMENTS                                                                  50

THE GREAT FIRE                                                                            52

VIRGINIA CITY AT PRESENT                                                       55

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viii       CONTENTS.

VIEWS FROM THE CITY AND VICINITY                                    58

THE VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT DAVIDSON       59

THE VIRGINIA AND TRUCKEE RAILROAD                              59

THE DAYS OF BULL TEAMS                                                         61

THE COMSTOCK SYSTEM OF WATER SUPPLY                          63

THE VIRGINIA CITY AND GOLD HILL WATER WORKS         63

THE BIG WATER PIPES                                                                  65

THE SUTRO TUNNEL                                                                    68

THE REDUCTION WORKS OF EARLY DAYS                             70

THE FIRST SILVER MILL                                                               70

THE MANY MILLS OF THE EARLY DAYS                                    72

REDUCTION WORKS OF THE PRESENT DAY                          74

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS OF WORKING COMSTOCK

SILVER ORES                                                                                   74

THE TWO CALIFORNIA MILLS                                                    80

THE RIVER AND CANYON MILLS                                               81

THE COMSTOCK LODE                                                                 82

            Hoisting Works, Shafts and Mining, Past and Present            82

            The Three Lines of Hoisting Works                                      84

THE COMBINATION SHAFT                                                        86

            The Deepest Workings on the Lode                                      88

            A Return to the Second Line of Works                                  89

            The Old First Bonanzas                                                         91

            The New Departure....                                                            92

            Present Yield of the Comstock Mines                                    93

            Vicissitudes of Fortune in Mining                                           96

TOWNS OF WESTERN NEVADA                                                 98

            Virginia City                                                                           96

            Gold Hill                                                                                 97

            Silver City                                                                                101

            Dayton                                                                                    102

            Sutro                                                                                       104

            Carson City                                                                             105

            Empire City                                                                             109

CONTENTS.  ix

            Genoa                                                                                    110

            Reno                                                                                       111

OTHER TOWNS IN WASHOE COUNTY                                      113

            Washoe City                                                                            113

            Ophir                                                                                     114

            Franktown                                                                               114

LAKE TAHOE AND SURROUNDINGS                                         115

            Emerald Bay                                                                            121

            Fallen Leaf Lake.                                                                     123

            Silver Lake                                                                             123

            Cornelian Bay                                                                         123

            Agate Bay                                                                                123

            Crystal Bay                                                                             123

            Shakespeare Rock                                                                   123

            Cave Rock                                                                              124

            Glenbrook                                                                               124

            Cascade Mountain                                                                  124

            Rubicon Springs                                                                      124

ROUTES TO LAKE TAHOE                                                            125

THE ROUTE FROM TRUCKEE..                                                    125

DISTANCES FROM TAHOE CITY TO POINTS ON THE LAKE 126

THE ROUTE FROM RENO                                                             127

THE TOWN OF TRUCKEE                                                              128

DONNER LAKE                                                                                129

THE DONNER DISASTER                                                               130

SURROUNDING POINTS OF INTEREST                                     131

INDEPENDENCE LAKE AND SURROUNDINGS                         132

WEBBER LAKE WONDERS                                                            133

PYRAMID LAKE.                                                                               134

WINNEMUCCA LAKE                                                                     136

WASHOE LAKE                                                                               138

THERMAL AND MEDICINAL SPRINGS                                       138

            Steamboat Springs                                                                  139

            Shaw's Springs                                                                         141

x          CONTENTS.

State Prison Warm Springs                                                                 141

            Walley's Springs                                                                       142

            Other Nevada Springs                                                            143

RAILROADS IN NEVADA                                                               144

THE CENTRAL PACIFIC                                                                 145

VIRGINIA AND TRUCKEE DISTANCES                                       146

THE CARSON AND COLORADO                                                 146

            Wabuska                                                                                  147

            Hawthorne                                                                              148

            Luning                                                                                     148

            Bellville                                                                                  148

            Candelaria                                                                               148

            Benton                                                                                    149

            Bishop Creek                                                                         149

            Independence.                                                                         149

            Keeler                                                                                      150

OWENS LAKE                                                                                   150

MONO LAKE                                                                                     151

EUREKA AND PALISADE RAILROAD .                                        151

            Town of Palisade                                                                    151

            Eureka                                                                                     151

NEVADA CENTRAL RAILROAD                                                   152

            Town of Battle Mountain                                                       152

            Austin                                                                                     153

NEVADA AND CALIFORNIA RAILROAD                                   154

PROPOSED RAILROADS                                                                154

SALT LAKE AND LOS ANGELES                                                   155

NEVADA, CENTRAL, AND IDAHO                                              155

The State of Nevada.

Boundaries and Area.

            NEVADA is formed of the region of country formerly known as Western Utah. The whole of Utah, prior to its acquisition by the United States, was a portion of the Mexican Department of Alta California. All this vast region was acquired from Mexico under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which was consummated in 1848, and which treaty also gave to the United States, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and a part of Colorado. Nevada was constituted a Territory in March, 1861, and was admitted into the Union as a State in October, 1864. The State extends from the 35th to the 42d degree of north latitude, and from the 114th to the 120th degree west longitude from Greenwich. The State in its greatest dimensions is 420 miles long by 360 miles wide. Nevada is bounded on the north by Idaho and Oregon, east by Utah and Arizona, and south and west by California. Previous to its acquisition by the United States, the region now constituting the State of Ne-

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12        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

vada was wholly occupied by tribes of wild Indians. The country was then known only to a few white men, trappers and Indian traders, whose business at certain seasons led them into what was then almost a terra incognito, and which was marked upon the maps of that day as the "Great American Desert," or the "Unexplored Region."

            The area of the State is, by the most reliable estimate, 112,190 square miles, or 71,801,819 acres. This includes what is known as the "Colorado Basin," in Lincoln County, on the southern boundary of the State, and which embraces an area of about 12,000 square miles lying north of the Colorado River. This basin region was taken from Arizona and given to Nevada by an Act of Congress in 1866. Assuming the water surface of the numerous lakes in Nevada to cover an area of 1,690 square miles, or 1,081,819 acres, there remain 110,500 square miles, or 70,720,000 acres as the land area of the State. The vastness of this region is not at once grasped by the mind of the reader. It may be more readily realized by comparison with some of the well-known Eastern States. The area of Nevada is 2,578 square miles greater than the combined areas of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Indeed, after giving to each of the States named its full measure of acres, there would be left enough land to make two additional Rhode Isl-

THE PHYSICAL ASPECT OF NEVADA.     13

ands. In all this great territory, however, there are only about 62,000 souls. Belgium, with an area of 11,373 square miles, has a population of 5,253,821, or about 462 persons to the square mile, and there the rural population is to that of the towns as three to one. Were Nevada as densely peopled as Belgium it would contain 51,749,780 souls, a number almost equal to the present population of the whole United States. It will therefore be seen that before becoming as thickly settled as is Belgium, Nevada still has room for 51,687,780 persons within her boundaries.

            The Sierra Nevada Mountains from the western boundary of Nevada for a distance of over 300 miles, constitute a stupendous snow-capped granite wall between the State and California. The mean height of this part of the Sierra Nevada Range is about 7,000 feet. This towering range has a marked effect on the climate of Nevada. But for its intervention the climate of the whole State would be much the same as that of California.

The Physical Aspect of Nevada.

            Though the western edge laps up onto the Sierra Nevada Range, the greater part of the State of Nevada lies to the eastward and is embraced in that Great Basin region which extends to the western base of the Rocky Mountains. This interior region forms an immense plateau which has a mean elevation of

14        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

four thousand feet above the level of the sea. In Nevada, however, the average altitude of the plateau may safely be set down at five thousand feet. The altitude of White Plains Station, west of the sink of the Humboldt, is 3,894 feet, and it is the lowest point on the overland railroad between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. Owing to this great elevation there is in all parts of Nevada an atmosphere pure, dry, and free from even the slightest malarial taint. It is such an atmosphere as in many other lands can only be found by going to the mountain tops. The average level of the State is higher than many of the noted mountain resorts in the Atlantic States. It is owing to this altitude that the nights in summer are always cool and pleasant, however warm the weather during the hours of daylight. The extremes of heat and cold are not great.

            Running north and south through the elevated plateau which forms the general base or floor of the State are numerous parallel ranges of mountains. These interior ranges are quite regular in course and recurrence, and rise to a height of from one thousand to seven thousand feet above the general level of the country. Among these interior mountains are a few peaks that attain an elevation of from 9,000 to 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. Between these mountain ranges lie valleys ranging in width from one mile to thirty miles. As these valleys are hidden by the high, rocky ranges, and are not to be

THE PHYSICAL ASPECT OF NEVADA.     15

seen in a general survey of the country, even from an elevated position, the aspect of the country is sterile and austere, all being apparently a succession of barren, rocky hills.

            The majority of the valleys lying between these rugged, parallel ranges are susceptible of cultivation, and many are wonderfully productive. The bench lands bordering the valleys are also exceedingly fertile and yield large crops wherever water for irrigation is led upon them. For all uses, those of the horticulturist as well as the agriculturist, these bench lands will yet be found the best in the State. The benches possess a warm and willing soil.

            The interior mountains, rugged and timberless as they are, have their uses. From the summits of many of the ranges flow springs and small streams that afford a supply of water for the irrigation of the valley and bench lands below. They are also conservators of a supply of moisture. On the summits of the higher ranges snow falls in winter to a great depth, and from the melting of this in spring and summer is derived a considerable supply of water for use on the arable lands on either side. These reserves of snow are also of great benefit to the mountain pastures, causing grass to spring up along the courses of a thousand ravines and little valleys, or laps of land, on the slopes and tops of the hills. This water supply may be made infinitely more valuable than it is at present by the construction of suitable

16        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

reservoirs at proper points in the large canyons for storing it up till needed in summer.

            The construction of such reservoirs has already been commenced among the interior ranges, as well as in places along the main Sierra Nevada Range, and year by year more and still more such improvements will be made. Already Nevada holds a high place as an agricultural and stock-growing State, though for nearly the whole term of her existence mining for the precious metals has been the all-absorbing business of the majority of her people, and has been the business which has attracted the attention of nearly all the wealthy men of the country. The State annually produces immense quantities of hay, and the beef cattle of Nevada are the finest and fattest to be found on the Pacific Coast. A great part of the beef supply of California is obtained from Nevada. The horses of Nevada are also very fine and noted for their "staying" qualities, as they have much broader chests and larger lungs than the animals reared in valley regions near the level of the sea. The State is also beginning to make its mark in the business of wool-growing, not only on account of the quantity but also the quality produced. In price Nevada wool leads the wools of all the new regions of the West. Fine wheat and good grain of all kinds will everywhere be found in Nevada, and the apples, peaches, pears, plums, and all other kinds of fruit have a piquancy of flavor not to be found in that grown in the sweltering valleys of

THE RIVERS OF NEVADA. 17

California. The same may be said of all kinds of kitchen vegetables, strawberries, and other small fruits. In the way of potatoes the State produces such as have no superiors in any part of the world. This elevated region seems as much the natural home of the potato as were those high valleys in the Andes where it was first found growing wild, and where it is said the wild tuber is still to be seen.

The Rivers of Nevada.

Nevada has within her borders no large rivers. In the Middle and Western States, her so-called rivers would be rated as large brooks or creeks. In England and some other European countries her streams might pass for rivers. The largest river we have is but a rill in comparison with the rivers of the West and South. Our Nevada rivers, too, are peculiar in that they nearly all remain in the State. But one goes outside of our boundaries to wander away in search of the great ocean. Most of our streams stay at home. Rather than run away to be tossed about and lost in the sea, they go down into the ground or up into the air.

HUMBOLDT RIVER.

            The Humboldt River rises in the northwestern corner of Utah, passes into the northeastern corner of Nevada, in Elko County, and thence through Eureka, Lander, and Humboldt Counties, to its terminus in its lake and sink, just across the line in Churchill County.

18        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

The total length of the river is nearly 350 miles, while its width is only about thirty or forty feet, and its average depth less than eighteen inches. The line of the Central Pacific Railroad follows the course of the stream a distance of about 320 miles, its channel forming a natural depression through the country which greatly facilitated the construction of the road. Down its course also lay the route followed by the emigrants who flocked across the "Plains" to California after the discovery of the gold mines. The water of the Humboldt is very bright and sweet toward the head, but near the "sink" the stream becomes rather sluggish and is somewhat tainted by the alkali absorbed in the lower part of its course. Owing to the increased use of water for the irrigation of bordering lands above, the quantity flowing into the lake each year grows smaller. The water carried out of the river by means of ditches to the valley ranches is dissipated by absorption and evaporation and never reaches the terminal lake. Thus it is seen as a result that the lake is gradually drying up. It will probably eventually become extinct, or survive as a mud marsh. In the spring, when the snow is melting about the head-waters of the river, Humboldt Lake has a length of about fifteen miles and a width of nine or ten miles. In summer and toward fall it becomes much smaller. At the south end of this lake is an outlet into a sink, or shallow lake, twenty-five or thirty miles long by about fifteen wide. This sink at times of high water

THE RIVERS OF NEVADA. 19

connects with a similar sink formed by the overflow from Carson Lake, the terminal basin of the Carson River. In these sinks are found in the alkaline waters myriads of small fish. These attract immense flocks of pelicans, gulls, cranes, and other fish-eating water fowl. At certain seasons the lakes, sinks, and surrounding tule marshes are filled with ducks and geese. Large flocks of swan are also often seen out in the middle of the lakes. There is much fine agricultural and grazing land along down the Humboldt River, and about the lake and sink.

TRUCKEE RIVER.

            Truckee River is one of the most beautiful of the streams of Nevada. It takes its rise in California and its head is an outlet from Lake Tahoe. This outlet is on the northwest side of the lake and is about fifty feet in width. It has an average depth of five feet and a velocity of six feet a second, which gives a flow of about 123,120,000 cubic feet in twenty-four hours. The head of the river is in Placer County, California, it runs nearly north into Nevada County, in the same State, to the town of Truckee, when it turns and flows northeast till it enters the State of Nevada at Verdi, in Washoe County. Its course from Verdi to Reno, the county seat of Washoe County, is nearly east, thence it is northeast to the town of Wadsworth, on the Central Pacific, when it suddenly turns to the north, and, after a course of about twenty-five miles, enters Pyramid Lake.

20        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

From the outlet of Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake the distance is about 100 miles.

            After leaving Tahoe the Truckee receives the waters of many mountain streams. Below Verdi it passes through many beautiful and fertile valleys and meadows. Pyramid Lake has an elevation of 4,000 feet above the level of the sea; Lake Tahoe is 6,247 feet above sea-level, therefore between the two points the river has a fall of 2,247 feet, an average of a little over twenty-two feet to the mile. Along the river from end to end there is almost unlimited water power, there being a great volume of water, during several months, and an abundance of fall. This water-power is utilized at Reno to some extent, but what has been done there is merely a commencement toward what should be done. Large areas of land are irrigated by ditches leading out of the Truckee at several points. The stream is filled with beautiful trout of two or three species, and also contains other smaller fishes of several kinds. A kind sometimes seen in its waters at the spawning seasons is a large fish of the sucker tribe, which runs up from Pyramid Lake, and is called "koo-ee-wa" by the Piutes. It is half head, and in every respect is a very ugly fish. It is said that the "koo-ee-wa" is found nowhere else in the world. It is a palatable and wholesome fish, but its appearance is against it. The Piutes spear and cure (by drying in the sun) great quantities of this fish. Several kinds of Eastern fish have been planted

THE RIVERS OF NEVADA. 21

in the waters of the Truckee and have been found to flourish. Fish ladders have been placed at all the dams in the rivers to permit of the trout and other fish ascending toward the head-waters to spawn in the various tributary creeks.

            The Truckee River is named after "Captain Truckee," a Piute chief who in the early days guided a party of emigrants from the Humboldt to the beautiful stream and thence through Henness Pass across the Sierras to California. Captain Truckee also acted as a guide for Colonel Fremont when he passed through the country in 1846. He died in the Como Mountains in 1860, from the bite of some poisonous insect, and was there buried by members of his tribe, and whites, with much sorrow. A description of Pyramid Lake will be given further along, as it deserves a separate notice, being the largest lake wholly owned by Nevada, and almost as large as the Great Salt Lake, in Utah, which is seventy miles in length by about thirty in width.

CARSON RIVER.

            The Carson River rises in the Sierras and has several tributaries across the line in California, in Alpine County. The river is about 220 miles in length and ends in Carson Lake. It enters Nevada in Douglas County. It has two branches, known as the East Fork and the West Fork. These unite near the town of Genoa, the county seat of Douglas County. The river then plows through the center of Douglas County

22        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

into Ormsby, passing near Carson City, the capital of the State, thence into Lyon County, and finally finds its terminal "sink" in Carson Lake, in Churchill County. This lake has an outlet several miles in length into a second lake, or sink, which at times of great freshets is united with the lower sink of the Humboldt, as has already been mentioned. Carson Lake is circular in form and is about twelve miles long and eight or nine in width. It has a depth of forty or fifty feet, and its waters are quite sweet. The lower sink is about twenty miles long and from four to eight miles wide. Its waters, particularly toward the north end, where it is very shallow, are strongly alkaline. These lakes are at times resorted to by great flocks of all kinds of water fowl. It is a poor place for fish. Trout are not plentiful, and the other kinds—suckers and chubs—are soft and insipid.

            The Carson River affords water for the irrigation of immense tracts of land in Douglas County, in Carson Valley, and other valleys below, and power for running many large quartz mills that work the ores of the Comstock Lode. The first of these mills are at Empire City, and they are thence found all along down the river to, and a short distance below, the town of Dayton.

Owing to the great quantities of water taken from it for the irrigation of ranches above in Carson Valley, the river becomes almost dry in the lower part of its course during the latter part of each summer. To

THE RIVERS OF NEVADA. 23 _

remedy this evil large storage reservoirs should be constructed in the mountains and higher foot-hill regions.

WALKER RIVER.

Walker River rises in Mono and Alpine Counties, California, and flows through Douglas and Lyon Counties, Nevada. Walker Lake, Esmeralda County, forms its terminal sink. The river is about 150 miles in length. Its waters are bright and sweet, and are filled with trout and good food fishes of other varieties. The river has two large branches, known as the East and the West Walker, which unite below Mason's Valley. The waters of Walker River serve to irrigate immense tracts of as fine land as is to be found on the Pacific Coast, lying in Antelope, Smith's, and Mason's Valleys. For the first half of its course the river flows northward, then it suddenly turns south and forms Walker Lake. This lake is a very bright, beautiful, and picturesque sheet of water. It is very irregular in form, being frequently widened and contracted between its rocky shores. It is about thirty miles long and has a width of from five to eight miles.

THE OWYHEE.

            The Owyhee is the only Nevada river that finds its way to the ocean. It rises in Elko County, in the northwestern corner of the State, and, flowing north into Idaho, becomes a tributary of the Snake River. Through the Snake its waters find their way north into the Columbia River, and thence into the Pacific Ocean.

24        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

            Every spring salmon ascend the Owyhee and afford the anglers of Tuscarora and other mining towns and camps in that part of the State excellent and profitable sport. The Owyhee irrigates many beautiful valleys. In this region prairie-chickens and sage-hens are abundant, and a few deer are also found. In the vicinity of the river are fine and extensive cattle ranges.

REESE RIVER.

Reese River takes its rise in the Toyabee Range of mountains, in Nye County, near the center of the State. It runs through Lander County, near Austin, and continues its course northward (under-ground and on the surface) to near the Humboldt River, where it disappears in the tule marsh. Strictly speaking, it "empties" nowhere in particular. It has a channel that leads into the Humboldt a short distance below Argenta, but in summer its waters fall short of reaching that stream by twenty miles. Although Reese River is a narrow and shallow stream, it has a length of about 150 miles. There are many fine valleys and much excellent grazing land on the bordering benches and hills.

OTHER RIVERS.

Other so-called rivers in Nevada are Quin River, a large creek which rises in Idaho and runs south in Humboldt County to a small terminal " sink" situated at the north end of a great range of mud flats and marshes that lie to the northward of Pyramid Lake. There are good stock ranges in the Quin River

THE RIVERS OF NEVADA. 25

country. The Rio Virgin is a small stream about eighty miles in length situated in Lincoln County, in the extreme southeastern part of the State. It takes its rise in Utah and empties into the Colorado River. It has a tributary of considerable rise called Muddy Creek, or the "Big Muddy," on and about which is much excellent land and several deserted Mormon villages. At one time there were 500 Mormon families settled in this part of Nevada, but they were called back to Salt Lake by Brigham Young, and abandoned their comfortable homes and fine and fertile farms. The mouth of the Rio Virgin is but 800 feet above the level of the sea, all this region being in what is known as the "Colorado Basin." The climate is much the same as that of Los Angeles, California. Oranges, figs, lemons, almonds, olives, pomegranates, and all other semi-tropical fruits grow to perfection; also cotton and tobacco. All the grains, vegetables, and fruits of the temperate zone flourish finely. This spot is the Eden of the great basin region.

            The Colorado River forms the southeastern boundary of Nevada. Although it is not one of the rivers of the State system, yet it is one to which Nevada has some claim. Where it sweeps along the southern border of the State the stream is half a mile wide and has a depth of from ten to twenty feet. The river is navigable for steamboats from Callville, a short distance between the mouth of the Rio Virgin, to Port Isabel, on the Gulf of California, a distance of 600

26        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

miles. Callville is one of the towns (now almost deserted) founded by the Mormons during their occupation of that region of the country. The proposed railroad from Salt Lake City would cause this region to again become populous and prosperous.

Mineral Treasures of Nevada.

            There are mines of the precious metals in every county in the State. There are mines of gold, silver, lead, copper, and other valuable metals in all the rugged, parallel ranges of mountains running through the great central plateau. Mining and agriculture are thus pursued side by side. Lying between the mountain ranges and running in the same direction are valleys containing arable land, while on the benches and lower hills are excellent grazing lands, on which grow nutritious bunch-grass and other valuable native grasses. In all parts of the State mining is being profitably pursued, and almost weekly new and valuable discoveries of the precious metals are somewhere being made. Although the country has been walked and ridden over in various directions for the past twenty-five years, there are still hundreds of sections where no real prospecting has ever been done. Even in the oldest and best-known mining camps, many discoveries yet remain to be made. Although explorations were made in the southern half of the State in the early days, and thousands of mining locations made, little real mining has been done on any of the hundreds of large and promising veins discov-

MINERAL TREASURES OF NEVADA.      27

ered. The work done has been mere surface scratching, and the majority of the claims have long since been abandoned by their locators. Lack of facilities for the transportation of ores and supplies made it impracticable to work mines situated at a great distance from lines of railroad. The men who prospected and made locations in wild and distant regions were men of little means, and when their small stocks of money and provisions were exhausted, they were obliged to abandon their claims and return to the settlements, as men of capital could not be induced to invest their money in mines out in the wilderness far from any means of transportation. Thus it happens that there are many sections of the country the mines of which are the same as unprospected —mines which will produce millions when lines of railroad shall furnish facilities for the transportation of ore, machinery, and supplies. In Lincoln, Nye, White Pine, Lander, Elko, and Humboldt Counties, there are hundreds of mining districts in which this is the case, and in these hundreds of districts are lying unworked thousands of quartz veins, all showing more pr less of the precious metals at the very surface, and even in the croppings above the surface.

            A thousand years of mining will not exhaust the mineral treasures of the mountains of Nevada. Cheaper and cheaper means of mining and reducing ores will continue to be found, and presently it will be possible to work the mines of common metals

28        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

which cannot now be touched. Besides gold and silver the mountains of Nevada contain veins of copper, lead, iron, antimony, nickel, zinc, and many others, as cobalt, graphite, and the like. Not only are the mountains of the State rich in all kinds of metals, but the lower lands are also filled with valuable mineral treasures. In the basins of extinct lakes in all parts of the State, and aggregating hundreds of square miles, are inexhaustible deposits of borax, soda, salt, gypsum, glaubers, alum, sulphur, and many other mineral products of a similar character, which are only now beginning to be utilized at points near lines of railway.

Agricultural Resources.

            In the limited space at command in a small book such as this it is not possible to more than give to the agricultural and horticultural resources of the State a passing glance, as has been done in the case of the mining and mineral products and resources. Although until within a very few years past Nevada has never been thought of outside of the State as being anything else than a region of mines, of metals, and beds of minerals, it is now evident that she has agricultural advantages and resources long unsuspected. Nevada is well calculated to become a great stock-growing State. Already she has her "cattle kings," and they are not as the roving cattle kings of other lands. They have struck their roots deep in the soil and are permanent residents. While the

AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES.    29

tillage of the soil alone will be found as profitable here as elsewhere for the small farmer whose ranch is within reach of a ready market, the real and great business of the Nevada land owner must be stock-growing. This is not a matter of choice or taste, but is a thing demanded by the configuration of the country, the climate, and the nature of the soil. In order that the natural resources of the country may be properly utilized the greater part of the valley regions (nearly all at a distance from towns) must be given up to the stock-grower. He must have valley lands on which to raise sufficient hay and other feed to tide his live-stock through any severe spells of cold weather or big snow-storms that may occur during the winter months. In order to utilize the vast surrounding grazing ranges the cattle king must have a "center stake" driven in some good, productive valley. This is required as a magazine of supplies for the winter season. While cattle, horses, and sheep will find a living on the ranges during the greater part of the winter, still the stock-grower who would not suffer occasional disaster must be provided against the accident of possible cold "snaps" and unusually heavy snow-falls. A glance over the physical features of the country shows that the proportion of arable to grazing land is very well balanced. When proper attention shall be given to the storage of water for irrigation it will be found that each valley will have sufficient capacity to produce hay, grain, and

3o        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

root crops adequate to the requirements of the flocks and herds that can find pasturage on the surrounding range.

            On the ranges are found several valuable native grasses, some of which are cut for hay. Those most valuable for hay are the blue-joint, red-top, one variety of bunch-grass, and several varieties of clover. All these grasses grow in the moist lands of the valleys and natural meadows, but some varieties of bunch-grass flourish on the hills and elevated benches. Among the native grasses of the country could no doubt be found one valuable variety at least that would grow without irrigation and that could be greatly improved by cultivation. Such a grass is probably that called "sand-grass," of which large fields are frequently seen in dry, sandy, and apparently utterly barren plains. It grows to a height of about fifteen inches and has many spreading branches on each stalk, which branches are loaded with a large black seed, that is very fattening, and of which all kinds of grazing animals are very fond. It would be well to sow the, seed of this grass, which is a species of bunch-grass, on properly plowed and prepared ground in order to ascertain its capability of cultivation. There are not fewer than forty varieties of native grasses found in Nevada and eight or ten kinds of clover. Alfalfa is the forage plant most cultivated for hay, and on a suitable soil has no superior. Timothy, red and white clover, and other tame grasses, do well.

THE COMSTOCK MINES.   31

            A very valuable native forage plant, for the reason that it flourishes in even the most arid and sterile localities, is that commonly called "white sage." It is a plant of a whitish-ash color and does not belong to the "artemesia," or sagebrush, family. This hardy plant furnishes good winter feed for cattle. It is resinous and bitter until after the heavy frosts of early winter. Freezing renders it tender, sweet, and nutritious. Even human beings may support life on the white-sage. In hard winters, before the whites came into the country, at times when no game could be found, the Piutes were occasionally obliged to subsist for weeks at a time wholly on white sage cooked by boiling it in baskets by means of hot stones.

The Comstock Mines.

            Having now given the reader some idea of the topography and physical aspect of the State, with a hasty general view of its mineral and agricultural productions and resources, we shall give a more particular account of the Comstock Lode, in which the first discovery of silver was made; where the deepest shafts have been sunk, and where mining for the precious metals is to be seen on a grander scale than anywhere else in the United States, or anywhere in the New World, taking into consideration the power of the machinery used and the examples of scientific mining engineering to be seen. A description of the mines and mining methods of the Comstock will answer for those of all other parts of the State, except

32        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

that in places where the ores are argentiferous galena, or otherwise very base, smelting furnaces take the place of the ordinary stamp and pan mills.

The Discovery of Silver.

The discovery of silver in Nevada in 1859 (then Western Utah), caused an immense excitement in California, and indeed throughout the United States. The excitement was one such as had not been before seen since the discovery of the gold mines of California. Permanency and ultimate value being considered, the discovery of silver undoubtedly deserves to rank in merit above the discovery of the gold mines of California, as it gives value to a much greater area of territory and furnishes employment to a much larger number of persons. It has given wealth and population to all the vast region lying between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountain Ranges.

            Gold was first discovered in this region in the spring of 1850. It was found in what is now known as Gold Canyon, by a company of Mormon emigrants en route to California. Having arrived too early to cross the Sierras, they encamped on the Carson River, where the town of Dayton now stands, to await the melting away of the snow on the mountains. To while away the time some of the men of the party tried prospecting in a large canyon that put into the river near their camp. They found gold in the first pan of gravel they washed. Looking further they soon found that certain bars and gravel banks afforded much

THE DISCOVERY OF SILVER.        33

richer pay dirt than that first tried. They were able to make from $5.00 to $8.00 a day, but left as soon as the mountains were passable, as they anticipated taking out gold by the pound on reaching California. Other emigrants who followed the Mormons did some mining in the canyon while camped on the river. All made good wages, and one or two families stopped and went regularly to work at mining. However, when the supply of water in the canyon gave out toward the end of summer, they "pulled up stakes" and crossed the mountains to California.

            What was told of the mines on Gold Canyon by these emigrants induced parties of miners working in and about Placerville to visit them. During the winter and spring months, while there was water, these men were able to make from half an ounce to an ounce a day. The camp had no permanent population, however, until the winter and spring of 1852-53, when there were over 200 men at work on the bars and gravel banks along the canyon, with rockers, toms, and sluices.

As the gold found in the canyon came from quartz veins toward its head, about Silver City and Gold Hill, these early miners were even then on the track of the great Comstock Lode, but without once even suspecting the existence of such a large and rich veins. The trading-post, or little hamlet near the junction of the canyon and the Carson River, which at first served as a base of supplies, was presently left far behind as

34        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

the miners worked their way up the stream from bar to bar, and they founded a town of their own, on a plateau near the canyon, called Johntown. This town was situated a short distance below where Silver City now stands, and was then the "mining metropolis " of Western Utah. One dilapidated stone chimney yet stands as a monument to mark the site of this now ruined mining town.

            Johntown constituted a center from which prospectors occasionally scouted forth. These prospectors had no thought of anything except placer mines—native gold in gravel deposits. In 1857 some of these Johntown miners struck paying gravel in Six-mile Canyon. This canyon is about five miles north of Gold Canyon, for the greater part of its course, but the heads of the two canyons are only about a mile apart, and both are on what is now known as the Comstock Lode. The pay found on Six-mile Canyon began only about a mile below the massive croppings that tower above the Comstock; still these early miners never once thought of going up to the head of the ravine to look for and prospect the quartz veins; all they thought of was free gold in deposits of earth and gravel.

            In January, 1859, James Finney, or Fennimore, better known by his popular soubriquet of "Old Virginia" (he being a native of the State of Virginia), John Bishop, and a few others of the Johntown miners, struck a rich deposit of free gold in placer dig-

THE DISCOVERY OF SILVER.        35

gings in a little hill at the head of Gold Canyon. From this hill the town of Gold Hill derives its name. These mines were so rich that most of the Johntown people moved to them. The gold was in a deposit of decomposed quartz mingled with soil, and the miners were really delving in a part of the Comstock Lode without at first knowing that they were at work on any quartz vein. These diggings yielded gold by the pound, at times.

            In the spring of 1859 several Johntowners returned to the diggings they had discovered on Six-mile Canyon two years before. With these men went Peter O'Riley and Patrick McLaughlin, but finding all the paying ground already claimed they went to the head of the canyon and began prospecting on the slope of the mountain with a rocker, leading in a small stream of water from a neighboring spring. They found but poor pay in the light top dirt they were working (for there was no washed gravel), and they had about concluded to abandon their claim when they made the grand discovery of the age. They had sunk a small pit in which to collect water for use in their rockers. It was deeper than they had yet dug. Seeing in the bottom of this hole material of a different appearance from any they had yet worked, they were tempted to try some of it in their rocker. When a bucket of this dirt was rocked out, to their great delight the two men saw that they had made a "strike." The whole apron of their rocker was covered with a layer of bright and glittering gold.

36        THE STATE OF NEVADA.

            In that little prospect hole, silver mining in America, as now known, was born. At that moment the eyes of these two men, standing alone among the sagebrush of the rugged mountain slope, rested upon the first of many hundreds of millions in the two precious metals that have since been taken out of the Comstock Lode; for in the rocker along with the gold was a quantity of rich black sulphuret of silver. This "heavy black stuff," which not a little puzzled the two uneducated miners, was almost pure silver. They thought it was some worthless base metal, and were very sorry to see it, as it clogged their rocker and interfered with the washing out of the fine gold-dust.

            HENRY COMSTOCK.—Henry Thomas Paige Comstock, as he gave his name—has by many persons been credited with the discovery of the Comstock, but it is an honor to which he was not entitled. The credit of discovering silver in Nevada belongs to Peter O'Riley and Patrick McLaughlin. The grand discovery had been made several hours before Comstock knew of it. Toward evening on the day the "find" was made, Comstock, who had been out hunting his mustang, came to where the two men were at work. They were taking out gold by the pound and decomposed silver ore by hundreds of pounds. Comstock saw the gold and realized that a great strike had been made. He instantly determined to have a share. He at once declared that he had a claim upon the ground. He said he had located it some time before,

THE DISCOVERY OF SILVER.        37

also the water of the spring. He so blustered about his rights and so swaggered about what he could and would do that rather than have any trouble the two quiet miners agreed to take him in and give him a share of the mine.

            No sooner had Comstock been made a partner in the mine than he placed himself at the front in everything about it. He constituted himself superintendent, did all the talking and none of the working, and was always ready to tell strangers about the mine. When visitors came it was always my min