Part 1

A HISTORY OF THE COMSTOCK SILVER LODE & MINES

DAN DE QUILLE [WILLIAM WRIGHT]

PROMONTORY PRESS New York • 1974

Published by Promontory Press, New York, N.Y. 10016

Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 73-92646 ISBN: 0-88394-024-8

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Wright, William, 1829-1898. A history of the Comstock silver lode & mines, Nevada and the great basin region.

Reprint of the 1889 ed. 1. Comstock Lode, Nev. 2. Nevada—Description and travel. I. Title. II. Series. TN413.N25W9 1973 338.2′74210979356

A HISTORY OF THE COMSTOCK SILVER LODE & MINES

NEVADA AND THE GREAT BASIN REGION;

LAKE TAHOE AND THE HIGH SIERRAS.

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 on the east side of the Sierras partakes more of the general character of Nevada 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.

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 The Discovery of Silver 32 Placer Mining on Gold Canyon 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 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 Additional Great Pipes 66 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 98 Gold Hill 99 Silver City 101 Dayton 102 Sutro 104 Carson City 105 Empire City 109 Genoa 110 Reno 111 Other Towns in Washoe County 113 Washoe City 113 Ophir 114 Franktown 114 Wadsworth 114 Verdi 115 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 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 NEVADA A LAND OF GREAT POSSIBILITIES 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 Nevada 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 Islands. 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 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 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 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 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.