■ ■■,,■■■-.. ./ ^-.Z; -■■■■W.-:^\W ■^ ' 1 ^ r V 4 o v^^ • • » ,0 o •A »i- ""■-O* Sa- o V . ,^m^:^^ - ^ 0^ '^s. '5^ 4 O ^W?^> ,-^^ .-^J^ <^. ♦j^* ,\^^ " » ^ 'O . .■^' v" \^^'' :>^^^ o V 0-7* '.^ ' 4 o V -» o •J) ^ ,0 fm^^ "^v^ ^ ^"'v. ^^^ • » » ' -^^ ■(^^ ,v v-^' w° .^^ V-^iiJ" •-^ .N^ <. "^C ^^s- x^-"^. NEVADA: THE LAND OF SILVER. V JOHN J. POWELL, AUTHOR OF "^tie (golden ^tate h^i. it^ ffe^oufde^." ,V OK CO/v~^^ P uoJki.phH SAN FRANCISCO: BACON & COMPANY, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS; Corner Clay and Sansome Streets. I 876. 7r Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, By JOHN J. POWELL, In the OflSce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C ERRATA. Pago 45.— For the years 1873, 1874 and 1875, the product of the whole State is given, instead of the product of the Comstock Lode. For the year 1873, instead of $35,254,507, it should bo $23,216,002. 1874, " $35,452,233, " $23,051,496. 1875, " $40,478,369, " $24,885,617. Page 248. — "Reno is neither a mining town nor a County Seat." It should be : Reno is the County Seat of Washoe County, and mining is carried on extensively in its neighborhood. CONTENTS. Introduction 1 Nevada ^ Boundaries, Area, etc 7 Physical Aspect , 8 General Geology 10 Political Divisions, Age, etc 12 Historical Sketch 13 Natural Resources 21 Mineral Wealth 24 Early Discovery ■> 24 The Rush 26 Physical and Geological Characteristics of the District containing the Comstock Lode 27 Structure of the Lode in Detail 30 Analyses of Comstock Ore 37 Resume of Conclusions Concerning the Lode 42 Mining 48 Mode of Extracting the Precious Metals from the Ore 51 General Method of Exploitation 51 Stope Timbering 53 Ore Extraction 55 Crushing 55 Grinding and Amalgamation 57 Settlers or Separators 61 Retorting and Melting 63 The First Mill 64 A List of Quartz and Tailing Mills in Lyon, Ormsby, and Storey Counties 66 Lyon County 66 Ormsby County 67 Storey County 68 IV CONTENTS. A Sketch op the Principal Silver Mines in Nevada 71 Ophir 71 Consolidated Virginia and California 73 Probable Permanence and Prospective Production 93 Superintendent's Report 97 Secretary's Report 99 Inventory of Property 101 Gould & Curry 101 Savage 103 Hale & Norcross 106 Yellow Jacket 107 Crown Point 109 Belcher 113 Sierra Nevada 115 Chollar-Potosi. . , 116 Overman 118 Imperial-Empire 118 Bullion 119 Caledonia 119 Other Mines 120 The Sdtro Tunnel 121 Central and Eastern Nevada 127 Humboldt District 128 White & Shiloh Mine 129 Eagle Mine 129 Reese River District 130 Oregon Mine 131 South America Mine , 132 New Pacific Mine 132 Eureka District 133 Richmond Consolidated Mine 134 Eureka Consolidated Mine 136 Ruby Consolidated Mine 136 Smelting Furnaces 137 Cost of Extracting Ores 139 White Pine District 140 Pioche District 141 Raymond & Ely Mine 142 Meadow Valley Mine 143 Belmont District 144 Belmont Mine 145 Monitor-Belmont Mine 146 El Dorado South 146 Cornucopia District 147 Leopard Mine 148 Placer Mines 150 Mining Laws 153 CONTENTS. V MnsTEBAX, Deposits 169 Copper 169 Iron Ore 171 Coal 171 El Dorado Canon Coal Mines 172 Borax 173 Hot Springs Borax Marsh 174 Salt Wells Borax Marsh 174 Antimony 175 Soda 178 Salt 178 Eagle Salt Marsh 179 Sand Springs Salt Marsh ^...179 Spaulding's Salt Marsh * . . . 179 Muddy Salt Mines 180 Williams' Salt Marsh 180 Isinglass 181 Sulphur 182 Marble 183 Sandstone 183 List of Minerals from Esmeralda County 184 List of Minerals from Reese River District, Lander County 185 Agricultdkal Products 187 Agricultural Products for 1874 187 Fruit Trees 188 Domestic Animals > 188 Live Stock 188 Improvements 189 Climate 189 Mountains, Valleys, Rivers, Lakes, etc 191 Mountains 191 Valleys 193 Carson Valley 193 Eagle Valley 194 Washoe Valley 194 Pleasant Valley 195 Steamboat Valley 196 Truckee Valley 196 Long Valley 197 Honey Lake Valley 197 Surprise Valley 198 Humboldt Valley 198 Paradise Valley 198 Pine Valley 199 Ruby Valley 199 Muddy Valley 199 Other Valleys 200 VI CONTENTS. Rivers 201 Humboldt River 202 Truckee River 203 Carson River 203 Walker River 204 Reese River 205 Owyhee River 205 Lakes 206 Lake Tahoe 207 Pyramid Lake 208 Winnemucca Lake 208 Walker's Lake 209 Carson Lake 209 Humboldt Lake 210 Upper and Lower Lakes 211 Mud Lakes 211 Thermal and Mineral Springs 212 Steamboat Springs , . 212 Smoky Valley Hot Springs 213 Carey's Warm Spring 214 Elko Hot Springs 215 Cold Springs 215 Land Laws 217 Act for the Selection and Sale of Lands Granted by the United States 217 Act Prescribing the Mode of Maintaining and Defending Posses- sory Action on Public Lands 230 Act Providing for the Location of Lands Containing Salt 233 Act Providing for the Location and Taxation of Borax and Soda Mines and Claims 234 Cities op Nevada 237 Virginia City 237 Carson City 240 Gold Hill 241 Austin 243 Pioche 245 Eureka 246 Elko 247 Reno 248 Belmont 249 Winnemucca 250 Bullionville 251 Hamilton 252 Raxluoads 255 Central Pacific R. R 255 Virginia and Truckee R. R 256 Pioche and Bullionville R. R 257 Eureka Mill R. R 257 Eureka and Palisade R. R 258 CONTENTS. Vll Flumes for the Transpoktation of Lusiber, Etc 259 Water Ditches 259 Maisufactures 261 Union Iron Works 261 Fulton Foundry 262 Gold Hill Foundry 262 Jewelry and Silverware 263 Reduction Works 263 Borax 264 Tannery 265 Social aptd Edccationax Condition 267 Education • 268 Amount in State School Fund 269 State University 270 Church Matters 271 Episcopalians 271 Methodist Episcopal 272 Presbyterians 272 Congregationalists 272 Baptists 273 Other Denominations 273 Benevolent Associations 273 Odd Fellows 273 Masons 275 Wages 27o BiographicUj Sketches 279 Hon. John P. Jones .' 279 Hon. William Sharon 281 Appendix 289 California Mining Co 289 Superintendent's Report 289 Secretary's Report 294 Report of Prof. R. E. Rogers to the Director of the U. S. Miats, on the Bonanza Mines 295 Belcher Mining Co ^ 301 Carson Mint 302 Reveille District 303 Gila Mine 303 Tybo District 305 Tybo Consolidated Mine 305 ]NTI\0DUCTI0N: But a few years ago the territory comprising the State of Nevada was a terra incognita ! With the exception of a few trappers, who kept their informa- tion to themselves, no one knew anything about it. But, along with this prevailing ignorance, there was a general belief that Nevada was unproductive, dreary, desolate ; an arid waste, incapable of supporting a civilized community ; a sea of sand — the Sahara of America ! Happily this cloud of ignorance was, at length, dispelled. The enterprising miner penetrated the gloomy chaos, and disclosed a region which only twenty years ago was marked on our maps as " unex- plored," but is, to-day, one of the great treasure-vaults of the world. The skill, energy, and perseverance of the people of Nevada have demonstrated the fact that she has bones of silver and veins of gold. What used to be regarded as a worthless wilderness turns out to be a vast mine of incalculable wealth. Instead of monotonous plains of sand, we ftnd mountains of sparkling silver; and the State which was thought to give no promise to reward toil now pays in treasures compared with which even Oriental tales grow dull — 2 INTRODUCTION. treasures which, permeating through Nevada's sister States, are not only enriching them, but also furnishing a base by which a nation's finances are regulated and controlled. Pre-eminently " The Laiid of Silver'"' Nevada has for years been considered by scientific men as the physical wonder of the world ; and for the last five years, or since she has outstripped all rivals in the production of the precious metals, the eyes of the commercial world have been fixed upon her ; for the vast treasures which have been drawn from her supposedly barren bosom have entered into all the channels of the world's trade — have invigorated agriculture, stimulated manufacture, and given quicker motion to the wings of commerce. To develop her vast mineral resources seems to be Nevada's destiny; and it is just as proper that she should exhume her silver as that Pennsylvania should dig her coal, or California crush out her gold. In her great work of silver production Nevada is but in her infancy, so to speak; and, notwithstanding the vast developments already known, new discoveries are being daily made, and will continue to be made for hundreds of years to come. But not in 7itiiieral wealth alone is Nevada surpris- ing those who thought they knew all her worth. Her pastoral and agricultural interests (of which she was considered entirely destitute) have risen to an import- ance never dreamed of The vast plains, until lately regarded as little better than barren wastes, are being INTRODUCTION. 3 used for pastoral purposes ; and in many places beau- tiful gardens, fruitful fields of waving corn, and flour- ishing orchards and vineyards, attest the fact that the agricultural interests of Nevada were never before so prosperous and encouraging. To aid and expedite the development of the various resources of Nevada, by supplying much needed in- formation as to their extent and accessibility, and to indicate where capital will find profitable investment, is the design of this book. It is written from personal knowledge of the matters of which it treats, so far as this is attainable ; and this has been supplemented by valuable information kindly supplied by reliable per- sons prominently connected with the various industries of the State. In its preparation, free use has been made of all the best authorities, to whom we cheerfully acknowledge our indebtedness. Among those con- sulted are Clarence King's " Geological Explorations of the Fortieth Parallel"; J. Ross Browne's " Resources of the Pacific Slope " ; the reports of Messrs. Stretch, White, and Whitehill, State Mineralogists ; the joint report of Special Commissioners J. Ross Browne and James W. Taylor ; and the report of Baron Rich- thofen. " Sphinx, down whose rugged face The sliding centuries their furrows cleave, By sun, and frost, and cloud-burst — scarce to leave Perceptible a trace Of age or sorrow — Faint tints of yesterdays with no to-morrow — My mind regards thee with a questioning eye, To know thy secret high. "If Theban mystery, With head of woman, soaring, bird-like wings. And serpent's tail on lion's track, were things Puzzling in history : And men invented For it an origin which represented Chimera and a monster double-headed, By myths Phoenician wedded — "Their issue being this — This most chimerical and wondrous thing — From whose dumb mouth not even the gods could wring Truth, nor antitheses : Then, what I think is, This creature — being chief among men's sphinxes — Is eloquent, and overflows with story." NEVADA. Nevada — a Spanish name, signifying w/iz/e as snow — lies between the thirty-fifth and forty-second degrees of north latitude, and between the one hundred and fourteenth and one hundred and twentieth degrees of longitude, west of Greenwich. She is bounded on the north by Oregon and Idaho, on the east by Utah and Arizona, and on the west and south by California, whose boundary line, from the thirty-ninth degree of latitude, stretches across the southern part of Nevada in a . southeasterly direction. She is, therefore, 420 miles long and 360 wide, at her greatest dimensions, and has an area of 112,090 square miles, equal to 71,737,600 acres, of which 690 square miles, or 441,600 acres, are covered, during some portion of the year, by her numerous lakes, leaving an area of 71,296,000 acres for utilization. These figures, however, will give but an indefinite idea of the territory they represent, unless we compare them with the areas of States 8 NEVADA, known to our readers. For this purpose we select the following States : New York, 47,000 square miles ; Vermont, 10,212; New Hampshire. 9,280; Massachu- setts, 7,800; Connecticut, 4,750; Rhode Island, 1,306; Maryland, 11,124; Delaware, 2,120; and New Jersey. 8,320; whose aggregate area amounts to but 101,912 square miles — less by 10,178 miles than the State of Nevada. Indeed, if we add to the aggregate area of these nine flourishino: States that of the kinsfdom of Belgium, we will have only 1,188 square miles more than is contained in the single State of Nevada ! Of this vast territory 1,655,000 acres are reported by county assessors as suitable for cultivation ; and their returns show that during the year 1874, 77,564 acres only were cultivated. Consisting of an elevated plateau 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, Nevada is traversed by numerous chains of mountains, rising from 1,000 to 5,000 feet above the State level, having therefore an absolute height varying from 5,000 to 9,000 feet. Interspersed between these mountains is a series of valleys, whose courses (north and south) are parallel to the axes of the mountains, and whose breadth ranges from five THE LAND OF SILVER. 9 to twenty miles. This alternation of valley and mount- ain obtains with more or less regularity throughout the State, being about equally divided in the central portion, but the mountains becoming gradually fewer toward the boundaries, where the valleys, which here broaden out into plains, largely preponderate. Some of these plains are entirely unobstructed ; but others are dotted here and there with isolated hills, or groups of hills, called "buttes." Although the general course of these mountains and valleys has properly been set down as north and south, they trend, in some places, in other directions ; in a few cases, their axes are at right angles to this general direction. A few of the mountains are tipped with snow during the year, and send down perennial streams of water ; but the greater number, especially in the western or southern parts of the State, are partially or wholly without water. In outline, the mountains of Nevada are rather dome-like than rugged, the process of disintegration having gen- erally smoothed off their jagged peaks, though still leaving here and there a sharp, spire-like summit, whose contour is angular and bold. Instead of treating here of the quality of the soil, the nature and extent of the vegetation, and the qual- ity of the water— all of which will be described in their appropriate places— we now give our readers some account of Nevada's geological structure. lO NEVADA, G(er\efkl G^eolo^y. The mountains of Nevada — according to the ex- haustive report of Clarence King, Esq., United States Geologist — "are composed, first, of crumpled and up- lifted strata, from the late Jurassic down to the Azoic period; secondly, of ancient eruptive rocks, which ac- company the Jurassic upheaval; and thirdly, of mod- ern eruptive rocks, belonging to the volcanic family, and ranging in date, probably, from as early as the late Miocene up to the Glacial period. Folds of more or less complexity, twisted and warped by longitudinal forces, often compressed into a series of zigzags, some- times masked by outbursts of granite, syenitic granite, or syenite ; and, lastly, built upon by or frequently bur- ied beneath immense accumulations of volcanic ma- terial." # # # * * Speaking of the " Virginia range " — that in which the famous Comstock Lode is situated — the. same high authority remarks : " Little can be learned of the ancient structure of the Virginia range, for eight-tenths of its mass are made up of volcanic rocks. Only at rare in- tervals, where deep erosion lays bare the original range, or where its hard summits have been lifted above the volcanic flows, is there any clue to the ma- terials or position of the ancient chain. Mount David- son is one of these relics, being composed of syenite. THE LAND OF SILVER. I I Inclined against the base of this mass, and in the bot- toms of ravines, eroded in the volcanic material, occur considerable hills of metamorphic rocks, schists, lime- stones, graphitic shales, and slates. Southward, in the canon of the Carson, and in the ravines of the Pine Nut hills, are uplifted slates and carbonaceous shales associated with irregular limestone beds, the whole surrounded and limited by volcanic (andesitic) rocks. Still further southward, the crest ridge of the Pine Nut region, which is a continuation of the Virginia range, is syenitic granite, forming high rugged crags of an extremely picturesque aspect. Every analogy would point to the belief that these ancient relics of aqueous rocks, and the granitic masses accompanying them, are identical with the similar rocks which pre-- dominate in the majority of the Cordillera ranges; but- we have positive proof of this in the fact that in Eldo- rado Caiion, one of the ravines of the Pine Nut hills,, Professor Whitney has found Triassic fossils. " With few exceptions, then, the range is built up by successive outpourings of volcanic rocks, whose mode of occurrence, although simple and evident in general plan, is very complicated in detail. " In resume, it may be said that this range is one of the old Jurassic folds of stratified rocks, through whose fissures granite and syenite have obtruded ; that after a very long period of comparative repose, from the early Cretaceous to the late Tertiary, the old range was riven in innumerable crevices and . deluged by 12 NEVADA, floods of volcanic rocks, which have buried nearly all its older mass, and entirely changed its topography. During this period of vulcanism, the present valleys were in great part filled with fresh-water lakes ; and near the base of the Virginia range, we have evidence, in the tufa deposits, that a considerable quantity of vol- canic material was both ejected under water and flowed down into it. Water penetrating the fissured range, and meeting melted rock, gave rise to the solfataras and hot springs whose traces are everywhere apparent. Following this age of lava and steam eruptions came the Glacial epoch, with its sequel of torrents and floods, and finally a great desiccating period, intro- ducing our present condition." Politidkl ©ivi^ior^, S^e, %t6. Nevada is now divided into fourteen counties, al- though, as originally constituted, she had ten counties. The present counties are Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Esmeralda, Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Lyon, Nye, Ormsby, Storey, Washoe, White Pine, and Eureka. Her government consists of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, subordinate State officers, and the Legisla- ture of the Senate and House of Representatives — the THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 3 former consisting of Senators and the latter of Repre- sentatives. She sends two Senators to Congress, who, at present, are the Hon. J. P. Jones and the Hon. William Sharon. As a State, Nevada is comparatively young. For- merly comprised in Western Utah, it was only in March, 1864, that she was admitted to the Union, though she was organized as a Territory in 1861. Her Legislature ratified the Fifteenth Amendment to the National Constitution on the first of March, 1869. * * " Paint me, in your word-lore, Pictures of the Silver-land ; Paint me Washoe, as you see it, Tinting with a truthful touch ; Limn it with a faithful pencil, Do not color overmuch." Nevada forms a part of the territory acquired by the United States from Mexico, under the treaty of Guad- alupe Hidalgo, which was consummated in 1848. Be- fore this treaty, Nevada was occupied solely by the aboriginal races, and had no settlements of civilized people — not even a mission. Some trappers and In- dian traders, whose vocations led them to traverse the then unknown land, had followed the windings of its 14 NEVADA, streams, and camped on the banks of its sloughs ; and a few small emigrant trains, as well as several govern- ment exploring parties, had crossed it ; but none made it their home. Fremont, Stanbury, Beckwith, Simp- son, and others, surveying for a practicable route for a railroad to the Pacific, crossed it in different direc- tions, and, though they shed much light on its topo- graphical and physical aspects, they gave but little information as to its mineral wealth or fitness for settlement. As early as 1833, the famous Kit Carson led a small band across Nevada, on his way to California. On this journey he crossed the Carson River, which ever since bears his name. The river gave its name to the valley through which it flows. In the valley thus designated, at a place called Genoa, the earliest per- manent settlers of Nevada made their home. They were Mormons, and for some time after their settle- ment, in 1848, their location was known as "the Mor- mon Station." During the succeeding three or four years, other settlements were planted by the same people, some of them locating in Eagle and Washoe Valleys, and some even on the present site of Carson City ! At that time, it was the Mormon policy to occupy all the choicest spots in this region, so as to exclude the so-called Gentiles. The discovery of gold in California, and the rapid influx of population there- upon, thwarted the Mormon schemes, and caused their leaders to issue an edict, in 1855, recalling their THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 5 Nevada settlers to Salt Lake. This summons was promptly obeyed, the settlers forsaking their property, or disposing of it at great sacrifices, except such trifling effects as they could transport on their wagons. Arriving at the central settlement, 600 miles distant, they found themselves deceived and imposed upon, and after a few years, becoming disgusted with the duplicity practiced upon them, some of them, dis- heartened and impoverished, returned to the Carson Valley, where they re-occupied their old homes, or built new ones, as circumstances or necessity dictated. During their absence, in the summer of 1849, a party of immigrants, on their way to California, discovered gold at the mouth of a caiion, since known as Gold Caiion, near where the town of Dayton now stands. Finding they could wash out from ten to fifteen dollars per day to the hand — what was then considered California wages — they remained to engage in gold- washing. Their number was yearly increased by sub- sequent arrivals, till, in the summer of 1859, when the silver discovery was made, the population of this part of Utah, then called " the Eastern Slope," amounted to a little over a thousand souls, composed of adven- turers, traders, and miners. But a fourth of these were engaged in actual mining ; the rest were farmers, shepherds, and traders. The farming, however, was confined to cutting hay and raising a few vegetables, as the population depended on California for their supplies. Though little disposed to farming, those 1 6 NEVADA, early settlers soon developed a fondness for stock- raising, which, even then, was found both easy and profitable. Their valleys supplied abundant water and grass, their climate did not require them to house their stock in winter, and they could always dispose of their stock to advantage, either in the markets of California, or to the half-famished immigrants who were constantly streaming through their settlement. Ever since their return from Salt Lake, the Mormon settlers Vv^ere objects of aversion and distrust among their neighbors. Having entire political control of the country, they made laws which were both partial and unjust ; they elected or appointed all public officers, who were poorly qualified for their positions ; they granted franchises to the adherents of their church, and withheld them from others as well entitled to them ; they upheld their officials in these arbitrary acts, and sometimes invested them with absolute power ; and finally, in the most despotic manner, they caused all the records of the community to be transferred to Salt Lake, Chafing under these griev- ances, the anti-Mormon settlers began, as early as 1857, to agitate for a separation from Utah, and the erection of their region into a distinct Territory, which they proposed to call Nevada. As far as adopting a constitution and electing Territorial offi- cers and a delegate to Congress could attain their object, they secured this in 1859; but it was not till the 2d of March, 1861. that Congress gratified their THE LAND OF SILVER. I 7 wishes and erected the present Territory of Nevada. This concession restored order and confidence, and had a very beneficial efifect generally. James W. Nye, who had been appointed Governor, and the Federal ofificials, arrived in the following July. On the 31st of August, Nevada held her first election, in which Judge Cradlebaugh was elected to Congress. The territorial organization thus brought about continued till the 19th of January, 1864, when it was superseded by the present State constitution, authorized by Act of Con- gress. As might be supposed from the hitherto existing condition of the young community, nothing had been done in the way of manufacture. Indeed, prior to the discovery of the celebrated Comstock mines, there were only three saw-mills, two flour-mills, ^d half a dozen blacksmith and wagon-makers' shops in the Ter- ritory ! Roads or bridges were not much needed, as the country was comparatively level and the streams easily fordable. Of public buildings there were none — certainly none worthy of the name. Nor had there been any well-directed and concerted effort to construct a wagon road to California. In 1859 and '60, however, this matter was vigorously prosecuted by the Califor- nians, who were incited by the reported treasures of silver discovered in Nevada in the former year. With the exception of Genoa — at that time the capital — which did not quite number three hundred inhabitants, and Carson, next in size, which had still fewer people, 1 8 NEVADA, there were no towns in the Territory ; for " Chinatown," "Johnstown," '■ Franktown," and other so-called toums, were only villages or agricultural hamlets. This tardy growth was occasioned by different causes, prominent J among which may be specified the unsettled condition of affairs, uncertain title to real estate, and insecure tenure of property, all conducing to a feeling of apathy in the minds of the people, who were contented merely .^ to exist. Some unusually rigorous winters, and w^ars with the native Indians, aggravated these causes. But these causes and their results were now to pass away to- gether. The discovery of Nevada's vast silver treasures — how vast, is not yet known — changed, as if by magic, the prospects of the State ai^d the spirit of her people. From being a somewhat dull and uninviting country, Nevada i«istantly became an " El Dorado " that offered unlimited wealth to every comer. Instead of being beyond impassable mountains, and Indian-guarded passes, and inhospitable plains, she was now within easy reach, even from the most distant parts of the world. Her own population rushed to grasp the wealth lying at their doors, and adventurous spirits from every part of the world kept daily pouring in, in large num- bers. Never, since the equally famous discovery of gold in California, was such a movement known. In five years Nevada had a population represented by 16,420 voters! By the 13th of August, i860, two quartz mills had begun operations, and within two years from that date, eighty mills, carrying thous- THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 9 ands of stamps, and costing nearly four millions of dollars, were steadily engaged liberating her hitherto pent-up wealth. Other interests kept pace with the development of her mines. Virginia, from being a mere village, grew into a city of ten thousand inhabit- ants, and populous centers grew up elsewhere in con- nection with mininor, lumberinsf, or agricultural inter- ests. This high tide of prosperity waned somewhat from 1864 to 1868. The exhaustion of some of the upper levels of the Comstock Lode was generally ac- cepted as an indication that the great ledge had already yielded the bulk of its riches, and as little pros- pecting had been done in the eastern counties, nothing was known of their value. In 1868, however, pros- pecting was resumed with renewed energy, and the neglected and unexplored eastern counties- were ex- plored by adventurous prospectors. Substantial reward followed — not immediately, but in the course of two or three years; and in 1871 a new era of prosperity dawned on the State. The Comstock Lode began to indicate something of its real value, as depth was reached upon the mighty deposit, and many thriving towns sprang up in the eastern counties where all be- fore had been 2iferra incognita. From 1871, the march of Nevada, in wealth and population, has been steadily onward, until she is now yielding more than half the precious metals produced in the United States. The total bullion product of all the States and Territories, in 1875, amounted to $80,889,037; of this amount 20 NEVADA, Nevada produced $40,478,369, about one-half of the amount produced in all the States and Territories. The recent developments in the Eureka District are of great importance, and are attracting the liberal share of public attention which they deserve. They bear every indication of permanency. As depth is attained, the veins increase in size and richness, and the ore is more easily mined — as is the case with all pipe veins. New developments in this district warrant the assertion that this is one of the most important lead-mining districts in the world. Gold, silver, and lead are with profit extracted from the ore. Of the last mentioned metal, the United States uses over 60,000 tons annually, and until lately the quantity produced in this country did not exceed 10,000 tons, necessitating the importation of the rest from Europe. But the great extent and permanent character of the mines in the Eureka District render it highly proba- ble that, at no distant day, a very large proportion of the lead needed in this country may be obtained from this district alone. In a sketch of the history of Nevada, it may not be considered proper to predict her future ; but it may not be altogether out of place to say that her interests, all and several, were never more promising than at present ; and with regard to her mining interests in particular there is the fullest confidence. Every month new discoveries are made. In truth, the fact is just beginning to dawn upon us, that Nevada is the richest THE LAND OF SILVER. 21 mineral-bearing region in the world. Director Linder- man, of the United States Mints, estimates the yield of bullion from the Comstock Lode alone at forty mil- lions. The other counties will probably yield ten mil- lions more, making a grand aggregate of fifty millions of dollars for the present year — 1876. Although, thus far in the history of Nevada, as will probably always be the case, mineral wealth must re- ceive the first place among her resources, it does not by any means comprise them all. It is unquestion- ably great, and dwarfs every other ; but it is a mistake to suppose either that she has no other resources or that this consists in silver alone. Besides silver — of which she has so much as to be pre-eminently "the LAND OF silver" — shc has alum, antimony, borax, cin- nabar, coal, copper, fire-clay, galena, gypsum, iron, isin- glass, obsidian, plumbago, soda, and salt ; and for build- ing purposes, granite, limestone, sandstone, and marble. But incomparably great as is Nevada's showing of mineral wealth, her other resources are by no means inconsiderable. Her grazing and agricultural resources have become such that she is no longer dependent on other States for supplies. 2 2 NEVADA, Her agricultural resources, in the past, have been little known, and less understood. To those who have hitherto regarded her as a barren wilderness, it will doubtless be a surprise to learn that her county as- sessors, in their reports for 1874, report one million six hundred and fifty-five thousand (1,655.000) acres of land fit for cultivation ! Of this large area, there were but seventy-seven thousand five hundred and sixty-four (77,564) under cultivation in the same year, showing that this important part of her resources is but in its infancy. Yet, in this undeveloped state, her ascer- tained capacity to grow all the various kinds of vege- tables, fruits, and cereals, explodes forever the long- entertained belief that she could grow nothing but tule, buffalo grass, and sage-brush. The soil of her lands reported fit for cultivation is both fertile and adapted to all varieties of culture, pro- ducing, with equal ease, the vines of Europe, the hardy cer.eals of North America, and the fruits and flowers of the sunny South. And to procure general accepta- tion for this assertion, we need but mention that her crop returns for last year, which we give in their ap- propriate place, show that the culture of barley, beans, beets, corn, figs, hay, hops, honey, lemons, onions, or- anges, olives, potatoes, sweet potatoes, vin^s, and all the common fruits and berries, was engaged in with success. The total number of fruit trees, of various kinds, returned for 1874, amounts to 164,594. Closely related to her agricultural resources are her THE LAND OF SILVER. 23 scope and facilities for stock-raising. Her grazing resources are not yet accurately ascertained, but they must be immense ; and their value is enhancer! by the known fact that cattle, sheep, and hogs can winter on them without shelter. Details of the various kinds of stock will be found in another part of this work ; here it will be enough to say that, in 1874, Nevada produced 22,200 pounds of butter, and 668,738 pounds of wool ! In addition to these, she has fourteen grist-mills and twenty-seven saw-mills — the latter turning out, last year, 3,480,000 feet of lumber. All mention of her numerous quartz-mills and other expensive mining appliances is here purposely omitted, our intention in this chapter being to present a view of her natural resources only — resources which, though mostly un- developed because of the hitherto all-absorbing interest taken in the production of specie, are now forcing their importance even on minds constantly dazzled by the prospect of realizing a colossal fortune through the discovery of a rich mine, and therefore averse to all the more tardy ways by which people arrive at independence. 24 NEVADA, Mii^efhl Wekltl\. As the mineral wealth of Nevada stands first among her natural resources, and is the source of her great wealth and the chief cause of her settlement, we purpose treating of it in such a way as its prominence and importance deserve. To do this in a manner which will be at once satisfactory to our readers and ourselves, it will be necessary to give a brief account of the way in which it was discovered, the localities in which it is found, and the mode in which the ore is extracted. EARLY DISCOVERY. The impetus given to mining by the discovery of gold in the Carson River, in 1 849, caused many of the early settlers of Nevada to turn their attention to this branch of industry ; and the abundance of this precious metal in the adjoining State of California kept the prospectors and miners in constant expectation of making rich discoveries. Animated by this hope, and cheered and rewarded with comparative success, they persistently followed their chosen vodlition for various lengths of time. It was not, however, till 1859 — ten years after the finding of gold — that the discovery of the since world-famous Comstock Lode dazzled the world, and put to shame the comparatively THE LAND OF SILVER. 25 meager expectations of even the most sanguine miners. Unlike the Carson gold discovery, the finding of the Comstock Lode was quite fortuitous. It happened in this wise: During the year 1858, a party of miners, who were working in a canon near where the Com- stock was afterwards discovered, were much hindered and annoyed by a black metallic substance, which, being heavy and difficult to separate from the gold, gave them a great deal of trouble. Ignorant of its value, and regarding it as a nuisance, they sought to avoid it as much as possible. Bothered not a little by the presence of this troublesome neighbor, they con- tinued their workings during the winter of '58 and spring of '59. By this time, they had worked up the gulch where they had been so pestered, and were then in the immediate vicinity of the Comstock Lode. At the stage of their workings at which they had arrived, it became necessary to dig a reservoir for the retention of the water used in washing, which flowed from the ravines above, and it was the digging of this reservoir which led to the grand discovery ; for in their excava- tions they came upon a mass of rich silver sulphurets, mixed with free gold — the first disclosure of the great silver-bearing lode which has since become so famous throughout the world ! Discovered in the spring, it was not till June, when the intelligence of the event had reached California, that the discovery was generally known, or its value approximately estimated. 26 NEVADA, The honor of the discovery, if there was any honor connected with it, has been claimed for various par- ties, some according it to James Fennimore, wijjJe others award it to Peter O'Riely and Patrick McLaughlin. James Fennimore, or " Phinney," as he was usually called, was the first to locate a mining claim on the newly discovered lode ; but being ignorant of its value, and generously disposed, he sold it for a small sum to his companion, Henry Comstock, who, but little more able to appreciate the value of his purchase, sold for a slight advance- — thus by transmitting his name to the lode making himself immortal, and by passing it out of his hands beggaring himself of un- told wealth 1 THE RUSH. The discovery of the great Comstock Lode was soon known in California, in the Eastern States, and throughout the world. An excitement without a parallel since the discovery of gold in California followed. Miners and speculators from California crossed the Sierra Nevada mountains on every kind of conveyance, and rushed to the new mines — " stay- ing not on the order of their going, but goingr The towns of Gold Hill and Virginia City sprung up, and were soon in a flourishinof- condition. Under O rules analogous to those in use in California, each miner had a right to locate 200 feet along the ledge, THE LAND OF SILVER. 27 and within a few months after the discovery every available foot of ground for miles along the supposed course of the lode was taken up ! But it was not long before all the valuable mines had passed from the original locators into the hands of other owners, who soon transferred them to companies. f^hy^idkl ^i\el G^eolo^iai Cli^i^kdtei^^tid^ OF THE DISTRICT CONTAINING THE COMSTOCK LODE. Having thus given our readers an account of the discovery and occupancy of the Comstock Lode, we proceed to describe the locality in which it is found. In doing this, we shall again avail ourselves of the excellent report of Clarence King, Esq., United States Geologist. Speaking of the locality under considera- tion, that gentleman says : " In the northwest corner [of the Virginia Range] is seen a flat, plateau-like summit, from which, with a general direction toward the southeast, descends a system of deeply eroded ravines. These gather them- selves finally into two main streams — Gold Canon and Six-mile Canon. The upper portion of the range 28 NEVADA, sends out to the southeast lofty spurs, which descend, with extremely abrupt slopes, to the levels of Virginia City, Gold Hill, and American Flat. Mount David- son, the culminating point of this region, projects a spur which, continuing southeast to the Carson plain, divides the drainage of the district — all the water from its north side flowino^ into Six-mile Cafion, that from the south into Gold Canon. Skirting the base of the first great step of the mountain descent is a compara- tively level region, and at the junction of this steep summit slope with the plateau is the Comstock Lode. " About four miles to the east, and in general par- allel to the summit, rises a lofty ridge, whose most prominent points have been called Mount Kate, Mount Rose, and Mount Emma. " The surface of the district is rendered extremely rough by a labyrinth of canons, which are deeply cut in all directions. * * * Poi- instance, the vertical distance from the central street of Virginia to the sum- mit of Mount Davidson is about 1,700 feet, and from the bottom of Six-mile Canon to the summit of Mount Emma is 1,300 feet. " Looking from Virginia, the ridge, culminating in Mount Emma, nearly closes the eastern view, except where the deep cut of Six-mile Cafion opens a gate- way to the Carson desert. The whole configuration of the surface is one massive pile of hills, steeply slop- ing into deep, narrow ravines. " As the description proceeds, it will be seen that THE LAND OF SILVER. 29 the topography owes its characteristic forms and its rapid changes of slope to the great variety of rocky material. Indeed, there is scarcely a more interesting example within the limits of the exploration \_z. e., of the 40th parallel] of the complete subordination of surface form to geological structure." Summing up a detailed account of the component parts of the district, the same high authority con- tinues : " The district, then, is an accumulation of vol- canic rocks built upon the eastern slope of an earlier range. We have the evidence of an original chain in the syenites and metamorphic rocks, and we have, clearly superposed in their normal sequence, the propy- lite, andesite, trachite, and basalt flows ; and finally are observed the results of intense aqueous erosion, which has scored the mountain slopes into sharp, deep ra- vines. It is an epitome of the whole great basin, and it is doubtful whether anywhere else over the entire Cordillera system can be found, in the same narrow limits, a representation of every important geological event. The points in this geology which affect the Comstock silver lode are, first, the mass of ancient rocks which slope steeply to the east ; secondly, the propylites which overflowed these rocks to a given height ; and thirdly, the andesites, which, in the form of an obscure, thin dike, have burst out on the contact plane of syenite and propylite ; fourthly, the immense solfataric activity to which the vein unquestionably owes its origin, and whose influence is recorded in 30 NEVADA, the decomposed propylites lying east of the vein. The andesites overlying them are untouched. The gen- eral thermal activity was confined to the interval be- tween the outflow of propylite and that of the later andesite. It is probable that long after the great sol- fatara had ceased altogether, the Comstock remained the theater of great activity, and that only in most re- cent times has intense chemical and dynamical action abated." With the idea of the general appearance and struc- ture of the regfion containing^ the Comstock Lode thus brought vividly before us, we will now proceed to ex- amine THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMSTOCK LODE IN DETAIL. " The Comstock Lode," continues Mr. King, "lies at the base of the Mount Davidson group, and occu- pies, during the middle of its course, a line of contact between the syenite mass and the propylites which have overflowed it. North of Ophir Ravine it is walled upon both sides by propylite ; south of the Gold Hill Divide, at a point somewhere in the Exchequer claim, it also leaves the syenite and is carried south- ward, chiefly in propylite, but touching indistinctly the older metamorphic rocks upon the east side. Its course is about north 25*^ east, or a little east of the magnetic meridian. In Seven-mile Canon, near the base of Cedar Hill, is the most northern known portion of the lode. From that point it continues south in a nearly THE LAND OF SILVER. 3 1 direct line, underneath Virginia City, across the divide, past Gold Hill to American Flat, where the wide de- pressed area has produced conditions unfavorable to further development. Upon this entire length are located a series of mining claims occupying the lode for 22,000 feet. ■' In point of geological time, the system of fissures which constitute the Comstock Lode are subsequent to the propylite outflow, and belong, in all probability, to the dynamical disturbance connected with the erup- tions of andesite. It is considered certain that the whole series of volcanic outbursts are since the Mio- cene epoch, and we may safely call the Comstock a Tertiary lode. It is by no means a single crack which has been subsequently filled with mineral material, but forms a connected group of fissures whose structural outlines are quite simple, but whose details produce a complexity almost unknown in metal veins. " Extensive explorations, reaching to a depth of 1,200 feet, have facilitated to a wonderful de2:ree the study of this immense lode ; and although certain minor conditions are even yet obscure, there are data for intelligent comprehension of all the important facts. For a distance of 1,700 feet the galleries and tunnels, run for the purpose of exploring the silver deposits, have opened up nearly all portions of the vein, and we are able, with almost absolute certainty, to map out the general structure of its interior. " For 4,800 feet syenite forms the west wall. It pre- 32 NEVADA, serves great uniformity in its clip, rarely exceeding 47^ to the east, and never rising to less than 40'^. The west wall plane is not smooth, but advances to the east in broad curved projections, to which the name of capes has been given. These gentle swellings are character- istic of the whole syenite surface. They point down- ward, uniform in dip, with the recurved portions main- taining an average angle of 46° to the east. South- ward, and north of the syenite, where propylite forms the west wall, the same curved, buttress-like ribs lie up and down its slope. At a distance varying from 100 to 800 feet further east is the other wall. To the east of this lies the propylite country-rock, which, by some strange accident, is comparatively unaltered near the vein, but at a very short distance to the east becomes decomposed under the influence of the solfataras. " The east wall is still somewhat indefinite ; swelling out often towards the east in. bold curves, and again approaching the west country; in one or two places it comes into actual contact with the latter. From the surface it descends until it reaches the inclined face of the west wall, at a depth which is generally from 600 to 1,200 feet, although at two places the point of con- tact is indefinitely deeper. This depth is varied, first, by the irregularities of the surface, and secondly, by its curves toward the east country of the west wall. It is obvious that the further to the east it deflects, the deeper will be the point of contact. A frequent fea- ture of the east wall is its convexity toward the west. THE LAND OF SILVER. 33 It is one of the largest examples of conchoidal fracture that can be observed. " These two walls, inclining together, form a V-like section. This wedge, produced north and south, re- sults in a long vein mass 20,000 feet in length, varying on the surface from a width of 200 to 800 feet, with the western wall descending at 45° to the east, and a steep east wall intersecting it, at a varying depth of 800 to 1,200 feet. "So powerful has been the influence of the rigid mass of Mount Davidson upon this lode, that, even to the north and south, where it continues wholly in pro- pylite, the system of fissures induced by the syenite is maintained. After the cooling of the propylite over- flow, a thin dike of andesite penetrated the contact plane between the syenite and the propylite, and was. undoubtedly the first step in the formation of the lode. Contemporaneously with this andesitic fissure, or with those of the main andesitic outflow, the eastern fissure was formed. To the western is given the name of contact fissure ; to the eastern, since it contains nearly all the silver deposits, is applied the term of ore chan- nel. The submerged base of Davidson not only af- fected the larger outlines of the lode, but has had a tendency to throw the channel further to the east over each of the fluted projections of its surface. " The eastern fissure never penetrates the syenite, but dies out to a mere clay seam upon its unbroken front. Throughout the greater part of the lode there 3 34 NEVADA, is no appearance of a vein below this junction ; but at the Hale & Norcross, and in the Gold Hill group, the contact does not occur, the east wall curving into parallelism with the west. The great ore channel, then, is simply a gash from the surface down into the inclined fissure which lies upon the face of the west wall. The vast deposits of silver, which have given to these mines their world-wide celebrity, have been almost wholly mined from this gash, or its connected openings. While the vein, as a whole, can only be re- garded as a true fissure, since its deep connections are evident from its chemical and dynamical conditions, yet that particular fissure which has mainly carried the silver is certainly limited in depth by the west wall. The unimportant channels of ore which have traversed the propylite horses, lying between the two fissures, are so evidently connected with the main ore channel, and confine themselves so closely to its neighborhood, i;hat they may be considered as its accompaniments and spurs. " The wedge-like mass of propylite occupying the middle of the lode is considered to be a great horse. It is penetrated with a network of innumerable seams of quartz and clay, and lines which have evidently been the channels of solfataric action. It is generally in a decomposed and spongy condition, frequently having lost its porphyritic texture. This horse is generally subdivided by longitudinal fissures, commonly filled with clay, and terminating downward, near the regions THE LAND OF SILVER. 35 of the walls, in mere plates of pasty material. It is also divided by curved, conchoidal fractures, with their convexity to the west. Throughout the central portion of the lode these conchoidal fractures, breaking joints with each other, are of frequent occurrence. " Besides the minor changes of the east wall, there are certain general curves to the east, which are con- nected at the extremities with the west wall, forming a series of separate solfataric vents. The Gold Hill group of mines occupies one of these chimneys ; the Bullion and a part of the Chollar-Potosi, a second ; the Virginia group, a third ; the Consolidated and Ophir, a fourth. Of those mines lying north of the Ophir, our information is so meager that we are un- able to indicate further chimneys. While there is no reason to doubt that the whole vein was formed by one general solfatara, yet, from the difference of min- eralization, both in quantitative and qualitative sense, it seems certain that, towards the close of the action, each of these chimneys was a separate outlet. " In general, then, the lode has a longitudinal ex- pansion of 22,000 feet. It is a wedge of material included between an inclined fissure on the west side and a steeper gash communicating with it on the east. The gash, curving east or west in accordance as the west wall recedes or advances in capes, contains all, or nearly all, of the silver bonanzas. The Inclined fissure, though bearing here and there small bunches of silver, is comparatively valueless. Both these 36 NEVADA, fissures are more or less filled with continuous veins of quartz, which are lined on both sides with sheets of clay. Clay also fills all the conchoidal fissures of the propylite horse, and percolates into every water channel within the lode. " Evidence of long continued solfataric action is present, not only in the accumulations of quartz and clay, but in the peculiar decomposition of the feld- spathic material of the horses. Along the west wall, and separating the vein from the syenite, occur at intervals the metamorphosed and decomposed relics of the dike of andesite which was the starting point of the Comstock Lode. Finally, grouped according to interesting rules in the sheets of quartz occupying the eash vein, are the bonanzas of silver ore bodies. Currents of heated waters still penetrate the lode from below, and are unquestionably the lingering traces of solfataric action. Chemical decomposition is yet active here. The vast masses of propylite horses and of clay are to-day quite plastic, and work- ing with immense dynamic power. Nearly the whole interior of the lode is in a condition of gentle chemi- cal activity. " Quartz forms the oilly gangue in the Comstock Lode. Those small masses of carbonate of lime which occur, intermingled with quartz, in the Gold Hill and Hale & Norcross lower levels, are rather to be considered an included mineral of accidental ocur- rence than as a true gangue. With the exception ot THE LAND OF SILVER. 37 small quantities of silver minerals contained in the clay sheets, where they are placed in close contact with the bonanza, the whole silver-tenure of the lode is contained in the bodies of quartz. The ore itself is composed of native gold, native silver, silver glance, stephanite, polybasite, rich galena, occasional pyrargyrite, horn silver, and, with extreme rarity, sternbergite. Intimately associated with these, occur iron and copper pyrites and zinc blende. Of these, pyrargyrite and horn silver are rarities ; polybasite and sternbergite, in recognizable crystals, occupy a few scattered localities ; stephanite, in defined crystalliza- tions, has been found in nearly every bonanza, but the main body of the ore is a confused, semi-crystallized association of native gold and silver, vitreous silver ore, rich galena, copper and iron pyrites, and zinc blende. The following two analyses, made at the Shefiield Chemical Laboratory of Yale College, are by Mr. W. G. Mixter, an assistant of that establish- ment, and Mr. Arnold Hague, of their corps. They are of samples from the Savage and Kentuck lower workings of 1869. ANALYSES OF COMSTOCK ORE. SAVAGE. KENTUCK. Silica 83.95 9149 Protoxide of iron 1.95 .S^ Alumina 1.25 1.13 Protoxide of manganese 64 Magnesia 2.82 1.37 NEVADA, ANALYSES OF COMSTOCK ORE — (CONTINUED). SAVAGE. KENTUCK. Lime 85 1.42 Sulphide of zinc 1.75 .13 Sulphide of copper 30 41 Sulphide of lead 36 .02 Sulphide of silver 1.08 .12 Gold 02 .001 7 Bisulphide of iron 1.80 .92 Potassa and soda 1.28 1.05 Water 2.33 .59 100.38 9948 " In general, the ore within the limits of bonanzas is pretty uniformly disseminated through the quartz. It is only rarely that large, solid accumulations occur The silver minerals ordinarily lie in masses about the size of a hen's egg. In the central portions of bonan- zas there is usually a somewhat denser arrangement of ore ; and, in their relations to the bonanza systems, the northern halves of the two groups are the richer, and the charging is more and more dense toward the sur- face. It is evident, from the manner in which the ore itself is broken and dislocated, that the dynamical ac- tion which powdered the quartz occurred after it was charged with ore. " There is every reason to suppose, from the man- ner in which the ore minerals intersect the quartz, that they were deposited while the latter was still plastic. THE LAND OF SILVER. 39 Since the period of crushing, additional charges of quartz and ore have been introduced into the fissure to a small extent. In a few cases, as in the 800-foot level of the Yellow Jacket mine, broken fragments of quartz, themselves containing ore, have been re- cemented by sheets of stephanite which have pene- trated the cracks, and over the stephanite a second- ary growth of quartz crystals has taken place, and these quartz crystals themselves are again coated with fine varnish of silica. The carbonate of lime, which is found in the lower works of Gold Hill and Hale & Norcross, but more especially in the former, has crys- tallized in the cavities of the quartz, and in some in- stances has been subsequently coated with a film of quartz, and then dissolved out, leaving skeleton crys- tals built up of thin films of silica. In the middle Savage mine, in the region of the second station, for a considerable time quartz and ore alternated in depo- sition. There is a limited region where the ore and quartz form alternate concentric layers. Outside of the most recent layer of ore, in rare instances, has been formed a plating, about half an inch thick, of carbonate of manganese, which in its turn was again covered with a thin layer of silica, •' The ores of Gold Hill and Virginia are very similar in their mode of arrangement and general mineralogi- cal composition. Stephanite occurs much more spar- ingly in Virginia mines than in Gold Hill. In all the ore that has been worked the average proportion of gold 40 NEVADA, remains very nearly the same. In the uppermost works of the Belcher, in the upper levels of the Gold Hill group, and in the very highest portions of the Gould & Curry bonanza, there was perhaps a slight increase over the present proportionate yield of gold. In a part of the Bullion, however, and in the Virginia vein back of the Ophir, and in the Sacramento, gold, largely predominates. The metal produced from these mines averages nine dollars to the ounce. With these unimportant exceptions, the average proportion of gold is about thirty per cent, of the whole v^alue. Eight-tenths of all the bonanzas have occurred in the ore-channel, or in fissures joining it and belonging to its system. Within this zone there has been a general tendency to accumulate where the convex face of the east wall invades the lode, as at Gold Hill, Gould & Curry, and the Ophir. The chief develop- ments have been within 600 feet of the surface. The mineralogical characters of the ore vary very little from the surface to the lowest depths, except that above 400 feet the ' Colorados ' have reddened the veins, and oxide of iron in a measure replaces the sulphide of that metal. " Accidental minerals are horn silver, which in rare small crystals occurred in the outcrop of the Gold Hill group, and native copper; the latter, in connec- tion with native gold and silver, and green carbonate of copper, in an earthy, clay-like mass, occurred in the upper works of the Gould & Curry. Native THE LAND OF SILVER. 4 1 copper also, in minute but well-defined crystals, is found in the clays of the Sierra Nevada. This is interesting, since directly above it in the earlier works an unusual predominance of copper pyrites was found. At a depth of about 500 to 700 feet, in various parts of the lode, the ore not unfrequently assumes a green- ish hue, given it by an admixture of chlorite. On the 325-foot level of the Chollar-Potosi, north of the Potosi shaft, this first made its appearance. It has occurred largely in the Hale & Norcross, and in the 900-foot level of the Yellow Jacket is quite frequent. Together with the chlorite is chloride of silver in thin scales. Perhaps the greatest variety of unusual forms of the ore was found in the Ophir. In the back stope of . that mine, in the midst of a very rich deposit, occurred considerable masses of antimonial ore, and a singular association of rich galena and native silver. Near the lower limits of the front body were unusual accumulations of zinc blende, which in depth asso- ciated itself more and more with galena and copper pyrites, and finally gave out at the bottom of the bonanza, the quartz there being stained with carbonates and a sulphate of copper, and the waters charged with sulphates of copper and magnesia. Pyromorphite also occurred in the middle Ophir. The powdered eastern quartz mass was often held together by thick accumulations of ore, which were traversed in every direction by wires of native silver ; especially was this the case in the upper levels of the Mexican. The 42 NEVADA, arrangement of the minerals in the north part of the Ophir bonanza was very interesting. From the surface down to sixty feet below the Walsh tunnel, the galena, copper, and iron pyrites, with a little blende, predominated. From that point down to the great curve of the east wall, rich masses of the ordi- nary Comstock silver ore gave an immense value to the quartz. Thence to the bottom, iron pyrites and blende gradually replaced the silver ore. In the Ophir bonanzas more malleable sulphide of silver occurred than anywhere else in the Comstock. It is held to be an earlier product than the brittle minerals, and often performed the duty of holding together the fractured quartz." , After an examination of many particulars interest- ing to geologists, but too lengthy to be quoted here, Mr. King concludes his excellent description of the Comstock Lode with the following masterly resume : resume' of conclusions concerning the comstock LODE. " The result of this long investigation may be summed up in the following statement of conclusions : The ancient Virginia range, prior to the Tertiary period, was composed of sedimentary beds of the great Cor- dillera system, which, in the late Jurassic epoch, had been folded up, forming one of the corrugations of that immense mountain structure which covers the western part of our continent. Accompanying this upheaval THE LAND OF SILVER. 43 were outpourings of granite and syenite. The erosion which followed this mountain period escarped the an- cient rocks, and modeled the eastern front of Mount Davidson into a comparatively smooth surface, whose average angle of slope sank to the east at about 40°. In the late Tertiary, at the time of the volcanic era, the Virginia range shared in the dynamical convulsions, which orave vent to successive volcanic outflows of im- mense volume and very remarkable character. The first, and so far as the Comstock Lode is concerned the most important, was of propylite or trachytic green- stone, which deluged the range from summit to base, covering large portions of its ancient surface, and leaving here and there isolated masses, which rose like islands above the wide fields of volcanic rock. Sub- sequently followed the period of the andesites, which, at their commencement, in the form of a thin, intrusive dike, penetrated a new-formed fissure on the contact plane of the ancient syenite and the propylite. This earlier andesite period gave birth to the solfataras, which, bursting from a hundred vents, rapidly decom- posed the surrounding rocks, and gradually filled the fissures of the Comstock with their remarkable charges of metal-bearing quartz. The latest flows of andesite poured out over the decomposed propylite ; and since they are themselves unaltered, their appearance marks the period when solfataric action over wide areas had ceased. While no longer maintaining its energy through the broad zone of propylite, it still continued 44 NEVADA,. intensely active within the chambers of the Comstock Lode. MetalHc contents were introduced into the quartz, the clay seams were formed by a rapid decom- position of the neighboring propylite materials, the horses reduced to a spongy, semi-plastic condition, and at last the final solidification of the quartz took place. Outside of the vein two events of sfeoloo^ical interest have occurred: first, the period of trachyte eruptions, when from the ruptures of the crust, parallel to the Comstock Lode, vast volumes of sanidin-trachyte over- flowed the country ; and secondly, the less powerful but still important outpouring of basaltic rock, which marked the close of the volcanic era. Within the vein, and probably caused by one or both of these latter volcanic disturbances, a pressure has been exerted which has crushed and ground the masses of quartz into minute frasfments. It is interesting^ to observe, that while this force was great enough to crush quartz- masses one hundred and fifty feet in breadth into mere angular pebbles, the disturbances were insufficient to cause any actual faulting of importance. Both with- in and without the vein the solfataras gradually came to a close. The heated currents of water, which even yet ascend into the lower levels of the mines, are evi- dence that at no very great depth a considerable tem- perature is still maintained, but this is only a faint relic of a once intense action. "No chemical theory will be advanced as to the origin of the quartz, nor of those delicate questions of THE LAND OF SILVER. 45 magneto-chemical introduction and subsequent trans- mutations of the metallic minerals. They belong rather to an abstruse study of the theory of veins in general, than to an investigation of a particular district." The annual yield of bullion from the Comstock Lode has been approximately as follows : In i860, $100,000, arising from the sale of ores (there being, as yet, no mills in the country). i860 $ 100,000 1 86 1 2,000,000 1862 7,000,000 1863 14,000,000 1 864 1 7,000,000 1865 17,000,000 1866 13,000,000 1867 14,000,000 The sober estimate of competent men for the cur rent year [1876I is no less than $50,000,000. 1 868 $ 9,000,000 1869 8,000,000 1870 13,500,000 1 87 1 15,500,000 1872 16,000,000 1873 35'254>507 1874 35452,233 1875 40,478,369 [Page 46.] MINING. " On they came, a mighty legion, Bright new homes resolved to gain. Tamed a wild and rugged region, Bringing empire in their train. Here they toiled, and here they rested. And with hope and pride elate, On mountains gold and silver-crested, Here they built a mighty State." Before we give any account of the way in which the ores of the Comstock lode are extracted or reduced, we desire to say a few words regarding mining as an m- dustry ; and, first of all, we postulate that mining is as legitimate a pursuit as any other. The owners of quarries are not blamed for digging out their slate, their stone, or their marble ; neither England nor Pennsylvania is accused for working its great beds of coal : then why should Australia and California he condemned for mining their gold ? or Nevada, for un- earthing her wonderful deposits of silver ? There is no valid reason why they should ; for mining is one thing — the tricks and frauds practiced by swindlers, in connection therewith, quite another. For these 48 NEVADA, swindlers, and the artful devices by vv^hich they fleece their dupes, we have, in common with all right-thinking men, the deepest aversion ; but for mining, in itself considered, we cherish a warm sympathy, and wish it every success. Apart from all moral considerations, however, mining is a necessity. Without gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, tin, and zinc, our present civilization would be impossible ; and were the supply of these ma- terials cut off, retrogression, instead of progress, would be the order of the day. So obvious is this that it is scarcely possible to over-estimate the influence that min- ing has of late exercised on the advancement of the world. Within the last quarter of a century, the excep- tionally large discoveries of gold and silver have brought about the settlement of countries which, up to those discoveries, were the abode of savages, and which, but for those discoveries, would still, in all probability, be as unproductive and useless to the world as they were before. But for her treasures of gold, Australia, an island continent, only one-fifth less than Europe, hav- ing large and populous cities, flourishing provinces, several distinct governments, and a population of over two millions of civilized people, would be to-day — what she was before her rich deposits of gold were discov- ered — an idle, empty continent^ traversed by naked sav- ages, and of no other use than breeding sheep or serv- ing as a penal settlement for Great Britain ! But for her gold, British Columbia, now a healthy, happy country, dotted over with prosperous towns and thriv- THE LAND OF SILVER. 49 ing settlements, would still be a labyrinth of gloomy forests, intersected by Indian trails, and occupied only by her rude aborigines and a few adventurous trap- pers ! California, with her vast energy, unparalleled progress, flourishing cities, luscious fruits, and fertile plains, but for her gold would be still the same remote, unheard-of region that she was before her gold drew her from obscurity ! And Nevada — " The Land of Silver" — but for her mineral wealth would, to-day, be the same cheerless waste that, prior to the develop- ment of her great silver treasures, she had been from time immemorial ! Yet, confessedly great as these changes are, the power of mining does not end here : the canoe has given place to the steamship, the Indian trail has been superseded by the railroad, the aboriginal village has been displaced by the populous city, the war-whoop of the blood-thirsty savage is succeeded by the lullaby of the civilized mother, and, in each of the countries cited, the wilderness has been made to blossom like the rose ! And, in Nevada, this potent industry, which has wrought such revolutions in the past, never was more prosperous or gave better promise than it does now. The sober estimate of competent men for the current year (1876) is no less than fifty millions of dollars for this State alone ! The effect of disseminatins: this large sum through our communities will be to promote manufacture, trade, and commerce ; to incite enterprise 4 50 NEVADA, and development; to enhance the vakie of real estate; to invite immigration ; and, in brief, to benefit every class of society. And last, though not least, mining itself, the prime cause of all this prosperity, will be beneficially reacted upon ; mining enterprises will be pushed forward on a still grander scale, prospecting for new mines will be prosecuted with increased dili- gence, and old mines will be worked hopefully and pa- tiently. " The gold and silver mines of the Pacific Slope have created impulses that have advanced civilization. The arts have advanced, architecture has made new discoveries in applying its skill, manufacturers have been called upon to supply more people and with better garments, and the great mass of the people have been greatly benefited. Since the out-pouring of the silver and gold from our mines, we are every way ■improved. Not only so — where one used to have these good things, ten have them now. The whole plane of human comforts and enjoyments has been raised up many degrees. The last twenty-five years have seen the world moved ahead in Christian civiliza- tion further than in any century before. " Can we not see now that the discovery of gold and silver of the Pacific Slope evinces a strong evi- dence of an overruling Providence } Here the precious metals were created and laid away in the dark, till the human family had migrated westward from their starting point in the East, till they had a [Page SO.] THE LAND OF SILVER. 5 1 new continent in their hands, till human civilization had advanced, till there was not a circulating medium to move its property and supply its wants, till the world was ready to leap up for a new race in human improvement ; then the gold and silver, on which the savage foot had trodden for ages, which his taste valued less than the fish-bone ornaments which he strung around his neck, flashed out of its hiding place." With these preliminary remarks about mining as an industry, we now proceed to give our promised account of how the Comstock ores are extracted. >iode of ^E^xtAdtiq^ tl\e f^i'ediou^^ >ietal^ froii^ tl\e Oi'e. GENERAL METHOD OF EXPLOITATICHST. Two methods of exploitation have been adopted for working and prospecting the Comstock Lode : one being by means of perpendicular shafts, and the other of adit-levels, or tunnels, driven through the eastern country, and designed to tap the lode in depth. Although a great number of these tunnels were at first run, only one (that of the Gould & Curry Com- 52 NEVADA, pany) ever proved of much practical use — nearly all the ore from that mine having been found through this, its channel of exit. Large sums of money were spent on works of this kind, without achieving any good end ; many of them having been abandoned before completion, while of those that reached the lode nearly the whole intersected it at barren sections, or at depths too inconsiderable to render them available, to any great extent, for the purposes of ore extraction and drainage. The shaft, however, was the means of exploitation most resorted to from the first. Misled by the false pitch of the eastern wall, and a slight westerly inclination of the upper ore bodies, it was then supposed that the normal dip of the vein was toward the west ; and therefore most of the shafts were sunk on the croppings. As a consequence, these works soon came in contact with the foot-wall — those about Virginia when down from 400 to 500 feet, and those near Gold Hill at somewhat greater depths. When it became apparent that the permanent pitch of the vein was toward the east, the plan was adopted of putting down these shafts at points 800 or 1,000 feet to the east of and below the croppings, except in the vicinity of Gold Hill, where the most of them have been continued at the places of their first loca- tion. Thus, enumerating only some of the principal mines, we have standing in the east country rock, and designed to strike the lode at great depths, the shafts of the Ophir, Consolidated Virginia, Gould & Curry, THE LAND OF SILVER. 53 Savage, Hale & Norcross, Chollar-Potosi, and the Imperial-Empire companies ; while the Bullion, Yellow Jacket, Kentuck, Crown Point, Belcher, and most of the other mines in the vicinity of Gold Hill, are still working through the shafts originally started in or to the west of the croppings. The most of these shafts consist of four com.partments, three being used for hoisting and one for pumping purposes. They are twenty-four feet long and six feet wide, making each compartment six feet square. They are timbered from top to bottom, in the most substantial manner, and supplied with steam hoisting-works, the driving-power of some being furnished by three effective engines. There are from thirty-five to forty of these establish- ments erected along the line of the Comstock Lode, nearly every company claim being furnished with one. All of these shafts are vertical — at least in their upper portions — several of the deeper ones inclining toward the lode at points between the i,ooo and 1,200-foot levels. At intervals, usually of 100 feet, drifts or tunnels are run off from the shaft, for the purpose of extracting the ore or prospecting the ground ; these horizontal passages being called levels. STOPE TIMBERING. The difficulty of sustaining ground of this nature by any method of timbering is not only in itself great, but is much increased by the large size of the cham- bers rendered vacant by the extraction of the bodies 54 NEVADA, of ore. Methods ordinarily in use in veins of moder- ate width and in firm rock were found to be in- sufficient. To meet the necessities of the case, a method of timbering was introduced which is said to have been devised by Philip Deidesheimer, Esq., then superintendent of the Ophir mine. This consists in framing timbers together in rectangular sets, each set being composed of a square base, placed horizontally, formed of four timbers, sills, and cross-pieces, four to six feet long, framed together, surmounted by four posts, six to seven feet high, at each corner, and capped by a frame-work similar to that of the base. These cap pieces, forming the top of any set, are at the same time the sills or base of the next set above, as the sets rise one above the other in the stope, being generally placed in position directly over those below. This somewhat complicated system of timbering may also be described, in other terms, as a succession of horizontal floors, composed of timbers that are penned together in rectangular sets, four to five feet square, the floors being supported one above the other by posts seven to eight feet high. The timbers are usually of twelve -inch stuff, square hewn or sawed. They are framed with much care, so that the various parts fit snugly together. Each piece, excepting, occasionally, the ground sill or foundation timber of a new series of floors, is cut and framed separately. The expense of this work is, of course, very great, both for material and labor. The cost of timber is Blake's Patent Rock Breaker. [Paye 34.1 THE LAND OF SILVER. 55 from $25 to $30 per thousand feet board measure, and the consumption is enormous, making the timbering one of the largest items of expense in the Comstock mines. ORE EXTRACTION. The ore, as it is worked out or broken down b}^ the miners in the stope, is thrown down to the track-level of the station below, either falling upon the floor of the drift or into a receiver or bin, whence it is loaded into the drift-car, and carried to the shaft. There the car containing its load, either of ore or waste-rock, is placed upon the cage or platform in the shaft, and raised to the surface, where it is run froito the cage oA to another track, and so conveyed to the appropriate ore-bin, or waste-dump, according to its character, and thus delivered of its load without an intermediate handling. The reader will notice that this chapter is to treat of the mode of extracting the precious metals from the ore, not extracting the ore from the mine — a process generally understood, and the same every- where, except that in semi-civilized countries the ore is brought to the surface in small bags carried on the backs of the miners, while in civilized countries it is hoisted up by machinery. CRUSHING. The mode of treatino- ores in voo:ue in the nei2:h- borhood of the Comstock Lode is called the Washoe 56 NEVADA, process^ — a name common to the whole region, and given to it by the early miners after the tribe of Indians found living there. The ore to be treated by this process, then, is delivered from the mine in pieces varying in size from fine particles to lumps as large as a man can lift. In order to prepare it for the mill proper, it must first be crushed to a powder. This is done, first, by break- ing the larger pieces in a rock-crusher, and then by passing the whole through a battery of five or more heavy iron stamps or pestles, which, falling on a solid iron mortar upon which the ore is thrown, reduce it to syiall particles. The stamps or pestles, which vary in weight from 500 to 1,000 pounds, are lifted by revolving cams, which give them a fall of from seven to fifteen inches, and about seventy times a minute — each fall being a blow of so many pounds. While the battery is working, a stream of water is admitted to the box in which the crushing is done, and, flowing over the mortar and pulverized ore, car- ries off all particles sufficiently small to pass through the fine screens placed in front of apertures in the box, in order that the crushed ore may escape, and leave room for the process to continue. The screens through which the crushed ore escapes are either brass wire -cloth, having thirty-five to forty meshes to the lineal inch, or Russian sheet iron per- forated with small holes. The latter kind is gener- [Page 36.] ca.m:s. GOLD. SILVER. Wet Crushing Mortars. IPage S7.] THE LAND OF SILVER. 57 ally preferred ; those in common use are numbers 5 or 6 — the latter having holes one-fortieth of an inch in diameter. The stream of stuff discharged from the battery is conveyed in troughs to a series of settling tanks placed in front of the batteries. These tanks, which are usually of plank, are three or four feet deep by five or more feet square, and are so arranged as to have communication with each other near the top, so that the stream of water carrying the crushed ore in sus- pension, having filled one tank, may pass into the next, and so on, depositing the material, and not finally leaving the tanks until it has become tolerably clear. When one or more of the settlino: tanks in the mill have been filled, the stream is diverted from such to others that have been emptied ; and the full ones, in their turn, are cleaned out : the sand, or crushed ore, being then subjected to the grinding and amalgamat- ing process of the pan. GRINDING AND AMALGAMATION. The pans employed for this purpose present a great variety in the details of construction. Since the first " common pan," a very simple apparatus, came into use, many inventors have exercised their ingenuity in devising improvements ; and at present there are several different patterns, each of which has some special claim for excellence, and finds its advocates 58 . NEVADA, among the practical mill-men of the district. The common features are a round tub, usually of cast-iron, (but sometimes having wooden sides) four to six feet in diameter, and about two feet deep, and having a hollow pillar cast in the center. Within this pillar there is an upright shaft, which projects above the top of the pillar, but is set in motion by gearing below the pan. To the top of this shaft is attached, by means of a key, a yoke or driver, by which the muller, or upper grinding surface, is made to revolve. To the bottom of the pan, on the inside, is fixed a false bottom of iron, cast either in sections, commonly called dies, or in one piece, having a diameter a little less than that of the pan, and with a hole in the center, adjusted to the central pillar. This false bottom serves as the lower grinding surface. The muller forming the upper grinding surface is usually a circular plate of iron, corresponding in size and form to the false bottom just described. In diameter it is nearly equal to that of the pan, and in form it is flat, conical, or conoidal, according to the shape of the pan-bottom. Its under side is furnished with shoes, or facings of iron, about an inch thick, which may be removed when worn down, and replaced by new ones. The muller is attached to the driver, which is put on over the central pillar of the pan, and, being connected with the in- terior upright shaft, as above described, is then caused to revolve. There are various appliances for raising or lowering the muller, so that it may rest with its Combination Pan. [Page 58.] THE LAND OF SILVER. 59 whole weight upon the pan-bottom, in order to pro- duce the greatest grinding effect, or be maintained at any desired distance above it when less friction or mere agitation is required. Various devices are also in use for giving proper motion to the pulp, so that when the muller is revolving the particles may be kept constantly in circulation, passing between the grinding surfaces, and coming into contact with the quicksilver. Some pans are cast with a hollow chamber, an inch or two deep, in the bottom, for the admission of steam in order to heat the pulp, while others employ only " live- strain," which is delivered directly into the pulp by a pipe for that purpose. The operation of the pan consists in the further reduction or grinding of the stamped rock to a fine pulp, and in the extraction of the precious metals by amalgamation with quicksilver. The quantity of ore with which a pan is charged for a single operation varies from 600 to 800 pounds, according to the size of the pan. The ordinary charge of pans, most gen- erally in use at present, is 1,200 to 1,500 pounds. In charging the pan the muller is raised a little from the bottom, so as to revolve freely ; water is supplied by a hose-pipe, and, at the same time, the sand is thrown into the pan with a shovel. Steam is admitted, either to the steam-chamber in the bottom of the pan, or directly into the pulp. The muller is gradually lowered, after the commencement of the grinding operation, and is allowed to make about sixty or 6o NEVADA, seventy revolutions per minute. In the course of an hour or two the sand is reduced to a fine, pulpy con- dition. When this has been accomplished, a supply of quicksilver is introduced into the pan, the muller slightly raised from the bottom, to avoid too great friction, which would act to the disadvantage of the quicksilver, and the action continued for two hours longer, during which the amalgamation is in process. The quicksilver is supplied by pressing it through canvas, so as to scatter it upon the pulp in a finely divided condition. The quantity varies greatly in different mills, the ordinary supply being about sixty or seventy pounds to a charge of ore consisting of 1,200 or 1,500 pounds. In some mills a quantity varying from seventy-five to two hundred or even three hundred pounds is put into a pan when starting after a clean-up, and subsequently a regular addition of fifty to sixty pounds is made with each charge. To promote amalgamation, it is the general cus- tom to add to the charge various ingredients, popularly spoken of as " chemicals," which usually consist of sulphate of copper and salt, and are introduced along with the quicksilver, or about the beginning of the grinding process. The quantity used varies from a quarter or a half a pound to three or four pounds to each charge of ore, the two substances being employed in very variable proportions in different mills. Two hours having been devoted to the grinding and two or three more to the amalgamation, the contents Settler. [Page 60.] THE LAND OF SILVER. 6 1 of the pan are run off into a settler, or separator. The discharge of the pan is usually aided by a supply of water, which dilutes the pulp and permits it to run freely from the pan into the settler. The pan, being emptied and partly washed out by the stream of water, is again charged with a fresh quantity of sand, and the grinding operation is resumed without delay. SETTLERS OR SEPARATORS. These, like the pans, differ somewhat in the details of construction. They usually are round tubs of iron, or wood with cast-iron bottoms, resembling the pans in general features, but larger in diameter. They have the same cone and shaft as the pan, but instead of the muller they have several arms extending from the cen- ter to the circumference of the settler. The arms carry a number of plows or stirrers, of various devices, usually terminating in blocks of hard wood, that rest lightly on the bottom ; no grinding is required, but a gentle stirring, or agitation of the pulp, is necessary to facilitate the settling of the amalgam and the quick- silver. The stirring apparatus makes about fifteen revolutions per minute. The settler is usually placed in front of the pan, and on a lower level, so that the pan is readily discharged into it. In some mills two pans are discharged into one settler, the operation of settling occupying four hours, the time the pan takes to grind and amalgamate another charge. In other mills, the settling is allowed only two hours, and the 62 NEVADA, two pans connected with any one settler are discharged alternately. The consistency of the pulp in the settler is consid- erably reduced by the water used in discharging the pan, and by a further supply, which, in many mills, is kept flowing during the settling operation. In other mills, however, the pulp is brought from the pan into the settler, with the addition of as little water as pos- sible, and allowed to settle for a time by the gentle agitation of the slowly revolving agitator, after which cold water is added in a constant stream. The quan- tity of water used and the speed of the stirring ap- paratus are important matters in the operation of set- tling, or separating, as they affect the consistency of the pulp. As the object of the process is to allow the quicksilver and amalgam to separate themselves from the pulp, and settle to the bottom of the vessel, it is desirable that the consistency of the pulp should be such that the lighter particles may be kept in suspen- sion by a gentle movement, while the heavier particles fall to the bottom. If the pulp be too thick, the metal will remain suspended ; and if it be too thin, the sand will settle with it. If the motion of the agitators be too rapid or too slow, similar results will follow, be- cause too rapid a motion will prevent the quicksilver from resting on the bottom, while, if the motion be too slow, the coarser sand will not be kept in circulation. A discharge hole, near the top of the settler, permits the water carrying the lighter portion of the pulp to THE LAND OF SILVER. 63 run off. This point of discharge is lowered by with- drawing the plugs from a series of similar holes, placed one below the other, down the side of the settler, so that, finally, all the pulp is drawn off, leaving nothing in the settler but the quicksilver and amalgam. There are various devices for discharging these. Usually, there is a groove or channel in the bottom of the set- tler, leading to a bowl, from which the fluid amalgam may be dipped, or allowed to run out by withdrawing a plug. The amalgam is carefully cleaned by washing it with water, thus removing from its surface all im- purities, such as heavy particles of dirt, pyrites, etc. When properly cleaned, the amalgam is strained through a canvas filter or conical bag, ten or twelve inches in diameter at the top, and two or three feet long. The quicksilver is drained off, and returned to the pans for further use, and the amalgam is taken to the retort. RETORTING AND MELTING. The amalgam, having been strained in the bags and firmly pressed, in order to expel as much of the fluid quicksilver as possible, is then subjected to the process of sublipiation, by which means the quicksilver is sep- arated from the gold and silver. This is effected in a cast-iron retort. The quicksilver, condensing in the exhaust pipe, falls into a receiver, placed under the end of the pipe, which is nearly full of water. The 64 NEVADA, end of the exhaust pipe dips below the surface of the water to keep out the air, but not enough to permit the passage of the water into the heated retort. The amalgam being placed in the retort, and the door properly adjusted and luted with clay, the fire is lighted, and heat is applied, at first very gently, and afterward gradually increased. If heated too strongly at first, the surface of the bullion in contact with the retort is liable to fuse and prevent the escape of quicksilver from the central part. The charge is about 1,200 pounds. The firing usually occupies about eight hours. When quicksilver ceases to vol- atilize, the retort is gradually cooled down, and the bullion withdrawn. About one-sixth of the original charge usually remains crude bullion. This retorted amalgam is broken up, melted, and cast in ingots ready for market or the mint. THE FIRST MILL. The first mill for reduction of the silver ores of the Comstock, in fact of the State of Nevada, was built on Gold Caiion, near Silver City, and about three miles southerly from Virginia City. This site was selected as most likely to afford a suf- ficient supply of water for steam and milling purposes. This mill was commenced on the 24th day of May, i860, and started running on the nth day of August, of the same year. It consisted of twenty-four stamps and twenty-four pans, and cost $50,000. It was Agitator [Page 62.] Retorts. [Page 64.] THE LAND OF SILVER. 65 built by Mr. Almarin B. Paul, an experienced quartz miner, from Nevada County, California. This mill is not only conspicuous as being the first, but as the one to inaugurate an entire new system for the reduction of silver ores — we refer here to the one which we have just described, the Washoe pan process. Mr. Paul, before embarking in his mill enterprise, conceived the idea that a more expeditious plan should be sought out than the German barrel process, or the Mexican patio — the only two then generally in use — and to this end commenced a series of experiments in iron pans, which resulted so satisfactorily as to de- termine his course. The mill was set to work, but not without many misgivings, by those learned in metallurgy, as to its proving a success. The first run was on Gold Hill ores, which at once solved the problem, and soon elec- trified the whole Comstock range, and mill after mill soon began to do duty in turning out the precious metals. It is somewhat singular that the first silver mining in the United States should inaugurate a sys- tem especially its own, and so well adapted to the seemingly exhaustless Comstock and the expanded spirit of the age ; for while both the German barrel and the Mexican patio are very slow and expensive, this iron pan system is not only cheap, comparatively, but in execution it is wonderfully expeditious. In the form, size, and speed of these pans there have been many changes, and even now they are of 5 66 NEVADA, many varieties ; but in the chemistry of the operation there has been no change. The foregoing description of the various milling processes by which the precious metals are extracted from the ore may be appropriately followed by a tabu- lar statement of the number of the mills themselves, their capacity, etc., etc. S Iiill,^ IN LYON, ORMSBY, AND STOREY COUNTIES, NEVADA, LYON COUNTY. Name. SiTUATIOX. Tons Capacity. Stamps. Devil's Gate Silver City . . Gold Cafion . (i 24 30 40 40 20 30 10 20 20 25 I 2 Pioneer Bacon Trench Horn 15 20 20 10 Kelsey : Golden Age Hope Excelsior Sacramento 15 5 10 10 12 THE LAND OF SILVER. 67 LYON COUNTY (CONTINUED). Name. Swansea .... Atlanta Keystone . . . Eureka Franklin .... Woodworth . Island Carson Valley Desert Birdsall & Co. Reservoir . . . Rock Point . . Spring Valley Daney Situation. Gold Carion Carson River Dayton Spring Valley Tons Capacity. 25 20 30 120 40 48 20 300 25 300 50 I 12 20 30 Stamps, 12 10 Tailings 60 20 24 10 Tailins^s 56 10 15 ORMSBY COUNTY, Name. Mexican .... Yellow Jacket Brunswick . . . , Merrimac ... Vivian Santiago .... Location. Empire . . Carson River Motive. S < H C/5 < PL, in Water 44 20 10 Steam 40 13 6 Water 56 26 13 a 20 13 6 (( 16 8 7 u 34 9 18 120 75 150 45 40 80 These mills are all kept running on Comstock oreS; brought from the mines and delivered by the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. 68 NEVADA, STOREY COUNTY. Name. Boston lone Succor Ramsdale Pacific Pappoose Piute Douglas Atlas Petaluma Sapphire Rhode Island Gold Hill Quartz Sunderland Hoosier State Sierra Nevada Evans Mariposa Sacramento & Meredith Winfield Atlantic Landy De Lands Nevada Empire State Park & Bowie No. i . . Park & Bowie No. 2 . . Occidental Lady Bryan Location. Gold Canon . . . Lower Gold Hill Virginia Seven-mile Can. u Cedar Hill Seven-mile Can. Six-mile Cafion Virginia Six-mile Canon Silver Star Dist. Six-mile Caiion . Motive. in •< c ^ Steam 5 5 15 2 30 5 20 15 15 24 15 25 8 10 18 20 5 12 20 20 12 20 15 20 15 20 10 15 25 5 70 14 50 30 45 75 40 50 18 25 40 50 13 30 50 50 30 50 35 50 40 50 Hoist, with Spur Gear, Reversing Engine, Clutch and Brake. [Page 68.] I THE LAND OF SILVER. 69 Having acquainted our readers with these various aspects of the great mineral wealth of Nevada, we now introduce to them sketches of some of the principal mines which have aided so much in its development, and have secured so large a share of the great prize. Pumping Bob. [Page 70.] J^ SKETCH PRINCIPAL SILVER MINES IN NEVADA. This claim deserves to be mentioned first, for it was on this ground that the Comstock Lode was discovered in 1859. Incorporated in April, i860, the companv owning this mine have extracted from it several mil- lions of dollars. Their new shaft is one of the best on the lode. Its pumping and hoisting machinery is ample and admira- ble. Indeed, their whole establishment is constructed with a view to _ permanent and expensive operations, and is provided with such auxiliaries as smith, carpen- ter, and repair shops. Recently, this company has struck large bodies of ore, the general course of which is to the northeast. As these bodies are constantly increasing in size and richness as they are sunk upon, there can be no doubt that they are but the tops of the 72 NEVADA, great mountain range of ore — the peaks, as it were, projecting here and there. It is to be expected, there- fore, that at a greater depth, say on the 1,700-foot level, there will be found a continuous mass of ore. At this writing, January 15th, 1875, there are two main depos- its, called the east and west, with smaller deposits making below and on a line with them. These bod- ies of ore are first encountered on the 1,300-foot level, but on the 1,465-foot level they have greatly increased in size and richness, and are already of large propor- tions. Near the California line a winze has been sunk a distance of thirty-five feet below the 1,465-foot level, from the bottom of which drifts have been run in va- rious directions, disclosing ore of wonderful richness. Two hundred feet northward of this winze there has been sunk another, called the north winze, which is down forty feet below the 1,465-foot level, in ore assay- ing as high as $1,500. In this winze is being found much black sulphuret ore, containing small spangles of free gold. The stratification cut in the winze shows that the ore body is making strongly to the north. In the California, about thirty feet south of the south line of the Ophir, a crosscut has been run west through 147 feet of ore, much of which is of very fine quality. This is no doubt a portion of the ridge of the bonanza, making up through the Califor- nia, and falling into the general northeast course of the line of ore bodies now being explored in the Ophir. Two crosscuts are being advanced from the 1,465-foot Safety Cage. [Page 72. J THE LAND OF SILVER. 73 level of the Ophir in an easterly direction, and have already progressed far beyond the known bodies of ore on the level. In both of these crosscuts are en- countered very favorable indications ; and, in the one running to the northeast, low-grade ore is beginning to make its appearance. Number of feet in the Ophir claim, 675. Number • of shares, 100,800. Last assessment levied. May 14th, 1875. Number of dividends, twenty-two. Last divi- dend, March, 1864. Total amount dividends disbursed, $1,394,400. doq^olidated Vii^^iqia ki|el d^lifofi\i^, The following, from the pen of Henry De Groot, Esq., is an excellent description of the wonderful bonanza of the Consolidated Virginia and California mines. " The ' Bonanza Mines ' of the Comstock occupy a section of that lode situate near the northerly extrem- ity of what has thus far proved to be the more fertile portion thereof. This section, which covers 1,310 linear feet, lying between the Ophir on the north and the Best & Belcher on the south, was formerly subdivided into six company claims, viz., the Central, 74 NEVADA, California, Central No. 2, the Kinney, the White & Murphy, and the Sides. The first important mineral discovery made on the Comstock Lode occurred in the Ophir, near the boundary line between that and the Mexican claim, whence the ore body ran north 175 and south 240 feet. It was of lenticular form, and went down 600 feet, its maximum breadth being eighteen feet. This was known as the ' Ophir Bo-- nanza,' and served to first brino; the ^reat Washoe lode into notoriety, and thus inaugurate the era of sil- ver mining in the States and Territories west of the Rocky Mountains. The ore here was nearly all of high grade, and but for the imperfect manner in which it was worked, or otherwise injudiciously disposed of, should have netted the owners large profits. Within three or four years from the time of its discovery this bonanza was exhausted, having yielded a gross bullion product of about ^15,000,000. " During a period of twelve years, reaching from 1859 to 1 87 1, no very thorough exploration was made of this group of claims, the deepest shaft put down upon them, that on the Central, having attained no greater depth than 620 feet. A number of tunnels were here driven into and through the lode, intersect- ing it at depths varying from 300 to 600 feet ; two of these, the Mount Davidson and Latrobe, having been extensive and costly works. None of them succeeded, however, in developing any deposits of magnitude or value. In 1861, some feeble streaks of gold-bearing THE LAND OF SILVER. 75 quartz were struck at a depth of 250 feet in the White & Murphy shaft, several small bunches of good ore having previously been encountered in the California ground ; but, beyond these, nothing worthy of special mention was met with in this series of locations while under their early regime. " In the meantime, heavy bodies of ore had been opened up in the Gould & Curry, the Savage, and the Hale & Norcross, and, in fact, at intervals all the way to the Overman mine, south of Gold Hill. Along that portion of the mother lode there had occurred several barren spaces of considerable length, yet hardly any so prolonged or hopelessly sterile as this more northerly section thereof, which, by reason of these failures extending through so many years, came at last to be regarded as the mauvais terre and forlorn hope of the Comstock. What tended finally to dis- courage deeper exploration was the fact that the Ophir bonanza had given out at about the level of the deepest shaft put down here, the still larger ore body uncovered in the Gould & Curry having also terminated at a little more than 1,000 feet below the surface, the additional depth to which it held being supposed to bear some relation to the greater size of this bonanza. To these facts many attached much significance, arguing that they indicated about the depths at which the fruitful zone along the entire Comstock channel might be expected to terminate. " But there were others who, after carefully and in- 76 NEVADA, telHgently studying this matter, came to a dififerent con- clusion ; who, in view of the geological features and the surroundings of this lode, its masterly proportions and the magnitude of the ore bodies already found be- tween its walls, believed it to occupy a broad, far-de- scending, and fertile fissure, which required only more profound exploration to reach at many points along it the deep-lying repositories of an illimitable wealth. By comparison this was found to be very similar in its conditions and structure to the great historic veins of other and older mining countries, some of which, after centuries of large and steady production, were known to be still in bonanza ; wherefore, it was inferred that an experience not greatly unlike that which had attend- ed the deep exploration of these time-tested lodes awaited like operations upon this. " Conspicuous among those who held to this hopeful theory were the present principal owners of the Con- solidated Virginia and California mines, Messrs. John W. Mackey, James G. Fair, James C. Flood, and Wil- liam S. O'Brien, all of whom entertained such confi- dence even in this neglected and all but abandoned portion of the mother vein, that they were willing to hazard as much of their means as would suffice to make something like a determinate test of its merits. Having for several years been associated together in the prosecution of various mining enterprises on the Comstock belt, these parties, so confiding in the mineral wealth of this ground, concluded, in the fall of 1 871, to THE LAND OF SILVER. 77 interest themselves actively in its development ; or at least of such portion thereof as they might be able to subject to their own management; title to and the di- rection of a very considerable linear section of the main ore channel having been with them controlling considerations from the first. The impolicy of a too diffused ownership and of erecting costly plant and making other heavy expenditure on claims of limited extent, had already received such ample illustration through the numerous failures that had occurred in the vicinity of Gold Hill, that this firm resolved to avoid these fatal defects by providing against them at the start ; and it must be conceded that the plan of ex- tinguishing these small proprietary interests, and sub- jecting a number of the claims held under them to a single business administration, has gained much in pop- ularity since its advantages have been so signally ex- emplified in the history of the mines we are about to consider. " The owners of the California, the Sides, and the White & Murphy claims had several years before in- corporated a company under the name of the Consoli- dated Virginia, with a capital stock of $1,000,000, di- vided into 10,000 shares of the nominal value of $100 each, and had commenced sinking a shaft, which at this time had reached a depth of about 400 feet. Be- lieving that the possessions of this company constitut- ed an eligible portion of this barren section upon which to operate, the firm, in pursuance of the plan 78 NEVADA, marked out, bought up a majority of their stock at an average price of about $9 per share, being at the rate of $96,300 for the entire set of claims. " In embarking in this scheme these parties did not consider it specially hazardous. They expected to take some risks, but did not, like many others at that time, consider them desperate ones. It should be remem- bered that the leading features of the Comstock vein had by this time come to be pretty well understood. Its true inclination and strike, the shape and pitch of its fertile chimneys, the character of its walls and coun- try rock, as well as the great magnitude of its ore chan- nel and the nature of its contents, had been carefully investigated and definitely settled. Elaborate surveys of its underground workings, illustrated by diagrams and able dissertations on the origin and structure of the lode, had been published to the world, these latter promulgating with great unanimity the doctrine that the isolated ore bodies would continue to recur at ir- regular intervals in depth, separated from each other, both horizontally and vertically, by masses of barren vein matter. As most well-informed miners, and others interested in divining the future of the Comstock, were conversant with these matters, it is fair to infer that the prime movers in this enterprise acted with an enlight- ened comprehension of all the facts making for or against the probabilities of a fortunate issue. " Immediately on gaining direction of affairs, the new administration resumed work on the shaft already THE LAND OF SILVER. 79 started, replacing the small engine on the ground with one of greater power, adding a third compartment, and otherwise improving the structure, this being the same shaft, enlarged and deepened, now in use by the Con- solidated Virginia Company, and through which most of their hoisting and pumping has been performed. By July, this shaft had reached a depth of 500 feet, when a drift was run from its bottom, and crosscut- tings made both to the east and west, some portions of these having been in low-grade ore. In the early part of the year, a drift had been started at the northern extremity of the 1,167-foot level of the Gould & Curry mine, and thence continued north, with the design of its being ultimately connected with the Consolidated Virginia main shaft. In September following, excavat- ing for the foundation of the new hoisting works was begun, the rapidly increasing depth of the shaft render- ing the early construction of more powerful works of this kind necessary. " During the year 1872, three assessments, aggregat- ing $212,400, were imposed upon the stockholders, the shares of the company having in December previous been increased to 23,600, of the nominal value of ^300 each, swelling the capital stock to $1,080,000. During the year the prices of shares underwent a series of pretty sharp changes, having advanced from $27, the highest figure in January, to $200 in June, and then fallen to $87 by the end of December, many minor fluctuations having meantime occurred. 8o NEVADA, " By the opening of 1873 the main shaft had attained a depth of 600 feet, while the drift being brought in from the Gould & Curry had been well advanced. Though driven outside and nearly thirty feet to the east of the ledge, this drift had already cut numerous quartz stringers and small bunches of ore ; indicating the presence of heavier mineral deposits to the west. By the first of March the entire face of this drift was in ore of fair grade ; this stratum, on being afterwards crosscut, proving to be here about fifteen feet thick. This strike occurred about eighty feet north of the dividing line between the Sides and the Best & Belcher claims, being at the southern extremity of the great bonanza. Early in this month ore extraction at the rate of twenty-three tons daily began. This ore milled about ^34, assaying from ^50 to ^100 per ton. Cross- cuttings were made from this drift at intervals of 100 feet; the fourth carried in having shown the pay material in greatly increased thickness, caused the stock of the company to appreciate, in the course of a few months, from $40 to $80 per share, a decline to $50 following soon after. " Up to the middle of March the shaft had made no water, being drained by the deeper workings of the Ophir and the Gould & Curry companies on either hand. As a means of promoting ventilation and facil- itating ore extraction, its early connection with the drift below became necessary. In order to expedite sinking, only two of its compartments were for the THE LAND OF SILVER. 51 time being carried down, that designed for pumping being left to be completed afterwards. Owing to the length and depth of the drift being driven north from the 1,167-foot level of the Gould & Curry, the heat here became so great that further crosscutting along it was temporarily suspended ; the main work, however, being pushed ahead at the rate of three and a half feet, while the shaft was put down at the rate of three feet per day. In July, 1873, ^ strong flow of hot water began to make its way through the face of this drift, bringing in so much earth and sand that work here had to be abandoned, the attempt to avoid the point of this influx by means of a sidecut proving abortive. " In August, the shaft having reached a depth of 1,100 feet, sinking was for the time being intermitted. Meanwhile, the pits for the reception of the pump- tanks on the 250 and the 500-foot levels were ex- cavated, the heavy stone foundations for the new hoist- ing works having also been completed, and the ponder- ous pumping gear and other machinery put in place during the month. Immediately after, the business of erecting the various shops and outbuildings soon to be needed was entered upon ; the massive escarpment wall for the support of the ore-bins, and a tramway leading from the mouth of the shaft thereto, was fin- ished. The capacious tanks were constructed, and the great pumps put down, and by the first of October ore-hoisting through the new works commenced, sixty tons per day having at first been brought up. Before 6 82 NEVADA, the end of the month the ore-breasts on the 1,167-foot level had opened out to a width of forty feet, the daily complement of ore extracted having increased to nearly 200 tons, one-third of which came to the surface through the Gould & Curry shaft, and the balance through the new shaft of the company. About this time a marked improvement also took place in the quality of the ore, which by the end of December was found to yield, under the stamps, at the rate of about ^40 per ton. Instead of the single mill, which at first sufficed, the services of five or six were now brought into requisition. The underground working force was largely augmented, the starting of additional stopes, winzes, levels, and drifts having been called for, while the w^ork of sinking the main shaft, which had some little time before been resumed, was hurried earnestly forward, its objective point now being the 1,500-foot level of the Gould & Curry, with which it was to be connected by a drift, for the purpose of reducing the temperature and promoting deep ventilation. A branch railroad, connecting the ore-bins with the main track, was laid down, greatly cheapening and facilitat- ing ore shipment to the mills. Ample supplies of fuel, timber, lagging, and other materials were laid in, the company's affairs, as well as the condition of their mine, presenting by this time a most auspicious aspect. The new-found ore body, under active exploration, had begun to assume the proportions of a regular bonanza ; the drifts carried east from the main shaft on the 1,000 THE LAND OF SILVER. 53 and 1,200-foot levels having established its vertical continuity for 200 feet at least, while the crosscuts run from the 1,167-foot level showed it to extend horizon- tally between 300 and now 400 feet. Daily ore ex- traction exceeded 200 tons, and the monthly ship- ments of bullion had risen to a quarter of a million of dollars. The Consolidated Virginia mine had, in fact, before the end of the year 1873, fairly entered upon that career which, having already surpassed the expectations of the most sanguine, promises to raise it to pre-eminence in the annals of mining. On the 1 8th of October, 1873, the trustees of the company, at a meeting held for the purpose, increased their capital stock from $7,080,000, divided into 23,600 shares, to $10,800,000, represented by 108,000 shares of the par value of $100 each. The shares of this company, which at the beginning of 1873 had ruled at about $40 on the Stock and Exchange Board, went up in the month of March to $80, after which, having fluctuated from $50 to $Sd through the next six months, they rapidly advanced, touching $285 by the end of October, and $400 at the close of the year, reckoned on the basis of the old issue, being about $So for the new shares. " In December of this year the California Company was organized, the Virginia management conveying to them the California claim, and receiving in return 58? per cent, of the new company's stock, which was after- wards distributed pro rata among their own share- 84 NEVADA, holders. Under this arrangement, the ConsoHdated Virginia Company retained the Sides and the White & Murphy ground, comprising 710 Hnear feet, while the California Company took the Central, California, Central No. 2, and the Kinney claims, embracing 600 feet ; the amount of capital stock and the value of shares of the new company having been made to cor- respond with those of the Consolidated Virginia. "On the nth day of May, the company declared their first dividend, amounting to three dollars per share. In June, they commenced the erection of the capacious ,and well-equipped sixty stamp mill destroyed in the late fire, this having been their individual property. " Summarizing the work performed, the develop- ments made, and the improvements perfected or en- tered upon during this year, the following comprise the more important items that go to make up this list: The drift on the 1,167-foot level of the Gould & Curry was carried north through the California ground and connected with the south drift of the Ophir on the same level, the ore developments made on the 1,300 and 1,400-foot levels having so extended themselves toward the California as to prove conclusively the presence of the bonanza in that ground ; the drift lead- ing in from the 1,500-foot level of the Gould & Curry was carried forward and connected with the north winze of the ConsoHdated Virginia, reducing the tem- perature and purifying the air in the lower levels of THE LAND OF SILVER. 8^ the mine, to the great comfort of the workmen, this drift having afterwards been continued on the north. Owing to the excessive hardness of the rock encoun- tered here, the Burleigh machine drill was introduced and set to work with excellent results, the compressor having furnished not only motive power for doing the severest part of the labor, but also large supplies of fresh air to the mine. Early in the summer, a large working shaft having three compartments was com- menced near the line between this and the California ground, and which, being intended for the joint use and benefit of both companies, was designated the combination shaft — usually abbreviated to 'C. & C.,' the initials of the two companies. During the year, the old shaft was carried down from the 1,300 to the 1,500-foot level, the daily ore extraction having been increased meantime from 200 to 400 tons. "As this shaft advanced downward new levels were carried off from it and new stations opened up, additional stopes, drifts, and winzes having been exca- vated as the work of exploration extended. The ore body was traced from the 1,000 to the 1,500-foot level, growing steadily richer as followed downward. It was also found to spread out wherever crosscuts had been run or stoping carried on. The troubles experienced from vitiated air and excessive heat had, through the employment of improved ventilators and a more thor- ough connection of the underground works with the several drifts run north from the Gould & Curry, been 86 NEVADA, steadily diminishing, but little water having up to this time made its appearance, even in the lower levels of the mine. . " Throughout 1874, shares of the Consolidated stock ran a course not unlike that of the year previous. Open- ing in January at $85, they kept fluctuating over a nar- row margin till October, when they begun to go up, reaching ^iio by the middle of that month and $580 before the close of the year, California shares having undergone similar changes in the interim. This ad- vance, though unprecedented, was not purely specu- lative, the vast wealth of this mine, as well as that of the California, its great compeer, having by this time be- come well established and its fame spread far abroad. " Prior to 1874 the ground set apart for the California Company had not been prospected in depth, no work having been done upon it other than that performed by the original owners. This year the drifts being run on the 1,300, 1,400, and 1,500-foot levels of the Con- solidated Virginia were carried north and connected with those on corresponding levels of the Ophir, the object being to secure better ventilation in these mines, and open up the California ground, into which crosscuts were run east from these several levels immediately after they had been connected. Having reached the ore-body already opened up in the ground adjacent the crosscuts were sufficiently extended before the end of the year to determine for the California mine a THE LAND OF SILVER. 87 prospective value not inferior to that of its already re- nowned neighbor on the south. "The year 1875, though not signalized by any new mineral discoveries or serious disasters to the mines themselves, was nevertheless pregnant with misfortune to these companies and their shareholders, crushing depreciations having taken place in their stocks, while a dire conflagration, occurring towards its close, con- sumed their large accumulations of lumber, fuel, and other material, and left their magnificent plant in ruins. These depreciations did not, however, result from any diminution of value in the mines themselves, havino- happened at a time wlien their reputed wealth was re- ceiving the fullest confirmation ; nor did the destruc- tion of property occasioned by this fire cause more than a temporary interregnum of bullion production, the reserve fund on hand at the time of its occurrence having, with the reduced earnings afterwards made, enabled the Consolidated Virginia Company to con- tinue payment of their regular monthly dividends, not one of which has yet been, or is likely soon to be intermitted. "Early this year, the large steam mill, begun in the preceding month of June, having been brought to completion, was started up, with a crushing capacity of 225 tons every twenty-four hours. An additional twenty-five or thirty tons might have been put through the batteries, had there been sufficient amalgamating apparatus to dispose of the pulp. Viewed as a whole, 88 NEVADA, this was without doubt the most perfect and effective structure of the kind in existence, the convenient arrangements made for handhng and treating the ores, and the many labor-saving contrivances introduced, conferring upon it a reduction capacity much larger than its motive power and number of stamps would alone indicate. Some idea of its proportions and working capabilities may be gained from the fact that the inclosing building, apart from shops, offices, and other minor adjuncts, covered an area of more than 26,000 square feet. The machinery, constructed after the best models, and massive beyond precedent, was propelled by a steam engine of 700 horse- power, five pairs of enormous boilers having supplied the steam required for driving it. Twelve self-feeding batteries, carrying each five 800-pound stamps, thirty-two capa- cious pans, and sixteen settlers constituted a few of the more prominent features of this gigantic establishment, the construction, outfitting, and appendages of which cost the owners over half a million of dollars. "At the beginning of this year, daily ore extraction approximated 400 tons, the monthly out-turn of bullion having soon run up to ^1,000,000. By October, 600 tons of ore, of the average value of ^100, were brought to the surface every day, the bullion made that month amounting to ^1,812,000— a sum that might easily have been increased to two millions, could means have been obtained for reducinor the ore. " On the 18th day of January, the capital stock of THE LAND OF SILVER. 89 the California Company was increased to $54,000,000, divided into 540,000 shares of the par value of $100 each ; a like increase of capital and shares being now contemplated by the Consolidated Virginia Company also. Up to the i ith day of March, 1875, the monthly dividends declared by this company had been at the rate of three dollars per share. At that date, these dividends were increased to ten dollars per share, at which rate they have since been kept up. With the enormous reserves previously established, there being no necessity for keeping exploration so much ahead of ore extraction, this branch of work, as the year ad- vanced, was gradually abated. Crosscutting and other labor directed towards opening up the ore-body already discovered continued, however, to be prosecuted on a broad scale, numerous air winzes, drifts, and other pas- sages tending to promote ventilation and facilitate the raising of ore, having also been excavated. The main drift north on the 1,400-foot level was pushed nearly to the Ophir line ; upraises were made from the 1,300- foot level to ascertain the extent of ore and character of the ledge above; the 1,500-foot level was enlarged throughout, and a double car track laid along it. In order to further purify the air in the lowest workings of the mine, a winze of extra large size was raised from the 1,500-foot level to that next above it, while the di- mensions of the 1,600-foot level were increased for the same purpose. " About the middle of the year, two mills, intended 90 NEVADA, for reducing the California ores, were commenced by tlie ' Bonanza Firm,' one of diese being designed for die crushing and the other for the amalgamating ser- vice. The reason for their introducing a feature so novel in mill construction arose from the following condition of thinfjs : The ore from the California mine will for a good while yet, and until the C. & C. shaft is completed, have to be raised through the Consoli- dated Virginia shaft. To save ore transportation, the battery mill was therefore located as near that point as possible, while the amalgamating establishment, to which the pulp can be run through pipes, thereby saving all cost of carriage, was placed half a mile be- low the proper site for it, and near which the other will most likely be transferred when the new shaft is finished. There was, moreover, an inefficiency of room for both establishments in the vicinity of the upper shaft. Both of these mills were projected on an ex- tensive scale, care having been taken that they should be built in a thoroughly substantial manner, and be outfitted in accordance with the most advanced ideas extant, the two being in their respective departments almost the counterpart of the Consolidated Virginia mill. Although carrying the same number of stamps as the latter, their united capacity, owing to increased motive power and a large number of pans, was some- what greater. The provision made here for concen- tratino; the tailinQ:s and savingr the slimes is of the most perfect kind, some improvements on the modes THE LAND OF SILVER. 9 1 and apparatus in use below the Virginia mill having been introduced. " As the year wore on, work on the Combination shaft kept pace with the advancing months. Though retarded at times by the influx of water, sinking was never interrupted for more than a few days in succes- sion. This shaft has now reached a depth of 940 feet, is rigged with powerful steam pumps and hoisting gear, and well timbered throughout. " In the midst of so much prosperity and progress, the already enormous out-put of ore rapidly increasing, with every mill in the country fully employed, a sud- den but not wholly unexpected calamity fell upon these companies, as well as upon the stirring town and the well-to-do community of miners so largely de- pendent upon them for employment and support. " Early in the morning of October 26th a fire broke out in the westerly and more combustible portion of Virginia City, and, fanned at the start by a lively breeze that soon swelled to a driving gale, almost immediate- ly gained such headway as to render futile every effort to stay its progress. Situated on the declivity of a steep and rugged mountain, the starting point of the fire to windward and above it, an avalanche of flame rolled at once over the hapless city. So swiftly did the devastating element move onward that the inhabitants, having lost all else, had only to congratulate themselves that they had been able to escape with their lives. Before nightfall, three-fourths of the business portion 92 NEVADA, of the town was laid waste, the buildings with their contents, over an area of more than a hundred acres, being all burned up. Only some blackened walls and charred timbers remained where a few hours before stood the most self reliant, thrifty, intensely active mining town in the world. Besides the principal part of the city itself, the splendid hoisting works of the Ophir Company, the Consolicftited Virginia mill and hoisting works, and the unfinished California battery mill, together with the elevated tramways, ore-bins, re- torting, refining, and assaying houses, the shops, offi- ces, and all the other costly appurtenances of these several establishments, were wholly consumed ; the losses of the two last named companies, corporate and individual, those arising from interrupted business and other indirect causes included, having amounted to sev- eral million dollars. The insurance that had been ef- fected upon this property was comparatively small — less than ^50,000, all told. "With characteristic enterprise and energy, these companies proceeded amidst the smoking embers to re- build their ruined works, constructing the same after their former superior models, not omitting to adopt such standard improvements as might have come into vogue since they were first put up, nor neglecting any alterations or additions their further experience might suggest. All the men that could be employed to ad- vantage were set to work, and almost before the fire- swept foundations were cold the new structures arose THE I.AND OF SILVER. 93 upon them ; and with such expedition has the business of their reconstruction been pushed that the works destroyed are ah-eady completed and in operation. " The Combination shaft, with the hoisting works, shops, and other buildings attached ; the pan mill of the California Company, and the Consolidated Virginia and Ophir shafts escaped the ravages of the fire, these shafts having been pres'erved by springing the cages a few feet below the surface and covering them with a thick layer of earth. By this means the flames were prevented from burning up the linings of the shafts,* and through them communicating with the vast frame- work of timbers in the mines below. Had the fire reached these, a fearful and all but irreparable devas- tation of property must have ensued. " During the year 1875, Consolidated Virginia and California shares, from $700 and $90, their res- pective prices early in January, steadily declined till they had reached their lowest point, $260 and $55, in the month of November ; after which they made quite a sharp advance, reaching ^375 and $65 at the close of the year. PROBABLE PERMANENCE, ESTIMATED RESERVES, AND PROS- PECTIVE PRODUCTION OF THE BONANZA MINES — OPIN- IONS OF EXPERTS. " As regards the probable downward continuity of the ore-body opened up in these two mines, a new set of affirmative facts seems likely to be evolved from 94 NEVADA, observations lately made along its containing ore chan- nel. Professor Becker, of the University of Califor- nia, gives it as his opinion, based on recent examina- tion, that the Comstock fissure at a depth of about 1,500 feet is about to forsake the contact plane be- tween the prophylite and the syenite, and enter the latter, assuming, at the same time, a more vertical po- sition, all of which are to be accepted as conditions favorable to the extension of the fissure indefinitely downwards, as well, also, as to the permanence of in- " eluded masses of ore. " Touching the magnitude and value of the bonanza partially developed here, each of these mines holding, according to present appearances, about an equal por- tion thereof, experts are not quite agreed in opinion, some estimating the value of the ore in sight, that is, the quantity standing above the 1,600-foot level, at $300,000,000, while others compute it at a much higher figure. In guessing what may be the value of the entire bonanza, eminent authority, in view of its probable conformation below the 1,600-foot level, has fixed it at $1,500,000,000, this estimate being based on the supposition that it is of oval or lenticular shape, and that its zone of greatest expansion has not yet been reached. Adopting round numbers, it may be said that this bonanza, as determined by actual ex- ploration, has a length of 950, with an extreme breadth of 340, and an average breadth of 200 feet. Verti- cally it extends at least 600 feet ; measurements show THE LAND OF SILVER. 95 it to contain 84,000,000 cubic feet, being equivalent to 7,000,000 tons of ore. As this ore will presumably yield $100 per ton, we have a bullion production of $700,000,000, likely to be realized from the ore already developed above the 1,600-foot level. As about two- thirds of the 2:ross out-turn will hereafter consist of net profits, there should be disbursed in dividends a frac- tion over $466,000,000 by the time the ore above this level is exhausted, even though none below it be in the interim extracted. " These, to many, may seem extravagant conclu- sions, yet they are inferentially warranted by the data here adduced, the most of which are well substantiated, none resting on mere supposition or assumption. We have been so little accustomed to the use of these large figures when considering the product of a single or any small number of mines, that we naturally shrink from their employment, as well as distrust them when employed by others. It is scarcely more than a year since Philip Deidesheimer, an experienced Comstock superintendent, and one of the most accomplished mining engineers of the age, startled our propriety with an estimate embracing essentially the views above set forth. So extravagant, however, did these opinions then appear, that they inspired the public incredulity to an extent almost bordering on derision. Explora- tions since carried on in these mines have already so far vindicated that orentleman's estimates as to wholly 96 NEVADA, relieve him from the suspicion of lunacy, and seem- ingly endow him with the gift of prophetic vision. " In so far as immediate results are concerned, these mines will unquestionably be able to make, for some years at least, an enormously large and profitable pro- duction of bullion. As soon as the new mills are fairly under way, it is expected that their out-turn of gold and silver will be at the rate of $4,000,000 per month. If, after the completion of the C. & C. shaft, additional mills shall be set to work upon the ore from these mines, then the quantity of the precious metals turned out will, within certain limits, be augmented in the ratio of these increased milling facilities ; in which view of future contingencies there arises the likelihood that monthly production here may, within a year or two, be swollen to $6,000,000; whence there would annually accrue, on the basis of profits above assumed, net revenues to the amount of $48,000,000. More than half this sum would fall to the share of the ' Bonanza Firm.' " The total vield of the Consolidated Viro^inia mine to date amounts to over $26,000,000, of which $15,000,000, being net earnings, have been paid to the stockholders in dividends, being at the rate of $140 per share. The last dividend disbursed, aggregating $1,080,000 — ten dollars per share — was declared on the 5th instant." From the superintendent's report for 1875 we take the following interesting items : the land of silver. 97 superintendent's report, " During the past year, 169,307 462-2000 tons of ore have been abstracted from all the levels of the Consol- idated Virginia mine, and 169,094 1806-2000 tons have been reduced, which yielded $16,731,653.43 in bullion. There are now at the ore-house and at the mills 2,988 194-2000 tons, valued by assay at $478,080. " This ore has been taken from the 1,200, 1,300, 1,400, and 1,500-foot levels, including a small quantity which has been gathered in the explorations which have been made on the 1,550-foot level. " On the 1,300 and 1,1 00- foot levels the ore-bodies have not been developed as far as they extend north. On the 1,400-foot level the ore has been explored south 450 feet from the shaft, and it extends north from the shaft to the northern boundary of the mine. On this (the 1,400-foot) level we know the exact width of the ore body. "On the 1,500-foot level the ore has been traced south for a distance of 480 feet from the northern line, and has been thoroughly explored by crosscuts from the east wall to the west wall. On this level all the ore is of a high grade, and the width of the body varies from 150 to 320 feet. The ground south of this is en- tirely unexplored. " On the 1,550-foot level a lateral drift extends the whole length of the mine. Starting at the southern. 7 98 NEVADA, boundary it runs northerl}' on the east side of the ore until it reaches a point 400 feet distant from the north- ern line, where it cuts through the clay, and thus passes all the way through ore to the northern line. This level is only partially developed. None of the cross- cuts have yet reached the eastern boundary of the ore. The ore on this level is of a better quality than that which has been found on any of the levels above. Its width, I have no doubt, will prove greater. "At a point 320 feet south of the northern line, a double winze has been sunk from this (1,550-foot) level to the depth of 147 feet. This winze has passed all the way througli ore of a very high grade, and termin- ates in ore of the same quality. The sinking of this winze has been temporarily discontinued on account of the increase of water and the limited means of hoisting. From this same level, north of the northern line, another double winze has been sunk to a depth of 128 feet, through excellent ore the entire distance, and ter- minates in rich ore. The develojoments made by these -winzes prove the continuity, at the lower depths, of the same ore body which exists on the level above, with an appreciation in the quality of the ore. " From this same level, (the 1,550-foot) at the south- ern boundary, a double winze has also been sunk down to the 1,700-foot level. From the bottom of this winze a drift has been run north 107 feet. This winze and this drift are both east of the ore vein, and consequent- ly no information in regard to the ore in this locality .and at this depth has been gained -by this work." THE LAND OF SILVER. 99 SECRETARY S REPORT. The following report will show the receipts and disbursements of the Big Bonanza for the twelve months ending January 12th, 1876. RECEIPTS. Bullion ^16,953,771 39 Bullion samples Z^l^l 60 Assay 1,544 44 Insurance . . , 14,696 25 Balance Account — Includ- ing balances due at last annual meeting from Su- perintendent, Treasurer, and banks, all since paid : Bank of California . . .^82,450 43 J. G. Fair, Sup't 4,655 80 ^87,106 28 Less, due J. C. Flood, Treas., 08 87,106 20 $17,060,885 88 DISBURSEMENTS. James G. Fair, Superintendent $142,471 29 Cash 639 95 Nevada Bank 40,462 'jt^ Carried forward ^183,573 97 lOO NEVADA, Brought forward ^183,573 97 Virginia office expenses 6,888 65 Wood, lumber, and timber 285,437 91 Repairs 974 31 Hauling 2,174 18 Freight 5,550 20 Sutro Committee 1,998 00 Survey i)300 00 Books and stationery 937 85 Legal expenses 27,505 00 Advertising , 288 50 Water 4,500 00 Real estate iS^QQS 75 Contribution 750 00 Latrobe tunnel 2,942 00 Hoisting 8,382 50 Construction 9^,935 53 Taxes 152,795 13 Bullion reclamation 4,344 18 Reduction 2,198,236 97 Interest and exchange 1,530 50 Bullion freight 56,383 79 Dividends Nos. 10 to 21 inclusive. . . . 12,204,000 00 C. and C. joint shaft 201,981 89 Bullion discount 640,7 1 5 48 Back dividends 4 50 Supplies 157,519 76 Salaries and wages 760,698 ']'] Expense 6.540 46 $17,060,885 88 THE LAND OF SILVER. lOI INVENTORY OF PROPERTY AT MINE, DECEMBER 3 I ST, I 875. Real estate ^30,000 00 Buildings 75,ooo 00 Machinery 225,000 00 Supplies .• 5,525 00 Timbers 1,519,000 feet . . . 42,268 60 Wood 46 1 i cords . . Coal 9 tons ... 190 00 Candles 300 boxes . . 1,275 00 Powder i ,500 lbs 1,080 00 Fuse 15,000 feet ... 98 00 Caps 100 boxes . . 11 2 50 Coal oil 200 galls. . . 128 00 Lard oil 250 " . . 305 00 Picks 20 dozen . . 360 00 Shovels 10 " .. 12000 Drills 10 " . . 140 00 Steel 1,400 pounds. 224 00 Iron, round and square 12,440 " . 860 00 Norway iron 3.147 " • SH 7^ Hardware, miscellane- ous 6,542 92 $389,543 72 Gfotild ^ CWfy. This mine is one of the oldest locations on the lode, and has become widely known as one of the most pro- I02 NEVADA, ductive. The company was organized in i860. The nominal claim and basis of organization was 1,200 feet, but the measured length of ground, between the northern and southern boundaries, is only 921 feet. The productive ground of the Gould & Curry has thus far been confined to the southern part of the claim. The body of ore cropped out at the surface, some 300 or 400 feet from the southern boundary, and, dipping southerly, passed beyond the boundary into the Savage claim. From within these limits, about 400 feet in length, 500 feet in height, and an aggre- gate width of 80 or 100 feet, the Gould & Curry have extracted the whole of their large returns. Mining operations were at first carried on by means of tunnels driven in from the side of the hill, at right angles to the course of the lode, passing through the eastern country rock, and cutting the ore-bodies in depth. Three tunnels of this description were driven at different depths, the lowest being over 2,000 feet long, and cutting the lode at a depth of 425 feet. By these means, the greater part of the productive ground of the mine was worked out. In 1864, the company commenced the sinking of their deep shaft through the eastern country rock, partly for working the ore- ground known to exist below the level of the lowest tunnel, but chiefly to explore the mine at much greater depth. The work has progressed steadily, with only few interruptions, until the present time. The surface works at the shaft are amply provided with all the appurtenances of a well equipped mine. THE LAND OF SILVER. IO3 There are three hoisting engines, viz : 14 by 30, 16 by 42, and 20 by 30; two pumping engines, 20 by 48, and 18 by 42 ; one blower engine, 10 by 18 ; saw en- gine, 10 by 20; underground hoisting engine, two double, 7 by 19 each. Also a compressor engine, No. 4, Burleigh, 15 by 18. There are four tubular boil- ers, each 54 inches in diameter and 16 feet long, and containing four flues. The consumption of wood is about fourteen cords per day. Work in this mine is progressing nicely. The double winze from the 1,500-foot level has reached the 1,700, and they are now drifting south, to connect with the drift from the main incline on that level, and hope soon to be able to report good developments. The work of raising the two unfinished compart- ments of the main shaft, between the seventh and tenth stations, is making good headway, considering the rock and earth passed through. Number of assessments, twenty-three. Number of shares in mine, 108,000. Last assessment levied Oc- tober 26th, 1875. Total amount of assessments, $1,640,000. Total amount of dividends, $3,826,800. ^kvage. This mine adjoins the Gould & Curry on the south. The actual length of the claim is stated at 771 feet, I04 NEVADA, although the company is organized on a basis of 800 feet, with a subdivision of twenty shares to each foot, making a total of 16,000 shares. The earlier workings of the company were confined to the northern portion of their ground, and were prosecuted by means of a shaft, sunk on the croppings, about 200 feet south of their northern boundary. At a depth of 600 feet, to which this shaft was sunk, it had already reached and passed considerably below the west wall. Following the example of the Gould & Curry, the company located their new shaft about 800 feet east of the old one, on the croppings, and about midway between the north and south boundaries. There are three hoisting engines, 16 by 36, 16 by 36, 66 by 36 ; one pumping engine, 26 by 72 (beam) ; one saw engine, 10 by 20 ; one lathe engine, 6 by 12, The company have broken ground for the founda- tions of new machinery, which is to be sufficiently pow- erful to sink their main incline to the depth of 4,000 feet. It is already down about 2,200 feet, and is still being vigorously pushed downward. But the present machinery cannot be expected to do the work required more than a few months longer. The new hoisting engine will be supplied with two twenty-four-inch hori- zontal cylinders, of four-foot stroke, and will be of over 400 horse-power. The foundations for this engine are being laid about eighty feet to the westward of the present hoisting works. A building fifty by sixty feet in size will be erected over the new hoisting engine THE LAND OF SILVER. IO5 and the machinery connected therewith. The steel- wire rope to be used will be 4,000 feet in length, and will weigh about 24,000 pounds. It will be a round rope, and the upper end will be two inches in diameter, but 2,500 feet of its length will be tapered, and the lower end will be il inches in diameter. The reel on which this cable will wind and unwind will be conical, and the cable will wind about it spirally. When the greater part of the cable is down in the incline, and its whole weight is added to the weight of the incline car, the rope will be winding on the smaller end of the reel, when the machinery will have its greatest pur- chase, and as the cable is finally wound up, it will run upon the larger end of the reel. Thus the same steam will do the work at any point in the car's journey up and down the incline track. The cable, after leaving the reel at the hoisting engine, will pass over a pulley at the top of the gallows-frame above the shaft ; at the bottom of the perpendicular portion of the shaft it will pass under a large pulley stationed at that point, and will then be carried down the incline, running in friction pulleys placed at proper intervals in the center of the car track. Number of assessments levied, 21. Number of shares in mine, 112,000. Total amount assessments, $2,186,000. Total amount dividends, $4,460,000. I06 NEVADA, Sale it }ioi'ci'o^^. This mine is situated next south of the Savage. Its claim covers 400 feet along the length of the lode, and the present organization of the company is based on a subdivision of each foot into forty shares. Operations were begun in 1861 or 1862. A shaft was located near the croppings of the lode, and was sunk vertically until striking the west wall, at a depth of 535 feet, when its direction was changed, so as to follow the inclina- tion of the foot-wall of the vein, reaching in that man- ner a vertical depth of 780 feet. During the progress of this work, exploring drifts were made from the shaft at various depths, and, though the ground in the upper levels was carefully and persistently prospected, no im- portant bodies of ore were found until attaining a depth of about 500 feet. Here, late in 1865, a very valuable deposit was discovered, and the company then entered upon a very prosperous career. In 1866, a new shaft, located in the eastern country rock, and re- sembling, in general features, the shafts of the Gould & Curry and the Savage, was begun, and has since served in the development of the deeper portion of the mine. It is now between 2,100 and 2,200 feet deep. Sinking the main incline below the 2,100-foot level is making fine progress. On the 2,ioo-foot level they THE LAND OF SILVER. IO7 are extending the west crosscut from the main incline, and sixteen feet have been added to its length during the past week — January 15th, 1875. On this level the north drift has been extended twenty-eight feet, and will be connected with the winze sunk from the level above. Drifting south has commenced in the ore-vein on this level, to develop the south part of the mine. The ore-breasts on the eleventh level continue to improve, and may turn out of some importance. The pumping engine has a cylinder twenty inches in diam- eter by forty-eight inches stroke. The hoisting engine has an eighteen-inch cylinder with thirty inches stroke. The winding reels are ten feet in diameter, and have a winding capacity of 2,300 feet of flat steel rope, four inches wide by three-eighths of an inch thick. The con- sumption of wood is about ten cords per day. Number of assessments, 48. Number of shares in mine, 16,000. Last assessment levied November 9th, 1875. Number of dividends, 36. Last dividend, April loth, 1 87 1. Total amount assessments levied, j5 1, 770,000. Total amount dividends, $1,598,000. Yellow Jkdket The ground of the Yellow Jacket mine is 957 feet in length, measured on the course of the lode, but the organization of the company is based on a length of I08 NEVADA, i,20o feet, and each foot represents twenty shares of the stock. The ore -bearing ground of the Yellow Jacket is in two parts, one of w^hich is in the northern, the other in the southern portion of the claim. The intermediate ground, at least in the upper levels, is considered poor. The northern portion, known as the north mine, was worked in the earlier days of the com- pany's operations, and proved to be rich and profitable to a depth of 500 or 600 feet. The known resources of this part of the claim having been exhausted several years ago, the work w^as transferred to the south mine, adjoining the Kentuck. A deep shaft has been sunk, through which the extensive operations of the mine have been almost entirely carried on during several years. The shaft has reached a depth of 1,800 or 1,900 feet, and sinking is still being vigorously prosecuted. The east drift from the foot of the winze on the 1,700- foot level, is in a distance of seventy feet, with the face in a mixture of quartz and porphyry. The north drift, on the level, is being rapidly advanced, and the north winze on the 1,500-foot level is making good progress. The mine is well provided with pumping, hoisting, and other required machinery: two hoisting engines twenty by thirty, one double sixteen by thirty, one pumping engine eighteen inches in diameter and thir- ty-six inches stroke ; one blower and saw engine twelve inches in diameter by thirty inches stroke. The con- sumption of wood is about twelve cords per day. Number of assessments, 21. Number of shares THE LAND OF SILVER. IO9 in mine, 24,000. Last assessment levied, September 20th, 1875. Last dividend, August loth, 1871. Total amount assessments levied, $2,358,000. Total div- idends, $2,184,000. di^owii ?oir\t. This has always been one of the most successful and profitable silver mines on the Comstock Lode. The mine is well worked, and thoroughly equipped with the necessary machinery for extended operations. Its hoisting and pumping works are among the best in the district. Three new engines of eighty horse- power, each supplied by four new boilers, each fifty- four inches in diameter, have been put in place in the hoisting works. Four reels, five sheave-wheels, one new spur-wheel for pumps, one new pump-bob, and connecting wheel for same, and two new donkey-pumps have been also added. Five years ago, the Crown Point mine was not yielding anything. There was no ore in sight of suf- ficiently high grade to pay cost of extraction and re- duction. Nor was there anywhere in the mine any indication of a coming ore-body. The future pros- pects of the company never looked so unpromising. In December, 1870, the largest body of pay ore ever no NEVADA, found on the Comstock Lode, up to that time, was dis- covered in this mine. The following from the Superintendent's report for 1873, Mr. J. P. Jones, will give a general idea of the form and character of the great Crown Point bo- nanza: " It may be briefl}^ described as an immense wedge- shaped body of ore, with its edge uppermost, having a strike of course northwest and southeast, and penetrat- ing the earth with an easterly dip of about thirty-six degrees. On the 900-foot level, the upper edge or apex has been developed for eighty feet in length, with an average width of nine feet, and an average value of about twenty-eight dollars per ton. On the 1,000-foot level the ore body is 200 feet in length, with an average width of forty-five feet, and an average value of thirty-two dollars per ton. On the 1,100-foot level it is 255 feet in length, with an average width of fifty-eight feet, and an average value of about thirty- seven dollars per ton. On the 1,200- foot level it is 310 feet in length, with an average width of seventy feet, and an average value of about forty-five dollars per ton. On the 1,300-foot level it is 360 feet in length, with an average width of ninety feet, and an average value of about seventy-five dollars per ton. It thus appears that the ore body has steadily in- creased in length, width, and richness as we have de- scended upon it, and there is every indication of its continuing to do so. Much significance has been THE LAND OF SILVER. I I I attached, and I think justly, to the fact that ever since this chimney of ore was struck the various seams and stratifications of whatever kind, whether clay, porphyry, barren quartz, or ore, have uniformly maintained about the same course and dip as the walls encasing them. When it is rem.embered that, in the ore bodies worked prior to this discovery, there was no such uniformity, but the chimneys were as likely to stand vertical as any other way, it is fair to presume that we have passed below the range of surface disturbance, and that the vein will penetrate the earth in its present shape to an indefinite depth. " From this immense chimney we have extracted and worked about one-seventh of the ore between the 900 and 1,000-foot levels, about four-fifths of the ore between the 1,000 and 1,100-foot levels, about three- fifths of the ore between the 1,100 and 1,200-foot lev- els, and about one-fourth of the ore between the 1,200 and 1,300-foot levels. " Above the 900-foot level, the ore remains untouched. In the aggregate, we have taken out and crushed from May ist, 1 87 1, to May ist, 1873, 217,431 10-2000 tons, which have given a gross yield of $9,944,783.57, and an average yield of ^45.73 per ton. We have in reserve, and available for immediate extraction, the remainder of the ore, as indicated by the foregoing figures, on the levels above the i,300,and have now everything in readi- ness to open the 1,400 and 1,500-foot levels." The following, taken from the superintendent's re- 112 NEVADA, port, Mr. Samuel Jones, will show the amount of ore, fractional tons being omitted, extracted from the va- rious levels during the year 1874: TONS. From the 1,000-foot level 16,576 " 1,100 " " 388 " 1,200 " " 23,636 " 1,300 " " 84,000 " " 1,400 " " 15,000 Total 1 39,600 " The actual amount of ore reduced at the mills was 140,132 1,710-2,000 tons. Average yield of the ore per ton, $50.96. " There yet remains on each of the above levels a very large amount of ore; and, as will be seen from the foregoing table, the 1,400-foot level is almost intact, while from the 900 and 1,500-foot levels not a pound of ore has yet been extracted. Since the date of the last report, 1873, the 900-foot level has been more thor- oughly prospected, and the ore has been found to be of much better quality than was expected, which, taken in connection with the width and strength of the vein at that point, makes it almost certain that the ore-body will at least extend up to the 800-foot level." During our recent visit [January, 1875] to this wonderful mine, we found all the ore-producing sections looking well. The face of the main south drift, on the 1,500-foot level, is still in rich ore. The main east drift on the i, 600-foot level, projected to cut and pros THE LAND OF SILVER. I 1 3 pect the ore-body on that level, is making steady pro- gress. The main incline is down 130 feet below the 1,600-foot level, and is making good progress. Daily yield of ore, 550 tons — sometimes as high as 600 tons per day. The future of this mine never looked brighter than it does at present. Number of assessments, twenty-three. Number of shares in mine, 100,000. Last assessment levied, Oc- tober 5th, 1875. Last dividend, January 12th, 1875. Total amount of assessments, $673,370. Total amount of dividends, $11,588,000. Seldl\ei'. The Belcher is the most prominent mine south of the Crown Point. Including " Segregated Belcher," it covers an extent of 1,040 feet of the lode, each foot representing 100 shares. In 1864, the Belcher had a productive body of ore, from which a large amount of bullion was obtained, and handsome dividends were paid. All the arrangements for working this mine are very complete. Everything about the mine is kept in perfect order, and is a model of neatness, which some of the neighbors of the Belcher would do well to- imitate. The shaft is divided into three compartments. 114 NEVADA, — one for the pumps, and the other two for hoisting purposes. There are two powerful hoisting engines, twenty inches in diameter by thirty inches stroke each ; one pumping engine, twelve inches in diameter by thirty inches stroke ; two compressor engines, (one Rand, one Burleigh) the first twelve by thirty, the second fifteen by eighteen ; also, one blower engine, twelve inches in diameter by twenty-four inches stroke ; one underground hoisting engine, seven inches in diameter by ten inches stroke. Wood consumed, twenty cords per day. Soon after the rich strike made in the Crown Point, the 1,000-foot level was cut from the Yellow Jacket mine through to the Belcher ground, where the same body of rich ore was found. It is known to extend south to a distance of four hundred feet in this mine. On this level it is one hundred feet wide, and on the 1,200-foot level the width is as yet unknown. The ore- body grows narrower towards the south. It has opened upward as far as the 900-foot level. The average yield of this ore per ton is about sixty-five dollars — a large per cent, is gold. The ore-breasts and stopes through- out all the old producing levels continue to yield hand- somely, and the development of the 1,500-foot level is being vigorously prosecuted by the winzes from the 1,400, with excellent ore prospects. The drift east from the 1,500-foot station of the main incline, to open that level, is going ahead well. When we visited the mine last January, the main incline was down 103 feet THE LAND OF SILVER. II5 below the 1,500-foot level, with the bottom in good working ground. The daily yield of the mine at that time was about 450 tons per day. Number of assessments levied, eight. Number of shares in mine, 104,000. Last assessment levied, April 14th, 1871. Last dividend, January loth, 1876. Total amount of assessments, $660,400. Total amount of dividends, $15,085,200. ,giei'i'k Xev^el^. The Sierra Nevada lies at the north end of the developed portion of the Comstock. The company is now engaged in sinking a new shaft. This shaft will be sunk down to the depth of 2,000 feet without intermission in the work. The machinery in opera- tion at the shaft is sufficiently powerful to sink to the depth of 2,500 or 3,000 feet. This shaft is so situated that a drift may conveniently be run west into Cedar Hill, and also east into the vein whose huge croppings loom up just beyond the Masonic Cemetery. Number of assessments, forty-two. Number of feet in mine, 3,300. Number of shares, 100,000. Last assessment levied, October ist, 1875. 1 6 NEVADA. Cliollhf-Potoj^i This mine adjoins the Hale & Norcross on the south. The length of the claim belonging to this company is stated at 1,400 fefet. The number of shares in the company is 28,000. The present or- ganization is a consolidation of two or more claims, the chief of which were originally known as the Chol- lar and the Potosi. The Chollar was originally located as a square claim on the surface, measuring 1,400 feet along the length of the lode, by about 400 feet in width. The Potosi located a similar claim, of equal length, parallel to and lying east of the Chollar. The shaft is of the same general character as those already mentioned. Ihe hoisting and pumping works are ample for extended operations. There are two hoist- ing engines, one sixteen inches in diameter by thirty inches stroke; the other twenty inches in diameter by thirty inches stroke ; one pumping engine, eighteen inches in diameter by thirty-six inches stroke ; one compressor engine, (Waring's) twelve inches in diam- eter by thirty inches stroke ; also, two Rand drilling machines. Consumption of wood, about six cords per day. During the year ending May 31st, 1874, accord- THE LANE) OF SILVER. II7 ing to the Superintendent's report — Isaac L. .Requa, Esq. — there was — Ore extracted 32,915 tons. Ore reduced at mills 35'34i tons. " During the past eight months our efforts in seek- ing ore have been mainly devoted to the southern part of our mine, from the second to the fifth stations, em- bracing a depth of 700 feet, and 700 feet in length, of ground entirely unprospected. At the fifth, or lowest level, several small bodies of excellent ore have been discovered. " Indications seem to justify the conclusion that these small deposits are merely the off-shoot of a large and valuable 'bonanza' in the immediate neighbor- hood of present workings. For the purpose of devel- oping the anticipated extensive ore deposits, operations are ceaselessly carried on at this point. " The producing portions are affording ninety tons of ore daily ; and, so far as can be determined, this quantity will not be lessened for next year, and, from present prospects, may be largely increased during twelve months to come." Total amount assessments, $1,022,000. Total amount dividends, $3,080,000. Il8 NEVADA, OYei^ii|ki\. The Overman adjoins the Segregated Belcher on the south, and owns 1,200 feet. A great quantity of low-grade ore is found throughout the whole extent of the mine. In August, 1871, a new shaft was started, 1,500 feet east of the old works, and it has reached a depth of between 1,400 and 1,500 feet. The north drift of the 900-foot level of the new mine is still being advanced, with its face in good ore. It will be pushed forward to the south line of the Segregated Belcher before any crosscutting is done. Total number of assessments, thirty-three. Total amount assessments levied, $1,876,680. No dividends. [n|5:)ei'ih.l-]^Ti|?pii'e. The shaft of this company has reached a depth of over 2,000 feet. Assessments, $1,670,000. Dividends, $1,067,500. IHE LAND OF SILVER. II9 Sulli WT\. The old Bullion incline is over 1,400 feet in depth. The drifts from the 800-foot level of the old shaft, and also that from the 1,700-foot level of the Imperial, are being steadily advanced. In each, stringers and bunches of quartz ore are occasionally met with, but nothing of importance has yet been found. d^leelor\ik The main shaft has been sunk to a depth of twenty feet below the 1,076-foot level, to form a sump. At this poiAt a broad drift is being run southeast into the hard, black dike, for the purpose of increasing the capacity of the sump. At the 900-foot level a drift has been run east in the vein, and at a point thirty feet east of the shaft a winze has been started, to con- nect with the 1,000-foot level. This work is being done to promote a free circulation of air. The south drift on the same level is now in very promising vein matter — a mixture of about equal parts of quartz, clay, and porphyry. I20 NEVADA. Otliei' Mi^e^- Our space will not allow us to give a full description of all the mines in the Virginia and Gold Hill mining districts, called in the San Francisco Stock Board — only a list of them : Andes, Arizona and Utah, Alpha, American Flat, Baltimore Consolidated, Bacon, Best & Belcher, Con- fidence, Gold Hill Quartz, Challenge, Crown Point Ravine, Dardanelles, Eclipse, Empire Mill, Exchequer, Globe, Julia, Justice, Kentuck, Knickerbocker, Kos- suth, Lady Washington, Leo, Mexican, New York Consolidated, Rock Island, Silver Hill, Succor, Trench, Union Consolidated, Utah, Whitman, Woodville. > THE SUTRO TUNNEL. All the mines enumerated in the preceding chapter own claims of various lengths along the Comstock Lode. Their system of working is the same in every case, viz., to descend upon the lode from the surface, by means of shafts, through which their workmen de- scend into the mines, and all the ore, debris, and water are extracted by machinery — the two former by hoisting apparatus, the latter by pumping. This system of working is very expensive, rendering- it impossible to work low-grade ores. Moreover, the expense increases with every additional foot in depth that is attained ; and the deeper the workings, the worse the ventilation. In i860, shortly after work on- the great lode was begun, these and other results of this system of work- ing from the surface were all foreseen and clearly stated by Adolph Sutro, Esq., the projector of the tunnel which bears his name. To secure perfect ventilation, an inexpensive system of mining, and thorough natural 122 NEVADA, drainage, Mr. Sutro proposed to cut an adit, or tunnel, starting from appoint on the Carson River about 20,- 200 feet from the lode, which would be cut some 2,000 feet below the surface, thus drawing off its water and working it from beneath, obviating the expense of hoisting and pumping, and, by opening air-vents to the surface, securing perfect ventilation. The completion of a work of such magnitude was at first deemed impracticable, but, in 1864, the State Legislature granted Mr. Sutro and his associates the right of way, as far as the State Legislature could. By this grant, the question of remuneration for constructing the tunnel was left open. In 1865, the advantages likely to accrue to the companies mining on the Com- stock Lode, through the construction of the proposed tunnel, induced them to enter into contracts with Mr. Sutro, in which they agreed to pay the tunnel company a royalty of two dollars (^2.00) a ton for every ton of ore taken from their mines after the completion of the tun- nel, whether they used the tunnel or not. In 1866, Con- gress passed an act authorizing the construction of the tunnel ; and a very accurate survey of the work was made for the tunnel company by R. G. Carlyle, Esq., an engineer of acknowledged ability and standing. Notwithstanding these indications of its early inaugu- ration, and the agreements above alluded to, the scheme was soon bitterly opposed by certain interested parties, who sought to discourage the sagacious projector, so that they might get the enterprise into their own hands. THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 23 In this, however, they were baffled ; for Mr. Sutro, with indomitable pluck, kept up the fight, writing letters and books, and addressing meetings, Legislatures, and Congressional committees, whenever he could get an opportunity. Owing to his vigorous agitation, and under an Act of Congress dated April 4th, 1871, the President of the United States appointed a commis- sion of three engineers, two military and one civil, to ex- amine and report upon the Sutro Tunnel project, with special reference to '^ the importance, feasibility, cost, and time required to construct the same.'' Upon all these points the commission reported favorably, estimating the cost at ^4,418,329.50, and the time at three and a half years. ^ Undeterred by this favorable aspect of affairs, the opposition was still kept up — now with renewed vigor, as there seemed a prospect of the enterprise being aided by Congress — and the contest was carried to the halls of Congress itself. Here Mr. Sutro gained at least a nominal victory, for the Congressional committee .before whom the case was argued reported in favor of th.e tunnel, and advised the government to grant its projector a loan of five millions of dollars, to aid in its construction. Owing to the lateness of the session, this bill was never passed, and the Sutro Tunnel Com- pany, to their credit be it said, have found means to carry on their grand enterprise to completion without government assistance. Ground was broken, and the tunnel actually com- 124 NEVADA, menced on October, i8th, 1864. At this writing it is in over 12,000 feet — considerably more than half-way. It begins at a point on the Carson River, north of Dayton, Lyon County, and will reach the Comstock Lode in about 20,200 feet, cutting it at a perpendicular depth of 1,922 feet — equal to a depth along the dip of the lode of 2,900 feet below the surface. To expedite the completion of the tunnel, four shafts were to be sunk at intervals along its route, and from the bottoms of these shafts the tunneling was to be carried on in both directions. Up till July ist, 1874, progress was retarded by bad drills in the tunnel, and by hard rock and water in the shafts. Yet, even then, 6,200 feet of the tunnel had been cut, and shafts one and two — the former having a depth of 523 feet, the latter 1,041— had been put down. At the date specified a change was made in the drills, the old ones being dis- carded, and the " Burleigh " drill employed. The change was most satisfactory in its results, and the work is now carried forward as rapidly as possible. The ofeneral ^rade of the tunnel is three inches in a hundred feet. It is to be fourteen feet in width, and ten feet high in the clear, and will have a double nar- row-gauge (36) railroad through its entire length. The Act of Congress which authorized its construc- tion gave Mr. Sutro the right of way for the tunnel, including 2,000 feet of ground on each side of it ; an absolute right to all l^edges, etc., struck in it ; the right to purchase such ledges, etc., at five dollars an THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 25 acre beyond the 2,000-foot limit, and also 1,280 acres of ground at the mouth of the tunnel, for the erection of mills, etc. Part of this last has been laid out as a town, which bears the appropriate name of " Sutro." The capital stock of the company consists of two million shares, at ten dollars each, which shares are unassessable. The company is out of debt, and has sufficient funds to complete its great undertaking. The benefits that will accrue from the»-completion of the tunnel are too numerous to mention ; a few only can be stated here. It will reduce the cost of mining and transportation so as to make available millions of tons of low-grade ores, which cannot now be worked with profit, and which, without the tunnel, could never be worked at all. " As a geological sur- vey," to quote from the Report of the Congressional Committee before whom the case was argued, "pen- etrating into this argentiferous mountain, [the Virginia range] it will be of the highest value to science. It will serve as a pattern work for all the other mining districts. Its success will give confidence in mining operations. It will make capital flow in that direc- tion. It will populate our vast mining regions. It will largely increase the total yield of gold and silver ; and lastly, it is a work of national importance, and will have a most important bearing on the payment of the national debt." Central and Eastern Nevada. We have now touched upon everything connected with the great Comstock Lode— the chief source of Nevada's mineral wealth. But great and apparently inexhaustible though it is, it is only a part of her wealth, after all. In 1859, the discovery of the Com- stock caused great numbers of all classes to rush to Nevada, in the hope of securing a share in the great prize. During the latter part of that eventful year, and the whole of "60, the multitude of fortune-hunters assembled in the Comstock region was largely in- creased by a steady influx of miners and prospectors. Arrived on the ground, these men found every foot of it already taken up. What were they to do } Re- turn .? No ; they had too much energy to be daunted with trifles — they would prospect ! This lode was not the only one ; doubtless there were others, equally rich, and not difficult to find. So they reasoned ; and, armed with the determination to find the lodes they believed to exist, they scattered far and wide over the whole of Nevada, discovering and naming nearly all the important mining districts in which the State abounds. Prominent among their discoveries were 128 NEVADA, the " Humboldt " and " Reese River " districts ; the former discovered in 1861, the latter a year later. Both attracted much attention. From these points as centers, small prospecting parties radiated in almost every direction, and each succeeding year witnessed the discovery of one or more new mining districts. Since that time, nearly every mountain range in the State has been subjected to more or less examination at the hands of the prospector; regions until lately almost entirely unknown have become familiar, and others, formerly so remote from the business centers of the Pacific Coast as to be practically inaccessible, have now been brought into comparatively easy communi- cation through the agency of the Central Pacific Rail- road. In order to complete our survey of Nevada's min- eral wealth, we now proceed to describe, as succinctly as may be, the more prominent of these subordinate mining districts. And first of these, in point of time at least, is the Humboldt District. iJuHiboldt ©I^tridt. This district, and the county of which it forms a part, lie in the northwest corner of the State, and de- rive their name from the river which flows through THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 29 them. The mining and other interests, both of dis- trict and county, were never in a more prosperous con- dition than they are while we write, a Prominent among the mines of this district are the White & Shiloh and Eagle mines. WHITE & SHILOH MINE. This valuable mine was located in June, 1869, at a place since named after the principal mineral in the mine, Galena. It is thirteen miles from Battle Mount- ain, a station on the C. P. R. R. The mine, which has a course of 2,300 feet, north and south, and a westerly dip of eighty-seven degrees, has been worked without intermission for the last four years. Its shaft is down 250 feet. The galena extracted from it assays $275 of silver, carrying also from twenty-two to twen- ty-five per cent, of lead, with a trace of gold. One thousand four hundred tons of the ore from this mine have been shipped to England, and about 50,000 tons of second-grade ore are reserved for reduction at the mine, where its owners are erecting a concentrating mill, whose capacity will be fifty tons per day. Next to the \yhite & Shiloh mine, which is the larg- est in the district, comes THE EAGLE MINE. This mine is located about eight miles south of Unionville, in a subdivision of the Humboldt, known as. 9 1 30 NEVADA, Indian District. Situated low down on the foot-hills not more than three hundred feet above the valley rich ore was dis^vered a few feet from the surface. The ledge increased in size as depth was attained, and at eighty feet, the present depth of the shaft, is found to be twelve feet wide. A fifteen-stamp mill is being erected, and about 2,000 tons of ore are awaiting its completion. Some of this ore contains a small percent- age of galena, and may need to be roasted before it can be worked up to its assay value. Other valuable mines in Humboldt County are the Arizona, Millionaire, Kennebec, Rising Sun, Sheba, De Soto, Mammoth, and so on, forming a list too large for our space. i^ee^e ^ivei^ ©i^ti'idt. This mining district, the oldest in Eastern Nevada, is located about the center of the State, and com- prises an area of seventy-five miles east and west, by twenty miles north and south. Silver was first dis- ♦ covered here in May, 1862, in one of the caiions on the eastern slope of the mountains, about eighty miles south of the Humboldt, and near the present site of the town of Austin. The district was organized soon after the discovery in 1862. THE LAND OF SILVER. I3I The principal mines of this district are found in Lander Hill — a formation of 2:neiss or sfneissoid o-ran- itc, which derives its name from the county within whose bouadaries it stands. The ledges are well defined, but so narrow that they have been facetiously termed " razor-blade ledges." The ores which they contain, however, are of a very high grade, and so, in a great measure, compensate for the narrowness of the ledges. Between the surface and the water-line the ores are chiefly chloride, the bromide of silver being occasionally found, while be- low the water-line sulphuret ores only obtain. They are all base, carrying iron, antimony, copper, zinc, and lead. The Manhattan Silver Mining Company owns most of the mines on Lander Hill, as they do also the only mill in the district. Chief among them are the Or- egon, North Star, South America, Ogden, Dollerhide, Mohawk, Pacific, Chase, Freehold, Patriot, and Lone Star — all of which are being worked, and producing ore. THE OREGON MINE. Of all thegmines in the district, the Oregon has attained the greatest depth — 700 feet. The ledge in this mine varies in thickness from eight inches to three feet, and contains high-grade ore, consisting principally of antimonial and ruby silver. Producing a large amount of -very rich ore, this mine may be re- garded as the representative mine of Lander Hill. 132 NEVADA, THE SOUTH AMERICA. Next to the Oregon in importance is the South America. It has the widest vein on the hill, averag- ing about thirty inches. Recent explorations in this mine have exposed large quantities of very high-grade ore, as much as forty tons a day being available, were the milling facilities adequate to its reduction. During the last four months of 1874 there were daily ex- tracted about fourteen tons of ore, which averaged about ^175 per ton. THE NEW PACIFIC COMPANY, LIMITED. This is an English company. It owns a number of valuable ledges on Lander Hill, some of which have been worked down as low as 550 feet. The mines belonging to this company, of which Bael, Baters, and North Star may be mentioned as the principal, contain large quantities of low-grade ore, averaging about $100 per ton. Should the proposed concen- trator prove a success, these mines will be worked more vigorously, and yield a large amount of bullion. In view of the recent developments on Lender Hill, and the benefits which the district is expected to derive from the concentrator referred to, the people are san- guine of a bright future. Indeed, throughout this entire district, there are very many ledges assaying from 'sixty to a hundred THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 33 dollars per ton in silver, which cannot at present be profitably worked ; but should the cost of working be cheapened to any considerable extent, the amount of bullion yielded by this district would place Lander County among the chief base-bullion producing coun- ties in the State. S^ui'ekk ©i^ti^idt. This rich and productive mining district formerly belonged to Lander County, but, owing to its import- ance, has recently been erected into a separate county, bearing its own name. In 1864, discoveries were made here by Mr. Fair- child and others, from Austin. They sold their claims to a New York company, who put men on their claims and took out some ore, which they sent to Austin to be worked by mill process. A considerable amount of work was done on some of their locations, but as they did not find any very extensive bodies of ore, and as the expense of shipping what they did find was then so great, they soon became discouraged, and aban- doned the district. In 1866, new parties came in, and in 1867 the mines in McCoy Hill were discovered. In 1869, the Buckeye, Champion, and other mines on Ruby Hill, were discovered. These discoveries in- 1 34 NEVADA, fused new life into the district. The mining popula- tion of the State began to regard it with confidence. Capitalists were attracted, smelting furnaces were erected, and speculators poured in to secure a share of the fast growing wealth. The prosperity thus inau- gurated has continued, and as the mines continue to develop new and large bodies of ore, increased confi- dence in their permanency is manifested. From June 30th, 1873, to the same day of 1874, there were ex- tracted from the mines of this district 70,480 tons of ore, which yielded the sum of $2,707,159.50. THE RICHMOND CONSOLIDATED MINE. This valuable mine, one of the richest lead mines ever discovered, is owned by an English company. Besides three smelting furnaces, having a capacity of about 150 tons per day, the company has recently erected a very complete refinery, for the purpose of sep- arating the precious metals from the lead. The method adopted is a recent French invention known as the " Im- proved Pattison Process." All the machinery, as well as the workmen, have been imported direct from France. The success of the method is so marked as to warrant the assertion that this process is destined to supersede all other methods, not only on account of the economy of the process, but because of the superior quality of lead it produces. By this process the most impure lead can be fitted for the manufacture of white lead. The mine has been constantly worked for the last three Pilz Furnace. IPage 134.] THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 35 years, and the quantity of ore in sight is sufficient to keep the furnaces running for years. There is no wa- ter in the mine, and the moisture in the ore is not greater than it was at the surface, the average being about twelve per cent. Very Httle powder is used in the mine, as the ore, being friable, is easily broken down. It is also admirably adapted for smelting, and can be taken direct from the mine to the furnaces with- out fluxing or previous preparation of any kind. From March, 1873, till January ist, 1875, the fur- naces of this mine smelted 58,000 tons of ore, and con- sumed in the process about 4,500 bushels of charcoal per day. The charcoal costs about thirty cents a bushel, and so the expenditure for this item alone amounts to more than $40,000 a month ! On an av- erage, it has taken five and a half tons of ore to make one ton of base bullion, worth in San Francisco about $300. To give our readers a clearer idea of the value of the Richmond ore, we subjoin the report of an analysis of the same, in 1873, by F. Claudet, Esq., London, as- sayer to the Bank of England : Oxide of lead 26.57 24.65 lead Oxide of copper 52 Peroxide of iron 40-37 • Oxide of zinc 2.82 .... 3.97 arsenic Antimony traces Sulphuric acid 2.60 .... 1.04 sulphur Chlorine traces 136 NEVADA, Silica 7.08 Alumina 77 Lime 1.18 Magnesia. 50 Water and carbonic acid. 12.60 95.01 The prospects of this mine were never so good as they are while we write. EUREKA CONSOLIDATED. Adjoining the Richmond on the southeast, the Eureka Consolidated is almost its equal, both in extent of deposit and richness of ore. Recent developments in this mine have disclosed a mass of ore of exceptionally large size ; its width from foot to hanging wall meas- ures 180 feet; length, so far as developed, with rich ore in both ends, 120 feet; its depth, so far as reached by winzes, 150 feet, with bottom in good ore. The " bonanza " thus uncovered must be about 300,000 tons. It assays ^150 per ton, and is, therefore, worth about ^4,500,000. This mine has paid $725,000 in dividends — its last being paid March 5th, 1875. Its stock is divided into 50,000 shares. RUBY CONSOLIDATED. The Ruby Consolidated mine is located about a mile and a half to the southwest of the Eureka. Pro- .S '^ o CD cu o OJ) CO 1 THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 37 ducing the same kind of ore, it is like the others in many respects, and has two smelting furnaces at work. Besides the Richmond, Eureka, Ruby, K. K. Con- solidated Company, and Hoosac, there are several other promising mines in this district ; but as we in- tend to notice the smelting interest at some length, we must economize our space. ^rqeltiq^ ^lu'ilkde^. In the year 1866, an attempt was made to work the ores of this district, by Mr. Wilson, who erected a small furnace ; but not succeeding as well as he ex- pected, he soon abandoned it. Early in 1867, Mr. A. Monroe came to the place, and made some locations on what is now called " McCoy Hill." Finding here some smelting ores, he went to Austin, and succeeded in inducing Mr. Stetefeldt, an experienced metallur- gist, to return with him. A furnace was built, and about 2,800 pounds of bullion were turned out, but the result was not satisfactory. Finally, in March, 1869, Major McCoy, who had meantime become in- terested in the district, took charge of the furnace. He went to Hamilton, and employed Messrs. Jones and Williams, two Welsh smelters, to come to Eureka 138 - NEVADA, and smelt for him. They remodeled the furnace, and in a very short time made the first successful attempt to work the ores of this district. The following is a list of the furnaces now in run- ning order : NUMBER OP DAILY CAPACITY NAME. FURNACES. IN TONS. Eureka Consolidated 3 150 Richmond 3 150 Ruby Consolidated 2 100 Jackson 2 40 Taylor , . . . . i 65 Robinson i 15 Phoenix i 65 The loss in smelting the ore has been very consider- able. This is due mainly to the large amount of arsenic which it contains. This metal, being very volatile, car- ries off with it much of the silver and gold, and it has been found necessary, of late, to construct long flues to reduce the loss. The working of the flues in con- nection with the furnaces has been, so far, successful ; the deposit in the Richmond flue alone amounting to upwards of ten tons daily, with three furnaces running — the assay value of the deposit being considerably higher in gold, silver, and lead, than that of the ore smelted. » The superintendent of the Eureka Consolidated mine, in his annual report for 1874, gives the follow- ing figures : Smelting Furnace. [Page 138. J THE LAND OF SILVER. I 39 COST OF EXTRACTING ORES. Expense of extracting and hauling to fur- naces 22,831 tons of ore $318,603 61 Supplies on hand, October ist, 1873 . . . 6,952 09 ^325>565 70 Less supplies now on hand, per inven- tory 12,779 89 $312,785 81 Or $13.70 per ton, delivered at the furnaces. COST OF SMELTING ORES. Expense of smelting 22,191 tons of ore. $377,679 18 Supplies on hand October ist, 1873. . . 17,552 62 $395,231 80 Less supplies now on hand, as per inven- tory 44.334 44 ^350.897 36 Or $15.80 per ton. Twenty-two thousand one hundred and ninety-seven tons of ore produced three thousand one hundred and fifty-nine tons of base bullion. In proportion to the amount of bullion produced, there are more laboring men employed in the mines, and in reducing the ore in this district, than in any other in the State. The miner, wood-chopper, charcoal-burner, teamster, and 140 NEVADA, smelter find here constant employment, and are well paid for their labor. If we may judge from present appearances, and from what has already been accomplished in this celebrated district, we cannot be far wrong in saying that it is ca- pable of producing 30,000 tons of lead, per annum, for many years to come. This amount is about one-half of all the lead consumed in the United States. The States west of the Rocky Mountains will soon be able to supply the United States and the Dominion of Canada with all the lead they will require. The rich- ness of the ore in these districts gives it a decided ad- vantage over all the lead deposits hitherto discovered east of the Rocky Mountains. Without doubt, the metallurgical interest of lead ores is fast becoming one of the leading industries of the Pacific States. Wliite Pii]e ©i^ti'idt. This once famous minino^ district lies near the east- ern boundary of the State, in the southwest corner of White Pine County. Treasure Hill, the center of the principal mining operations, is situated, according to Lieut. Wheeler, in lat. 39° 14' and long. 115^ 27' west of Greenwich. THE LAND OF SILVER. I4I The production of bullion in this district has fallen off greatly of late years, and many of its residents have moved to other sections of the State, where business is more encouraging. In 1873, the aggre- gate yield of this district amounted to ;^494, 596.85, and in 1S74 this amount was increased to $502,560.21. Recently, a more hopeful feeling obtains with regard to the future of the mines on Treasure Hill, and many are sanguine that the present efficient and economic management of the mines will introduce a new era of prosperity. It is expected that the success of the Eberhardt Company will induce others to resume work on their long neglected properties. Expensive transportation has been the great hindrance hitherto. Whenever this obstacle is removed, the argentiferous lead and copper deposits of the district are so exten- sive as to ensure remunerative investment for capital. The completion of the railroad now being construct- ed between Pioche and "Eureka is anticipated with a good deal of interest, as it is hoped that it will very soon be continued to White Pine. fio6]\Q ^i^i^i ©i^tridt. Pioche District is situated in Lincoln County, in the extreme southeastern portion of the State, For- 142 NEVADA, merly very prosperous, this district has fallen off con- siderably during the past year. In 1872, the bullion produced amounted to $5,500,000, while in 1874 it was but $1,645,252. This decrease is owing to the exhaustion of the principal ore-bodies in the Ray- mond & Ely and Meadow Valley mines, above the water levels. . RAYMOND & ELY. In the report of this mine for the year 1874, its president makes the following statement as to its con- dition and prospects : " The result of the operations of the company for the year ending December 31st, 1874, shows that the number of tons of ore extracted from the mines was much less than in any former year since the mines have been worked ; consequently there has been a great decrease in the amount of bullion pro- duced. " Quite an important percentage of the bullion came from tailings, leaving but a small quantity of them on hand to be worked. The disbursements during the past year have greatly exceeded the re- ceipts from the mines, necessitating assessments to meet the current expenses. To further explore the ground of the company, large expenditures must be incurred, to meet which assessments must follow, until new and profitable deposits of minerals are discovered. "All the original ground of the company, out of which large quantities of very rich ore were taken, has THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 43 been generally explored to a depth of 1,200 feet, until a large body of water has been struck. " It is all-important for the development of the lode that greater depth must be attained. To accomplish this end, heavy and substantial pumping machinery has been secured. All the machinery is at the mine, and will be put in place without delay. There is no doubt but what the pumps will be in operation within a few weeks' time." Number of shares in the Raymond & Ely mine, 30,000. Last assessment levied, November 5th, 1875. Total amount of assessments levied, $510,000. Last dividend, September loth, 1873. Total amount divi- dends, $3,075,000. MEADOW VALLEY. This company owns 1,000 feet on the north branch and on the chief vein of the district, which varies from two to five feet. Its system of working is through inclines following the vein. The results of last year's operations in this mine are set forth in the super- intendents report as follows : " At the commence- ment of the year just closed, [1874] the west shaft had attained a depth of 931 feet, and from the ist of Octo- ber (the time sinking was again resumed) up to the 8th day of May, 383 feet had been added to its depth, making its total depth 1,314 feet on the incline, at which depth the water level was reached ; and with our present appliances on hand the water could not be 144 NEVADA, raised, and sinking was in consequence discontinued." After various details as to the workings in the dif- ferent parts of the mine, the superintendent concludes his report thus : " In conclusion, I will say that, al- though the year just closed has not been productive of satisfactory results, there is, in the present situation, much to inspire hope for the future, and I confidently believe that, ere the close of another year, the com- pany will be in a highly prosperous condition." The capital stock of this mine consists of 60,000 shares. Its last assessment was levied December 28th, 1875, and its last dividend was paid on the i6th of June, 1873. The total assessments amount to $1,- 290,000, and the aggregate dividends to $1,200,000. Selcqoiit MiW^ Di^tridt. Grouped around the Belmont mine, in Nye County, at various degrees of proximity, there are a number of mines which, collectively, make up the, Belmont Mining District. Under different names, and of various extent, several mining districts have been organized in Nye County from time to time. Most, indeed all, of these districts possessed valuable mines ; but, owing to bad roads and expensive transportation, little was done in THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 45 the way of development. Of late, greater activity has prevailed ; new districts have been organized, and work has been resumed on mines left idle for years. From this increased activity in mining every other branch of business has received a forward impulse ; additional quartz mills and smelting furnaces have been erected, and the future prospects are hopeful and encouraging. BELMONT MINE. Last fall, a remarkable bonanza, or deposit of rich ore, was discovered in this mine. At the commence- ment of the winze, the vein is about four and a half feet thick ; at the depth of sixty feet it measures five feet, and at the bottom of the winze it is fully eight feet in thickness. Assays made on ore taken from the vein at different depths showed it to be very rich ; its measurements showed it to be extensive. As far as seen, the ore is of black sulphurets, and carries metal very generally throughout. The ledge ie beautifully uniform in size, increasing steadily as it descends. At the bottom of the workings, 120 feet, we found it fully eight feet thick. The whole mass of ore is expected to mill ^250 per ton. " Considering the depth and width known to exist of this rich deposit in the Belmont mine, the company are assured of a supply of ore for their mill for many months to come. The mine is now in a condition to be worked profitably and systematically." 146 NEVADA, EL DORADO SOUTH. The incline through which this mine is worked has reached a depth of 560 feet. On the 490-foot level the vein has been opened out 500 feet south and 180 feet north. Four hundred and ninety feet south from the incline, the vein has been crosscut, and found seventy-five feet in width. It is white quartz, with small streaks of ore running through it, which assay well. This is the largest vein in this section of the State, and has every indication of extending downward to an indefinite depth. The company owns a fine twenty-stamp mill, which has been completed and put in running order during the past two years. It is situ- ated close by the mine, so that there is but little ex- pense in shipping the ore. The greatest difficulty to contend with in working the mine is the crumbling of the hanging wall. The stopes all have to be timbered up to their faces as carefully and continuously as if the hanging wall was composed of quicksand. The ore is found in chutes, or chimneys, of from seventy-five to eighty feet in width. MONITOR-BELMONT. The new shaft on this mine has been sunk to a depth of 250 feet, and very complete hoisting works have been erected. The rich body of ore found in this mine has been exhausted, so that at present the THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 47 Condition of the mine is not very flattering. Work progresses slowly, and it is hoped that soon a more encouraging report may be given. Number of shares in mine, 50,000. Last assess- ment levied, March i6th, 1875. Last dividend, De- cember 5th, 1873. Total amount assessments levied, $100,000. Total amount dividends, $75,000. Of the other valuable mines in this district our space will not allow us to give a description. Cioi'r\tido|)ik. ©i^trict. Cornucopia District is a new district which has re- cently come into notice. It is situated in Elko County, on the western slope of tke Tuscarora Mountains, be- tween the south fork of the Owyhee River and Deep Creek, or Middle Fork, seventy-five miles northwest from Elko, ninety miles a little east of north from Battle Mountain, and about 120 miles northeast from Winnemucca. The ledges are reported to occur on the contact between gray porphyry and quartzite, and to carry exceptionally rich ores. The fact that many of these ores assay over a thousand dollars to the ton in silver, and some gold, has created considerable ex- citement. 148 NEVADA. THE LEOPARD MINE Has been extensively worked near the surface, but no greater vertical depth than about 300 feet has yet been attained. All the work has been done on or near the north end of the claim, on the north end of a ridge coming down from the high summit on the south, and running along the line of contact between the por- phyry country and the greenstone. Leopard Hill is or was covered over with rich chloride ore, most of which has been assorted and piled up for future use. Upon the apex of this hill the croppings were found, and here a number of pits, cuts, shafts, and inclines have been excavated. From the croppings, the vein or veins (for there are a number of them, approaching each other as they descend, and forming an aggre- gate thickness of twenty-seven feet) have been fol- lowed downward in unbroken sheets for over 300 feet as the dip goes. In Ascending, the veins grow larger, approaching each other; the quartz is less mas- sive, much richer, (with a less percentage of gold) and the percolation of water seems to have carried into the mass particles of fine blue clay, which hold the smaller pieces of quartz and the rich particles of sulphurets together, the whole presenting an appearance precisely like that of the rich ore which came from the Ophir (upper) mine in 1863-4. The strata between the ore veins are composed, some of porphyry, with clay lin- ing, and some of blue clay, several feet in thickness, of THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 49 about the consistency of putty when prepared for use by glaziers. A double shaft, each compartment being four feet six inches in the clear, is being sunk some distance west of the present working, and down the hill, for the purpose of tapping the lode 350 feet below the surface, at which depth it is confidently expected the several veins will have concentrated into a orreat bonanza between fixed walls. The lowest estimate we have heard made by those who vv^ere competent to judge, and who have examined this wonderful mine, of the value of the ore in sight, was $1,500,000. The first mill was destroyed by fire July 24th, 1875. The new mill started to work October 8th, 1875. Ca- pacity of new mill, twenty-four tons per day, dry crush- ing. Bullion shipped from January ist, 1875, up to Jan- uary ist, 1876, $414,626.78. Number of feet in mine, 1,500. Number of shares, 50,000. No assessment has ever been levied upon the capital stock of the com- pany, and in all probability never will. This valuable claim has paid two dividends of fifty cents per share, and expects to resume dividends in February, 1876. Present monthly yield, from $80,000 to $90,000. Av- erage monthly expenses, $22,000. Hussey Consolidated. — Down 300 feet, and some good ore in large conformation. Panther. — Struck ledge about the last of December, , 1875, 200 feet below surface; explored 120 feet in length. Ore, very high grade — has worked as high as $600 per ton. 150 NEVADA, Tiger. — Is a continuation of the Panther, and shows same character of ore, with strong vein from three to five feet wide. This mine is opened to a depth of i 25 feet. Constitution. — Lies parallel with the Tiger, and about 300 feet east of it. It is opened about 100 feet deep, showing ore of from $100 to ^150 per ton in value. Pladei' }/L\^Q^. In the year 1873, some rich placer mines were dis- covered, about seventy-five miles north of the town of Elko, and about twenty-five miles west of the Idaho line. They are situated on the head waters of the most northern tributary of the Owyhee River, and are said to be very rich. The only hindrance to their being successfully worked is a deficient supply of water. To supply this need, the Owyhee Water Company propose to bring in a good supply from a distance of twenty- five miles, at an estimated cost of $75,000. When this enterprise shall have been successfully carried through, water will be secured in sufficient quantity. Some of the claims in Hope Gulch, as the district is called, prospect as high as $2.50 per pan ; and as much THE LAND OF SILVER. I5I as $30 per day have been realized by a man rocking. The gold obtained has been assa3^ed in the United States Mints at San Francisco and Carson City, and proved worth ^1945 per ounce. A mining district has been organized, and local laws adopted. i MINING LAWS. Section i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That all valuable mineral deposits in land belonging to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and purchase, and the lands in which they are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the United States, and those who have de- clared their intention to become such, under regula- tions prescribed by law, and according to the local customs or rules of miners, in the several mining dis- tricts, so far as the same are applicable and not incon- sistent with the laws of the United States. Sec. 2. That mining claims upon veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cin- nabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits, heretofore located, shall be governed, as to length along the vein or lode, by the customs, regulations, and laws in force at the date of their location. A mining claim located after the passage of this act, whether located 154 NEVADA, by one or more persons, may equal, but shall not ex- ceed, one thousand five hundred feet in length along the vein or lode ; but no location of a mining claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located. No claim shall extend more than three hundred feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, nor shall any claim be limited, by any mining regulation, to less than twenty-five feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights existing at the passage of this act shall render such limitation necessary. The end lines of each claim shall be parallel to each other. Sec. 3. That the locators of all mining locations herotofore made, or which shall hereafter be made, on any mineral vein, lode, or ledge, situated on the public domain, their heirs and assigns, where no adverse claim exists at the passage of this act, so long as they comply with the laws of the United States, and the State, Territorial, and local regulations not in conflict with said laws of the United States governing their possessory title, shall have the exclusive right of pos- session and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, and ledges, throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside of such surface lines extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicu- lar in their course downward as to extend outside the THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 55 vertical side-lines of said surface locations : Provided, that their right of possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward as aforesaid, through the end-lines of their locations, so continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of said veins or ledges. And provided further, that nothing in this section shall authorize the locator or possessor of a vein or lode which extends, in its downward course, beyond the vertical lines of his claim, to enter upon the surface of a claim owned or possessed by another. Sec. 4. That where a tunnel is run for the develop- ment of a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of posses- sion of all veins or lodes within three thousand feet from the face of such tunnel, on the line thereof, not previously known to exist, discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface ; and locations on the lines of such tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made by other par- ties after the commencement of the tunnel, and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence, shall be invalid ; but failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins on the line of said tunnel. Sec. 5. That the miners of each mining district may make rules and regulations not in conflict with 156 NEVADA, the laws of the United States, or with the laws of the State or Territory in which the district is situated, governing the location, manner of recording, amount of work necessary to hold possession of a mining claim, subject to the following requirements : The location must be distinctly marked on the ground, so that its boundaries can be readily traced. All records of mining claims hereafter made shall contain the name or names of the locators, the date of the loca- tion, and such a description of the claim or claims, located by reference to some natural object or perma- nent monument, as will identify the claim. On each claim located after the passage of this act, and until a patent shall have been issued therefor, not less than one hundred dollars' worth of labor shall be performed, or improvements made during each year. On all claims located prior to the passage of this act, ten dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improve- ments made each year for each one hundred feet in length along the vein, until a patent shall have been issued therefor; but where such claims are held in common, such expenditure may be made upon any one claim ; and upon a failure to comply with these con- ditions, the claim or mine upon which such failure occurred shall be open to relocation in the same man- ner as if no location of the same had ever been made : Provided, that the original locators, their heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, have not resumed work upon the claim after such failure and before such location. THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 57 Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners to contribute his proportion of the expenditures required by this act, the co-owners who have performed the labor or made the improvements may, at the expiration of the year, give such delinquent co-owner pertonal notice in writing, or notice by publication in the news- paper published nearest the claim, for at least once a week for ninety days, and if at the expiration of ninety days after such notice in writing or by publication, such delinquent should fail or refuse to contribute his pro- portion to comply with this act, his interest in the. claim shall become the property of his co-owners who have made the required expenditures. Sec. 6. That a patent for any land claimed and located for valuable deposits may be obtained in the following manner: Any person, association, or cor- poration, authorized to locate a claim under this act, having claimed and located a piece of land for such purposes, who has or have complied with the terms of this act, may file in the proper land office an applica- tion for a patent, under oath, showing, such compli- ance, together with a plat and field-notes of the claim or claims in common, made by or under the direction of the United States Surveyor- General, showing accu- rately the boundaries of the claim or claims, which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the grounds, and shall post a copy of such plat, together with a notice of such application for a patent, in a con- spicuous place on the land embraced in such plat, pre- 158 NEVADA. vious to the filing of the application for a patent, and shall file an affidavit of at least two persons that such notice has been duly posted as aforesaid, and shall file a copy of said notice in such land office, and shall thereupon be entitled to a patent for said land in the manner following : The Register of the land office, upon the filing of such application, plat and field- notes, notices and affidavits, shall publish a notice that such application has been made, for the period of sixty days, in a newspaper to be by him designated as published nearest to sai'd claim ; and he shall also post such notice in his office for the same period. The claimant, at the time of filing his application, or at any time thereafter, within the sixty days of pub- lication, shall file with the Register a certificate of the United States Surveyor-General that five hundred dol- lars' vv^orth of labor has been expended or improve- ments made upon the claim by himself or grantors ; that the plat is correct, with such further description, by such reference to natural objects or permanent monuments, as shall identify the claim, and furnish an accurate description, to be incorporated in the patent. At the expiration of the sixty days of publication, the claimant shall file his affidavit, showing that the plat and notice have been posted in a conspicuous place on the claim during said period of publication. If no adverse claim shall have been filed with the Register and the Receiver of the proper land office at the ex- piration of the sixty days of publication, it shall be THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 59 assumed that the appHcant is entitled to a patent, upon the payment to the proper officer of five dollars per acre, and that no adverse claim exists, and there- after no objection from third parties to the issuance of a patent shall be heard, except it be shown that the applicant has failed to comply with this act. Sec 7. That where an adverse claim shall be filed during the period of publication, it shall be upon oath of the person or persons making the same, and shall show the nature, boundaries, and extent of such ad- verse claim ; and all proceedings, except the publica- tion of notice and making and filing of the affidavit thereof, shall be stayed until the controversy shall have been settled or decided by a court of competent juris- diction, or the adverse claim waived. It shall be the duty of the adverse claimant, within thirty days after filing his claim, to commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to determine the question of the right of possession, and prosecute the same with reasonable diligence to final judgment; and a failure so to do shall be a waiver of his adverse claim. After such judgment shall have been rendered, the party entitled to the possession of the claim, or any portion thereof, may, without giving further notice, file a certified copy of the judgment-roll with the Register of the land office, together with the certificate of the Surveyor-General thajt the requisite amount of labor has been expended, or improvements made thereon, and the description required in other cases, and shall 1 60 NEVADA, pay to the Receiver five dollars per acre for his claim, together with the proper fees, whereupon the whole proceedings and the judgment-roll shall be certified by tlie Register to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and a patent shall issue thereon for the claim, or such portion thereof as the applicant shall appear, from the decision of the court, to rightly pos- sess. If it shall appear, from the decision of the court, that several parties are entitled to separate and differ- ent portions of the claim, each party may pay for his portion of the claim, with the proper fees, and file the certificate and description by the Surveyor-General, whereupon the Register shall certify the proceedings and judgment-roll to the Commissioner of the Gen- eral Land Office, as in the preceding case, and pat- ents shall issue to the several parties according to their respective rights. Proof of citizenship under this act, or the acts of July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and July ninth, eighteen hund- red and seventy, in the case of an individual, may consist of his own affidavit thereof; and in case of an association of persons unincorporated, of the affidavit of their authorized agent, made on his own knowledge, or upon information and belief; and in case of a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory of the United States, by the filing of a certified copy of their charter or certificate of incorporation ; and nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the THE LAND OF SILVER. l6l alienation of the title conveyed by a patent for a min- ing claim to any person whatever. Sec. 8. That the description of vein or lode claims, upon surveyed lands, shall designate the location of the claim with reference to the lines of the public surveys, but need not conform therewith ; but where a patent shall be issued as aforesaid for claims upon unsurveyed lands, the Surveyor-General, in extending the surveys, shall adjust the same to the boundaries of such pat- ented claim, according to the plat or description there- of, but so as in no case to interfere or change the location of any such patented claim. Sec. 9. That sections one, two, three, four, and six of an act entitled " An Act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes," approved July twenty-sixth, eight- een hundred and sixty-six, are hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not affect existing rights. Applica- tions for patents for mining claims now pending may be prosecuted to a final decision in the General Land Office ; but in such cases, where adverse rights are not affected thereby, patents may issue in pursuance of the provisions of this act ; and all patents for mining claims heretofore issued under the act of July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, shall convey all the rights and privileges conferred by this act, where no adverse rights exist at the time of the passage of this act. Sec. 10. That the act entitled " An Act to amend 1 62 NEVADA, an Act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the pubHc lands, and for other purposes," approved July ninth, eighteen hundred and seventy, shall be and remain in full force, except as to the pro- ceedings to obtain a patent, which shall be similar to the proceedings prescribed by sections six and seven of this act for obtaining patents to vein or lode claims ; but where said placer claims shall be upon surveyed lands, and conform to legal subdivision, no further sur- vey or plat shall be required, and all placer mining claims hereafter located shall conform as near as prac- ticable with the United States system of public land sur- veys and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys, and no such location shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant ; but where placer claims cannot be conformed to legal subdivisions, sur- vey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands : Provided, That proceedings now pending may be pros- ecuted to their final determination under existing laws ; but the provisions of this act, when not in conflict with existing laws, shall apply to such cases : And provided also, That where, by the segregation of mineral land in any legal subdivision, a quantity of agricultural land less than forty acres remains, said fractional portion of agricultural land may be entered by any party qualified by law, for homestead or pre-emption purposes. Sec. II. That where the same person, association, or corporation is in possession of a placer claim, and also a vein or lode included within the boundaries THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 63 thereof, application shall be made for a patent for the placer claim, with the statement that it includes such vein or lode, and in su§li case (subject to the provi- sions of this act and the act entitled " An act to amend an act granting the right of way to ditch and canal own- ers over the public lands, and for other purposes," ap- proved July ninth, eighteen hundred and seventy) a pat- ent shall issue for the placer claim, including such vein or lode, upon the payment of five dollars per acre for such vein or lode claim, and twenty-five feet of surface on each side thereof. The remainder of the placer claim, or any placer claim not embracing any vein or lode claim, shall be paid for at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, together with all costs of pro- ceedings ; and where a vein or lode, such as is de- scribed in the second section of this act, is known to exist within the boundaries of a placer claim, an appli- cation for a patent for such placer claim, which does not include an application for the vein or lode claim, shall be construed as a conclusive declaration that the claimant of the placer claim has no right of possession of the vein or lode claim ; but where the existence of a vein or a lode in a placer claim is not known, a patent for the placer claim shall convey all valuable mineral and other deposits within the boundaries thereof. Sec. 12. That the Surveyor-General of the United States may appoint, in each land district containing mineral lands, as many competent surveyors as shall apply for appointment to survey mining claims. The 164 NEVADA, expenses of the survey of vein or lode claims, and the survey and subdivision of placer claims into smaller quantities than one hundred #nd sixty -acres, together with the cost of publication of notices, shall be paid by the applfcants, and they shall be at liberty to obtain the same at the most reasonable rates, and they shall also be at liberty to employ any United States Deputy Surveyor to make the survey. The Commissioner of the General Land Office shall also have power to es- tablish the maximum charges for surveys and publica- tion of notices under this act; and, in case of exces- sive charges for publication, he may designate any newspaper published in a land district where mines are situated, for the publication of mining notices in such district, and fix the rates to be charged by such pa- per; and, to the end that the Commissioner may be fully informed on the subject, each applicant shall file with the Register a sworn statement of all charges and the fees paid by said applicant for publication and surveys, together with all fees and money paid the Register and the Receiver of the Land Office, which statement shall be transmitted, with the other papers in the case, to the Commissioner of the General Land Office. The fees 01 the Register and the Receiver shall be five dollars each for filing and acting upon each application for patent or adverse claim filed, and they shall be allowed the amount fixed by law for reducing testimony to writing — when done in the land office, such fees and allow- ances to be paid by the respective parties — and no THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 65 other fees shall be charged by them in such cases. Nothing in this act shall be construed to enlarge or affect the rights of either party in regard to any prop- erty in controversy at the time of the passage of this act, or of the act entitled " An Act grantiitg the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes," approved July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six ; nor shall this act af- fect any right acquired under said act ; and nothing in this act shall be construed to repeal, impair, or in any way affect, the provisions of the act entitled "An Act granting to A. Sutro the right of way and other priv- ileges to aid in the construction of a draining and ex- ploring tunnel to the Comstock Lode, in the State of Nevada," approved July twenty-fifth; eighteen hundred and sixty-six. Sec. 13. That all affidavits required to be made under this act, or the act of which it is amendatory, may be verified before any officer authorized to admin- ister oaths within the land-district where the claims may be situated, and all testimony and proofs may be taken before any such ofiicer, and, when duly certified by the officer taking the same, shall have the same force and effect as if taken before the Register and Receiver of the land office. In cases of contest as to the mineral or agricultural character of land, the testi- mony and proofs may be taken as herein provided, on personal notice of at least ten days, to the opposing party ; or if said party cannot be found, then by publi- I 66 NEVADA, cation of at least once a week for thirty days in a news paper to be designated by the Register of the land office as published nearest to the location of such land ; and the Register shall require proof that such notice has been given. Sec. 14. That where two or more veins intersect or cross each other, priority of title shall govern, and such prior location shall be entitled to all ore or min- eral contained within the space of intersection : Pro- vided, however. That the subsequent location shall have the right of way through said space of intersection for the purposes of the convenient working of the said mine: And provided also, That where two or more veins unite, the oldest or prior location shall take the vein below the poiftt of union, including all the space of intersection. Sec. 15. That where non-mineral land, not con- tiguous to the vein or lode, is used or occupied by the proprietor of such vein or lode for mining or milling purposes, such non-adjacent surface-ground may be embraced and included in an application for a patent for such vein or lode, and the same may be patented therewith, subject to the same preliminary require- ments as to survey and notice as are applicable under this act to veins or lodes : Provided, that no location hereafter made of such non-adjacent land shall exceed five acres, and payment for the same must be made at the same rate as fixed by this act for the superficies of the lode. The owner of a quartz mill or reduction THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 67 works, not owning a mine in connection therewith, may also receive a patent for his mill-site as provided in this section. Sec. 16. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed : Provided, that nothing contained in this act shall be construed to impair, in any way, rights or interests in mining property acquired under existing laws. Approved May loth, 1872. MINERAL DEPOSITS. Previous chapters having been devoted to the con- sideration of the precious metals in their various in- terests and developments, we propose, in this, to de- scribe the other minerals of Nevada, of which she has not a few. Among those which will be very valuable, so soon as facilities for transportation permit their be- ing brought to market, we may mention copper, iron ore, coal, borax, antimony, soda, salt, isinglass, sulphur, marble, sandstone, granite, etc. CSocppei^. In Humboldt County, beyond the divide made by a spur of the Battle Mountain range, two and a half miles south of Galena, are the Virgin and Lake Su- perior copper mines. The course of the Virgin vein is twenty degrees east of south; dip westerly, forty 1 70 NEVADA, degrees. The vein is about eight feet in width, though in one place it widens out to forty feet. The ore is carbonate, red oxide, and native copper. It is found in pockets, and is not diffused regularly throughout the entire vein matter. This, in many places, is composed of clay, iron pyrites, and black oxide of iron. The country rock is limestone, which shows good walls, between which the vein matter is very regular. The Lake Superior mine is in the same neighbor- hood as the Virgin. The vein in this mine contains great bodies of clay, in which are found leaves of na- tive copper. The character of the ore is nearly the same as that found in the Virgin — copper glance, red oxide, blue carbonate, and native copper. The ore transported to England contains about twenty-eight per cent, though much of that obtained from the mine yields as high as seventy-five per cent. There is also a large copper vein in Robinson Dis- trict, in White Pine County, which shows sixty per cent, of copper. In the vicinity of Peavine, Washoe County, about eleven miles north of Reno, are extensive veins of copper. The mines here have never been worked to any extent, however, although the richness of the ore ranges from twenty to fifty per cent. Copper ore of excellent quality is found in Ormsby County, on the Carson River. THE LAND OF SILVER. I7I Ii^ oi\ Oi^e. •There are three veins of iron ore in Esmeralda County. One of these, found near the east branch of Walker River, assays from forty to fifty per cent, of iron. Another, near Rough Creek, is eight feet wide. In Robinson's District, White Pine County, there is a large lode of ore, which yields about fifty per cent, of iron. Iron of good quality is found, also, near Carson River, and in Sullivan's District. Cioa], " Some coal mines have been discovered in White Pine County, in the Pancake range of mountains, fifteen miles distant from Hamilton, and twenty-one miles from Eureka, nearly due east. Evidence of coal was noticed here several years ago, but nothing was done in the way of prospecting for the veins until the summer of 1871, when a shaft was sunk thirty feet. At this depth water was found, and some veins of coal four feet thick. The coal obtained is of a superior 172 NEVADA, quality ; it burns and cokes well. Three distinct veins have been found here, which can be traced for a dis- tance of two miles, and which vary in width from four to six feet. Above the water level, the material com- posing the vein consists of the oxide of iron, mixed • with carbonaceous matter of a loose and crumbling nature ; but it becomes more solidified, and is par- tially crystallized, as soon as the water level is reached, and seams of coal from one to two inches in thickness are found. The veins dip under the mountain to the west, at an angle of forty degrees, and their course is fifteen degrees east of south from the point of dis- covery. The geological formation here is favorable for the development of a coal mine. It resembles very much that of the Wyoming coal fields. Whether or not coal will be found here in any great quantity is a question which future work alone can determine." EL DORADO CANON COAL MINES. Coal was discovered in this canon some eight or ten years ago. The bearing of this vein is north and south ; dip to the west. This vein is between ten and fifteen feet in width. The shaft is down to a depth of 200 feet. Several coal experts pronounce the indica- tions in El Dorado Canon superior to anything on the Pacific Coast, and deem it only a question of time when a large deposit of cannel coal will be found. There are other claims being opened, with flattering /'•' THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 73 results. One company has a tunnel in some 130 feet, all the way in good coal indications. Coal has been found in Esmeralda County, in large quantities, near the e^fet branch of Walker River. Indications of coal exist near Crystal Peak, in Washoe County. The quality of the coal thus far ex- tracted is not first-class, but further developments may reveal large bodies of first-class coal. Sofkx. " The richest and most extensive deposits of the salts of borax yet discovered, in any part of the world, are found in the vicinity of Columbus, Esmeralda County. Columbus, Fish Lake, and Teal's Marshes alone con- tain twenty thousand acres of borax land, which will yield an unlimited supply for an indefinite period." " Rhodes' borax field lies fourteen miles northwest of Columbus. There are several hundred acres of borax lands here. Native borax, in large, white, monoclinic crystals, is found in the mud near the surface, from six inches to a foot in depth." The borates are also found here. The following analysis of the borate of lime was made by Professor Price, of San Francisco, from samples taken from fourteen tons of the material ob- tained at Columbus : 174 NEVADA, Sesquloxide of iron and alumina 2.25 Chloride of sodium and potassium 6.25 Sulphate of soda 2.70 Lime ^ n.io Boracic acid 36-24 Water 29.35 Insoluble residue 12.15 1 00.04 The alkali flats of Churchill County have been found to contain a large per cent, of borax and of the borates of lime and soda, from which is manufactured the bo- rax of commerce. hot" springs borax marsh. Borax is found near Hot Springs, on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad. It is held in solution in the waters obtained there. " It obtains also in small con- cretions, from the size of a bean to that of an egg, in the sands and loose soil. The company at work here is engaged in condensing the particles of borate of lime by washing away the sand and dirt, and in evaporating the waters in which the boracic acid is held in solu- tion. From the acids and borates obtained, borax is manufactured." salt wells borax marsh. " In the low, sandy flat to the east of the upper sink of the Carson, in the same valley with Sand Springs THE LAND OF SILVER. 175 Salt Marsh, salts of borax are found deposited in the soil, and covering it in the form of solid efflor- escences, in places coating it with a whitish crust, or light crystallization. It is found here in variable quan- tities, covering an area of seven miles square. " The richest portion of this marsh — that which will be profitable to work — comprises an area of four sec- tions, or about two thousand five hundred acres. On this portion of the marsh, after an incrustation of a few inches thick has been removed, another is formed on the surface soon after, and so like the former on the neighboring ground from which none has been taken, that the difference cannot be detected, except by very close observation. It is inferred from this fact that the supply contained in this mud flat is inex- haustible. It certainly will not be exhausted for many years." Sr\tiir|Oi]y. The antimony mines are situated in Humboldt County, twelve miles south of Battle Mountain, a station on the Central Pacific Railroad. The mines contain two parallel veins, about lOO feet apart, one of which has been prospected. Both crop out for more than a mile, commencing from the top of a ridge, 1 76 NEVADA, where the Mountain King shaft has been opened, de- • scending with the hill about 1,000 feet in a distance of 1,500 feet north, where they cross a canon, and thence rise on the opposite ridge, where another shaft, the Columbia, has been sunk to a depth of ninety-three feet, at a point about eighty feet above the caiion. The Mountain King shaft is fifteen feet deep, and exhibits from surface to bottom, and in the bottom, a continuous vein, two feet thick, of solid sulphuret of antimony. The vein is perpendicular, and has well defined, regular walls, clearly cutting the country rock. In the Columbia shaft the vein is not so regular or well defined, but still contains, in a width of four feet, fully two feet of solid ore. The vein is sometimes divided into two or three strings by intervening horses. From the excavation 3,750 cubic feet of rock were re- moved, which furnished 1 50 tons of clean ore, being at the rate of one ton per twenty-five cubic feet. Of this ore, fifty tons have been removed and sold, or used, while one hundred tons are on the dump. The ore from the Columbia shaft is an intimate mixture of sulphuret and oxide of antimony, quite free from any other mineral or metal. A careful analysis of a fair average sample of the ore, rough dressed, resulted as follows : Moisture 2.82 Alumina (clay) 1.58 Silica . 1 2.62 Antimony 62.28 THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 77 Bismuth 6.63 Sulphur 15.31 Oxygen (calculated) 4.06 Total 105-30 " These mines are peculiarly interesting, on account of the singular purity of the ore, since the absence of lead and copper greatly facilitates the production, by the simplest reduction process, of an excellent quality of regulus of antimony. All who have used it pro- nounce it equal to the imported refined regulus, although some of the pigs were not quite free from sulphur. Mining the ore costs, by contract, ^2.00 per ton. Hauling from the mines to the station, $4.00 per ton. Freight to San Francisco, $10.00 per ton; to England, via Cape Horn, say $15.00 per ton of 2,000 pounds. The ore is worth in England from ^12 to ^15 per miner's ton of 2,352 pounds — equivalent to about $50.00 to $62.00 per 2,000 pounds. The regulus is worth from twelve to fourteen cents per pound. From these figures it is apparent that a mine of base metal exclusively — for the silver in these antimony ores is too insignificant to be regarded — in the Pacific States, may return quite handsome profits, and be more desirable property than mines of silver and gold not strictly first-class." 12 178 NEVADA. godk. The Nevada Soda Company acquired possession of a small lake in Churchill County, having an area of about seven acres, which is a perfect well of carbonate of soda, in its almost pure state. This article, in its crude state, can be obtained from this reservoir to the extent of twenty thousand tons a year. " It is a mer- chantable article for various purposes, as the manufac- ture of soap, and for uses of flux in the crushing mills, for which it is largely employed, already, at Virginia City. This substance forms on the shore of the lake as fast as removed, and the supply is, therefore, inex- haustible. By a simple process the crude article can be manufactured into bicarbonate of soda, sal soda, or caustic soda. Its caustic properties are said to be very strong." gklt. This valuable article is obtained in large quantities in Nevada. It is found in certain marshes, in whose waters it is held in solution, and from which it is ob- THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 79 tained by solar evaporation in shallow vats. Of these marshes the Eagle, Sand Springs, Spaulding's, and Williams' are the principal. EAGLE SALT MARSH. This marsh is situated in Churchill County, about two miles from Hot Springs Station on the Central Pacific Railroad. The waters of this marsh contain thirty per cent, of salt — almost their full capacity of saturation ; and when crystallized it is almost chemically pure, containing 99.38 of chloride of sodium and sixty-two hundredths of the sulphate. The proprietor of this marsh owns 3,500 acres of these salt lands — a great deal more, in fact, than that on which the salt springs can be found. He supplies all the mills working ores from the Comstock Lode. Three thousand tons are consumed annually by the mills working the ores obtained from this vein. SAND SPRINGS SALT MARSH. This marsh, the property of the Bank of California, furnishes an inexhaustible supply of pure salt, which is obtained by shoveling it up from the bed, which is of unknown thickness. spaulding's SALT MARSH. This marsh is situated in Smoky Valley, two miles. l8o NEVADA, from the line between Lander and Nye Counties. The mud flat from which the salt is obtained is half a mile square, though the salt is produced in sufficient quan- tities and pure enough to be profitable to gather from an area of about one hundred acres. Ten crops are gathered yearly, yielding about two thousand tons. Salt has been obtained from this marsh, in this man- ner, for the last ten years. THE MUDDY SALT MINES. " The salt bluffs to the west of the Rio Virgin, in Colorado Basin, are the most remarkable deposits in the State. Here there is a body of salt nearly two miles in length and half a mile wide, and of an un- known depth. These bluffs are about five hundred feet in height above the level of the vallc}^. The salt is covered with a hard coating of sand and earth, vary- ing from one to several feet in thickness ; the crystal- lization is perfect, and it is chemically pure. It is hard and solid, and in order to be mined requires blasting. Large blocks are taken from this place, so transparent that a newspaper can be read through them. These mines are situated twenty-five miles from the Colorado River, and one hundred and fifty from Pioche." Williams' salt marsh Is located in Diamond Valley, forty-three miles north of Eureka, and ten miles east of Mineral Hill. It THE LAND OF SILVER. 151 contains a thousand acres of salt land, from which salt is obtained in incrustations on the surface, and from the solution in the waters. The flat, however, which this marsh drains, is fifteen miles long and six miles wide. Salt was obtained here for a long time by gathering the incrustations without refining ; but it was not very pure, containing only sixty per cent, of salt. Salt is found also in Esmeralda County, where it is very abundant, and a good deal of it pure and white. Indeed, the salt-beds of Nevada are unquestionably the largest on the continent. Kiq^k^^. Isiiiglass of fine quality, and in the greatest profusion, has lately been discovered about fifteen miles south of Humboldt Wells, in Elko County. 1 82 NEVADA, Hul^^Vu^ p In Humboldt County, and within one hundred yards of the Central Pacific Railroad, are beds of sulphur, capable, it is believed, of supplying the whole world with that article for centuries. These sulphur deposits are located in the Humboldt Valley, not much over a mile from the Humboldt House, and probably thrice that distance from the base of the Humboldt Range. But little is known, in reality, of the extent of the beds, except that they cover a large area in the valley, and have been prospected, in one place, to a depth of sev- eral feet, where the excavations expose hundreds of tons of the pure article, which can be made available for commercial purposes at no greater expense than loading it in the cars and shipping it to the great com- mercial centers. Being so convenient to the railroad, this property is valuable. " The native sulphur of commerce is obtained chiefly from Sicily. The annual product of all the Italian mines is about 300,000 tons, and is valued at about six million of dollars. " The uses of sulphur as a combustible for matches, as an ingredient for gunpowder, in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, in medicine, and various other purposes, are well known and important." THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 83 Five miles southeast of Carson City, in Ormsby County, there is a marble bed which yields a very su- perior stone, equally well adapted for useful or orna- mental -purposes. ^ki\cl^toi\e. This stone is found in abundance in Carey's quar- ries, about a mile and a half east of Carson City. It is of a soft, porous nature, working readily under the chisel when first taken out, and hardening on exposure to the air. It is therefore easily wrought, durable, and resists heat almost as well as fire-brick. Granite, and suitable clays for making brick, abound everywhere. Limestone is found in abundance in almost every county in the State. We close this chapter with a list of the minerals found in Esmeralda County, and another of those ob- tained in Reese River District, Lander County. 184 NEVADA, Li,^t of ^ir^ei'h.!^ ii'oioc[ %^rr[Q^Uih dour\ty. The minerals sent from Esmeralda County to the General Land Office at Washington are : I and 2. Rich gold and silver bearing rock. 3. Cinnabar. 4. Coal, from near the east branch of Walker River. 5. Salt. 6. Alum, found in large quantities ; some of it very pure. 7. Pumice stone, very fine quality. 8. Rose quartz. 9. Lime rock. 10. Crystal. 11. Chalcedony, rough bowlders, hollow inside, and coated with a variety of beautiful colors, resembling agate. 12. Galena, or lead, with sulphurets of iron and quartz mixed in it. 13. Obsidian, found over a large space of country. 14. Plumbago, in white quartz, from La Plata Dis- trict. Ledge six feet wide, discovered near the east branch of Walker River. 15. Gypsum, from near the east branch of Walker River; found in large quantities; very pure, so as to be almost transparent, and can be bent by the hand. THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 85 16. Gypsum, from under the iron ore at Rough Creek ; found in large quantities. 1 7. Fire clay. 18. Chalk, found in large quantities. 19. Yellow ochre, a very pure article. I695 14 1,000 10 3450 28 200 17 3450 10^ 590 II I 88 NEVADA, GRAIN, ETC. ACRES GROSS YIELD, AVERAGE SOWN. BUSHELS. PER ACRE. Potatoes 4)136 290,458 70 Sweet potatoes i 24 96 Onions 76 4,216 555 Hops I 125 lbs 125 Beets, number of tons raised 314 Turnips, " " " 320 Pumpkins and squashes, number of tons raised 5,352 Butter, number of pounds . , . , . » 22,200 Wool, " " 668,738 Honey, " " 7,400 Acres of hay cut, 72,101 yield, 77,626 tons. FRUIT TREES. Apple, 25,782; peach, 5,069; pear, 2,874; plum, 3,364; cherry, 1,506; nectarine, 276; quince, 316; apricot, 158; fig, 97; lemon, 2; gooseberry, 13,024; raspberry, 5,500; strawberry, 74,100; grape vines, 32,526. DOMESTIC ANIMALS. Horses, 22,131; mules, 4,530; asses, 202; cows, 49,895 ; calves, 28,005 ! beef cattle, 75,082 ; oxen, 5,793. Total number of cattle, 185,638. LIVE STOCK. Sheep, 185,486; Cashmere and Angora goats, 2,439; hogs, 5,290; chickens, 49,202 ; turkeys, 2,050; geese, 355 ; ducks, 4,444; hives of bees, 662. THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 89 IMPROVEMENTS. Grist mills, 14; lumber mills, 27; lumber sawed, 3,480,000 feet; quartz mills, 143; tons of quartz crushed in 'jT) '^^'^ '74' 1)263,392; mining ditches, 7; miles in length, 35. dlini^te. The climate of Nevada, considering the general elevation of the country above sea-level, is mild, not being subject to great extremes, either of heat or cold. The days of summer are not warmer than on the east side of the Rocky Mount^fins, while the nights are uni- formly cool and refreshing. In the extreme northern portion of the State the temperature is never so low as to necessitate the precautions and inconveniences to which the Middle and Northern States are subjected. In the southern part of the State the greater part of the year is very equable. The temperature is very mild, the thermometer seldom below freezing point. Snow scarcely ever falls in the valleys, and frosts are rare. In May and June, however, the days are exceedingly hot, the thermometer ranging from ninety-five degrees to one hundred and fifteen degrees Fahrenheit in the 1 90 NEVADA, shade. The heat is modified to a great extent by cool breezes from the mountains, and differences of eleva- tion ; though at times hot blasts of wind come from the south, absorbing all the moisture that has fallen during the night, like the hot simoons that blow across Syria and Arabia. With this temperature, high for two months, it does not propagate either the malaria of the tropical country, or the lassitude and indolence of its inhabitants. The winters of Nevada are much less severe than in the States east of the Rocky Mountains, and but little snow falls, except on the mountain ranges. Not much rain falls between April and October in the northern and western part of the State. In the south and east there is a greater rain-fall, and showers are not unusual during the summer months. The maximum quantity of water falls during the autumn and winter. In the Sierra Nevada the element of altitude comes in to affect the. climate, and especially to prolong and intensify the winters. The higher portions of the Sierra rise to the limits of perpetual snow, and the climiate there is, of course, arctic in its severity, the thermometer falling below the freezing point every night in the year. During our recent visit to the State, three feet of snow fell in three days on the mountains around Virginia City, yet it was not very cold — nothing to compare with some of the Eastern States. MOUNTAINS, VALLEYS, RIVERS, ETC. In an early chapter, we described the physical as- pect of Nevada as a whole, and now, for the benefit of those who may desire to know more than could be learned from such general treatment, we propose to go somewhat into particulars. ]\Iotii\t^ii\^. The mountains of Nevada are grouped more closely in the center of the State than near the boundaries, and they are more numerous in the north than in the south. Toward the south the principal ranges are the Kingston, Spring Mountain, Vegas, and Muddy ranges. Generally parallel,- they sometimes interlock and curve back to their former course, thus forming long, diamond- shaped valleys between. Their altitudes vary from i,ooo to 8,000 feet above the level of the valleys. 192 NEVADA, Charleston Peak, the highest point on these ranges, is 11,000 feet above the level of the sea. Rugged and precipitous, their ridges and peaks are often without any covering of soil — solid masses of bare rock. Ex- cept upon the Spring Mountain range, they show but little vegetation, and their ravines and canons are without water. In the center of the State, there are several high ranges, viz., the New Pass, Shoshone, Simpson's, and the Toyabee. The last is the principal range. It rises high over the others. Perched upon its serrated ridge, the view embraces four degrees of longitude, being bounded on the east by the White Pine and East Humboldt range, and on the west by the towering peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Snow rests upon the higher summits of the Toyabee range until late in the summer. Globe Peak, the highest on the range, is 1 1,237 feet above sea level. The Sierra Nevada comes within the western bound- ary of the State, and is the only range which is richly and plentifully wooded. Covered with oak, manzanita, and nut pine, to an altitude of about 2,500 feet, the growth thence becomes more luxuriant, and dense for- ests of coniferous trees reach up to 9,000 feet. The altitude of this great range varies throughout its length — its highest peak, Mount Whitney, is 1 5,086 feet high ; but this peak is in California. In the eastern part of the State there are the East Humboldt, Silver, Mammoth, Augusta, and White THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 93 Pine ranges, of which the last has an altitude of over 10,000 feet. In the north there are the Trinity, Antelope, and Santa Rosa ranges, all similar, in general features, to those already described. Yalle}^^. The outline of the mountains of Nevada just given will also convey some idea of her valleys. Flanked generally by adjoining ranges, the valleys, like the hills, have a general north and south direction, though some of them trend to other points. As they are somewhat numerous, and we intend to describe all the larger ones in detail, we omit all general description, and proceed at once to treat them separately. CARSON VALLEY. This first settled of the valleys of Nevada lies under the eastern shadow of the towering peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and runs in a north and south direction along the base of the snowy range. It is one of the most fertile and productive valleys in the State, being watered with numerous cool and refreshing 13 194 NEVADA, streams from the snow-capped summits, as well as by the Carson River, which flows through its center, and furnishes a plentiful supply of water for irrigating pur- poses. There are many well improved farms in this valley, and they produce grain, hay, and vegetables of all kinds. Its agricultural and grazing lands, which comprise about one-third of the entire area of the valley, may be set down at sixty or seventy thousand acres, the rest being tule, marsh, or barren sage land. EAGLE VALLEY. Eagle Valley, though but six miles square, has the honor of possessing the State capital. Lying about four miles north of Carson Valley, it is shut in on all sides by the everlasting hills. Beautiful in appearance, its soil is not so productive as that of Carson Valley, but it is well adapted for alfalfa. Around the capital, where there are a number of flourishing gardens, the soil is quite good. WASHOE VALLEY. ^Vashoe Valley lies one mile north of Eagle Valley, and is about twelve miles long by seven wide. Besides being fertile, it is a very regularly formed and exceed- ingly picturesque valley. Throughout almost its entire length it can be irrigated by the crystal streams which descend from the abrupt mountains which flank its western side. On this side, too, there are long tongues THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 95 of limber, or detached groves, which run out from the adjacent forests and form natural parks of great beauty. Considerable quantities of grain, principally barley and oats, are raised in this valley ; so, also, are excellent fruit and vegetables of the best quality. The atten- tion of the settlers, however, is given principally to hay and stock, and to this end cultivated orrasses are beinsf successfully introduced. The climate of the valley is dry and healthful ; and its water, which is derived from mountain snows and springs, of the purest quality. Of the area of truly good and arable land in this valley, not more than one-fourth has yet been subjected to ordinary thorough operations ; so there is abundant room for enterprise. Washoe Valley was first settled in 1855, by a band of Mormons from Salt Lake. PLEASANT VALLEY. Pleasant Valley, a fertile and appropriately named basin, containing about a thousand acres of good land, lies two miles north of Washoe Valley. Well watered by a large stream of pure water, sweet as nectar, and hemmed in by towering mountains, it is admirably lo- cated. Several good farms and extensive gardens are cultivated here, with excellent results. Vegetables of most kinds grow here luxuriantly, even melons ripen- ing safely, notwithstanding the altitude of the country and the consequent early frosts. 196 NEVADA, STEAMBOAT VALLEY. This valley includes the upper and lower portions of the country along Steamboat Creek, and contains about 6,000 acres. Some of the most prosperous farm- ers in the State reside here. A few cultivate alfalfa, but the majority raise grain. The soil of this valley is good. In the upper end of the valley there is some natural meadow. TRUCKEE VALLEY. Truckee Valley lies about seven miles north of Steamboat Valley, and is about ten miles long by six wide. It is a natural meadow, and for various pur- poses cannot be excelled in the State. The soil is ex- cellent in quality, and of great depth. From a very early period in the history of Nevada, it has been set- tled and cultivated by white men to a considerable ex- tent. Having a variety of nutritious grasses, it is well adapted for stock-raising. Always the winter abode of the Indians, and the favorite camping ground of the early travel-worn emi- grants, this valley has much historic interest. The emigrants of 1846 followed the course of the Truckee through this valley ; and near its head-waters there oc- curred the ever-memorable Donner tragedy — a tragedy which must always be notorious in the annals of hu- man horrors. THE LAND OF SILVER. I97 Closely connected with Truckee Valley are two oases, called the Big and Little Meadows of the Truckee. They lie on the banks of the Truckee River, about ten miles below the valley of that name, and contain good land. Further down the same river are the rich bottom lands of Pyramid Lake. The lake and the adjoining lands have been set apart as a reservation for the use of the Pah-Ute In- dians, this being the ancient head-quarters and present home of that tribe. LONG VALLEY. This valley is sixteen miles north of Truckee Valley. It contains a considerable amount of land adapted for tillage, and its mild climate, excellent water, and nutri- tious grass render it peculiarly suited for stock-raising purposes. HONEY LAKE VALLEY. About sixteen miles north of Long Valley, partly in Nevada, and partly in California, lies the charming little valley surrounding Honey Lake. Not only is all its arable land taken up, it is fenced in and improved — the original settlers claiming 640 acres each. Many of the farmers own thousands of head of stock, which here thrive in the open pastures all the year round. Large quantities of butter and cheese are made in this valley. 198 NEVADA, SURPRISE VALLEY. Surprise Valley is about twenty miles north of Honey Lake Valley, and is one of the most fertile in the State. It contains many well improved farms, and is noted for its luxuriant grasses and advantages for stock-raising. This valley was settled in 1862, and is now in a flourishing condition. The principal occu- pation of its settlers is stock-raising, though there are portions of it under cultivation. It is about eleven miles long by four wide. HUMBOLDT VALLEY. Humboldt Valley is, by far, the largest in Nevada. It runs through nearly the whole width of the State, from east to west, and is about 300 miles long. This valley, though not so productive as some of the other valleys in the State, is well adapted for grazing pur- poses, to which it is almost entirely devoted. In less than ten years, grains of all kinds will be grown on the banks of the Humboldt River, and extensive orchards will cover its sandy hills. PARADISE VALLEY. This valley well deserves its name. Lying in Hum- boldt County, and extending in a northerly direction, it is enclosed by two ranges of mountains — the Santa Rosa on the west, and the Hot Spring on the east. THE LAND OF SILVER. 1 99 It is watered by the Little Humboldt and other streams, and contains 230,000 acres. Fifty thousand of these are swamp and overflowed lands — the rest are suited for agriculture. Wheat and barley thrive here. Irrigation is generally resorted to, though some years it is not necessary. Many of the farms in this valley are well improved, and, as a whole, it is not second to any other valley in the State. PINE VALLEY. Pine Valley lies about ten miles south of Carlin, and has a plentiful supply of good water. It is about forty miles long and three wide, and is well settled. RUBY VALLEY. This valley, like the one just described, has good soil, plenty of water, and a number of fine farms. It forms part of Elko County, and lies just east of the Ruby Mountains. MUDDY VALLEY. Muddy Valley lies in the extreme south of Nevada, in Lincoln County, and forms part of the Colorado Basin. It contains thousands of acres of good land, which, however, needs irrigation for the production of good crops. The supply of water is unfortunately ih- adequate for the wants of the entire valley, there being only sufficient for about five thousand acres. 200 NEVADA, There are also about five thousand acres of swamp lands in the valley, which might easily be reclaimed by the usual method of drains. A lars^e tract of land has been cultivated by the Mormons, and several hundred acres finely improved, at the different settlements of St. Thomas, West Point, Overton, and St. Joseph. At St. Thomas alone, two hundred thousand shade trees, consisting of silver maple, locust, cottonwood, willow, and osage orange, were planted. The fruit trees embrace nearly every variety known in both tem- perate and tropical climates. Growing here side by side are seen the olive and die plum, orange and apple, lemon and peach, fig and apricot, pomegranate and pear, walnut and pepper. Grapes also grow to perfec- tion. The vineyards here produce as perfectly ripened and delicious fruit as the most favored localities in California or France. Cotton and sorghum were cultivated here, too, quite extensively, one acre of land yielding as much as a thousand pounds of cotton. Melons, squashes, and beans also grow abundantly, as well as corn and all the smaller grains. Some of the hardier vegetables, such as potatoes, do not grow so well. OTHER VALLEYS. Besides the valleys already described, there are other valleys in the State. Not having space to give a de- scription of each, we include the remainder in this article : THE LAND OF SILVER. 20I Pahranegat Valley, about 20,000 acres of arable land. The soil is good and the climate mild. Meadow Valley has a similar area, and equally good soil and climate. It contains many excellent farms. Los Vegas Valley, in the Colorado Basin, is about ninety miles long by thirty wide. It is fertile, and partly settled. Misquit, Ash, Rose, Spring, and Dry Valleys differ in size, but resemble each other in having good soil and climate. The same may be said of Steptoe, Spring and White River Valleys, in White Pine County. The springs and streams in these valleys afford water enough for the irrigation of large tracts of land. ^Ivei^^. Perhaps no other part of the earth's surface is as destitute of rivers as Nevada. Four hundred and twenty miles long, and three hundred and sixty miles broad, she has not a navigable river within her bor- ders. And the few streams which she does possess would not, in most countries, be called rivers at all. The few streams, which her early settlers or explorers were pleased to dignify with the name of rivers, are 202 NEVADA, generally shallow, and have rapid currents ; and, so far as known, they are not adorned with either cata- ract or cascade. But, instead of generalizing, we will describe each in detail. HUMBOLDT RIVER. The Humboldt is the lonsrest and lars^est river in Nevada. Its length is about 320 miles ; its width is from thirty to forty feet, and in average depth it can- not be more than forty inches. Falling only 503 feet in about 250 miles, its current is not very rapid, while at ordinary seasons of the year it is fordable almost anywhere along its course. It rises in the East Hum- boldt Mountains, and following a very tortuous, but generally southwestern course, its waters are at last absorbed in what is called the "Sink of the Hum- boldt." It has several tributaries, of which the largest is called the Little Humboldt. This rises in the el- evated plateau which divides the Great Basin from the sources of the Columbia River. Near its source the waters of the Humboldt are pure and sweet ; but along its course they acquire impurities, and ulti- mately become strongly impregnated with alkali. It derives its name from the celebrated author of the " Cosmos," and has been of great service not only in fertilizinor the lowlands alonor its banks, but in cuttino^ a road for the early explorers, in supplying water and feed for weary emigrant trains, and, lastly, by prepar- ing a track for the iron horse, who now snorts along THE LAND OF SILVER. 2O3 its tortuous course for over 300 miles. Whether the waters now sinking idly into the desert be eve-r used to irrigate and make productive the adjacent country remains to be seen ; but the fact is indisputable, be- cause already demonstrated, that the soil of Nevada needs water only to be made as deserving of the agri- culturists attention as any land whatever. TRUCKEE RIVER. Flowing through a portion of Nevada, but not ris- ing in it, the Truckee takes its rise in California, in the overflow of the beautiful Lake Tahoe. By far the most beautiful and picturesque river which Nevada pos- sesses, its cold crystal waters, teeming with mountain trout, dash down the woody gorge of the eastern Sierra, and at length empty themselves into Pyramid and Winnemucca Lakes. Having a very considerable fall, a rapid current, a large volume of water, and many eligi- ble sites for the erection of machinery, it may yet be utilized for manufacturing purposes; while, as an easily available means' of irrigating a large area of coun- try, at present unproductive, it will always deserve con- sideration. CARSON RIVER. Like the Truckee, this river takes its rise in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a little further south. But, unlike that river, it has two forks. These, uniting a little above Genoa, are called the east and west forks, 204 NEVADA, on account of the directions from which they flow. From the point of junction the enlarged stream dashes, a foaming torrent, through Carson Canon, making a descent of twelve hundred feet in five miles. Emerg- ing from the mountains, its current becomes less rapid, and its clear, pure waters acquire an alkaline taste. Following at first an easterly course, it empties itself into Carson Lake, whence, turning to the northward, it issues in a number of devious channels, and is finally lost in Carson Sink, an alkaline lagoon, which will be found described under the head of " Lakes." Passing in its course through the Washoe Mining District, Carson River has been largely utilized for milling op- erations, some of the largest quartz mills in the State having been erected on its banks. The mills now in running order along its course, and dependent upon it, have a joint capacity for working ore and tailings, amounting to 1,399 ^ons per day. WALKER RIVER. Walker River is another Truckee, that is, although it flows through a part of Nevada, and is absorbed there, it rises in the snow-clad Sierras of California. Having: its source in two or three convero-ingr streams which rise in the neighborhood of Mono Lake, it flows in a northerly direction for about sixty miles, when, curving to the eastward, it doubles back on its former course, and ultimately loses itself in Walker Lake in Esmeralda County. THE LAND OF SILVER. 205 REESE RIVER. Reese River, which gives its name to one of the earher discovered mining districts of Nevada, has its source and end in the center of the State. Rising in Nye County, near the southern end of the Toyabe Mountains, it flows due north for about 150 miles ; that is to say, its channel is that long. Not to qualify the statement that Reese River " flows " for 1 50 miles, would convey the impression that, everywhere along its course, it glides smoothly along, an unbroken stream. Such an impression would be a false one ; for during the fall and winter it loses a third of its length, drying up below its hundredth mile into a series of shallow pools, sometimes a considerable distance apart. Like most of the rivers of Nevada, it is finally absorbed ; but instead of forming a lake, like the other respectable rivers already noticed, it dies ingloriously in a tule-fen. OWYHEE RIVER. Whatever the sources of the rivers thus far described, they have, one and all, finished their course in Nevada. The one of which we now write is an exception to that rule. Rising in the northeast corner of the State, near its northern boundary, it passes into Idaho, and becomes a tributary of the south fork of Snake River. Some rich placer mines have been discovered near its source ; 206 NEVADA, and the country around its head-waters is well adapted for grazing purposes. Of the small streams usually dignified with the name of rivers, such as Quin's River in the north, and the Muddy in the south, it is not our purpose to offer any detailed account. Suffice it to say, that the Muddy, joining the Rio Virgin, adds its little driblet to the swelling flood of the great Colorado as it sweeps maj- estically round the southeast corner of the State. L(H^e^. Closely connected with the rivers of Nevada are her lakes ; indeed, they are created by them, and their very existence, so to speak, depends upon them ; for, if the rivers dry up, the lakes soon disappear. From what was said about the rivers of the State running their courses, and their ending in lakes formed by their waters, it will be inferred, and rightly so, that the lakes of Nevada are very variable in size, and not over attractive in appearance. To this rule of vari- ability in size, unattractiveness in appearance, and de- pendence upon rivers, there is, however, one notable exception, and that is THE LAND OF SILVER. 207 LAKE TAHOE. This charming lake, to which Nevada must lay claim, even though she does not wholly own it, is found just on the southwest corner of the State, about one-third of the lake being in Nevada, the rest com- ing within the boundary of California. Thirty-five miles long and fifteen wide, having a superficial area of five hundred and twenty-five square miles, it forms a miniature inland sea. Fifteen hundred feet deep, ice cold, and of crystalline clearness, its waters teem with the most delicious mountain trout; and although hundreds of millions of gallons flow off through the Truckee every day, the supply is ever kept up by the melting of the snow on the surrounding mountains. While in a state of calm. Lake Tahoe is serenely beautiful ; but during mountain storms its glassy bosom is lashed into white-crested billows, which dash in fury on its pebbly shores. Its shore line is indented with bays and harbors, which present a series of ever- changing views to the tourist, and the well wooded mountains rising abruptly from its shores add pic- turesqueness to the scene. Although Lake Tahoe is 6,700 feet above the level of the sea, and the mountains which surround it are covered with snow for ei^ht months out of twelve, its water never freezes, but re- mains about the same temperature throughout the year. As a place of resort, this beautiful lake, to which no description can do justice, is rapidly becoming 208 NEVADA, famous ; and being easily accessible, and provided with ample accommodation, it will well repay a visit. PYRAMID LAKE. Next to Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake, which is formed by the waters of the Truckee, is the finest in Nevada. Lying wholly within the State, and being thirty-five miles long by twelve wide, and of consider- able depth, it is by far the largest lake which Nevada really contains. Its surface is about 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, and its waters, which are slightly saHne, abound with salmon and mountain trout of large size and excellent flavor. It derives its name from a pyramid-like rock, which rises near its center to a height of 600 feet above its level. Conforming to this island rock are the adjacent mountains, many of which rise above the lake to a height of 3,000 feet. The landscape around the lake is always picturesque and beautiful, and occasionally, when its shores are en- livened by the Indians, for whose exclusive use the region has been set apart, it is quite romantic. WINNEMUCCA LAKE. Lying parallel to Pyramid Lake, and a little to the east of it, is a long, narrow sheet of water which has been dignified with the title of Winnemucca Lake. It is not a lake in the ordinary acceptation of the term, as it does not exist all the year round. Indeed, it is THE LAND OF SILVER. 2O9 only in the wet season that it exists at all; and then it is caused by the overflowing of Pyramid Lake, which, at its southern end, overflows the low neck of land which separates it from Winnemucca Lake. walker's lake. Exactly in a straight line with Pyramid Lake, though about a hundred miles to the southeast of it, is Walker's Lake, a body of water of very similar shape and dimen- sions, formed by Walker's River. Walker's Lake, how- ever, is the smaller of the two, for although its length be the same, (about thirty-five miles) it is only seven miles wide. Like Pyramid Lake, its waters are stocked with fish, but they are of an inferior quality. Its shores, too, are flanked by high mountains, but as the sur- rounding country is arid and uninviting, the landscape has not the picturesqueness which is so noticeable around Pyramid Lake. CARSON LAKE. Unlike the lakes thus far described, which were all oblong in shape, Carson Lake is circular in form. Its diameter is about twelve miles, and its depth is not more than fifty or sixty feet at the most. Its shores are low and flat, and hence, instead of gettrng deeper when an unusually large body of water is poured into it, it only becomes larger. Suckers, or a scarcely more palatable kind of fish, are all of life its somewhat alka- 14 2IO NEVADA, line waters contain. It is formed by the waters of the Carson River, which, passing through it, escape into a larger sheet of water known as the Carson Sink, where the overflowings of Carson and Humboldt Lakes are absorbed. HUMBOLDT LAKE. This lake, as our readers will surmise, is caused by the waters of the Humboldt River, which here find an opening into a hollow sufficiently large to receive them. The size of this lake varies at different seasons of the year. If seen during the rains, or immediately after them, it will be found about fifteen miles long by nearly, ten broad ; but if visited during the summer it will be very much smaller. More brackish than those of any of the other lakes described, the waters of Humboldt Lake contain no fish fit for the table, and they are themselves quite unfit for culinary purposes. Like Carson Lake, Humboldt Lake has an outlet at its southern end, which carries its surplus waters into the common receptacle known as the Humboldt and Carson Sink, a large sheet of strongly alkaline water, which is here absorbed. This " sink," so called, never dries wholly up, although absorption and evaporation are always rapidly in progress. Its shores, which are low and flat, are frequented by flocks of wild birds, which live on its worthless fish. THE LAND OF SILVER. 211 UPPER AND LOWER LAKES. Besides the lakes which we have described, there are scattered here and there over the surface of Ne- vada a number of shallow sheets of water, of various sizes and shapes — large after the rains, but dry, or nearly so, during the summer — which, in accordance with the custom that makes every creek a river, have been magnified into lakes. Lakes they are not, how- ever, and so we shall not make lakes of them. MUD LAKES. Less in size than these so-called lakes, there are also a number of shallow pools, sometimes called " mud lakes." Frequently quite large during the rains, and for a short while after them, they generally become quite dry in summer ; and as their waters are always strongly impregnated with alkali, they leave a thick deposit, which, glittering in large, white sheets over the hollows formerly occupied by the " lakes," procures for them, in their dry state, the name of "'alkaline JlatsT 2 12 NEVADA. ¥l:\ei'ii|h;l hi\cl ^iqei'al ^pi4r|g^. STEAMBOAT SPRINGS. As these springs form one of the greatest natural curiosities in the country, we may be expected to give a somewhat detailed description of their appearance and properties, more especially as they are fast becom- ing the resort of tourists and invalids. They are situ- ated near the head of an irregular valley, extending north to the Truckee Meadows, a distance of eight miles. Before reachino; them, the traveler is notified of their locality by little wreaths of steam, seen while yet half a mile off, and sometimes to a much greater distance. After approaching quite near, a gurgling and hissing sound is heard, somewhat resembling the boiler of a steamboat. This noise is said to have been much louder at a former day, being accompanied with an additional sound like the pounding of an engine ; hence the name these springs now bear. At that period, it is also claimed, the chemical action of this strange laboratory of nature was much more violent than at present. However this may be, the phenomena, even now, are sufficiently curious to inter- est the most stolid, and puzzle the scientific beholder. THE LAND OF SILVER. 2!3 These noises issue from a rocky mound formed of in- crustations, about a quarter of a mile long and six hundred feet wide, having an elevation of fifty or sixty feet above the valley. Running lengthwise of this mound are a number of fissures about a foot wide, but having edges so uneven that one can see, or run a stick down into them only a few feet. Gurgling up through these openings with a rumbling sound, and at short intervals, come gushes of hot water, which, remaining even with the top for a moment, sometimes overflowing a little, again subside, leaving the fissure again dark and empty. At other points the water keeps even with the surface, boiling fiercely, while at a few places it leaps up two or three feet above the surface, the whole, while in action, sending off columns of steam. The air about smells of sul- phur, though this mineral does not appear to be pres- ent in the water. An analysis of the water, made by Dr. Lanszweert, showed it to contain the following constituent salts in various proportions: soda, lime, silica, chloride of sodium and magnesium, and a small residuum of veg- etable matter. Great medicinal virtues are claimed for this water, and that it possesses marked curative prop- erties in cases of rheumatism, cutaneous diseases, etc. SMOKY VALLEY HOT SPRINGS. They are a group of circular-shaped pools, from one to thirty feet in diameter, on a slight elevation, formed 214 NEVADA, by the deposit from their waters, on the edge of the wash from the hills ; they vary in temperature from that of the air to the boiling point ; their supply of water but little more than compensates for the evapora- tion of the air, and streams run from them but for a short distance. The most interesting of the group is one shaped like a bowl, about three feet in diameter, and as many deep, from the center of which the steam issues with such force as to throw up, the water in a little jet, a foot or more above the surface of the pool. These springs are used both for bathing and cooking purposes ; their mineral character has not yet been determined. Carey's warm spring. Carey's Warm Spring, near Carson City, is the most remarkable and worthy of notice, both because of the volume of water flowing from it, and its con- venience to the public. The spring, in its native state a deep pool, has been walled up and covered with a stone house one hundred and sixty feet long, and thirty- eight wide. The depth of water now varies from three to five feet, and being about the temperature of the body, and very soft and limpid, affords one of the most healthful and luxurious baths in the world. Along the western margin of the Carson Valley there are several warm springs which are highly es- teemed for the medicinal property of their waters. At one of these, a mile and a half south of Genoa, a hotel THE LAND OF SILVER. 215 has been erected for the accommodation of guests, and those persons afflicted with rheumatism, scrofula, and other cutaneous diseases, who come here to be bene- fited by bathing in these mineral waters. This hotel is owned by Mr. David Walley, and is one of the finest buildings for hotel purposes in the State. Hundreds of patients visit this resort annually, all of whom are benefited by bathing in these miraculous springs. THE ELKO HOT SPRINGS. These celebrated hot springs are within a mile of the town of Elko, Elko County. Invalids from the surrounding country visit them for their health, and they are a great attraction for tourists. Nevada is rich in mineral waters. They extend from Oregon to Mexico, and from the edge of the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains. Surprise Valley, partly in the State and partly in California, has hundreds of hot and cold sa- line and chalybeate and sulphur springs. The mud volcanoes of the Colorado Desert, and a great many hot springs, are samples of what are to be found in the southern part of the State. Many, no doubt, of the numerous mineral springs of the State will become in time valuable to their proprietors, as well as valuable for the healing of different diseases. COLD SPRINGS. Some of the cold springs of Nevada are scarcely less remarkable, because of their size, depth, or the great 2l6 NEVADA, volume of water they discharge, than the hot springs just described. The most noted of these occur in the central and eastern part of the State. Along the west- ern side of Smoky Valley are a number of pools, vary- ing in diameter from twenty to eighty feet, some of them being at least loo feet deep — so deep, in fact, that the water, which is soft and clear as crystal, has a dark blue appearance. Several of these are filled with small fish, and send off a large stream qf water. In the second tier of the valleys east of the Smoky occurs an- other group of these springs, also circular in form, very deep, and full of clear, cold water, but having no appar- ent outlets or inlets. These, also, swarm with small fish, the number of which leads to the belief that there must be more room for them beneath the turf-like sod by which they are surrounded. Some of the springs on the Upper Humboldt send off creeks fifteen feet wide and over a foot deep, which run with a rapid current. The number of springs contained in Thous- and Spring Valley, on the Upper Humboldt, is suffi- ciently indicated by its name. Many of these are dis- tinguished for their size and the excellence of their water. LAND LAAVS. AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE SELECTION AND SALE OF LANDS THAT HAVE BEEN.OR MAY HEREAFTER BE GRANTED BY THE UNITED STATES TO THE STATE OF NEVADA. Section i. For the purpose of selecting and dis- posing of the lands that have been or may hereafter be granted by the United States to the State of Ne- vada, including the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections, and those selected in lieu thereof, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the several grants of land by the United States to the State of Nevada, a State Land Office is hereby created, of which the Surveyor- General shall be and is hereby made ex-officio Land Register. He shall, as such Land Register, be required to give bonds, in the sum of ten thousand dollars, for the faithful performance of his duties ; which bonds shall be approved by the Governor, and filed in the office of the Secretary of State. The Land Register shall keep his office at the seat of government, and the same shall be kept open, on all legal days, between the hours of lo o'clock a. m. and 4 o'clock p. m. for the transaction of business. 2 I 8 • NEVADA, Sec. 2. The Register shall procure one copy of each township plat of the public surveys now approved, or that may hereafter be approved, by the proper United States authorities, unless the same shall have been previously obtained : Provided, that the cost of the same shall not exceed eight dollars each, and shall be made upon drawing paper. He shall keep a record of all applica- tions, and of all lands which have been, or may here- after be, approved to the State, and of all lands which have been sold by the State, which, together with all plats, papers, and documents relating to the business of his office, shall be open to public inspection, during office hours, without fee therefor. Sec. 3. The Register shall furnish, within a reason- able time, a copy of the plats of townships, within any county, to the County Surveyor of such county, to be used by him in furnishing such information as the Register may require of him concerning the lands within such townships ; and all lands sold by the State shall be reported by the Register to the County Sur- veyor of the county in which such lands are situated, and said Surveyor shall immediately mark the same upon the township plat in his office, in accordance with the instructions of the Register, and said County Sur- veyor shall keep such plats subject to the inspection of all persons interested in examining the same, on all legal days during office hours. Whenever a County Surveyor shall have knowledge of any tract or tracts of land within his county, subject to selection by the THE LAND OF SILVER. 219 State, and which for any cause may appear to him to of special value to the State, he shall report the same to the Register ; describing such location, with refer- ence to the government surveys, by legal subdivisions, and he shall state fully and definitely, in such report, his reasons for considering such tract or tracts of spec- ial value. Sec. 4. The minimum price of all lands embraced in this Act, not included within the twenty miles Cen- tral Pacific Railroad limit, is hereby fixed at one and one-fourth dollars per acre, in currency ; and the mini- mum price of all lands within said twenty miles limit is hereby fixed at two and one-half dollars per acre, in currency. But the Board of Regents of this State shall have power to fix a higher price per acre upon any of said lands not settled upon or applied for, by individuals, prior to the date of such higher price hav- ing been fixed. Sec. 5. All land to which the State has acquired title, except tliose specified in section seven of this Act, when in the opinion of the Board of Regents it shall be advisable for the interests of the State, shall be adver- tised by the Register as being subject to sale at the minimum price, unless a higher price shall have been fixed thereupon by said Board, and if a higher price shall have been fixed, then at such higher price. And such notice shall specify that such land may be pur- chased, at the price stated, at any time within six months after the date of such notice ; and if not purchased 2 20 NEVADA, within such specified time, the Board of Regents may reduce the price : Provided, they do not reduce it below minimum price, and the Register thereupon shall re- advertise the same at such reduced price. Sec. 6. All applications to purchase land shall be made in writing, to the Land Register, and shall be signed by the applicant, his or her agent, and shall des- ignate, in conformity with the United States survey, the tracts of land applied for, number of acres, price per acre, and amount necessary to purchase such land, and the section of this Act under which the applicant wishes to purchase; also, residence, postoffice address, and county in which such land is located. Sec. 7. Upon the application of any person to pur- chase land, not previously selected by the State, the Land Register shall certify to the State Controller that such person is entitled to apply for the land, describ- ing the same as in the application, which shall accom- pany said certificate, and such certificate shall state the amount necessary to purchase said land ; the Controller shall thereupon issue his order, directing the State Treasurer to receive from such applicant said amount, placing the same into the State School Fund, and upon such payment being made, the Treasurer shall issue his receipts in duplicate, describing the land applied for, and he shall at the same time enter in his abstract of applications the name or names of the person or per- sons so applying, number, description of land, date of receipts, and amount paid by the applicant. Upon the THE LAND OF SILVER. 22 1 return of the application with the Treasurer's receipt to the Land Office, the Register shall file the same, which shall complete such application. Whenever purchase can be completed, in whole or in part, upon land thus applied for, the Land Register shall certify the same to the Controller and Treasurer each, and shall at once proceed to perfect the sale. Upon thus certifying to the Treasurer, the Register shall surren- der the Treasurers receipt therewith issued on pay- ment made by applicant ; the duplicate receipt becom- ing null and void on the completion of such purchase. Should the Controller, upon the receipt of such cer- tificate, find that any payment had been wrongfully ap- portioned, he shall issue his order directing the Treas- urer to transfer such amount to its proper fund. If, from the non-approval of the land to the State, or other cause, the contemplated sale cannot be perfected in whole or in part, then, upon the demand of the appli- cant, the Land Register shall certify to the Controller that such applicant is entitled to the amount paid by him or her, from the non-approval or other cause, as the case may be, and the Controller shall draw his warrant upon the State School Fund for the amount due such applicant, and the same shall be paid by the Treasurer. The Land Register shall, at the same time, certify in like manner to the State Treasurer of the non-approval of such land, returning the receipt filed in his office by such applicant ; the duplicate receipt be- coming null and void. Upon the application of any per- 2 22 NEVADA. soil for the purchase of land not previously selected by the State, when such application is accompanied by the Treasurer's receipt, the Land Register shall serve the Surveyor of the county in which such land is situated with a written notice of such application to purchase, and said Surveyor shall post the same conspicuously in his office for the period of sixty days from the date thereof. Sec. 8. Upon the application of any person or persons for the purchase of land after the State has obtained title thereto, should such person or persons be entitled to purchase, the Land Register shall certify the same to the Controller; said certificate shall be accompanied by such application, as provided in sec- tion seven of this Act; whereupon the Controller shall issue his order directing the Treasurer to receive the amount necessary to purchase such land, placing the same in the fund specified in the order. Upon payment being made by applicant, the Treasurer shall issue his receipt for the same, and on return of said application, with the receipt, to the State Land Office, the Register shall thereupon file the same and perfect such sale. Sec. 9. In addition to the mode and manner of sale of the lands belonging to the State, the State Register is hereby further empowered to sell and dis- pose of any agricultural or grazing lands, payable in installments, as hereinafter specified ; that is to say, with any party or parties wishing to purchase lands THE LAND OF SILVER. 223 under the provisions of this section, and who shall have made proper application therefor, and duly estab- lished his or her or their right to purchase under the provisions of this Act, the State Register is hereby authorized and required to enter into contract to sell such lands, at such price as the same may be valued for the time being by the proper authority, payable as follows, to wit : one-fifth of the amount to be paid at the time of contract, and the balance in nine equal annual installments, with interest at the rate of ten per centum per annum, payable annually upon all deferred installments : Provided^ the purchaser, his or her heirs or assigns, may at any time prior to the maturity of such contract make full payment. All such contracts shall be entered into in writing with the party or par- ties so purchasing, in which the conditions shall be distinctly expressed that, upon failure to pay the prin- cipal and interest thereon as stipulated, the said land shall immediately and unconditionally revert to the State, and be thereafter subject to sale in the same manner and under the same conditions as though no such prior contract and sale had been made. It shall be the duty of the Register to certify each sale and the terms thereof to the State Treasurer, and the Register shall at the same time certify to the Controller the amount necessary for the first payment and for each succeeding payment until full payment shall have been made ; and the Controller, upon the receipt of each such certificate, shall issue his order to the Treasurer 2 24 NEVADA, as in section seven of this Act ; and upon payment being made by the applicant of the amount specified in the order, the Treasurer shall issue his receipts in duplicate, and when full payment shall have been made, patents shall issue to the purchaser, his or her heirs or assigns, as provided for in section thirteen of this Act : Provided, that no timbered land shall be sold, unless the whole purchase price shall be paid at the time of application. Sec. io. The holder of any unlocated land warrant of this State, heretofore issued, shall have the right to use the same in payment for lands which he or she may desire to purchase from the State ; and any per- son holding any of said paid warrants for one hundred and sixty acres or less, at the rate of two and one-half dollars per acre, shall be allowed to surrender the same to the State Treasurer, in full payment for double the number of acres expressed therein, of land valued at one and one-fourth dollars per acre, and upon the sur- render of such land warrant to the Controller by the Treasurer, properly indorsed, the Controller shall draw his warrant upon the State School Fund, in favor of the State Treasurer, for the amount of said land war- rant. Sec. II. The State Treasurer shall render to the State Controller a true and correct statement of the amount of special deposits on hand, made by appli- cants for the purchase of State lands, and the Con- troller shall thereupon order the same to be trans- THE LAND OF 'SILVER. 225 ferred from the Special Deposit Account to the State School Fund. All moneys hereafter paid into the Treasury on land shall be paid in on an order from the Controller, and all moneys refunded to applicants shall be drawn out upon a warrant issued by the Controller upon the Treasurer, as provided in section seven of this Act. All purchases to be completed or amounts to be refunded upon Special Deposit receipts issued by E. Rhoades, defaulting Treasurer, and still out- standing, shall be disposed of in the following manner: whenever purchase can be completed, in part or in whole, upon land thus applied for, the Land Register shall perfect such sale, surrendering to the Controller the Treasurer's receipts issued by said E. Rhoades, with his certificate of the completion of such sale, and the Controller shall receive and file the same in his office as vouchers. The Register shall at the same time also certify such sale to the Treasurer. And whenever, for non-approval of the land to the State, or other cause, the contemplated sale cannot be completed, the Land Register shall surrender to the Controller said Special Deposit receipts, with a certificate that said aj^plicant is entitled to the amount paid ; and the Con- troller shall thereupon file such receipts and certificate in his office as vouchers, drawing his warrant upon the proper fund for said amount, and the Treasurer shall pay the same. The Land Register shall, at the same time, certify the non-approval in like manner to the Treasurer. 15 2 26 NEVADA, Sec. 12. An occupant or party in possession shall have a preferred right to purchase not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres of land at the minimum price, for the period of six months after the date of approval to the State of the lands occupied or pos- sessed by him or her ; and when two or more persons, claiming a preferred right by reason of occupancy or possession, apply to purchase the same lands, the Register shall certify such applications to the Dis- trict Court of the county in which such lands are sit- uated, and notify .the contesting applicants thereof. The judge or court shall then appoint a commissioner in the vicinity of the land so in dispute to take and report to such court all the testimony of the parties in the case. The contest shall then be tried and de- termined as ordinary actions in said court, and, when so determined, shall be certified to the Register, who shall proceed thereafter with the successful contestant in the same manner as if he alone had applied in the premises : Provided, that all costs attending such con- test shall be paid by the parties litigant, as the court or judge may determine : And provided further, that a preferred right shall be based upon occupancy or pos- session dating prior to any application to purchase the land having been filed with the Register. When two or more persons, neither claiming a preferred right, •apply to purchase the same lands, the first applicant shall be allowed to purchase. Sec. 13. No person shall be allowed to purchase THE LAND OF SILVER. more than three hundred and twenty acres of land from the State under the provisions of this Act. Sec. 14. It is hereby made the duty of the Regis- ter to select as portions of the several grants of land to this State all lands for which money has been de- posited under the provisions of section seven of this Act. And whenever he shall have knowledge of any tract or tracts of land within the State, which for any cause may appear to him to be of special value and subject to location by the State, he may select the same, and if necessary, by and with the advice and consent of the Board of Regents, instruct the County Surveyor of the county wherein such land is situated to survey such lines and make such examination as may serve to indicate the proper location and true character and quality of such lands, and said County Surveyor shall, without delay, proceed to make such survey or examination, and shall report the same to the Reo^ister in accordance with such instructions as he may have received ; and for such services he shall receive such sum as the Board of Regents may allow, and for the faithful performance of such service said County Surveyor shall be liable upon his official bond. Sec. 15. The title of the State to any lands sold under the provisions of this act shall be conveyed to the purchaser, or his or her heirs or assigns, by patents free of charge, in such form as the Attorney-General and Register shall jointly prescribe, to be prepared by the Register, signed by the Governor, and shall have 2 28 NEVADA, the great seal of the State affixed by the Secretary of State, and shall be countersigned by the Register, and the Secretary of State and State Register shall keep a record of the patents issued. Sec. 1 6. The State Register shall be entitled, as such Register, to a salary of two thousand six hund- red dollars per annum, to be paid quarterly ; and he is hereby authorized to appoint a deputy, who shall be entitled to a salary of three thousand dollars per an- num, to be paid monthly. The Controller of State shall, at the end of each month, draw his warrant upon the State Treasurer in favor of said deputy for the amount of his compensation then due, and the State Treasurer shall pay the same out of any money de- rived from the sale of lands. Sec 17. All funds derived from the sale of lands under this Act shall be invested in interest-bearing bonds of the State, or of the United States, as re- quired by section three of the eleventh article of the Constitution of this State. The proceeds of the sale of lands donated to this State by Act of Congress of July 2d, 1862, shall be invested by the Board of Re- gents ; and the proceeds of all other lands herein referred to, whenever the sum of five hundred dollars shall have been paid into the State School Fund, shall be invested as directed by law. Sec. 18. All claims and accounts for services or for expenses authorized by and necessarily incurred in car- rying out any of the provisions of this Act, except the THE LAND OF SILVER. 229 salaries of the Register and his deputy, shall be pre- sented to and audited as other claims by the State Board of Examiners ; and when any claim shall be passed and allowed by said Board, they shall appor- tion the same, so payable or chargeable, to the several funds derived from the sale of lands as they shall deem proper, and so much of the funds received from the sale of lands in the several grants as may be necessary for the payment of such audited claims, shall be and the same is hereby appropriated out of the several funds respectively for the payment of such claims, and the Controller shall draw his warrant accordingly. The Board of Examiners are hereby authorized and directed to allow and direct to be paid such sums to the Re- ceivers of the United States Land Offices for any offi- cial services performed by them in relation to the desig- nation of the selected lands upon the books of their respective offices, as they may be justly entitled to re- ceive under the laws of the United States, or the in- structions of the proper department at Washington City. Sec. 19. An Act entitled "An Act to provide for the selection and sale of lands granted by the United States to the State of Nevada," approved April 2d, 1867, and also an Act entitled "An Act to provide for the selection and sale of lands granted by the United States to the State of Nevada," approved March 4th, 1871, and all other acts and parts of acts, so far only as in conflict with the provisions of this 230 NEVADA, Act, are hereby repealed : Provided, that such repeal shall not divest any parties of any rights heretofore acquired under any of said acts referred to. Approved March 5th, 1873. AN ACT PRESCRIBING THE MODE OF MAINTAINING AND DE- FENDING POSSESSORY ACTION ON PUBLIC LANDS IN THIS STATE. Section i. Any person now legally occupying and settled upon, or who may hereafter occupy or settle upon, any of the public lands in this State, for the purpose of cultivating or grazing the same, may com- inence and maintain any action for interference with, or injuries done to, his or her possession of said land, against any person or persons so interfering with, or injuring, such land or possession: Provided, that if the lands so occupied and possessed contain mines of any of the precious metals, the possession or claim of the person or persons occupying the same, for the pur- poses aforesaid, shall not preclude the working of such mines by any person or persons desiring so to do, as fully and unreservedly as they might or could do had no possession or claim been made for grazing or agri- cultural purposes. Sec 2. Every such claim, to entitle the holder to maintain any action as aforesaid, shall not contain more than one hundred and sixty acres, and the same shall be surveyed and marked by metes and bounds, so that the boundaries may be readily traced and the THE LAND OF SII.VER. 23 1 extent of such claim easily known ; and no person shall be entitled to maintain any such action for the possession of, or injury to, any claim, unless he or she occupy the same, and shall have complied with the provisions of the third and fourth sections of this Act. Sec. 3. Any person claiming any of the public lands in this State shall have the same surveyed by the County Surveyor of the county in which said lands are situated, and shall have the plot of such survey, duly certified to by said Surveyor, recorded in the office of the County Recorder, and shall take and sub- scribe his or her affidavit that he or she has taken no other claim under this Act, and that, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, the said lands are not claimed under any existing title. Sec. 4. Within ninety days after the date of said record, the party recording is hereby required to im- prove the lands thus recorded to the value of two hundred dollars, by putting such improvements thereon as shall partake of the realty, unless such improve- ments shall have been made prior to the application for survey and record, according to section third of this Act. Sec. 5. At any time after the provisions of the second, third, and fourth sections of this Act shall have been complied with, the party so complying shall be permitted to absent himself or herself from such claim, without being required to occupy the same, for a period of not more than twelve months : Pi'ovided, 232' NEVADA, the person so wishing to absent himself or herself shall first pay to the Treasurer of the county in which said claim shall be situated the sum of fifteen dollars, in gold or silver coin, upon which payment the Treasurer shall issue a receipt for the same. At any time withirf twelve months after the date thereof, such receipt shall be received as prima facie evidence of possession in any court having jurisdiction in such cases. Any person absenting himself or herself from said claim for a longer period than sixty days, without first pay- ing the sum provided in this section, shall forever for- feit his or her claim to the lands. One-half of the amount paid to any County Treasurer, under the pro- visions of this section, shall be paid by said Treasurer into the general fund of such county, and the balance into the State Treasury, whenever making his regular settlements with the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall set apart and retain all moneys received from such source as a special fund, which may here- after be appropriated by law for the maintenance and protection of the insane. Sec. 6. On the trial of any such causes, the posses- sion or possessory right of the plaintiff shall be con- sidered as extending to the boundaries embraced in such survey, so as to enable him or her, according to section third of this Act, to have and maintain any action as aforesaid, without being compelled to prove an actual inclosure. Sec. 7. All lands in this State shall be deemed and THE LAND OF SILVER. 233 regarded as public lands, until the legal title is known to have passed from the government to private indi- viduals or parties. Sec. 8. Sections ten and thirteen of an Act passed by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Nevada, entitled " An Act to regulate Surveys and Surveying," approved November twenty-ninth, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and all other acts or parts of acts, so far as the same are inconsistent with or re- pugnant to the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed. Approved March 9th, 1865. AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE LOCATION OF LANDS CON- TAINING SALT. Section i. Any person may locate, claim, and hold, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres of the public lands within this State containing salt or saline matter. Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of any person or per- sons locating salt lands to have the same surveyed by the County Surveyor of the county in which said lands are located, within thirty days from the date of location ; and the Surveyor shall, within thirty days from the completion of said surve3^ make and deliver to the party employing him to make the survey, a correct description and plat of the lands thus surveyed, and the same shall be recorded in the office of the County Recorder of said county within thirty days from the delivery thereof by the Surveyor. 234 NEVADA, Sec. 3. All locations made prior to the passage of this Act upon saline lands are hereby ratified and con- firmed to the locators thereof, their heirs and assigns : Provided, the parties now holding and occupying said lands shall, within sixty days from the passage of this Act, have the same surveyed and recorded as pro- vided in section two of this Act. Sec. 4. All persons claiming and holding saline lands under the provisions of this Act shall keep and hold actual possession of said lands by occupying the same, and whenever said lands are abandoned for a period longer than sixty days, the same shall be sub- ject to re-location. Sec. 5. This Act shall take effect, and be in force, from and after its passage. Approved February 24th, 1865. AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE LOCATION AND TAXATION OF BORAX AND SODA MINES AND CLAIMS. Section i. The ownership of, or claim to, or pos- session of or right of possession to, any land in this State, containing, and held for the purpose of obtaining borax or soda, shall be assessed annually for taxation for State and county purposes, at not exceeding five dollars per acre. The annual payment of said taxes, and the compliance with the provisions of an Act en- titled "An Act to provide for the location of lands con- taining salt," approved February 24th, 1865, shall be held as a recognition on the part of the State of the THE LAND OF SILVER. 235 validit}^ of said ownership of, or claim to, or possession of, or right of possession to said lands : Provided, That where borax and soda mines and claims are beinor o worked for borate of soda, borate of lime, boracic acid, or carbonate of soda, then the net proceeds thereof shall be taxed. In the event that the tax on such net proceeds shall equal or exceed in amount what would be derived from said mines or claims, tax- ing them at five dollars per acre as aforesaid, and when the net proceeds are taxed, the ownership of, claim to, possession of, or right of possession to, the said lands, shall not be taxed. Sec. 2. Sections two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten, of an Act entitled " An Act pro- viding for the taxation of the net proceeds of mines," approved February 28th, 1871, shall be and are hereby made applicable as to time and manner of assessing and collecting the revenue derived from the net pro- ceeds of borax and soda mines and claims. Sec. 3. The officers whose duty it is to enforce the provisions of an Act providing for the taxation of the net proceeds of mines, (referred to in section two of this Act) shall enforce the provisions of this Act, so far as it relates to the taxation of the net proceeds of borax and soda mines and claims, and shall re- ceive the same compensation as provided in said act. Sec. 4. The State Controller is hereby authorized and directed to prepare and furnish the necessary blanks and instructions to carry this Act into effect. Approved March 7th, 1873. THE CITIES OF NEVADA. Were we to treat, under this caption, only of those towns which have corporate bodies and all the other machinery strictly belonging to cities proper, our task would be easy and soon done. But we use the word " city" in its popular sense, and intend it to include all the important centers of population, whether they are bodies corporate or not. And in doing this we shall be right ; for, as the great Shakspeare has said, — " What is the city but the people ? True, the people are the cityT Vii^gii\ia City. Virginia City, the county seat of Storey County, and the metropolis of Nevada, owes its existence to the discovery and development of the Comstock Lode. Immediately after that famous silver vein was dis- covered, in 1859, this town was laid out, and named 230 NEVADA, after " Old Virginia " — a sobriquet borne by one of the discoverers of the lode. The site thus desis^nated is on the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, at an eleva- tion of 6,205 ^^^t above the level of the sea. The city which thus sprung into life grew rapidly, and at this writing has a population of nearly twenty thousand inhabitants. It is by far the most important city in Nevada, and the main source whence most of the towns of the State procure their supplies. Its principal streets, which have good buildings of brick and stone, from two to four stories high, are graded and filled in with waste rock from the mines, and are therefore as smooth and solid, in dry weather, as if paved with stone. Besides many handsome private residences, surrounded by well kept gardens wherever possible, the city is adorned with five churches. It has excellent schools, both public and private, four well furnished libraries, two banks, and two daily papers — one of which, the Territorial Enterprise, is not surpassed by any inland paper on the Pacific Coast. Damage by fire is carefully guarded against, the city fire depart- ment having six engine companies, one hook and ladder company, and several hose companies. An abundant supply of excellent water is provided by the local water company, and every night the city is lighted by the Virginia Gas Company's pneumatic gas. Everything in and around the city speaks of mines and mining. The hoisting and pumping engines of the different mines are unceasingly at work ; miners are constantly THE LAND OF SILVER. 239 going to and from the mines ; drays laden with bullion pass you in the streets ; cars are loading with silver ore at the different dumps ; the railroad is conveying ore to the several mills ; and, in one way or another, every activity has to do with the mining, transportation, or reduction of silver ore, or the melting and assaying of silver bullion. Sufficiently peculiar as is the aspect of affairs just described, Virginia Cit}^ has other peculiarities, which are still more remarkable. Underneath the city, the excavations of the different mines are as large as the city itself; this space is kept lighted, night and day, by candles ; one-third of the male population is under- ground eight hours of the twenty-four ; and there is more timber in any one of the mines on the Comstock Lode than there is in all the buildings in the city. P. S. — Since the above was written, on the 26th of October, 1875, the fiery fiend visited Virginia City, and three-fourths of the business portion was swept away like chaff before the whirlwind. Dwellings, banks, halls, three graceful churches, hotels, and costly mills were consumed to ashes. So swiftly did the devastating element move onward that the inhabitants, having lost all else, had only to congratulate themselves that they had been able to escape with their lives. But the enterprising and energetic citizens of Virginia City began immediately to rebuild, even amidst the smoking embers of their former buildings. Much has already been accomplished, and during the coming summer nearly the whole will be rebuilt. 240 NEVADA, dki'^oi} dity. Carson City Is the capital of Nevada. It is pic- turesquely situated in Eagle Valley, which lies at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and, as our readers will remember, is surrounded by high hills. The city is on the west bank of the Carson River, and is laid out on the rectangular plan. The streets are all perfectly level, and coincide with the cardinal points of the compass. Those devoted to business are eighty feet wide, while the cross streets are sixty-five ; most of them are adorned with shade trees. Occupying the center of the best farming lands in the State, the city has a population of about five thousand. It was founded in 1858 by Major Ormsby and others, who, perceiving the natural advantages of the locality, bought the site and laid out the town. In early days a good deal of staging was done here, but the railroad has since superseded the stage coach, and deprived the city of that remunerative business. Being the State capital, all the State institutions are located here. These consist of the Capitol, the State Prison, the Orphan's Home, and the Carson Branch Mint. These buildings, which are all well adapted for their several uses, are built of native sandstone, quarried by the prisoners from an adjacent quarry; the mint, which is THE LAND OF SILVER. 24 1 a model of neatness, is tipped with granite. Besides being the State capital, it is also the county seat and main business center of Ormsby County, and has therefore several fine buildings, both public and private. Among these we may specify a large school- house, the finest in the State. The city is adorned by four churches — Episcopalian, Methodist, Pres- byterian, and Catholic — and has six hotels, and one daily and weekly paper. G(o]i Sin. This corporate mining town lies one mile south of Virginia City, of which it almost seems to form a part, so near do the houses of the two cities approximate. Lying only a little lower than its larger neighbor, it has an elevation of 6,000 feet. It is built on the side of a canon about a mile and a half long, and a quarter of a mile wide. On the east, the rear of the town is guarded by a series of cone-like hills, and beyond the cafion, for half its distance, the front is sheltered by high mountains, which rise abruptly to the west. Settled early in 1859, it was named and occupied before the existence of the great silver lode was known ; and its earlier mining operations were cen- 16 242 NEVADA. tered in what has since been known as Gold Hill proper — a " chimney " on the Comstock, containing not over eis:ht acres of surface. From this small area, an immense amount of gold was taken from the crop- pings and loose dirt. Several millions of dollars in silver were subsequently taken from the same place. Extending its operations beyond that restricted area, Gold Hill has now within its municipal limits one-half of the great Comstock Lode, and the cafion contains the works of some of the most noted silver mines in the world. Among those located in Gold Hill may be mentioned the Alpha, Bullion, Belcher, Empire, Imperial, Yellow Jacket, Crown Point, Overman, etc. The present population may be set down as about 7,000. Three churches, four public schools, and some excel- lent private educational establishments add to the solid attractions of the city, which has, also, Masonic and Odd Fellows' lodges in active operation. An excel- lent paper, the Gold Hill Daily News, is published here every evening. As in Virginia City, every pre- caution is taken against fire, the city maintaining three efficient fire companies. They have no engines, how- ever, as the city's unique water-works supply sufficient pressure without mechanical aid. This happy result is secured by excavating their reservoir out of the solid granite in one of the hills behind the town. Al- ways containing an ample supply of water, which is conducted by five and one-half inch pipes to hydrants in the city, 200 feet below, the pressure entirely obvi- THE LAND OF SILVER. 243 ates the need of engines. Gold Hill is not distinguished for fine residences. Indeed, the only one we saw was that of Senator Jones, which manifested a good deal of taste, both in grounds and in the construction of the dwelling. Stl^til\. Austin, the county seat of Lander County, is located in Percy Canon, near the summit of the Toyabee Range, about six miles from Reese River, and within a few miles of the geographical center of the State. The town was laid out in February, 1863. Prior to the advent of the Central Pacific Railroad, which passes at a distance of ninety-five miles to the north of the town, it commanded all the overland trafific, as the overland stage road passed through it; but this position is not now of any special advantage. Besides the county buildings, court-house, jail, etc., etc., it has a fine city hall, and three churches — Episcopal, Metho- dist Episcopal, and Roman Catholic ; these buildings are all substantially built of brick. It contains also a commodious school-house. The Masonic building here is jointly owned by the Masons and Odd Fellows ; it is quite handsome, and was erected at a cost of $1 7,000. Four years ago, the affairs of Austin did not wear an 244 np:vada, encouraging aspect. Some of the houses were out of re- pair, and many of them were empty ; the people were dis- couraged, and beheved their town was in its decadence. An improvement has since taken place, and at this writing there is not a more prosperous and cheerful town in Nevada. The old houses have all been re- paired and renovated, and new ones have been built. Many old residents who had left for other towns have returned, and great activity pervades every branch of business. All the mechanical pursuits usually con- nected with such a town are here fully represented ; but the principal occupation of the people of Austin is silver mining. In this industry they have always been energetic and enterprising. Indeed, it is to this fact that Austin owes the reputation of being the mother of the mining towns of Eastern Nevada. From her, as a center, prospectors sallied forth, dis- covering mines, organizing districts, and laying out towns. White Pine, Battle Mountain, and other im- portant places, owe their origin to this fact. In the days of the overland stage Austin had a population of about 5,000; now it is put down at not" quite 2,000. THE LAND OF SILVER. 245 f^iodie. Pioche is the county seat and chief business center of Lincohi County. It is largely dependent upon the mines in its vicinity, and has experienced all the fluc- tuations inseparable from such towns. Irregularly laid out on the side of the hill on which the principal mines are located, its streets conform to the course of the ravines, more regard being had to an easy grade than to uniformity or general direction. As in all hastily built towns, the buildings are mostly of one story. Prior to 1871, when nearly the whole town was swept away by fire, the houses were all built of wood ; but, since then, many substantial fire-proof stores have been erected. Up to 'j;^, the town was supplied with water by wagons which brought it a long distance from the valleys below. Within the last two years, however, arrangements have been made by which a plentiful sup- ply of excellent water is now obtained from springs in the mountains. Pioche's population, in 1870, was 1,144 — vide census returns; it is now estimated at 5,000. The town is graced by several churches and a prosperous public school. It has also a daily paper — the Record. It is situated about 230 miles south of Toano, a station on the Central Pacific Railroad, from which its main supplies are drawn. Pioche is connected with 246 NEVADA, the rest of the world by two telegraph lines, and two lines of stages : one connecting with the railroad, at Salt Lake City, the other by way of Hamilton. Hav- ing open valleys extending north to Toano, and south to the Colorado, (180 miles distant) travelers can reach Pioche from either place without needing to cross mountains. 5{iu^ekk. This young and prosperous town is the county seat of Eureka County. In 1869, its site was an unoccupied waste, and now it has over four thousand inhabitants. It is located near the mouth of a canon which, passing to the east of the rich mineral belt which has made the district, leads up to an easy pass through the Diamond Range of mountains. At the place where the town is built the canon is wide enough to afford plenty of level ground for a large town. Well supplied with the con- veniences obtaining in large cities. Eureka has two banks, several good hotels, and a daily paper, estab- lished in 1872. It is supplied with water conveyed in pipes from McCoy's water-works, which utilize the springs arising in the canon, above the town. Pre- eminently a smelting camp. Eureka looks like a manu- facturing town in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. Its THE LAND OF SILVER. 247 furnaces give out dense clouds of black smoke, redo- lent with the fumes of lead, arsenic, and other volatile elements. Constantly rolling over the town, these clouds deposit large quantities of soot, scales, and black dust, which, give it a somewhat somber aspect; but beneath this are real prosperity and justly sanguine expectations of a bright future. ^n w. Like most of the important towns of Nevada, Elko is a county seat— that of Elko County ; but, unlike most of them, it does not owe its existence to mines or mining. It is pre-eminently a creation of the Cen- tral Pacific Railroad, having been entirely in a state of nature prior to the construction of that line. On the ist of January, 1869, four canvas tents constituted the entire town ; but at this writing it contains the State University, three churches, a handsome court-house, a bank, and all the appliances needful for a large city. The town is pleasantly situated on the north bank of the Humboldt, in the center of a rich farming and mining region, and is the depot for an extensive range of country. Being the distributing point of a large quantity of freight, the railroad company have here 248 NEVADA, a number of commodious warehouses for the recep- tion and distribution of goods going to or coming from the surrounding country. Elko is a busy, prosperous place, and will, doubtless, benefit largely by the devel- opment of the Owyhee placer mines. Reno is neither a mining town nor a county seat, yet it deserves to be noticed among the important towns of Nevada. Bisected by the beautiful Truckee River, it is favorably situated at the junction of the Central Pacific and the Virginia and Truckee Rail- roads, a few miles from the western boundary of the State. Called into being, like Elko, by the Central Pacific Railroad, and situated in Washoe County, it was, for a while, the point from which passengers and freight were forwarded to Virginia City and her satel- lites. Deprived of this lucrative business by the Vir- ginia and Truckee Railroad, it still performs the same offices for Honey Lake, Susanville, and other points lying to the north. Although not a mining town in the restricted sense of that term, mining operations in gold, silver, and copper are carried on in its vicinity to a considerable extent. Extensive forests of timber and THE LAND OF SILVER. 249 several saw-mills create a good deal of business ; and, as the machine shops and warehouses of both railroad companies are located here, Reno is quite a busy little place. It has four churches, two newspapers, several hotels, and a population of about fifteen hundred. 8elrqor\t. In the town of Belmont we have another county seat — that of Nye County. Built up by the discovery and development of the mines in the district of the same name, it reached its zenith in 1868, when it be- came the most flourishing town in Eastern Nevada. A newspaper, hotels, assay offices, and banking and 'Other institutions obtaining in well-to-do towns, did a paying business ; but the failure of the Combination Company to make a success of their undertaking, to- gether with the discovery of the immensely rich mines of White Pine, almost denuded Belmont of its inhab- itants. During the last three years, however, its star is again in the ascendant, and at the present writing Belmont bids fair soon to take its former rank among the towns of Eastern Nevada. Its population is about fifteen hundred. 250 NEVADA, Wii]r(erqtiddk What is now comprised under the general name of Winnemucca is made up of two distinct towns, both bearing the common name, but distinguished as " old " and " new." The old town lies about 400 yards north of the new one, in a hollow on the south bank of the Humboldt. It has been eclipsed by the new one, and is now in a rather dilapidated condition, consisting of one main street, flanked by a few rickety one-story houses, and at right angles to the river. The town was laid but in 1863, when a good deal of energetic mining was done in and around Winnemucca Mountain — a conical hill on the north side of the Humboldt, in which many silver ledges were found, and which de- rives its name from an Indian chief who pointed out the deposit to the first prospectors who visited this region. For two years mining was continued with un- abated vigor ; but after 1865 the ore was too refractory to pay the heavy expenses then attending its reduction, and so mining was for the time abandoned. The town still lived, however, for it had created quite a business in " forwarding," and besides it was an important sta- tion on the stage road to Idaho. This state of things continued till the railroad came, when the old town was superseded and the new one called into being. THE LAND OF SILVER. 25 1 The new town occupies higher ground than the old one, and its main street, following the course of the railroad, is at right angles to the old town. Appro- priating the business of the old town, which the rail- road has largely increased, the new town is a place of considerable importance. At present, it has daily stages to Paradise Valley, Fort Scott, Boise and Silver Cities, Idaho. A railroad is projected to cover the same ground, and surveying parties are already in the field. A large amount of freight is forwarded from Winnemucca to interior points. Being the central point between the Truckee and Humboldt divisions of the Central Pacific Railroad, a number of that com- pany's officers make it their head-quarters, and these, together with the men employed in the round house, machine shops, etc., swell the number of railroad em- ployees living at Winnemucca to about two hundred men. 8ullioi\ville. The second place in importance in Lincoln County. It is situated at the north end of Meadow Valley. Here are located most of the mills for the reduction of the ores of Ely District. There is a good and never- failing supply of water for all the mills necessary to 252 NEVADA, be erected. There are several stores, hotels, saloons, hay yards, blacksmith shops, and private dwellings. It is eleven miles from Pioche, with which place it will soon be connected by railroad. Like Pioche, its busi- ness prospects depend entirely upon the success of the mines. 'i±kir[iltoi\. Hamilton, the county seat of White Pine County, is in the eastern part of the State, 100 miles south of Elko, on the Central Pacific Railroad, with which it connects at Elko Station by stage. This once pop- ulous town is now fast approaching abandonment. The foregoing cities and towns are the leading ones in Nevada, and the descriptions which we have given of them will enable our readers to form a correct idea of what Nevada's cities and towns are, although they may not have seen them. Of course, our descrip- tions do not embrace every town in the State; for just as Nevada has great rivers which are not rivers, and lakes which are not lakes, so has she several " cities " which are not cities. Without disparagement to these aspiring centers, we have to pass them by, not because we deem them unworthy of notice, but because our space is limited, and, also, because the descriptions THE LAND OF SILVER. 253 already given will afford our readers all the data they may need. Passing now from the cities of Nevada, we come naturally to consider their means of inter-communica- tion, viz., railroads. RAILROADS. Although Nevada is traversed by a number of mountain ranges, she is nevertheless well adapted for railroads, her valleys being comparatively level, and needing but little grading. Several railroads, some of them small, it is true, are already in operation in different parts of the State, and others are projected. Those in operation are great conveniences, as railroads are everywhere, and in Nevada they facilitate and cheapen the transportation of machinery and supplies, and so aid in developing the mineral wealth of the State. THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD. Chief among the railroads of Nevada, as, indeed, of the whole Pacific Slope, is the Central Pacific. This important section of the great overland line, in passing from California to Utah, crosses the northern part of Nevada. Entering the State on its western side, in company with the Truckee River, it pursues a north- easterly course to Humboldt Lake, beyond which it follows the tortuous course of the Humboldt River 256 NEVADA, as far as Deeth, when it resumes a straight north- easterly course, till it passes into Utah. In its course it develops a large extent of country, formerly little known, and not likely to be settled with- out railroad communication with the markets of the world. But six years have passed since the Central Pacific Railroad was completed, yet in that short time towns and settlements have sprung up along its course, and mining and agricultural interests have been fos- tered within the reach of its influence, so that Nevada is in a prosperous condition, and easily accessible to those seeking homes, pleasure, or opportunity for investment. THE VIRGINIA AND TRUCKEE RAILROAD. Next to the Central Pacific, the Virginia and Truckee Railroad is the most important in Nevada. Connect- ing Virginia City, Storey County, (via Carson City, Ormsby County) with the Central Pacific Railroad at Reno, Washoe County, it has not only directly added much assessable property to the counties through which it passes, but, indirectly, by giving increased activity to all kinds of business, and drawing to the district a number of business and laboring men, it has benefited the country amenable to its influence to a very large extent. The road is fifty-one miles in length, and was completed in September, 1872. Twenty-two trains are dispatched over this road daily, transporting about 200 THE LAND OF SILVER. 257 tons of freight, besides delivering at the various quartz mills over 600 tons of ore from the mines in Storey Count}^ These mills are mostly located on the bank of the Carson River, below the line of the railroad, and receive the ore in "chutes." Besides the freight and ore already mentioned, this road carries annually about 1,000,000 cords of wood and 20,000,000 feet of lumber for the use of the mines in Storey County; both the cord-wood and the lumber are brought from the coun- ties of Douglass and Ormsby. PIOCHE AND BULLIONVILLE RAILROAD. The company owning this railroad was incorporated under the laws of Nevada, for the purpose of con- structing a railroad from Pioche to Bullionville, a dis- tance of twelve miles, both termini being in Lincoln County. The company was incorporated in 1872. Its capital stock consists of two million dollars, divided into 200,000 shares at ten dollars each. The railroad was completed in 1873, and has been in active op- eration ever since. It is used principally to transport ore from the mines to the mills ; but it has also such other freight as is necessary for the reduction of the ores and the supply of a mining camp. EUREKA MILL RAILROAD. This is a narrow-gauge road. It is about a mile and an eighth in length, and was constructed by the Union 17 258 NEVADA, Mill Company to transport ore from the Virginia and Truckee Railroad to their mill. No locomotives are used on this line — the empty cars are pulled by horses, the full ones go down the line by their own weight. EUREKA AND PALISADE RAILROAD. The articles of association for the construction of this road were filed on the 19th of November, 1874, and set forth the purposes and objects of the company as follows : To build a narrow-gauge railroad from the Central Pacific Railroad, commencing at or near Palisade, on said road, and running thence southerly, through the counties of Eureka and Elko, to the town of Eureka. The road will be about eighty-two miles long, and have a capital stock of one million dollars. This road has been cons.tructed as far as the " chim- neys," a distance of about fifty miles, and is well stocked. Already its success as a paying road is well assured, and next spring it is expected to be completed to Eureka. These are all the railroads at present in Nevada; others will doubtless be constructed as development proceeds. But while Nevada has no more railroads than those we have mentioned, she has other appli- ances, which, in some respects, serve the same ends, viz : THE LAND OF SILVER. 259 FLUMES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF LUMBER, ETC. Within the last seven years, attention has been di- rected to the expense and difficulty of hauling timber, lumber, etc, from the forests in the mountains. The result of this attention is that V-shaped flames have been constructed on trestle-work, for the purpose of conveying all kinds of wood cheaply and easily from the mountain forests to the open plains. Where water is plentiful, as is usually the case, the lumber, cord- wood, or whatever it may be, is floated down the flume ; when water cannot be had the slope of the flume is increased, and gravity carries the wood, etc., down the flume. These flumes are found to work admirably, not only saving much trouble and expense, but utilizing remote and inaccessible forests whose high altitudes and pre- cipitous slopes preclude every other means of trans- portation. About forty miles of fluming are now in operation in Nevada. Somewhat analogous to the water flumes just de- scribed are the WATER DITCHES. These are for the purpose of conveying water, not for transportation purposes, but for motive power, irri- gation, and domestic use. A large amount of capital has been invested in their construction, and they are 26o NEVADA. many in number and various in size. For mining, milling, and agriculture, they are generally indispensa- ble, and are largely in favor. Closely connected with cities and their means of intercommunication, is the subject of manufactures — the industries of those cities ; to these we shall now briefly turn our attention. MANUFACTURES. As might be expected from the large preponderance of the mining interests in Nevada over every other, manufactures in that State have been somewhat neglected. But the all-engrossing claims of mining are not alone to blame for this. The close proximity of the well stocked markets of California, and the ease and promptness with which, since the completion of the railroad, all needed articles could be obtained, have had their effect in retarding the establishment of home manufactories. Yet, notwithstanding these and other hindrances, the subject of manufactures is now en gaging attention in Nevada, and beginnings are being made in various departments. Among these, perhaps, the first deserving of mention are the different foundries and iron works. lJi\{oi| Ifor\ Woi'k^. This establishment, like most of those we shall mention, is located in Virginia City — the chief center 262 NEVADA, of population in Nevada. It is prepared to manufac- ture and repair all kinds of mining machinery, imple- ments, etc. During 1874, it employed from forty to fifty men, and turned out an amount of work aggre- gating $200,000. Its furnaces have a capacity of fifteen tons per day, and it turns out castings of gray iron at six cents per pound; of soft iron at nine cents. ]B^ultor\ 5^oui\di'y. During the past year, this establishment has in- creased its capacity one-half, and added new and costly appliances to its machinery, such as a steam hammer, large lathes, etc., etc. New cupolas have been built, and the capacity of the moulding department doubled. From eighty to ninety hands have been steadily em- ployed, and the work done aggregates $350,000 per annum. G^oM Sill ^omidi^y. As its name imports, this establishment is at Gold Hill, one mile south of Virginia City. It has been in THE LAND OF SILVER. 263 operation since 1862, and, like the others already de- scribed, has facilities for turning out all kinds of iron work. It employs about sixty men. In connection with these facts about the foundries of Nevada, it may be useful to add that coal costs forty-six dollars per ton, and pig iron from seventy-two to eighty-seven dollars per ton, delivered at the found- ries. Besides these foundries, there are several boiler- makers' shops in the same locality. Jeweli^y ki\d ^ilyeiSvki^e. It is eminently proper that in the " Land of Silver ' there should be an establishment for convertinor silver and gold into articles for the household and the person. Such an establishment is owned by Mr. Fred- erick, of Virginia City, who has recently fitted up a large workshop with every needed appliance necessary for the manufacture of silverware of all kinds. f{edudtioi\ Wotk^. Ores are smelted in Nevada as well as anywhere in the world. The loss does not exceed two per cent. The 264 NEVADA, expense, however, is very great. One item alone — charcoal — costs from twenty-eight to thirty-three cents per bushel, and about thirty-five bushels are required for the smelting of every ton of ore. From six to eight tons of ore produce one ton of bullion, the cost of which, as reckoned by the Eureka Consolidated Company, is as follows : PER TON. Cost of extracting ores in 187 1 $5 52 Cost of smelting ores in 1 87 1 ' 1 9 60 Cost of extracting ores in 1872, delivered at the furnaces 7 84 Cost of smelting ores in 1872 18 33^ Sofkx. The process of manufacturing borax for commerce from the salts found in this State is exceedingly simple. Large tanks, each of 1,000 gallons' capacity, are ar- ranged upon a platform elevated a few feet above ground, so that the solution with which they are filled may be easily drawn off into other tanks. They are open on top, to allow of their being filled with crude material and water necessary to dissolve it. These tanks are first filled with water, which is heated to the boiling point by means of pipes connecting them with THE LAND OF SILVER. 265 the steam boiler. These pipes are so arranged that the difference between the density of cold and warm water produces a circulation of the water from the tank to the boiler, and back again. When sufficiently heated, the circulation is stopped, and the tanks filled with as much of the crude material as the water will dissolve. The opening at the top is then closed, and steam jets are turned on into the bottom of the tanks, which keeps the material in motion and heated until the borates are thoroughly dissolved. It requires about two hours to complete this operation. The sand and earthy materials are then allowed to settle. The salts remaining in the water are drawn off into other tanks, each containing 400 gallons. They are then precipi- tated and crystallized upon the bottom and sides of the tanks. As there are other salts besides those of borax, such as sulphate, chloride, and carbonate of soda, and some potash salts, the same process is repeated on the material thus obtained, which gives, when crystallized a second time, the borax of commerce. ¥^i)i|ei'y. We were told, while on a visit to Reno, that an ex- tensive tannery is to be established at that place on the Truckee River. Such an enterprise as this de- 266 NEVADA. serves encouragement. It will save to the State the difference between a raw product and a manufactured staple ; it will save transportation both ways ; and it will give employment to men, which in turn swells the product of every surrounding industry. Social and Educational Condition. However great the wealth or varied the resources of a country may be, its social and educational condi- tion must ever be of the first importance to every right- thinking person. No matter what the attractions in other respects, unless its people are orderly, law-abid- ing, and able to offer families seeking homes in their midst all the elevating and refining influences of churches, schools, etc., etc., it is no country for res- pectable people. People who will benefit a State by settling in it — and they are the only people that any State wants — desire not only the opportunity of mak- ing money, but also intercourse with intelligent neigh- bors, and facilities for educating and bringing up their families in a proper way. In order, therefore, to answer the queries which will doubtless suggest them- selves to the most of our readers, this chapter is made as full as our limited space permits. 26S NEVADA, ^dudktioi\. The system of public instruction now in operation in the State of Nevada was established by the Terri- torial Legislature of 1861, and in its principal features> as then established, remains unchanged. Its originat- ors wisely consulted the most successful systems of the older States, and were enabled to lay foundations which probably need not be disturbed for years to come. Its scope is wide-reaching and beneficent. It aims to furnish the child of every citizen in the State an oppor- tunity to acquire the elements of an English education. To accomplish this, it proposes to equip and sustain a free public school, at least six months of each year, in every neighborhood. To this end, a permanent fund has been established ; an annual tax is levied ; State, county, and district officers are elected ; school-houses are built and furnished, and teachers are employed at public ex- pense. The permanent school fund has been increased from one hundred and four thousand dollars to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. From the general school fund there have been distributed among the counties, during the past year, nearly eight thousand dollars more than was distributed in 1872. More than $50,000 THE LAND OF SILVER. 269 have been expended in the erection and enlargement of school-houses. Thirteen new districts have been formed, and thirty-nine additional teachers employed. The number of graded schools has been increased. The school population is larger by over thirteen hund- red children. The reported proportion of the number of children enrolled as attendants at school to the number enumerated by census marshals, has been in- creased from seventy-seven to eighty-four per cent. The average amount of tuition furnished, always larger than in most other States, has been maintained, and its average quality, believed to be always equal to that of other States, has been materially improved. Sub- joined are principal statistics for 1874: AMOUNT IN STATE SCHOOL FUND. In State bonds. $104,000 00 In United States bonds 146,000 00 Total $250,000 00 Increase since 1873 146,000 00 Amount distributed from general school fund 30,5 10 79 Increase 7)897 05 Amount expended in the several counties 124,301 64 Increase 25,832 82 Surplus of school moneys on hand at the close of the year 21,879 68 Total number of children reported as at- tending public schools 3.846 2 yO NEVADA, Total number of children reported as at- tending private schools 680 Total number of schools 108 These schools are so distributed that there is not a hamlet so obscure, not a region so remote, but that its children may receive the bounty of a free education. During the last school year, 1874, the results in attend- ance, and every other essential particular, as appears from the report of the Superintendent of Public In- struction, were unsurpassed by those of any former year. ^tkte lJr\ivei'^ity. The State University, as described in section four of Article XI of the Constitution of Nevada, "is hereby located at the town of Elko, in the State of Nevada, provided that the people of said town do, within one year from the passage hereof, convey, or cause to be conveyed, to the Board of Regents of the State of Ne- vada, in trust, for the use and benefit of said Univer- sity, title to a tract of land of not less than twenty acres, eligibly located within said town, having thereon at least one building, furnished and ready for occu- pancy, suitable for the uses of a preparatory depart- ment of the University, costino^ not less than ^io,coo, THE LAND OF SILVER. 27 1 and adapted to the accommodation of not less than one hundred pupils." In accordance with the above Act of the Lesfisla- ture of 1873, the citizens of Elko deeded the required tract of land, and erected a fine building for the pre- paratory school. The Regents of the University em- ployed D. R. Sessions, Esq., as principal, and the stud- ies were commenced in October, 1874, with twelve students on the roll. C]\xn'clL{ >ikttef^. The denominations actively engaged in church work in Nevada are the Episcopalians, the Methodist Epis- copal Church, the Presbyterians, the Congregational- ists, the Baptists, the Roman Catholics, and the A/oj'-- mons. Subjoined we give particulars of each. EPISCOPALIANS. One bishop; number of clergymen, 8; number of churches, 10; communicants, 268; value of church property, ^74,200 ; number of Sabbath-school teach- ers, 91 ; Sabbath-school scholars, 1,124. P. S. — Since the above was prepared, their elegant church in Virginia City was destroyed by fire. The 272 NEVADA, Methodists and Catholics lost their churches on the same day, October i8th, 1875. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Ministers, (in connection with the Nevada Confer- ence) 18; number of local preachers, 16; number of members in full connection, 515; number of proba- tioners, 60 ; number of churches, 1 1 ; estimated value of church property, ^62,100; number of parsonages, 16; value, $14,150; number of Sabbath-schools, 20; officers and teachers, 149; scholars of all ages, 939. PRESBYTERIANS. Number of ministers, 4 ; number of churches, 4 ; members, 168; estimated value of church property, $25,000 ; number of Sabbath-schools, 4 ; number of teachers, about 35 ; number of Sabbath-school schol- ars, about 400. CONGREGATIONALISTS. The Congregationalists have but one fold and one shepherd in the Silver State. The Congregational Church in Reno was organized in January, 1871. Number of members, 20 ; Sabbath-schools, i ; number of Sabbath-school scholars, 75 ; value of church prop- erty $2,500. THE LAND OF SILVER. 273 BAPTISTS. Number of churches, 3 ; ministers, 3 ; members in the State, 74; Sunday-schools, i. The vakie of church property at Virginia City is about ^15,000. A new church is being erected at Reno, which is fast ap- proaching completion ; cost, including lot, about 5^1,500. OTHER DENOMINATIONS. We have failed to obtain accurate statistics for the year ending December 31, 1875, of the following de- nominations : Roman Catholics, Liberal Churches, and Mormons. 8ei\evolei\t S^^odi^tior\^. ODD FELLOWS. The R. W. Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F. of the State of Nevada, was organized in January, 1867. A conven- tion of Past Grands assembled at Odd Fellows' Hall, January 21st, 1867, for the purpose of instituting a Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. R. W. Grand Representative D. Norcross, of 18 2 74 NEVADA, the Grand Lodge of California, holding a commission as D. D. Grand Sire, called the convention to order, and appointed P. G. Master J. L. Van Bokkelen to examine the P. G.'s present in the P. M. of the Grand Lodge Degree. From the Grand Secretary's report to the Grand Lodge we gather the following synopsis of the con- dition of Odd Fellowship in the State for the year ending June, 1875. Number of chartered lodges in the jurisdiction, twenty-five, with one lodge acting under dispensation. Members admitted by initiation, 257; admitted by card, 97; reinstated, 20. Total, 374. Withdrawn by card, 281 ; ceased member- ship, 96; expelled, 9; deceased 19. Total, 405. Total membership, 1,943. Membership per last report, 1,974. Decrease during the year, 31. This decrease is ac- counted for by the withdrawal from this jurisdiction of the Utah Lodges, which at last report had 194 members. Take from the number the apparent de- fcrease during the year of 163 members. The relief afforded for the same time, from January ist to De- cember 31st, 1874, has been sufficient to demonstrate the practical benefits arising from the Order. Number of brothers relieved, 2or ; number of widowed families relieved, 6. Amount paid for relief of brothers, $9,233 ; amount paid for relief of widowed families, $633.40 ; for burying the dead, $1,671.10; special relief, $724.25. Total, $12,261.75. Total amount of annual receipts, $55,535.44. The above figures speak volumes for the THE LAND OF SILVER. 275 zeal and liberality of the membership. A comparison of the reports to the G. L. U. S. shows that this juris- diction, in proportion to its membership, pays larger dues and proportionately a greater amount of benefits than any other lodge subordinate to the G. L. U. S. Of this the I. O. O. F. of Nevada may well be proud, for nowhere are dues more cheerfully contributed or benefits more lavishly and promptly paid. FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS. The Grand Lodge was organized in the year 1864. Number of lodges in the State, 18. Master Masons, 1.345. There are a number of other secret organizations in the State, such as Red Men, Knights of Pythias, Good Templars, Sons of Temperance, etc. Wkge^. So close is the intercourse between the various in- stitutions just treated of and the wages men receive for their labor, that we cannot do better than conclude this chapter with as full and correct a list of the wages paid in Nevada as it has been in our power to make. As will be apparent from the returns we present, wages 276 NEVADA, are higher in Nevada than in any other State of the Union. The figures indicate the rates obtaining in Storey County — the most active industrial center in the State : Superintendents of mines, per.month $300 to $ i ,000 00 Foremen of mines, per day 6 00 to 10 00 Underground foremen, per day. ... 5 00 to 6 00 Miners, (standard) per shift of six, eight, and ten hours • 4 00 Top carmen, per shift of eight and ten hours 4 00 Surface laborers, per day 3 50 Superintendents of mills, per month 400 to 600 00 Foremen, per day 6 00 Amalgamators, per day 4 00 Tank shovelers, per day 3 50 Battery feeders, per day 3 5^ Laborers around, per day 3 00 Chief engineers, per day 8 00 to 10 oo Engine drivers, per day 5 00 to 6 00 Firemen, per day 4 00 Boss carpenters, per day 6 00 to 8 00 Shop carpenters, per day 5 00 House carpenters, per day 5 00 Blacksmiths, per day 5 00 to 6 00 Strikers, per day „ 4 00 Moulders, per day 5 50 to 6 00 Boilermakers, per day 5 00 to 6 00 Machinists, per day 5 00 to 6 00 Laborers, per day ■ 3 50 Teamsters, per month, with board . . 60 00 to 80 00 Painters, per day 5 00 to 6 00 THE LAND OF SILVER. 277 Grainers, per day $7 oo to 8 oo Paper-hangers, per day 6 00 Upholsterers, per day 6 00 Barbers, per day 6 00 Bakers, per day 6 00 Confectioners, per day 6 50 to 7 00 Cooks, per month 75 00 to 100 00 Waiters, per month 50 00 Saloon waiters, per month 50 00 to 60 00 Board, per week 8 00 Board and lodging, per week 9 00 to 10 00 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. We here introduce biographical sketches of Sena- tors Jones and Sharon, and our only apology for doing so, and limiting ourselves to them, is, that they are representative men of the Silver State, having been made so not only by their personal wealth, but also by the voice of the people. ]Sfevkdh., The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Hay, Breckonshire, South Wales, in the year 1829. His father, with his family, emigrated to the United States in the year 1831, and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. His boyhood and early youth were spent in Cleveland, under the paternal roof, and in the enjoyment of such 2 8o NEVADA, advantages as an intelligent home and the common schools of Ohio at that time might afford. By close and diligent application to his studies, he was at the age of eighteen far in advance of many enjoying greater educational advantages. He finished his edu- cation at Andrew Freeze's Academy, where he mas- tered the English branches, and studied some of the modern and ancient classics. On the 26th day of September, 1849, he sailed for California, in the bark Eiireka, the first and only vessel built in Lake Erie which came direct to this coast, arriv- ing in the "City of the Golden Gate" on the 17th of June, 1850. Soon after his arrival in San Francisco he went to the mines, where he remained for years. In the mining region he was known as of an active, generous, liberal, and social turn, but withal thought- ful and studious ; of diligence in the improvement of such reading as came within his reach, and of aspira- tions for something better than plodding mediocrity. His political career began at the outbreak of the rebellion. During this time he represented Trinity and Shasta Counties in the State Senate, with entire satisfaction to his constituents. In 1867, he was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor, on the Republican ticket, but failed of an election. Soon after the defeat of the Republican party in 1867, he was elected superintendent of the Crown Point and Kentuck mines, in Nevada. He accepted the position, and made Gold Hill his home, and in THE LAND OF SILVER. 261 January, 1873, he was elevated to the dignity of United States Senator. When the new Senator from Nevada took his seat, for the first time, in the ilkistrious body of which he was a member, he was but Kttle known to his present official associates, and it is not said that any extrava- gant conjectures were indulged in any quarter as to his future efficiency and influence. A single masterly speech, on " Gold and Currency," attracted the atten- tion of the whole nation. All who had the pleasure of listening to his speech concur in the opinion that it was one of the most sensible, solid, and comprehen- sive exposes of the complex fiscal condition of the re- public that has yet been made, and the wholesome and practical views embodied therein are daily becoming more and more popular all over the land. Xevkdk The subject of this sketch was born on the 9th of January, 1821, at Smithfield, Jefferson County, Ohio. His father was a substantial farmer, and was a descend- ant of some of the earliest Quaker settlers of Penn- sylvania. His boyhood and early youth were spent at 282 NEVADA, home, and in the enjoyment of the village school. At the age of seventeen the passion for travel came upon him. Soon he purchased an interest in a flatboat, and started for New Orleans. His experience in this line of business was unfortunate, and he returned to his home. After working for three years on the old homestead, in which his father gave him an interest, he entered Athens College, where he remained until he was twenty-three years of age. About this time he began the study of law, reading for the first six months at home, and the next six months in the office of Edwin M. Stanton, afterwards Secretary of War. Impelled thereto by failing health, he went west as far as St. Louis, having in his pocket letters of introduction to Hon. Edward Bates, of that city. After continuing his legal studies for a while longer, he was examined by Judge Krum, of St. Louis, and admitted to practice in the courts of Missouri. His health remained poor, and he was obliged to abandon the pursuit of law entirely. In 1844, he formed a mercantile partnership with his brother, Dr. John K. Sharon, and settled at Car- rolton, Illinois. He remained there until the first hectic flush of the California goJd fever appeared, in 1848. Early in the spring of 1849, he started for California, across the plains, stopping for a while at Salt Lake City. In August of the same year he arrived at Sacramento, THE LAND OF SILVER. 283 and immediately purchased a stock of goods and com- menced business. The floods of 1849 and 1850 swept away his place of business, but did not ruin him en- tirely. In 1850, he came and settled in the city by the Golden Gate, and began buying and selling real estate. Since his first arrival in San Francisco, he has been thoroughly identified with the interests of the city. He continued in the real estate business until 1864, at which time he had accumulated some ^150,000. In the same year, 1864, the Board of Brokers was organized in San Francisco. Mr. Sharon became a speculator in stocks, and in six months had lost all the property he had spent so many years in acquiring. Soon after his serious loss of property, he asked em- ployment of the Bank of California, and was sent to Virginia City, Nevada, to adjust some outstanding claims for that institution. He afterwards suggested to the bank that an agency, or branch, should be estab- lished there. This was done, and he was placed at its head. He held this important position for many years, with credit to himself and immense profit to the parent house in San Francisco. Mr. Sharon is recognized as a man of strong com- mon sense, possessing more than the average of nat- ural ability. The construction of the Truckee and Virginia Railroad well illustrates his business tact and sound judgment. The mills and hoisting works in and about the Comstock consume an immense amount 284 NEVADA, of wood. This was hauled by wagons to Virginia, and was a large item in the running expenses of the mines. He saw at a glance that the transportation of the wood would more than pay the expenses of operating the road. He also saw that a large source of revenue would be derived from the carrying of ore from the mines to the mills on the Carson River. He secured a subsidy of $500,000 in aid of the road, constructed as much as the $500,000 paid for, then mortgaged the entire road for the amount necessary for its comple- tion. In this way the road was built without costing Mr. Sharon a cent, and he still remains the owner of one-half of the road, and rates his interest at $2,500,000. His success as a business man is due mainly to his tact and excellent management. He is quick to perceive, and as quick to act. He never gives advice unless he means it, and none can complain of his using them as means to his own advancement, financially or otherwise. Mr. Sharon is largely identified with the prosperity of San Francisco, owning the Cosmopolitan Hotel and other valuable pieces of property, as well as the Palace Hotel, probably the largest and grandest hotel in the world. This magnificent building sprang into exist- ence in the short space of eighteen months, and con- sumed in its building and furnishing the sum of $3,500,000. Mr. Sharon is also connected with the building up of a new town on the Poet Tract, in San Mateo County. THE LAND OF SILVER. 285 His important private enterprises have kept him much out of the field of active poHtics. He was elected to the city council of San Francisco in 1851, at a time when the city had large landed interests at stake. In 1856, he assisted in organizing the Republican party, and was active in support of the Union cause during the rebellion. He purchased the first seven per cent. United States bonds offered in this market, con- trary to the advice of many, who prophesied that they would never be paid. On the 22d of January, 1874, the Nevada Legisla- ture elected him to represent the State in the high- est councils of the nation. At the time of the suspension of the Bank of Cali- fornia, in August, 1875, Mr. Sharon, with a generosity which will remain fresh in the memory of this people, promptly threw himself into the breach, saying " he would sacrifice every dollar of his wealth rather than see the memory of his friend Ralston tarnished."' Through his energy and perseverance, in a great measure, the resuscitation of this grandest of California banking institutions was carried to its happy and suc- cessful issue. If we may judge from his past suc- cessful life, we predict for him a bright and brilliant future as a Senator. APPENDIX. APPENDIX. The following reports came to hand too late to be inserted in their proper places, and as they are of spe- cial interest, we give them here. dklifoi^rii^. The annual report of the California Mining Com- pany for the year ending January i8th, 1876, is as follows : superintendent's report. During the past year the mine has been prospected as follows : On the 1,300-foot level a drift has been run from our southern to our northern boundary, west of the ore- vein, connecting with the openings of the Ophir mine. 19 290 NEVADA, Crosscut No. i has been run east 213 feet on the southern boundary to the pre-vein. This drift has been extended north in the ore -vein 100 feet, connecting with the winze sunk in the ore-body, to the 1,400-foot level. The ore found thus far on this (1,300-foot) level has been of moderate quality, but that found in sink- ing the winze has been good from level to level. On the 1,400-foot level a drift has been run west of the ore-vein the whole length of the mine, connecting with the Ophir mine on the north. Crosscuts Nos. i, 2, and 3 have also been extended from this drift across the ore vein. A lateral drift has also been run north from our southern boundary, in the ore -vein, 560 feet, and will soon be connected with the workings of the Ophir mine. A large amount of valuable ore is already devel- oped on this level, but it is less regular than on the levels below. On the 1,500-foot level a drift has been run from our southern to our northern boundary, west of the ore-vein. Crosscuts have been run from this drift 100 feet apart, making six in all. The ore thus developed shows a width of from 75 to 208 feet. Crosscuts Nos. i and 2 have crossed the ore-vein. Crosscuts Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6 have not yet been extended across the ore -vein, and its width is yet unknown. A lateral drift has been run in the ore-vein from the southern to the northern boundary, crossing all of these crosscuts and intercept- ing the openings of the Ophir mine. The ore passed THE LAND OF SILVER. 29 1 through the entire length of this drift, except the north- ern 70 feet, has been of exceedingly high grade, assaying for weeks, during its construction, a thousand dollars ($1,000) per ton. Three double winzes have been raised in the ore-body from this level in crosscuts Nos. 1,2, and 3 to the 1,400-foot level, all passing through ore of excellent quality. Four winzes have also been sunk from the lateral drift in crosscuts Nos. i, 2, 3, and 5, to the 1,550-foot level, all of them passing through ore of high grade the whole distance. The developments on this level disclose a very large amount of exceedingly rich ore. On the 1,550-foot level, the main drift has been ex- tended north 400 feet from our southern boundary to crosscut No. 5, in the ore-body, passing through ex- ceedingly rich ore, and the face of this drift is yet in ore of this quahty. This main drift intersects all of the winzes sunk from the 1,500-foot level. In cross- cut No. I, the ore-body has been developed to a width of 130 feet, and the ore-vein is not yet crossed. Crosscut No. 3 has been extended sixty-five feet, and neither east nor west walls have yet been reached. Crosscut No. 5 has been developed seventy-five feet, and both ends of the drift are in high-grade ore, as neither the east nor west walls have yet been reached. Between crosscuts Nos. 2 and 3 a double winze has been sunk to the depth of 128 feet, through ore of ex- cellent quality the entire distance, and terminates in ore of the same richness. Another winze has been 292 NEVADA, sunk 320 feet south of our southern boundary to a depth of 147 feet. No crosscuts have been run from the bottom of these winzes. The developments made by these winzes prove the continuity at these lower depths of the same ore-body which exists on the levels above, with an appreciation in the quality of the ore which must be of great width. The sinking of these winzes has been temporarily discontinued on account of the increase of water and our limited means of hoisting. This difficulty will soon be obviated by the drift that is being run on the 1,700-foot level of the Consolidated Virginia mine. This level is but partially explored. The ore found is of better quality than that on the levels above,, and I have no doubt but that the ore-body is of much greater width. My efforts, the past year, have been to open the mine as thoroughly as possible on all of the levels, and, at the same time, to take out as little ore as pos- sible. The ore thus removed (5,123 4-5 tons) has been daily hoisted, weighed, assayed, and passed to our credit by the Consolidated Virginia mine, we not then having the mills to reduce it. All of our levels are connected with the Consoli- dated Virginia mine on the south, and with the Ophir mine on the north ; also by the various winzes referred to, which thoroughly ventilate the mine, and make it cool and pleasant. THE LAND OF SILVER. -VO At the C. & C. shaft, buildings complete in every respect have been erected, and machinery for pump- ing and hoisting has been put in place, and is now in full operation. In addition to the main building there is a blacksmith-shop, a rope-house, two large carpenter- shops, and one machine-shop. The carpenter-shops are supplied each with an engine and machinery — one of these shops being intended for the use of the Con- solidated Virginia mine, and the other for the Califor- nia mine. The machine-shop is fitted up with engines, lathes, tools, etc., one side of which is for the use of the Con- solidated Virginia mine, and the other side for the California mine. For security against all fires, the works are surrounded by hydrants, with a good supply of fire-hose ; and there is an ample supply of water under a very heavy pressure. A large area of ground immediately surrounding the site of this shaft has been secured, having been purchased at a heavy outlay. This shaft is situated 1,040 feet east of the Consoli- dated Virginia shaft. It is now sunk with three compartments to the depth of 988 feet. The cost of this joint shaft to January ist, 1876, was $436,183.13. A drift is now being run east from the 1,500-foot level of the mine, which will connect with the C. & C. shaft. It will reach that shaft and be in readiness for the 2 94 NEVADA, transportation of ore as soon as the shaft is sunk to that depth. Two hundred and eighty-eight (288) feet remain to be sunk to reach this drift. After this connection is made with the C. & C. shaft, I feel safe in saying that our hoisting capacity will be 2,000 tons per day, and as to the supply of ore, we have now in sight in the mine a sufficient quantity to last for a long period, secretary's report — RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JANUARY i8tH, 1876. Receipts : Amount due from Virginia office, last statement, since paid $1,113 74 Amount due from Bank of California, last statement, since paid 574 12 Amount received January i8th, 1876, from sale of ore 453,060 46 Nevada Bank, overdraft 28,247 yj >2,996 09 Disbursements : J. C. Flood, amount due him, since paid $80,500 00 Freight 220 10 Expenses 475^ 42 Advertising loi 25 Books and stationery I1254 90 Salaries and wages . .^ 87,473 50 Carried forward , . , $1 74,306 1 7 THE LAND OF SILVER. 295 Brought fonyard $i 74,306 1 7 Supplies 1 2,745 56 Title 25,000 00 Hoisting 2,68 1 50 Contribution 500 00 Virginia office expenses 210 60 Interest and exchange 37^35^ 59 Sutro Committee 129 00 Survey 600 00 Taxes ' ^77 75 Legal expenses 10,950 00 C. & C. shaft 218,091 62 Cash on hand 147 30 $482,996 09 REPORT OF PROF. R. E. ROGERS TO THE DIRECTOR OF U. S. MINTS, ON THE CONSOLIDATED VIRGINIA AND CALIFORNIA MINES, NOVEMBER I5TH, 1 875. Sir : In compliance with your request of Novem- ber ist, 1875, that I would furnish you with a report of my examination of the Consolidated Virginia and California mines, on the Comstock Lode, at Virginia City, Storey County, Nevada, with my conclusions as to their probable total yield of gold and silver, based upon their present explored extent, and the quality of their ores as ascertained by assays, I would respect- fully make the following statement : My explorations through these mines were accom- plished during two prolonged visits, made on separate 290 NEVADA, days ; one in company with yourself, and the other under the guidance of the superintendent. This was a work not merely of a general or superficial charac- ter, but of careful and laborious investigation, in which all the galleries and crosscuts on the different accessi- ble levels were critically inspected and scrutinized, with reference to the body of ore that might be within view, and its appearance in point of quality. Having an attendant along who carried bags for their reception, I gathered at frequent intervals, and labeled them, an extensive collection of specimens for assays. The following brief description of the position of these mines, which lie in the same general line of ore- body that constitutes what is commonly known as the Comstock Lode, may aid the mind in forming a bet- ter idea of their nature, and will serve to explain the principles which have guided the engineers and super- intendent in laying off the work for exploring their ex- tent and mining the ore. The surface of the whole country around Virginia City is rough, broken, and hilly. At this immediate locality there is a long, lofty range extension of the Washoe mountains, at places many hundred feet in ele- vation above the plain, whose steep slope to the valley below faces toward the east, and whose general trend is north and south. About midway up the slope, the croppings of the ore of these and of many other mines of the lode are visible. THE LAND OF SILVER. 297 The first excavations which were made in the early workings here were upon these croppings, but in due time it was discovered that the ore-body dipped toward the east, in a measure parallel with the surface of the mountain side, though having no physical nor geologi- cal relation to that superficial outline. As a conse- quence of this discovery, the present shaft, known as that of the Consolidated Virginia mine, was sunk at a point down the slope, many hundred feet to the east of its outcroppings. It is from thi? shaft that all the ore from the Con- solidated Virginia and California mines has been lifted, until the recent fire, which destroyed the hoist- ing machinery. The slope of the ore-body of these mines is from 40° to 47° toward the east, and its trend or line of length .is nearly north and south, or in the direction of the line of the containing mountain-like range. This being the relative position of the vertical shaft to the sloping body of ore, it is evident that no ore would be looked for in the descent until several hund- red feet had been reached. In point of fact, 1,300 feet of rock were passed through before any horizontal drifting was done to intercept the ore. Ore of profitable richness having been met with at this level, (the 1,300-foot level, as it is called) the shaft was sunk to the depth of one hundred feet more, and a similar horizontal drift run in to test the continuance of the ore. Finding that the ore-body on this (the 298 NEVADA, 1,400-foot) level was undiminished in abundance, and richer than that on the 1,300-foot level, the shaft was carried down a second hundred feet, with a view to ex- plore a 1,500-foot level ; and finally, under the encour- agement afforded in every successive foot of descent, a double winze has been put down recently in the California mine, to a depth of 1 10 feet below the 1,550- foot level. The shafts having been sunk successfully to the depths here indicated, the principle adopted for ex- ploring and probing the extent of Cre on each level was to run galleries and crosscuts. The extent to which this judicious system has been carried is in- dicated on the four certified maps of the workings of these mines, accompanying the statement furnished to you by James G. Fair, superintendent of the two mines. In the brief narrative of the progressive develop- ment of the mines above given, it is seen that by this only safe and satisfactory mode of testing the length, depth, and width of the ore-body, it has been rendered possible to block out, in cubes of a hundred square feet each, the metal-bearing mass, so far as penetrated to view, and to thus reach an approximate estimate of the probable aggregate ultimate product of gold and silver from these mines. Since the maps are constructed to a scale, they exhibit quite clearly the quantity of ore that has been removed from the mines, relatively to the amount that THE LAND OF SILVER. 299 remains untouched, assuming that the system of cross- cuts which penetrates the ore-body gives correct data for such conclusion. In speaking of these mines, they have been referred to here in language common to both. The line which divides them is only a property boundary, there being two companies, but under one management. The ore is of the same character, and the east and west walls identical for them both. The claim of the Consolidated Virginia mine is 710 feet long, and that of the California mine is 600 feet. The explored width of the ore-mass on the 1,500-foot level averages 250 feet. . The west boundary wall is that of the mountain rock, syenite. The east boundary, which can be scarcely termed a wall, is ferruginous clay. The ore-body itself consists of a semi-crystalline, somewhat granular matrix of quartz, sometimes com- pact, but more commonly friable and easily crushed, crossed and coated over with whitish clay, containing the precious metals associated with several of the base metals, and a variety of other substances. The nodular and rocky masses scattered through the lode — at times of magnitude to form what is termed a " horse " — is a potash feldspar, and named by the miners porphyry. The following may be stated as the composition of the ore-mass : 300 NEVADA, . Quartz, the largest constituent, constituting the matrix or " gangue." Gold, metallic. Silver, metallic. Silverglance, or sulphite of silver. Polybasite (silver, copper, iron, zinc, antimony, arsenic, sulphur). Stephenite (silver, copper, iron, antimony, sulphur). Blende (zinc, sulphur). Galena (silver, lead, sulphur). Horn silver in small amount (silver chlorine). Alumina (as clay). Carbonate of lime. Sulphate of lime. In this ore the gold is in the metallic state. The silver is metallic, and also as sulphide and chloride, and likewise in the complex mineral forms above named. The iron, copper, lead, zinc, antimony, and arsenic are in a condition of combination with sulphur, as sul- phides of those metals. The silica and clay are simply in mechanical asso- ciation with the above. At the works of the mines, as well as at the mills, all the ore delivered is sampled as fairly as possible, that the averages may be obtained for assays, for the purpose of adjusting the accounts between the mines and the mills. With the data in our possession, and the maps be- THE LAND OF SILVER. 3OI fore US, I may venture upon the following calculations, and estimate the total ultimate product of the gold and silver of the ore-body of these two mines. On an inspection of the official surveys exhibiting the galleries and crosscuts, it would seem fair to con- clude that, with proper allowances, the ore-body equals an amount which, taken at the actual assays, would give as the ultimate yield of the two mines $300,000,000 ; but to guard against a chance of over-estimating, I take the assays at one-half that ascertained, which will place the production at not less than $150,000,000. With a view to make due allowance for interruptions to the continuity of the body of ore which lies between the 1,500 and 1,400-foot levels, the whole of the ore contained between the 1,400 and 1,300-foot levels is thrown in, and not embraced in the estimate. It may also be stated that the very promising ore develop- ments below the 1,550-foot level, the assays of which run very high, have also been omitted in the calcula- tions. 8elcli er, From the annual report of the Secretary, for the year ending January 24th, 1876, we select the following items: 302 NEVADA, The receipts from bullion for the year 1875 were $3,383,874. Disbursements, $2,846,718, exclusive of a dividend of $312,000 paid in January, 1875. Cash on hand on the ist of January, 1876, $478,712, against $242,079 a year ago. There were 34,117 tons of ore worked, averaging $28.43 P^^ ton. dki'^oi\ ]V[ir\t. From the report of Dr. Linderman, Director of U. S. Mints, we present the following statement of the op- erations of the Carson Mint for the fiscal year ending- June, 1875: Gold and silver of domestic production deposited $5.570'968 32 Gold coinao^e : 98,497 double eagles. . .$1,969,940 1 1,924 eagles. 1 19,240 20,000 half eagles 101,915 130,804 pieces, valued at 2,191,095 00 THE LAND OF SILVER. 303 Silver coinage 1,841,700 trade dollars ^1,841,700 334,000 half-dollars 167,000 1,316 twenty-cent pieces 658 885,000 dimes 88,500 3,062,016 pieces, valued at 2,097,858 00 Gold bars manufactured : Fine bars $83,376 61 Silver bars manufactured : Fine bars $344,728 10 Unparted bars. 798,821 70 Total silver 1,143,549 80 Total: gold and silver $1,226,926 41 Reveille f)Wi6t. This district is located in Nye County, 135 miles south of Eureka, and about seventy miles southeast of Belmont. There are a number of promising mines in this district. THE GILA MINE. The lode, of which the Gila claim forms a longitu- dinal section, courses along the easterly slope of the 304 NEVADA, Reveille Mountains in a generally north and south di- rection. It consists of a well-defined belt of quartzite, much of it nearly pure quartz, being composed of sev- enty or eighty per cent, of silica, and highly crystal- lized. This lode has an average thickness of 150 feet, inclines to the east at an angle of sixty degrees, and is enclosed between porphyry on the east and a sien- itic formation and porphyry on the west, the vein mat- ter being separated from the country rock by the usual clay partings. The Gila location embraces an extent of 1,200 linear feet, running with the course of the ledge. This mine has been developed to a vertical depth of 240 feet. Average of all ore worked was $204 per ton, and tailings re- worked $100 per ton for all that went under the stamps. This valuable mine has already paid two dividends of ^25,000 each, in August and September, 1875. No assessment has ever been lev- ied upon the capital stock of the company, and in all probability never will. Number of shares, 100,000. Amount of dividends paid to January ist, 1876, $50,000. Total amount of bullion produced to Febru- ary ist, 1876, $283,578.57. THE LAND OF SILVER. 305 ^ybo ©i^tridt, Xye Cioui)ty. THE TYBO CONSOLIDATED COMPANY. Situate lOO miles south of Eureka District, thirty- five miles east of Belmont, and thirty-five miles north of Reveille District. The above company have pur- chased a number of mines, which they have incor- porated into one company. The only mineral con- tained in the lodes of this district is argentiferous and auriferous lead ore, more or less decomposed. The veins in this district are very regular and well defined, and will average from two to twenty feet in width. There are two furnaces now at work here smelting some eighty tons of ore per day, which gives ten tons of crude bullion, averaging ^500 in silver and $50 in gold per ton. Expenses and other details are much the same as at Eureka. This camp has a very promising future. Lead bullion produced to February ist, 1876, valued in silver and gold, $315,- 000. Lead, ^47,400. Total, $361,400. Note. — We desire to make especial acknowledgment to the proprietors of the Union Iron Works, San Fran- cisco, Prescott, Scott & Co., for their kindness in fur- nishing the finely finished and accurate wood-cuts contained in this work. This is one of the leading iron works west of the Rocky Mountains. SHERMAN & HYDE, MUSIC DEALEES, Si?LN FIlA.N"CISCO. What the Great Musicians say of them : M T T ^ ^ O l\r ^ shall take every opportuBity to recommend and praise your in- T^ t:;' T T r^r^ C* For the last six years your Pianos have been my choice for the ■•^ J— < J_j J-/ V^ \_J vjr. Concert room, and my own house. p A 'T"'P T I have iised the Pianos of every celebrated maker, but give yours the •f •^*- -^ II. preference over all. C'T'T) A TTCC Your Pianos astonish me ; I assure you that I have never yet seen '-' ■*- ■I>--'i- ^J vJO. any Pianos which equal yours. 'VIT 'p T_r T T Madame Parepa called your pianos the finest in the United States. I VV H, rj. L-i 1. <■ fully indorse " that opinion. They have no " rival anywhere." TV/r T T T C Amongst the many excellent Pianos made in this city, the Weber ranks -'■•■ J. i-j -L'vJ . foremost . T \1 C^C^ A Your Uprights are extraordinary instruments, and deserve great success. IVT T T R S K" A Your instruments surpass my expectations, and I rank you justly as IVl \^ IVOIviT.. tjjg foremost manufacturer of the day. ^/^■r~\'n\ A T> 'P) Your Instruments have no "superior" anywhere. I certainly ^~^^~-^ i-^ i~^ -i^i^i-^' have not seen any Pianos in America which approach them even. (""ARRT^TNTO ^ ^™ ^°^ surprised that every great artist prefers the Weber ^-'*- •'^■'•^■^ ■'■^ ^^' Pianos ; they are truly " noble " instruments, and " meet every requirement of the most exacting artist." TV/r A T J T? T7 T I readily award the Weber Piano the title " par excellence." T~\T7T P T T p* TV T^ T7 Thetoneof your instrument is sopure, and of such depth, -'-^ -'-'•'-' ■'■ '->'■•—'■'• N X J-». I am charmed beyond measure. lyr T J 7 T (~) I consider the Weber Pianos the best in the world. ■p T) T Q T^ O WF '"^^ ™® *^® Weber Piano contains everything that can be wished for -'-' -'■^ ■'■ "^ 1 vy VV . in an instrument. ("* A R V "'■ ^^®^ ^^^^ every one is fortunate who owns a Weber Piano. C A TVT P A 1\J T M T "^^^ Weber Pianos sustain the voice in a wonderful degree, ^^■'*- ^^^ -'• -'*■ •'■^ AIM 1 . and they have my unqualified admiration. (""APOTTT ^ recommend the Weber Pianos in the highest terms, and especially ^<--t^I- ^^ ^ i--'. for the voice. "PQ O T? T A ]SJ T Yours is truly the " Artist's Piano." ALSO, AGENTS FOR THE STANDAED ORGANS. SEND FOR CIRCULARS AND PRICE LISTS TO SHERjMAN & HYDE, Cor. Kearny and Sutter Sts., SAN FRANCISCO. THE ft \ji\ior\ Ifoi\ Wofk^, PRESCOTT, SCOTT & CO. From whom the wood-cuts contained in this volume were obtained, OCCUPY THE LEADING POSITION AS MANUFACTURERS OF IVIILLING, PUMPING, AND HOISTING MA.OHINEBY. And through their efforts, the principal improvements in, and great perfection of, our machinery on the Comstock Lode is due. They have introduced Direct-acting Hoisting En- gines, Direct-acting Pumping Engines, with Davey's Differental Valve Motion, Cut Gearing, Balanced Pop- pett Valves, and the Circular Center Braced Engine Beds. The Improved Air Compressor, so extensively used on the leading mines. In milling, they have in- troduced Grizzley's Self Feeders and Automatic Quicksilver Strainers ; and the handling of Amalgam and Quicksilver entirely by machinery, the successful use of which in the Consolidated and California mills have made them famous as the most complete mills in the world. Bacon & Company, CORNER CLAY AND SANSOME STREETS, ARE PREPARED TO FLRNISH Labels, Deeds, Sermons, Drafts, Tax Lists, Leases, - Shop Bills, Circulars, t^ ^ Catalogues, Transfers, ^ K^ Jfeiuspapers, Bill Heads, " ^ Flock Cards, Ball Cards, ^ CO Concert Bills, BlanhJfotes, ^ Road J^otices, Bills Lading, U School Reports, Prices Curreivt, ^ Orders of Exercises, Bills of Exchange, (J) iii\ei^kl^, JVCetkl^, Wktef AND TECHNICAL PRODUCTS. j|@=" Special attention given to the application of Chemistry in all its branches. COLUMBIA FOUNDRY. REESE LLEWELLYN, MANUFACTURER OF CASTINGS OF ALL KINDS. 138 and 135 BEi^^LE ST. SAN FRANCISCO. The substantial and elegant fronts, as well as the artificial and ornamental castings for the SAFE DEPOSIT COMPANY, corner Montgomery and Cali- fornia Streets, San Francisco, were manufactured in this establishment. ORDERS PROMPTLY FILLED AT LOWEST PRICES. GOOD WORK GUARANTEED. IRA. P. RANKIN. ESTABLISHED 18S1. A. P. BRAYTON. THE Pacific Iron Works, FIRST STREET, SAN FRANCISCO. MANUFACTURERS OF Steam Engines, Boilers, AND EVERY VARIETY OF MILL MACHINERY, PXJMPI53G AND HOISTING WORKS, ETC. GODDARD & CO. GEO. W. FOGG, Supt. A. CAMERON. G. L. HULL CAMERON & HULL, WOOD TURNERS, D. A. MacDonald & Co.'s Mills, 217 SPEAR ST., Between Howard and Folsom, And 409 MISSION ST., SAN FRANCISCO. < »»»■ > COLUMNS, NEWELS, BALUSTERS, TEN-PIN BALLS, Billiard Balls and Brackets. DESIGNS FOR ALL KINDS OF SCROLL-SAWINa. Cabinet and Sh-ip Turning done to order- —ALSO,— IRREGULAR MOULDINGS. DAILY STOCK REPORT (Issued daily, Sundays excepted.) ^tkqdkfd Miiliil^ M^ ^todk Joui'i|kl of tl\e Pkdifid do^t. Devotes more space to Mining Matters than any other paper in America. Mining Companies Supplied. The Summary of Mining Newsin tlie Daily Stock Keport is Elaborate and Compreliensive. OFFICE, 608 SACRAMENTO STREET. IRRIGATION. If jfoti ever intend buifhiff a 'Wiml Mill, examine the record of the celebrated ECIjII'SE — Been tested eight years — Solid wheel, self regulator, no joints or sections, ■wrought iron tail bar, auti-friction rollers. Pittmau finished, similar to a pump cylinder; will not wear or jerk the mill in heavy pumping. Cannot freeze in winter. Every mill warranted. A 10-foot Eclipse Mill will water 250 head of stock. Onli/ S cents a day to Water Stock, Send for Circulars. Second-hand Steam Engines cheap. CHAS. P. HOAG, 118 Beale Street, SAN FRANCISCO. ^ov^ :^ ^•; -^^ Q^i N* -^ " " • " ^"