The History of the Comstock Lode

by Smith, Grant

• ISBN13: 9781888035049
• ISBN10: 1888035048
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-07-21
• Publisher: Univ of Nevada Pr

Summary

A complete history of mining operations on the Comstock from 1850 to the present day.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix	(2)
Foreword	xi
Chapter I Gold Canon Placers Discovered in 1850--The Grosh Brothers--The Comstock Discovered at Gold Hill--The Ophir Discovery--The Early Locators--Snow-Shoe Thompson--"Old Virginny"--John W. Mackay--The Ophir in 1859--Early Transactions	1	(18)
Chapter II 1860, A Year of Disillusionment--Deidesheimer Invents the Square Set--1861, A Craze for Mill Building--1862, New Discoveries--Renewed Confidence	19	(9)
Chapter III The Boom of 1863--An Orgy of Litigation--Social Conditions--The Placerville Road--Geiger Grade--Early Prominent Men	28	(13)
Chapter IV Development of the Washoe Process--Early Mining and Improvements	41	(7)
Chapter V The Depression of 1864--Arrival of William Sharon--Civil War Spirit--Nevada Becomes a State--Stewart Elected United States Senator	48	(7)
Chapter VI 1865, An Emotional Year--Lee Surrenders--Lincoln's Death and Funeral Procession	55	(3)
Chapter VII The Panic of 1865--Comstock Production and Profits from 1859 to 1866--Stock Devilment	58	(6)
Chapter VIII The Law Governing Mines--Litigation	64	(7)
Chapter IX The Comstock Lode--The One-Ledge Theory Prevails--The Ore Bodies	71	(9)
Chapter X The Early Boanzas--The Ophir, The Gould & Curry, The Savage, The Chollar-Potosi, The Yellow Jacket, and The Original Gold Hill Bonanzas	80	(19)
Chapter XI Three Years of Steady Progress, 1866, 1867, and 1868--The Kentuck Brings Mackay's First Fortune	99	(8)
Chapter XII The Sutro Tunnel	107	(9)
Chapter XIII The Hale & Norcross Venture of Mackay, Fair, Flood and O'Brien in 1869--They Join the Water Company Which Brings Water From the Sierras	116	(6)
Chapter XIV 1869, A Discouraging Year--The Yellow Jacket Fire--Sharon Builds the V.& T. Railroad	122	(4)
Chapter XV The Gloomy Year of 1870--The Crown Point Revival in 1871--The Boom of 1872--Sharon-Jones Contest for Senator	126	(11)
Chapter XVI The Crown Point-Belcher Bonanza--The Gold to Silver Ratio--The Silver Question	137	(8)
Chapter XVII The Consolidated Virginia Bonanza: Early History--The Firm Takes Control--The Discovery of Low-Grade Ore--The Top of the Bonanza Encountered--Capital Stock Increased as Bonanza Develops--Dan DeQuille's First Report on the Bonanza--The Ca California Organized and Mills Built	145	(17)
Chapter XVIII Sharon Starts a Boom--A Wild Market--The Consolidated Virginia Boom--The Chronicle Boosts the Bonanza--The Market Reaches the Top--Extravagant Forecasts	162	(14)
Chapter XIX The Fateful Year of 1875--The Market Crashes in January--Mackay Thought the Panic Was Temporary--The Chronicle Attacks "The Bank Crowd"--Partial Recovery in the Spring--New York Tribune Correspondent Visits the Comstock--Prof. Rogers and and the Director of the U.S. Mint Overestimate the Bonanza--The Firm Organizes the Nevada Bank--The Bank of California Suspends in August 1875--Ralston's Death Stuns the Coast--Virginia City Destroyed by Fire October 26, 1875--Fairs Misleading Reports
Chapter XX 1876: High Water Mark on the Comstock--A Troublous Years for the Bonanza Firm--The Market Revives and the Bears Threaten--Fair Claims Mackay Gutted the Con. Virginia--Keene Leads a Smashing Bear Attack on Bonanza Stocks--Mackay, Fair, and Flood in 1876--A Lively Con. Virginia Meeting--The Bullion Tax Fought by the Bonanza Firm	197	(10)
Chapter XXI 1877: The Bonanza Terminates on the 1650 Level--Warring Brokers and Specultors--Hard Times in 1877--The Decline Begins	207	(11)
Chapter XXII 1878 to 1881: Dewey Sues The Bonanza Firm--The Sierra Nevada Deal--General Grant and President Hayes Visit the Comstock--End of the Bonanza Period	218	(14)
Chapter XXIII Life on the Comstock in the `70s--Comstock Millionaires--Notable Mine Superintendents	232	(9)
Chapter XXIV Miners' Wages and Hours--Heat and Ventilation--Giant Powder, Burleigh, and Diamond Drills--Lumber and Firewood--The V Flume	241	(8)
Chapter XXV Fire in the Stopes--Low-Grade Operations in the Bonanza Mines--The Comstock Milling Monopoly--The Last Washoe Process Mill--Losses in Tailings--Tailings Reworked	249	(10)
Chapter XXVI Bonanza Production and Dividends--Bonanza Firm Played Fair--Mackay as the Comstock Knew Him	259	(10)
Chapter XXVII Why Deep Mining Ceased--Cornish Pumps	269	(13)
Chapter XXVIII "The 1886 Deal"--The Revival from 1886 to 1894--The North End Mines Pumped Out, 1899 to 1920	282	(7)
Chapter XXIX The Balance Sheet of the Comstock Chapters XXX through XXXV and Appendix II Added by Joseph V. Tingley	289	(2)
Chapter XXX The South End and Middle Mines; The United Mining Co. and Comstock Merger Mines Adventures--The North End Mines, The Con. Virginia--Silver Slides into the Depression	291	(5)
Chapter XXXI The Depression--A New Gold Price--Comstock Tunnel and Drainage Co. and Sutro Tunnel Coalition--The Arizona Comstock--The Crown Point--World War II and L-208	296	(3)
Chapter XXXII A Small Post-War Revival--The Last Stamp Mill--Gerald Hartley's Tourist Mine--A Long Dry Spell	299	(1)
Chapter XXXIII Union Pacific Railroad, Howard Hughes, Minerals Engineering, and Finally, Houston Oil and Minerals; Back to Gold Hill and American Flat--The Con. Imperial Pit and Greiner's Bend--A Changing Community	300	(5)
Chapter XXXIV The Middle Mines, United Mining Corp. Goes Underground--Art Wilson co. and the Crown Point Mill--Marshall Earth Resources on the North End	305	(2)
Chapter XXXV The Balance Sheet of the Comstock, 1997	307	(2)
Appendix I The Comstock Production Record--1859--1919	309	(7)
Appendix II The Comstock Production Record--1920-1996	316	(3)
Index	319	(8)
Supplementary Index	327