VI.
SILVER MINING IN NEVADA.
HOW GOLD WAS DISCOVERED IN NEVADA.—A PECULIAR “BLACK SAND,” AND WHAT CAME OF IT.—SILVER CURSED AND THROWN AWAY.—ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY OF THE VALUE OF THE ORE.—H. T. P. COMSTOCK.—THE COMSTOCK LODE.—HOW MINING RECORDS WERE KEPT.—YIELD OF THE NEVADA MINES.—BONANZA AND BORRASCA.—THE BIG BONANZA.—THE GRAVE OF THE FORESTS.—“WASHOE ZEPHYRS.”—PAY-ROLLS OF THE MINING COMPANIES.—INTERESTING DETAILS.
Probably the most remarkable silver mines of the world are those of Nevada. It is difficult to estimate, with absolute accuracy, the amount which has been taken from them. They were only recently discovered, and the story of their discovery is quite romantic.
Very naturally, the gold miners of California drifted over the Sierra Nevadas, into the great Utah basin, in search of gold. During 1850, and the following years, gold discoveries were made on the eastern slopes of the Sierras. The first discovery was made by some Mormon emigrants, who were on their way to California; the snows had not melted upon the mountains, and they were compelled to camp, for some time, on the Carson River. They had no expectation of gold, but simply went to prospecting by way of killing time. They did not work very long at the business, but continued their journey to California as soon as the season permitted. Other emigrants coming along from time to time, continued the work, and by 1852 there was quite a mining population along the Carson River and its tributaries. None of them made large fortunes, but most of them did well.
None of them had any thought of silver, and they knew so little about silver ore that when they found it, they were ignorantof its character, and cursed it as a nuisance. They found a heavy, worthless sand, looking like pulverized iron, that settled upon the quicksilver in their rockers, and prevented the amalgamation of the gold. The gold was not of a fine quality, as it was mixed with a considerable quantity of silver. For a considerable time, the miners worked on, and it is said that some of them had regular hours, which were devoted to swearing at this black sand, which was continually in their way. The gold in the placer mines of California was worth from sixteen to nineteen dollars an ounce, while the gold taken along the Carson River was worth not more than eleven or twelve dollars.
THE FAMOUS COMSTOCK LODE.
In the spring of 1859, quite a party of miners was at work in what was known as Six Mile Cañon. They lived at Gold Hill, where a small village had grown up, not far from their working place. There was a scant supply of water, and they concluded to made a sort of reservoir by digging a hole, and turning the small stream into it. They located this reservoir a little way above the place where they were working, and after digging about four feet, they found what afterward proved to be the decomposed silver ore of the now famous Comstock lode. They did not find silver, at least, they did not know that what they found was a deposit of black sulphuret of silver, which was nothing more than the pure metal in a decomposed state.
They concluded to try some of this curious looking dirt in their rockers. It yielded well. They found that they were digging out gold very rapidly, but they were puzzled as to the character of the dirt containing it. They pushed on further and further into the vein, and taking the lumps that were left on the screens of the rockers, pounded them up with hammers and in mortars. So rich was this substance, that one man was able to take out one hundred dollars a day.
The party consisted of four men, one of whom was H. T. P. Comstock, an adventurer who had wandered about the Pacific coast for years, and had never accomplished anything of importance. There was some dispute as to the title to thelocation, but it was finally agreed that there should be an equal division of the land in the lode. Very soon it became noised about that the miners had “struck it rich,” and there was great excitement in regard to the new digging. A notice was recorded, claiming the ground on the lode, and the land around it.
The names which were recorded in this notice were Peter O’Reilly, H. T. P. Comstock, Patrick McLaughlin, J. H. Osborne, and E. Penrod. This location was the famous Comstock lode, which has since yielded so many millions.
SILVER AS A NUISANCE.
Gold mining was carried on there for some weeks after the location of this claim. A gentleman familiar with the history of the discovery, says that as soon as Comstock obtained a position in the party, he elected himself superintendent, and did all the heavy talking. He was conspicuous on all occasions, and very soon was considered not only the discoverer, but the originator of the lode. Work was diligently pushed, and for weeks the miners dug the rich decomposed silver ore, washed the gold out of it, and let it go to waste, throwing it anywhere to get it out of the way. It was an intolerable nuisance, and it is safe to say that those miners swore about it to an extent greater than is recorded of “our army in Flanders.” It gave a certain unpopularity to the diggings, on account of the inconvenience it caused. It was worse than the black sand that everywhere abounds in gold mines, because that does not interfere with the amalgamation.
Comstock was a free-handed, generous fellow, having very little regard for his own money, or that of anybody else. It was the custom, in those days, when a lady visited the mines, to offer her a pan of dust, and to take it from the richest part of the lode. On one occasion, several ladies visited the mine, and the usual courtesy was offered. It was so arranged that they obtained one hundred and fifty dollars or more for each pan. The last of the ladies was young and pretty; Comstock wished to be polite, and so, while her pan was being passed out, he slyly dropped a handful of gold in it. The result was that her prize amounted to more than five hundred dollars.Many tons of the black sulphuret of silver were washed away, until, in the month of July, 1859, a man named Harrison visited the new diggings, and took a piece of the ore away with him, as a curiosity. Being in California, shortly afterwards, he gave this curiosity to a gentleman in Grass Valley, Nevada County. This gentleman carried it to be assayed, and it was found to yield at the rate of several thousand dollars per ton.
Harrison said that there were tons and tons of the stuff lying around in the mine where this was taken out, and so it was determined to keep the matter a secret, to go as speedily as possible and obtain possession of the place. Everybody was sworn to secrecy, and of course everybody told his intimate friend. The result of the assay was known late one night, and by the next morning, everybody in Grass Valley knew all about it. Two of the men were off before daylight, and in a few days hundreds of people wereen routefor Washoe.
EXCITEMENT IN WASHOE.
The discovery created great excitement. The news spread rapidly throughout California, and all sorts of people, who could get away, and many who could not, proceeded immediately to Washoe. Washoe was the sensation of the day. The population increased with magical rapidity. The whole country around was visited by prospectors, who laid out claim after claim, staking out the whole region, and the most extravagant stories were told concerning its wealth. The mining recorder had a busy time of it, and took in a great many fees for his work. The book of records was kept at a drinking saloon, and lay upon the shelf behind the bar. Anybody could consult it who wished to, and if a man made a location, and was not satisfied with it, he would proceed to alter the record to suit himself. The result was that dates and places in the book were very much altered, and it is difficult to understand many of the claims.
Curious stories are told of the sharp practices of the miners and the lawyers they engaged. It is said that during a mining suit in those times, there was a controversy about a stump which was understood to mark the boundary of a certain claim.The lawyer on one side one afternoon produced several witnesses, who said they could swear to the stump and its location. Next morning, the jury proceeded to the spot. It was found that the stump had been removed during the night, and the whole ground around was so carefully leveled and covered with loose rock, that its former position could not be ascertained.
Gold mining was carried on as before, after the value of this blue stuff had become known. It was no longer thrown away, but was carefully gathered up and put in sacks and barrels for transport to San Francisco. Comstock never made a fortune out of the discovery. He sold out his interest for ten thousand dollars, most of which he never received, and wandered off in another direction. He had numerous infelicities of varied character, and finally died, in 1870, in Montana.
SCARCITY OF FOOD.
Prices were high, for some time, at Washoe, owing to the immense immigration, and scanty supply of provisions. It is said that in the early part of 1860, hay was worth fifty cents a pound, and barley forty cents. As it was too expensive to keep horses, many of the miners shot them, or let them wander off in the hills and die of their own accord. Flour was worth seventy-five cents a pound, coffee fifty cents, and bacon forty cents. Lumber was worth two hundred dollars a thousand, and other things were held at proportionate prices.
The community was not the most orderly in the world, and fights were of frequent occurrence, so frequent that they became monotonous. The weather was not altogether tropical in its character. There were frequent sand and rain storms, in the spring, and settlers became acquainted with what is known as the Washoe “Zephyr.”
This “Zephyr” is a wind that blows down from the mountains, at irregular and unexpected intervals, and, as one of the residents expressed it, “has no nonsense about it.” A man from that region once described it to me as follows: “You may think you have seen wind some times, but you haven’t until you go to Washoe. It takes the roof off of houses; it will blow a donkey five miles over a mountain; and it will shavethe hair off the back of a bull-dog, if it happens to take him tail-ways. That ‘zephyr’ is the reason so many men in Nevada have lost their hair. A bald man has a good chance with it. A fellow with a good thick crop has no show at all. When the ‘zephyr’ comes, the air is full of sand, tin roofs, cats, old boxes, furniture, wagons, anything and everything. It makes no difference. The only way to save yourself from being blown off is to lie down on the ground and take hold of something, and hold on there until the ‘zephyr’ is gone.”
FIRST MINE UPON THE COMSTOCK LODE.
The first mine upon the Comstock lode was known as the Ophir. The first shafts that were sunk were merely round holes of no great depth, and not constructed upon scientific principles; but as the value of the mine became known, shafts were built in a scientific manner, and lined with timber. The first hoisting apparatus was the common hand windlass. That gave place to the horse-whim, and that, again, to steam machinery. The first of the latter which was put in was during the year 1860, and was a common fifteen horse-power engine. By the end of 1860, the mine had reached a depth of nearly two hundred feet. The vein of rich ore was found to be forty-five feet wide. Nobody had ever seen such a width before, and the miners were at a loss for means to support the roof above. They sent to California for an experienced engineer, and after his arrival, it took him several weeks to arrange a suitable plan.
He arranged a system of “timbering in square sets,” which is still used in all the mines of that region. Timbers were framed and kept together in the shape of cribs, which can be carried up to any desired height. If the vein is wide, the cribs are filled with waste rock, which forms pillars of stone, and thus supports the mines. In 1861, an engine of forty-five horse-power was put in, with an eight inch pump and some improved machinery for hoisting purposes. This was thought to be frightfully extravagant at the time, but, compared with the present machinery, it is a most insignificant affair.
It may be well to explain, here, the meaning of the word which has now become incorporated into our language, “bonanza.”It is a Spanish word, meaning, practically, “in good luck,” or rich bodies of ore. Opposed to it is the term “Borrasca,” meaning “in bad luck,” or in barren rock. There are always, in the Nevada mines, some companies which are working in Borrasca, while others are working in Bonanza, and the great advance and decline in the values of the mining stock is due to this fact. When a company is in Borrasca, its stock is low; in Bonanza, there is a very rapid advance. In the latter part of 1870, an immense bonanza was found in one of the mines. A few months before this discovery, the stock of the mine sold at three dollars per share. A few months afterward, it sold for $1,825 per share. Another mine, whose stock had sold, previous to the discovery of the bonanza, at a dollar and a half a share, rose to $1,525. During the excitement growing out of the discovery of this “big bonanza,” the increase in the mining stock on the Comstock lode was nearly fifty millions of dollars.
The mines on the Comstock lode have swallowed millions of feet of lumber. It is estimated that not less than eighty million feet are annually lowered in the mines, never to be returned to the open air. In a single mine, six million feet are consumed annually, and at the same time, about two hundred and fifty thousand cords of wood. For miles around, the mountains have been stripped of their forests, and the country presents a wild and barren appearance. Nearly all the mountains within fifty miles of Virginia City have been thus denuded. Fuel has become so scarce and dear that search has been made for coal, and it is now extensively used as fuel, though, at present, it costs nearly as much as wood.
EXTENT OF THE MINES.
An idea of the extent of the mines may be formed by a glance at the pay rolls. On the first of every month, over half a million dollars are paid out to the employés. Of the principal companies, the Consolidated Virginia pays $90,000, Crown Point $90,000, Belcher $65,000. There are several whose pay rolls average from $20,000 to $30,000 per month, and many companies whose figures exceed $10,000. Then, in addition to this, are the wages of the men employed in themountains, cutting timber, and bringing it to the mine, and for other kinds of work.
YIELD OF THE COMSTOCK VEIN.
The yield of the Comstock vein, in ten years, is estimated at two hundred and twenty millions of dollars, or an average yield, annually, of thirteen millions, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In 1874, the yield exceeded twenty-two millions, and in subsequent years it was larger.
The mines have been subject to the usual accidents of similar works in all parts of the world. Many men have lost their lives there, from falls through the shafts, from the breaking of cables, from falls of rock, and various other causes. The mines have been on fire several times, the gases generated from the earth assisting the burning of the immense masses of timber. The heat in the mines is, at all times, very great, and consequently the wood becomes exceedingly dry, and liable to ignite at the slightest opportunity. Some of the fires are attributed to spontaneous combustion, but it seems more probable that they are the result of carelessness. Virginia City, which stands above the mines, has also suffered very greatly from the same cause, and on one occasion, almost the entire settlement was swept away, involving a loss of millions of dollars.
But in spite of accidents, calamities, the rise and fall of stocks, Washoe “zephyrs,” and other things, the work goes steadily on, and the mines of Nevada, year after year, continue to hold their place as the greatest and most remarkable silver mines in the world.
WORKING A MINE.
During the month of April, 1877, the shipments of the California mine have been $1,600,000. If we read the brief announcement, every month, on a certain day, that a certain mine has paid a dividend of $1,080,000, we have not the slightest idea of what is necessary to be done in order to make such an announcement possible. Every one who ever owed a note in a bank, knows that thirty days is a very brief period of time. To cause a mine to produce $60,000 in a single day, is a tremendous feat; to continue this product daily, through weeks and months, almost without variation, isa marvel. It takes forethought, endurance, judgment, and nice calculation, such as very few men possess in this world. The ore from which this mighty yield is extracted, lies hid away almost a third of a mile below the earth’s surface. It lies where consuming heat and baffling waters join their forces to try and drive away the invading miner. While the ore is being hoisted, every month, 1,250,000 feet of lumber has to be lowered and put in position, to keep safe the weakening caused by the mighty excavations. While one level is being worked, another has to be explored, for a drain of 500 tons of ore per day would soon level a mountain down. Then the Comstock is an uneasy fissure. In a single week, sometimes the swell of the ground shivers into splinters fourteen-inch square timbers. Shafts and drifts and inclines and tracks have to be watched incessantly, for a mine, like a glacier, seems ever to be working. This is all below ground. Above the surface is a world of machinery, always to be kept in order—steam engines, air engines, cables, cages, air pipes, pumps, and all the multiplied devices intended to expedite the work and lessen the dangers of mining. Five hundred men have to be lowered into and hoisted from the depths daily. Three hundred cords of wood have to be provided daily for fuel. And there must be no delays, no serious accidents. The needed repairs must be anticipated and provided for; the accidents must be anticipated and guarded against; the explorations must be carried on months in advance; the supplies must never fail. A vast space of forest land, thirty miles away, has to be denuded of its timber, yearly, to fill the insatiate maw of this one mine. It requires 15,000,000 feet of timber, and 100,000 cords of wood, annually, to supply the mine, and to furnish fuel to hoist and reduce the ores. How many can appreciate the ability necessary to carry on this work without any mistakes? Many a man of mind sufficient to accomplish the feat, would fail through sheer lack of physical strength. The work means being up at five o’clock in the morning; means two or three daily journeys into the depths, and when anything unusual happens, it means standing guardday and night, like a ship’s captain in a storm, until the trouble is over. It means a mind large enough to take in the immense work going on at a glance, yet careful enough to include its smallest details, and exact enough to anticipate the wants of the enterprise months in advance. For ten months, the California mine has monthly given up this tremendous yield.
LIST OF BONANZAS.
The following list of the bonanzas of the Comstock will be interesting to all who are watching the marvelous history of that mammoth vein:
1. Ophir and Mexican.—Discovered on the surface, and extended 500 feet in depth. Average width of ore, 15 feet; cubical contents, 112,000 tons; approximate value of ore, $22,000,000.
2. Gould & Curry.—Extended from the surface to the depth of 500 feet. Average width of ore, 15 feet; length along the vein, 500 feet; cubical contents, 190,000 tons; value of ore, $37,500,000.
3. Savage.—This was a continuation of the Curry bonanza, but not so rich. The ore continued down in the Savage claim to the very bottom of that mine, which is now 2,300 feet below the outcroppings.
4. Hale & Norcross bonanza.—This body was struck at a depth of 450 feet. It averaged 10 feet in width, was about 200 feet long, and stretched down to the 1,200 foot level. Cubical contents, 75,000 tons; value, $5,500,000.
5. Chollar Potosi bonanza.—struck at a depth of 500 feet; width of the vein worked, 100 feet; has extended with but few interruptions down to the present bottom of the mine, which is over 1,700 feet. Cubical contents, 1,500,000 tons; value, $24,000,000.
6. Gold Hill bonanza.—This body extended from the surface to a depth of 500 feet, and for 300 feet on the vein. Contents, 300,000 tons; value, $10,000,000.
7. Yellow Jacket bonanza.—Discovered on the surface, and extended downward for over 700 feet. The ore on this body was quite poor, and never yielded much profit. Its total production was about $5,000,000.
8. Kentucky bonanza.—300 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 400 feet deep. This ore was very rich. Contents, 100,000 tons; value, $10,000,000.
LIST OF BONANZAS.
9. Crown Point and Belcher bonanza.—Discovered on the 1,400 foot level, and extended downward for 600 feet. Is still producing in the Belcher. Contents, 1,500,000 tons; value, $50,000,000.
10. Consolidated Virginia and California bonanza.—This last and greatest ore body which the lode has yet developed, was found by drifting eastward from the 1,500 foot level into what was supposed to be the last country rock. The bonanza lies above and below this, and is believed to contain $140,000,000. It extends for about 700 feet along the vein, is 600 feet in height, and nearly 100 feet in width. Up to the present date, it has yielded over $30,000,000, though discovered less than two years ago, and is now producing at the rate of $120,000 per day.
The Comstock now furnishes employment for over 2,000 miners. Its daily output of ore is nearly 2,000 tons, and its yield, for the year 1877, will approach $50,000,000. One-half of this (or, more correctly, about forty-two per cent.) is gold, and the balance silver. When the amount of ore now in sight is taken out, the lode will have produced in all something over $300,000,000 in precious metals.