Ronald M. James - A Short History of Virginia City

RONALD M. JAMES AND SUSAN A. JAMES

University of Nevada Press, Reno, Nevada 89557 USA

Copyright 2014 by University of Nevada Press

All rights reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

Design by Kathleen Szawiola

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

James, Ronald M. (Ronald Michael), 1955

A short history of Virginia City / Ronald M. James and Susan A. James.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-87417-947-7 (paperback : alkaline paper) ISBN 978-0-87417-948-4 (e-book) 1. Virginia City (Nev.)History. 2. Comstock Lode (Nev.)History. 3. Mines and mineral resourcesNevadaVirginia CityHistory. 4. Virginia City (Nev.)Social life and customs. 5. Virginia City (Nev.)Biography. I. James, Susan A. II. Title.

F849.V8J355 2014

979.356dc23 2014008445

: The Territorial Enterprise staff and print shop occupied this fire survivor after the 1875 disaster destroyed the newspaper's previous home. This building served as home to the journalistic icon from 1875 to the mid-1890s. Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg purchased the structure and resuscitated the Territorial Enterprise as a weekly in the mid-twentieth century. An outstanding museum in the basement exhibits an impressive array of printing equipment. (Photograph by Ronald M. James)

Virginia City, the principal community of the Comstock Mining District, is the center of one of the first National Historic Landmarks recognized by the Department of the Interior. And for good reason. Some of the richest deposits of gold and silver in the world grant the district global significance. The Comstock participated in the transformation of the international mining frontier, when its focus shifted from placer miningthe washing away of dirt to expose gold nuggets and dustto hard rock, underground excavations that placed an emphasis on corporate funding, salaried workers, and advanced planning by engineers. In addition, Comstock miners either invented or tested aspects of technology that dominated the industry for decades.

Virginia City has attracted tourists since travelers arrived in 1860 just to see the spectacle. Ever since then, Comstock has been a household word in the nation, if not the world. Even when there were economic slumps, something would happen to bring the district back to life, giving it a new role in the dreams of people who imagined wealth or who simply loved the mystique of the Wild West. In the twentieth century, visitors began trekking up the mountain to see the famed mining camp as it seemed about to drift into the realm of the ghost towns. But Virginia City survived and greeted the postwar world with a new vigor made all the stronger after 1959 by the fictional Cartwrights of the television series Bonanza.

No matter the decade, visitors have found a magical charm about the Comstock that refuses to die. The area repeatedly performs in surprising ways. While preserving a pivotal chapter in world history, the district continues to live as a thriving community with a character undiminished by the century and a half since the first mineral strikes. At the same time, it can be difficult to sort out what one is seeing when walking along the boardwalks of Virginia City or along the old unpaved paths that wind across the mountain. Sorting out the past and how it folds into subsequent decadesand into the presentis a challenge.

With this in mind, we offer a short history of Virginia City together with a walking tour. This volume is not the first history written about the town and surrounding area, but it is an attempt to provide a concise account in a way that is immediately accessible. Strolling along in the small community that hugs the side of Mount Davidson, it is difficult to imagine a time when this town, built in an improbable location, lured people from all over the world. In its heyday, the Comstock was a noisy, bustling industrial center where more than twenty thousand people lived and worked in houses and businesses crammed side by side. The district was filled with the twenty-four-hour racket that went along with the extraction and crushing of ore. Stagecoaches and wagons pulled by teams of horses added to the din. Culturally sophisticated, Virginia City rivaled San Francisco for its diverse entertainments and cuisine, and its public buildings were touted as the finest on the Pacific Coast. Masses of humanity moved along the boardwalks, and languages from all over the world could be heard on the streets and in the saloons, restaurants, and hotels.

Since the prosperous 1860s and 1870s, there have been times when Virginia City settled into a quiet period, but it has never lasted long. Today, visitors arrive for many reasons. The Old West has its own allure, but there are still some who are enthusiastic because of the Comstock's ties to the legendary TV show Bonanza. Others are delighted to learn that Virginia City also contributed to the development of a particular genre of rock and roll in the 1960s. Each decade has left its mark and represents a tale to be told. After giving hundreds of tours of Virginia City, during which we have shared the story of this remarkable place, we found good reason to put down in writing what we have described in person to thousands of visitors, placing in print what has previously been a matter of discussion.

With the experience of nearly four decades of working with Comstock material, we are in a position to acknowledge some outstanding institutions that make research into the history of the mining district possible. The Storey County Recorder's Office has made tremendous leaps forward in record management and digitization. Its vault is filled with documents that tell the story of how the Nevada Territory and then the state first organized, emerging as an economic powerhouse in the nineteenth century. Thanks are owed to a long succession of elected county recorders and their dedicated staffs.

In addition, the Nevada Historical Society, the Special Collections at the University of NevadaReno Library, the Historic Fourth Ward School Museum, and the Comstock Historic District Commission all profoundly contribute to everyone's understanding of the Comstock Mining District. These are valuable institutions that help define what Nevada is and what it means to be a Nevadan. The same is true of the University of Nevada Press. Senior acquisitions editor Matt Becker was pivotal in inspiring this volume, but everyone at the press played a crucial role, contributing unique talents that made this book possible. They have our thanks.

During the nineteenth century, Virginia City won recognition as the location of one of the largest gold and silver strikes of all time. Internationally, people have claimed that any one of dozens of mines was the richest place on earth, but the Comstock's assertion of that distinction is close to legitimate. Established in 1859, the Comstock Mining District remained productive for twenty years and continues to yield into the twenty-first century. During its nineteenth-century boom period, the district produced well over $300 million in precious metals, but today that figure would equal something in the billions of dollars.