Comstock Lode

Six major bonanzas marked the first five years of the Comstock Lode. The Ophir bonanza was prosperous until 1864, producing 70,000 tons. Though rich, and having a length of 500 feet (150 m) at the surface, the ore body wedged out at a depth of 500 feet (150 m). The Gould & Curry bonanza included 500 feet (150 m) of the El Dorado outcrop, but dipped southward into the Savage at 500 feet (150 m); the ore gave out by 1866. The Savage bonanza included this ore body and a second bonanza, an ore body shared with Hale & Norcross to the south, at the 600 foot level; this ore body was played out by 1869. The Chollar-Potosi bonanza was consolidated in 1865. The 1875 Combination Shaft was a joint effort by Chollar-Potosi and Hale & Norcross.

The Original Gold Hill bonanza consisted of the Old Red Ledge, 1,000 feet (300 m) long, 500 feet (150 m) wide, and 500 feet (150 m) deep. The associated Gold Hill mines were merged into the Consolidated Imperial by 1876. The Yellow Jacket shared the Gold Hill bonanza on its north, and shared a second bonanza with Crown Point and Kentuck to the south, discovered in 1864.[2]^:80–98

The Crown Point-Belcher bonanza was discovered in 1870. The ore body extended from the 900 to the 1,500-foot level (275 to 460 m), having a length of 775 feet (236 m) and a width of 120 feet (37 m). The ore, the precious metal value of which was 54 percent from gold and 46 percent from silver, lasted only four years.[2]^:137–138

The Consolidated Virginia bonanza was discovered at the 1,200-foot (365-m) level in March 1873. The ore body was 900 feet (270 m) long and 200 feet (61 m) wide, but terminated at the 1650-foot (650-m) level.[2]^{:151–157,165–168}

Comstock miners, 1880s. Caption on original: "To Labor is to Pray."

Credit for the discovery of the Comstock Lode is disputed. It is said to have been discovered, in 1857, by Ethan Allen Grosh and Hosea Ballou Grosh, sons of a Pennsylvania clergyman, trained mineralogists and veterans of the California gold fields.[3] Hosea injured his foot and died of sepsis[4] in 1857. In an effort to raise funds, Allen, accompanied by an associate, Richard Maurice Bucke,[4] set out on a trek to California with samples and maps of his claim.

Henry Comstock was left in their stead to care for the Grosh cabin and a locked chest containing silver and gold ore samples and documents of the discovery. Grosh and Bucke never made it to California. They suffered from frostbite while crossing the Sierra Nevada, and lost limbs by amputation in a last-ditch effort to save their lives. Allen Grosh died on December 19, 1857.[5] R.M. Bucke lived, but upon his recovery returned to his home in Canada.

When Henry T. P. Comstock learned of the death of the Grosh brothers, he claimed the cabin and the lands as his own. He also examined the contents of the trunk but thought nothing of the documents as he was not an educated man. What he did know is that the gold and the silver ore samples were from the same vein. He continued to seek out diggings of local miners working in the area, as he knew the Grosh brothers' find was still unclaimed. Upon learning of a strike on Gold Hill which uncovered some bluish rock (silver ore), Comstock immediately filed for an unclaimed tract directly adjacent to this area.

Four miners discovered the Gold Hill outcropping, at the head of Gold Canyon, making placer claims after finding traces of gold on January 28, 1859. They were James Finney ("Old Virginny"; a contemporary rumor was that he changed his name from Fennimore to Finney after murdering a man), John Bishop ("Big French John"), Aleck Henderson, and Jack Yount.

These claims were followed by claims from Lemuel S. "Sandy" Bowers (see Bowers Mansion), Joseph Plato, Henry Comstock, James Rogers, and William Knight. In the spring of 1859, after digging down to a depth of about ten feet, they found a gold-rich reddish quartz vein. Their discovery was actually part of the Comstock Lode, the Old Red Ledge.[2]^:5–6 The four men are therefore credited with the rediscovery of the mine previously found by the Grosh brothers.[5]

In the spring of 1859, two miners, Peter O'Riley and Patrick McLaughlin, finding all the paying ground already claimed, went to the head of Six Mile Canyon and began prospecting with a rocker on the slope of the mountain near a small stream fed from a neighboring spring. They had poor results in the top dirt as there was no washed gravel, and they were about to abandon their claim when they made the great discovery.

They sank a small, deeper pit in which to collect water to use in their rockers. In the bottom of this hole was a "layer of rich black sand", "concentrate from the top of the hidden Ophir bonanza". Henry T. P. Comstock learned of the two men working on land that he allegedly had already claimed for "grazing purposes". Unhappy with his current claim on Gold Hill, Comstock made threats and managed to work himself and his partner, Immanuel "Manny" Penrod, into a deal that granted them interest on the claim.[5]

On June 12, a trench they were digging exposed black manganese sand mixed with bluish-gray quartz and gold. Two arrastras built by John D. Winters and J. A. Osborn made them additional partners on June 22. Comstock and Penrod made an additional claim, called the "Mexican", but later called the "Spanish", adjacent to the "Ophir" claim.[2]^:2–3,7–9

With the "blue stuff" found in this trench, silver mining in America was born. In the rocker, along with the gold, was a large quantity of heavy blue-black material almost like putty that clogged the rocker and interfered with the washing out of the fine gold. When assayed on June 27, it was determined to be a rich sulfide of silver; in fact, the ore was three fourths silver to one fourth gold.[2]^:8–9,11

The geographic accounts on the location of the Comstock Lode were muddled and inconsistent. In one report, the gold strike was "on the Eastern fork of Walker's river" and the silver strike "about halfway up the Eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada" and "nine miles West of Carson River."[6]

North Comstock Lode ore bodies and claims: south (left) to north (right), Potosi, Chollar, Hale & Norcross, Savage, Gould & Curry, Best & Belcher, Con. Virginia, California, Ophir, Mexican, Union and Sierra Nevada, the last three not depicted.[1]^{:Sheet X}

South Comstock Lode ore bodies and claims: south (left) to north (right): Caledonia, Overman, Belcher, Crown Point, Kentuck, Yellow Jacket, Challenge Confidence, Imperial, Alpha, Exchequer, and Bullion Ward, the last not depicted.[1]^{:Sheet XI}

The miners who discovered the mines, and the investors who bought their claims, did not know whether they had made a small or large strike. The size, richness, and cost of exploiting a buried ore body is very hard to estimate even today. Most of them assumed they had made a small to modest strike like nearly all other gold strikes.

All of them knew they did not have the money or expertise to investigate the strike thoroughly. The size of the strike and its potential value would take many years of extensive work by thousands of miners and the investments of millions of dollars—which none of them had. "Weighing the chances of gain and loss as they stood in 1859 the prospectors had no cause to reproach themselves with lack of foresight."[2]^:17

Patrick McLaughlin sold his 1/6 interest in the Ophir claim for $3,000 to George Hearst.[2]^:17 McLaughlin soon lost the money. He then worked as a cook at the Green mine in California. He died working odd jobs.

Emanuel Penrod, partner to Henry Comstock, sold his 1/6 share of the Ophir mine for $5,500 to Judge James Walsh, and his half interest in the "Spanish" mine for $3,000, for a total of $8,500.[2]^:17[5]

J.A. Osborn sold his 1/6 of the Ophir "for a good price".[2]^:17

Peter O'Riley held on to his Ophir interests collecting dividends, until selling for about $40,000.[5] He erected a stone hotel on B Street in Virginia City called the Virginia House, and became a dealer of mining stocks. He began having visions and began a tunnel into the Sierras near Genoa, Nevada (an area of no known mineralization), expecting to strike a richer vein than the Comstock. He eventually lost everything, was declared insane, and died in a private asylum in Woodbridge, California.

Henry Comstock traded an old blind horse and a bottle of whiskey for a one-tenth share of the spring at Ophir, formerly owned by James Fennimore ("Old Virginny"), but later sold all of his Ophir holdings to Judge James Walsh for $11,000.[5] Comstock also sold his half of the "Spanish" mine for $5,500.[2]^:17 He opened trade good stores in Carson City and Silver City. Being reportedly slow mentally, having no education and no business experience, he went broke. After losing nearly all his property and possessions in Nevada, Comstock prospected for some years in Idaho and Montana without success. In September 1870, while prospecting in the Big Horn country, he died by suicide with his revolver.

Bonner Shaft, Gould & Curry Mine, 1874

The ore was first extracted through surface diggings, but these were quickly exhausted and miners had to tunnel underground to reach ore bodies. Unlike most silver ore deposits, which occur in long thin veins, those of the Comstock Lode occurred in discrete masses often hundreds of feet thick. Sometimes, the ore was so soft it could be removed by shovel. Although this allowed the ore to be easily excavated, the weakness of the surrounding rock resulted in frequent and deadly cave-ins. The excavations were carried to depths of more than 3,200 feet (1,000 m) (eventually, after years of work).

The cave-in problem was solved by the method of square set timbering invented by Philip Deidesheimer,[2]^:23–24 a German mining engineer from San Francisco, who had been requested to survey the problem by the owners of the Ophir Mine. Previously, timber sets consisting of vertical members on either side of the diggings (ribs) capped by a third horizontal member to support the back (roof), creating a tunnel (drift). However, the Comstock ore bodies were not veins, but sporadic pockets too large for this method. Instead, as ore was removed it was replaced by timbers set as a cube six feet on a side (ribs), front (face) or top (back), all at the same time. Thus, the ore body would be progressively replaced with a timber lattice. Often these voids (stopes) would be re-filled with waste rock from other diggings after ore removal was complete. By this method of building up squares of framed timbers, an ore body of any width may be safely worked to any height or depth. Deidesheimer was appointed to the Ophir as mine manager for his ingenious idea.

Bullion Mine, Virginia City, Nevada c.1875-77

Early in the history of Comstock mining, there were heavy flows of water to contend with. This called for pumping machinery and apparatus, and as greater depth was attained, larger pumps were demanded. All the inventive genius of the Pacific Coast was called into play, and this resulted in construction of some of the most powerful and effective steam and hydraulic pumping equipment to be found anywhere in the world. Initially, the water was cold, but the deeper workings cut into parts of the mountain where there were heavy flows of hot water (mines don't always work in digging ore. Some parts of a mining operation could be deepening the existing shaft, or exploring for more ore bodies).[2]^:45,113 This water was hot enough to cook an egg or scald a man to death almost instantly. Lives were lost by falling into sumps of this water hot from the geothermal pockets. The hot water called for fans, blowers and various kinds of ventilation apparatus, as miners working in heated drifts had to have a supply of cool air.

Compressed air for running power drills and for driving fans and small hoisting engines was adopted in the Comstock mines.[2]^:46 Diamond drills for drilling long distances through solid rock were also in general use, but were discarded for prospecting purposes, being found unreliable. Several new forms of explosives for blasting were also developed.

Great improvements were also made in the hoisting apparatus and cages used to extract ore and transport the miners to their work. As the depth of the diggings increased, the hemp ropes used to haul ore to the surface became impractical, as their self-weight became a significant fraction of their tensile strength (breaking weight). After hemp rope, iron chains began to become more common. However, fracture was quick, at around half a millisecond. In 1829 Wilhelm Albert had studied and reported on the failure of the iron chains and began creating a twisted metal cabling known as Albert Rope. In 1864 Andrew Smith Hallidie manufactured wire rope[2]^:47 and was heavily involved in building early cable bridges and ropeway conveyors; his wire rope went on to be used in San Francisco's famous cable cars, and was also added to the cable drums in the hoist houses on the Comstock Lode. Another innovation, were spring loaded cages. The only way in and out of a shaft mine, was in the cage, cabled to the hoist.

All products, men and supplies, as well as recoverable ore, travels up and down the shaft in a cage. When the hemp rope or chains broke, the cage would plummet uncontrolled to the bottom of the shaft, killing its occupants or destroying its load. Cages were open to the front and rear, with I-beams on both sides to support the floor. The outside of the I-beams slid through wooden guides up and down the shaft, top to bottom. Spring loaded cages were designed with two swivel rods at the top of the cage, one each attached to the I-beams through bolts and lifted in the center. The outside of the rods were designed to be wider than the cage with a bulbous, round head at the end, notched with teeth molded into the rods. The weight of the cage being lifted, lifted the rods, released the teeth and tightened the spring, allowing the cage to move freely. If the chain or cable broke, the springs would force the rods down and the teeth would dig into the wood, stopping the cage.

Alta Mine mill, c. 1896

In 1859 the Americans knew nothing about silver mining. John D. Winters, Jr., and J.A. Osborn built two arastras, for the patio process, at the Ophir claim, and Gabriel Maldonado, a Mexican of Spanish descent, "began to smelt some of his rich ore in little adobe furnaces, Mexican fashion", after purchasing Penrod's share of the "Mexican" mine.[2]^:16 These methods proved to be too slow for the Americans and could not process the quantities of ore being extracted. The Americans introduced stamp mills for crushing the ore, and pans to hasten the process of amalgamation. Some of the German miners, who had been educated at the mining academy of Freiberg, were regarded as the best then existing to work with argentiferous ores. Bagley introduced a variation of the Freiberg process, using the revolving barrel process of amalgamation, and chloridizing-roasting of ores, after the stamp dry-crushed. While the barrel process was an improvement on the patio, it was found not to be well adapted to the rapid working of the Comstock ores as pan amalgamation. The Comstock eventually developed the Washoe process of using steam-heated iron pans, which reduced the weeks required by the patio process to hours.[2]^:41–45,80

In the early days of pan processing of ores, there were tremendous losses in precious metals and quicksilver (mercury). Almost every millman was experimenting with some secret process for the amalgamation of ore. They tried all manner of trash, both mineral and vegetable, including concoctions of cedar bark and sagebrush tea. At that time, untold millions in gold, silver and quicksilver were swept away into the rivers with the tailings. The Carson river and the Lake Lahontan carry warnings against mercury. Although many patterns and forms of amalgamating pans were invented and patented, there was much room for improvement. Improvements were made from time to time, resulting in reductions in losses of metals, but none of the apparatus in use on the Comstock was perfect.

"Carambo!—Caraja!—Sacramento!—Santa Maria!—Diavolo!": the difficult trek by mule train from California (1860 illustration from Harper's)

Before railroads were built, all freight and passengers were transported by teams of from 10 to 16 horses or mules. Ore was hauled to the mills by these teams, which also brought to the mines all the lumber required for construction among other things. Teams also hauled over the Sierra all the mining machinery, all supplies required by both mines and mills, as well as goods and merchandise needed by the stores and businesses. Each team hauled trains of two to four wagon loads. When the large reduction works of the Ophir Mining Company were in peak operation, lines of teams from one to three miles (5 km) in length moved along the wagon roads, and sometimes blocked Virginia City streets for hours.

From 1859 to 1868, great quantities of goods were transported across the Sierra to and from California on the backs of mules. When the Central Pacific Railroad line was completed to the Truckee Meadows, this hauling was bi-directional from Reno to Virginia City via the Geiger Grade wagon road, for transfer to rail for delivery to points east and west.[2]^:37–38,127

Ground was broken on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad on February 18, 1869 and by January 28, 1870 the most difficult "crookedest" section from Virginia City to Carson City was completed. Rails were extended north across the Washoe Valley, from Carson City to Reno, where it connected with the Central Pacific.[2]^:123–125 Between Virginia City and Carson City, at Mound House, the railroad also connected with the Carson and Colorado Railroad.

When silver was first discovered on the Comstock, the flow of water from natural springs was adequate to supply the needs of the miners and small towns of Virginia City and Gold Hill, Nevada. As population increased, wells were dug for domestic needs, and the water in several mine tunnels was added to the available supply. As the mills and hoisting works multiplied, the demand for water for use in steam boilers became so great that it was impossible to supply it without creating a water shortage among the residents, now thousands in number. In this need, the Virginia City and Gold Hill Water Company was formed, being the first non-mining incorporation on the Comstock Lode.

Water from wells and tunnels in the surrounding mountains was soon exhausted. It became imperative to look toward the main range of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where there was an inexhaustible supply. Between the Sierra and the Virginia ranges lay the Washoe Valley, a great trough nearly 2,000 ft (610 m) in depth. Hermann Schussler, a Swiss-trained engineer of great repute who had planned waterworks in San Francisco, was brought to the Comstock to plan and design the new works. Surveys were made in 1872, and the first sections of pipe laid June 11, 1873 and the last on July 25 the same year.[7]

The initial pipe was made of wrought iron and had a total length of over 7 mi (11 km), with an interior diameter of 12 in (300 mm) and a capacity of 92,000 gallons per hour. The pipe traversed the Washoe Valley in the form of an inverted siphon, at the lowest point having a pressure of 1,720 ft (520 m) of water,[2]^:120–121 or 800 pounds per square inch. The inlet being 465 ft (142 m) above the outlet, the water was forced through the pipe at tremendous pressure. Water was brought to the inlet in the Sierra Nevada range from sources of supply in two large covered flumes, and at the outlet end of the pipe was delivered in two large flumes a distance of 12 mi (19 km) to Virginia City. The pipe was constructed of sheets of wrought iron riveted together, each section fastened with three rows of rivets. Lead was used to secure the joints between pipe sections. The first flow of water reached Gold Hill and Virginia City on August 1, 1873 with great fanfare. This accomplishment was the greatest pressurized water system in operation in the world, having superseded the water system at Cherokee Flat also designed by Schussler.[7]

The water company laid an additional pipe alongside the first in 1875 and a third pipe in 1877. These pipes with lap-welded joints delivered more water, there being less friction of rivet heads on the water. Additional flumes were also constructed to diversify and improve reliability of supply.

These waterlines are still in use today, feeding Virginia City with fresh water.

Sutro Tunnel, ca. 1896

While there was a scarcity of water on the surface, there was an excess of water underground in all the mines. Floods in the mines were sudden and miners narrowly escaped being drowned by vast underground reservoirs that were unexpectedly tapped. Intrusion of scalding-hot water into the mines was a large problem, and the expense of water removal increased as depths increased. To overcome these troubles, Adolph Sutro conceived the idea of running a drain tunnel under the Comstock Lode from the lowest possible point. A survey was made by Schussler and work commenced in October 1869.

The Sutro Tunnel was completed from the valley near Dayton through nearly four miles, 20,589 feet, of solid rock to meet the Comstock mines approximately 1,750 ft (530 m) beneath the surface. Two drain laterals were dug, the north one 4,403 feet long and the south one 8,423 feet long. The tunnel was 9.5 ft (2.9 m) wide and 7.5 ft (2.3 m) high, inside the timbering. Drain flumes were sunk in the floor and over these were two tracks for horse carts. It required eight and a half years to reach the Lode. The tunnel drained up to 4,000,000 gallons daily.[2]^:107–115

The tunnel provided drainage and ventilation for the mines as well as gravity-assisted ore removal. However, by the time the tunnel reached the Comstock area mines, most of the ore above 1,650 ft (500 m) had already been removed and the lower workings were 1,500 ft (460 m) deeper still. Although virtually no ore was removed through the tunnel, the drainage it provided greatly decreased the operating costs of the mines served.[2]^:113 The ventilation problems were solved at about the same time by compressed air for the use of pneumatic drills.

The tunnel connected with the Savage claim on July 8, 1878. All of the Gold Hill mines stopped pumping water by March 1882, and water was allowed to rise to the level of the tunnel. The Combination Shaft ceased pumping below the tunnel on October 16, 1886.[2]^:112,139,269

Four Irishmen, John William Mackay, James Graham Fair, James C. Flood and William S. O'Brien formed a business partnership in 1869 known as the "Bonanza Firm," which dealt in silver-mining shares, and controlled and ran a number of Comstock mines over the years, notably the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company. These four men were among the "Bonanza Kings" or "Silver Kings" of the Comstock.[2]^{:115–117,144–161}

George Hearst, a highly successful California prospector, became a partner in Hearst, Haggin, Tevis and Co., the largest private mining firm in the United States, which owned and operated the Ophir mine on the Comstock Lode, and other gold and silver mining interests in California, Nevada, Utah, South Dakota and Peru. Hearst was a member of the California State Assembly and became a United States Senator from California. George Hearst was the father of the famed newspaperman William Randolph Hearst.

Copper King Marcus Daly, a mining engineer, met Hearst while working for John Mackay and James G. Fair. He later went on to found the Anaconda Mining Company, a Butte, Montana copper corporation.[16]^:26,52–53

William Chapman Ralston, founder of the Bank of California, financed several mining operations, repossessed some of those mines as their owners defaulted, and ultimately made enormous profits from the Comstock Lode.

William Sharon, a business partner of Ralston, was the Nevada agent for the Bank of California, and acquired Ralston's assets when his financial empire collapsed. William Sharon became the second United States Senator from Nevada.[2]^{:49–51,127–128}

William M. Stewart, who abandoned mining to become an attorney in Virginia City, Nevada, participated in mining litigation and the development of mining on the Comstock Lode. As Nevada became a state in 1864, Stewart assisted in developing its constitution, and became the first United States Senator from Nevada, where he helped pass the General Mining Act of 1872.[2]^:66–70

Silver baron Alvinza Hayward, known in his lifetime as "California's first millionaire", held a large interest in the Comstock lode after 1864.

While most who worked the mines did not gain great fortune, a number went on to be notable in their own right in the area of writing.

The Sagebrush School of journalists and writers arose out of the Territorial Enterprise and other newspapers in Virginia City. A young William Wright and Samuel Clemens both tried their hands at mining at Comstock; not prospering at this, they landed jobs at the Territorial Enterprise where they began writing under the pen names Dan De Quille and Mark Twain.

The poet and politician John Brayshaw Kaye, worked in the mine for a short period in the 19th century.[17]