Histories

County History

CHAPTER LVII
STOREY COUNTY
By James V. Comerford

The early history of Storey County, before it received its name, is inextricably interwoven with that of western Utah, now called Nevada, of "The Land of Snow." Its existence as a county is due to the discovery of the Comstock Lode and the Bonanza mines.

The story of this discovery overshadows the history of the conquest of Mexico, the battles of Napoleon for power and territory, or the search for the Golden Fleece. It made millionaires of miners and "muckers" of millionaires. Storey County is situated in the west central part of Nevada. It was named after Capt. Edward Faris Storey, a frontiersman who, after the death of Major Ormsby at the battle of Pyramid Lake, raised a force of riflemen, and on June 2, 1860, attacked the fortified camp of the Piutes and defeated them. He was afterward shot by an Indian from ambush, the bullet piercing his lungs, and he died the same day.

Storey was made a county by an act of the first territorial legislature, the same being approved November 25, 1861.

Virginia City, the principal town of Storey County, and for years the largest in the State, lies on the eastern slope of Mt. Davidson at an altitude of over 6,000 feet above sea level. It commands a magnificent view of the surrounding country and a great panorama of multicolored and snow-capped mountains to the west and south. In the gap between the mountains lies the desert and a fringe of green to indicate the course of the Carson River. The air is so clear that at times one can see one hundred and eighty miles from Mt. Davidson.

Gold Hill, the next town of importance, lies immediately south of Virginia City, separated from it by a rise known as "the Divide," the windiest part of the State. The mines were discovered by chance. Emigrants passing along the trail to California stopped and prospected the ground near Hall's Station, where Dayton now stands, but they did not find enough to cause them to remain, and they pushed on. Others took their places, and in the spring of 1857-8 about one hundred and fifty men were working in the canyon. On January 28, 1859, a rich strike was made in Gold Hill by "Old Virginia" H. T. P. Comstock and others. At the same time work was being done in Six-Mile Canyon and a few days later rich ore was found where the Ophir was since located. This was about a mile or more north of the first discovery. The discoverers were Peter O'Reilly and Patrick McLaughlin. Comstock gave a portion of the find to Emanuel Penrod, but claimed about everything else in sight. Comstock was a good advertiser, like Amerigo Vespucci, and fastened his name to everything in sight.

Later came the Grosch brothers, who discovered silver where gold only was supposed to exist, and this gave a great impetus to mining in that vicinity. Sandy Bowers was one of the first locators, and the story of his sudden rise to opulence, his reckless extravagance and final poverty is of human interest. His daughter, Persia, died at the age of sixteen and was buried near the Bowers Mansion on the west side of Washoe Valley. Mrs. Bowers became a seeress and made a scanty living on the old Ledge, and in San Francisco by divination.

In July, 1859, a Washoe Valley rancher took some pieces of blue-clay, thrown away as waste on the Ophir dump, to Grass Valley, where he gave the specimens to Judge Walsh, who had them assayed. This ore went $1,595 in silver and $4,790 in gold. The Judge and a friend started out next morning for "the diggins," and this led the memorable rush to Washoe.

No pen could hope to portray the whole of this wonderful excitement. From a purely human interest standpoint scenes and episodes of this rush are deep-dyed with the richest color of comedy, pathos and tragedy. Acts of heroism and cowardice, self-denial, selfishness, straightforwardness, intrigue, honor and shame are here seen side by side. Fortune played strange tricks in those early days, and the moods and passions of men were seen under changing lights, as she smiled or frowned. The first discoverers gained little and that little they lost.

Comstock sold his interest for $10,000, but soon lost it. He then left the territory and in September, 1870, committed suicide near Bazeman, Montana. McLaughlin sold his interest for $3,500, which he soon lost, and. after working as a cook in different localities, died a tramp. O'Reilley held his interest until he got $50,000, built a hotel and gambled in stocks until he went broke. He spent some years tunneling for gold in Douglas County, under the guidance of spirits, and ended his days in a private asylum in California.

"Mannie," or Emanuel Penrod, was the last survivor of the original locators. He died in Vallejo, California, in April, 1912. Mannie was something of a character, and in 1909, when the Comstock held its golden jubilee, he was invited to be present, as the only surviving original locator. When he received the invitation he was engaged in driving a tunnel into a mountain side in Elko County. The committee forwarded his expenses and provided liberally for the trip. In the grand street parade which took place July 4, 1909, Mannie, along with Oscar Steel, James Roberts and Frank Dickerson, occupied the place of honor, riding in a gaily decorated carriage next the Governor and staff. He was given a great reception and ovation and entertained many of his old friends with tales of the birth of the wonderful Washoe District, which he founded. When Mr. Penrod departed, after the celebration was over, he was still filled with confidence that some day he would return to the old Ledge a wealthy man. But he did not survive long enough to fulfill his prophecy, and at the celebration he was the sole remaining figure contemporary with the days when no one ever dreamed of the countless millions which they bartered away for a mere pittance. He has gone to his final rest. Requiescat in pace.

After the big rush began many hard characters held a powerful sway on the Comstock until the year 1871, when the "601" was formed. This vigilance committee was composed of honest, determined citizens who decided to take the law into their own hands. One of their most sensational lynchings was the stringing up of Perkins to the rafters of Piper's Opera House. Perkins shot a man for some trivial remark he made and he was spirited away to Carson by the authorities. He was brought back to be tried in the District Court at Virginia City and was hardly inside the county boundaries before he was taken by the "601" and hung in the Opera House. No sooner did the body swing clear than a dozen or twenty shots were fired into it. McKee Rankin, the famous actor, and the mother of Maud Adams were playing there at the time.

The town became quieter after that. The statement has been made that the first sixty graves in Virginia City were filled by murdered men, but no authority can be found for it. At present, however, the population of the cemeteries of the Comstock is in excess of those living in the vicinity, and it is no unusual sight to see the superscription "murdered" on the tombstones.

In 1859 and 1860 the shelters of the inhabitants were of the crudest character possible. Some of the gold-seekers lived in holes dug in the side of the mountain. One "billiard parlor" was of this type and did a good business. It was located where the present Corporation House now stands. In 1860 about four hundred people were camping in Virginia City. The first house in Gold Hill was built by "Dutch Nick" Ambrose, near the Gold Hill croppings. The first house in Virginia City was erected at the corner of A Street and Sutton Avenue by John L. Newman. The first International Hotel was built at the corner of Union and B Streets, and its first day's receipts were $700.

In April, 1860, flour was from $30 to $40 per 100 pounds; sugar 62 cents, candles 75 cents, shovels $5 and picks $6, powder $1 a pound, eggs $3 a dozen. In 1861 Virginia had a population of about 2,700 and Gold Hill 1,300. In 1864, five years after the first discovery, Virginia City had a population of 5,000. Twenty-one miles of shafts and drifts had been excavated and over 60 mills were working on the Comstock ores. Great fortunes were being taken from the ground. Imperial had produced $2,750,000, Overman $3,250,000, Hale and Norcross $11,000,000, Gould and Curry $15,500,000, Chollar and Potasi $16,000,000, Yellow Jacket $16,500,000, Savage $16,500,000, Ophir $20,000,000, Crown Point $22,000,000, Belcher $26,000,000, and others in sums ranging from thousands to millions.

The majority who came in the first rush were young men. The greater number were under thirty years of age and many under twenty-five. As a result many strong and life-enduring friendships were formed. In 1874 a continuous row of houses extended from the upper part of Virginia City through to Gold Hill and far down into the canyon. They held a total population of nearly forty thousand. A great influx of people was due at this time to the discovery of "The Big Bonanza" in the Con Virginia and California mines. These mines subsequently produced, for the next fourteen years, an average of $1,500,000 per month. The total output of these two mines was about $180,000,000 and they continued paying enormous dividends for years.

Con Virginia was at one time as low as 15 cents a share, and it went to $800 a share even after it had been cut up into five-for-one with a stock dividend. Mackay, Fair, Flood, and O'Brien were known as the Big Four. With the wealth taken from the mines, San Francisco was built and palaces of the Comstock mine owners began to rise in stately magnificence on Nob Hill. The Palace and Fairmount Hotels were built from these dividends and the building of the Pacific Cable and the great Postal Telegraph systems came from this source.

When the "Bonanza" was discovered, some 200 miles of work had been done on the Comstock, and enough timber buried in the depths of the Lode to house a population of half a million people. The tendency of the ground to cave necessitated this enormous use of timber and the western slopes of the Sierras were practically denuded to furnish the supply.

Phillip Deideshimer was the inventor of the square system of timbering, without which the mines would have been worked but a few hundred feet in depth. He solved the vexed problem when development on the Ledge threatened to be at a standstill. He also wrote the report on the extent and richness of the bonanza discovered in California and Con Virginia and it is claimed that this report caused the demonetization of silver by the German Government.

Many disastrous fires followed the introduction of timbering in the mines. The worst was the Yellow Jacket fire in Gold Hill in April 24, 1869, in which forty-five men lost their lives. It was claimed at the time that Senator Sharon instigated the work of firing the mine to depress the stock, and Adolph Sutro took advantage of the fire to show how lives could be saved through his tunnel. The next notable fire was in the Curry, June 24th 1888. Several miners lost their lives, being unable to escape to adjoining mines, and the blame of the disaster was laid at the door of the practice of keeping adjoining mines isolated and not connected by drifts which might be made use of in case of fire.

Many disastrous fires have occurred on the surface. The greatest was in 1875. The fire wiped out some $12,000,000 worth of property, and most of the hoisting works went up in the blaze. The stock depression following the conflagration was very disastrous to the entire Coast. The work of rebuilding, however, began immediately and finer and better buildings resulted. The new Court House was erected at a cost of $75,000, the International Hotel at a cost of $125,000. This was furnished regardless of expense, and its magnificent chandeliers, ceiling-high mirrors and mahogany furniture made it a hostelry for the wealthy. Most of the intrigues and big mining deals were incubated within its walls, and could they speak now, a new history of the Ledge might be written of unsurpassed interest. All of the churches were rebuilt — and better than ever.

The first mill erected to crush Comstock ore was built by A. B. Paul near Silver City, May 24, 1860. From that on they steadily increased until mills varying from three to sixty-stamps lined the canyons, dotted the Carson River and lined the shores of Washoe Lake. The ore was transported from the Comstock by team mostly in quartz wagons drawn by twelve or sixteen horses. The milling methods were crude and expensive and scarcely any ore worth less than $16 a ton was considered worth treating. Wasteful methods were the rule, and the loss of precious metals, including the quicksilver used in amalgamation, was enormous. The chief ingredients used in amalgamation were quicksilver and copper sulphate, though every available concoction was used experimentally, including mixtures of drugs and sagebrush-tea.

In some of the richer ores as much as five pounds of quicksilver was used to the ton. Blanket tablemen reaped a rich harvest from the "slimes and tailings." The Union Mill and Mining Company soon controlled most of the mills and the extensive operations of this monopoly are treated fully in another portion of this work. Legal battles over disputed claims were very numerous and scores of lawyers reaped fortunes from these litigations. In many cases the disputants never bothered to go into court but settled the matter with guns and pistols, and many a claim had its dead man to bury after the squabble was over. The bloodiest battle over a claim was fought at the Justice Waller shaft at Gold Hill, October 3, 1874, where several men were killed. The Miners' Union, after its organization, did much to put a stop to these methods of settling miners' rights.

The Virginia Miners' Union was organized in December, 1866, and the Gold Hill Union, July 4, 1867. The most amicable relations have always existed between the unions and the mine owners. The wages have always been $4 a day. These unions numbered 4,375 members in June, 1875. There is a by-law in the constitution of the unions that it cannot disband until the number is reduced to seven. Whenever it reaches that membership the seven meet, divide the money in the treasury, and the union goes out of existence. The wise heads that conceived that idea knew what they were doing, evidently.

Fuller accounts of the many things lightly touched upon here appear in the widely scattered writings of many brilliant men who formed a powerful coterie in the early days. All of these men were connected more or less with the press, chiefly the Territorial Enterprise, the Virginia Chronicle and the Gold Hill News. Among the list may be mentioned Mark Twain, Dan De Quille, Joseph T. Goodman, Charley Goodwin, Rollin M. Daggett, Bret Harte, Sam Davis, Edward Townsend, T. E. McCarthy, Arthur McEwen, Alf. Doten and others more or less known who made history on the old Ledge.

The order of the names implies no opinion of the individual merit or personal preference. Their writings, if gathered together and compiled, a word here, a line there, a bit of sparkling wit and a touch of pathos, with reference to the strange, wild, unusual life on the early Comstock, would weave into a drama touching the greatest depths of despair and the fullest achievements of hope known to man; for the events and incidents that characterized the workshop of the wonderful Lode were such as showed human nature in its lowest degradation and the highest aspects of sublimity.

It was a great stage on which mighty actors have played their parts and passed on. Her garnered wealth has quickened the pulse of civilization and revived the drooping industries of the world. The power of her Midas touch will be felt during coming centuries. Her glory rests upon the achievements of the past, but the future will recall those glories long after the men have been forgotten who plucked their wealth from the restless tide of frenzied finance that dashed its breakers against the rocky sides of old Mt. Davidson.

Contributed 2024 Jan 21 by Norma Hass, extracted from The History of Nevada, Volume 2, edited by Sam P. Davis, published in 1913 by Elms Publishing Company, Reno, Nevada, pages 997-1003.