An Editor on the Comstock Lode

An Editor on the Comstock Lode PDF Author: Wells Drury
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description

An Editor on the Comstock Lode

An Editor on the Comstock Lode PDF Author: Wells Drury
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description


SP024: The History of the Comstock Lode 1850-1920

SP024: The History of the Comstock Lode 1850-1920 PDF Author:
Publisher: NV Bureau of Mines & Geology
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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The Roar and the Silence

The Roar and the Silence PDF Author: Ronald M. James
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
ISBN: 0874174171
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 602

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Book Description
Nevada’s Comstock Mining District has been the focus of legend since it first burst into international prominence in the late 1850s, and its principal settlement, Virginia City, endures in the popular mind as the West’s quintessential mining camp. But the authentic history of the Comstock is far more complex and interesting than its colorful image. Contrary to legend, Virginia City spent only its first few years as a ramshackle mining camp. The mining boom quickly turned it into a thriving urban center, at its peak one of the largest cities west of the Mississippi, replete with most of the amenities of any large city of its time. The lure of the area’s fabulous wealth attracted a remarkably heterogenous population from around the world and offered employment to dozens of trades and thousands of people, both men and women, representing every one of the region’s diverse ethnic groups. Ronald James’s brilliant account of the Comstock’s long and eventful history—the first comprehensive study of the subject in over a century—examines every aspect of the region and employs information gleaned from hundreds of written sources, interviews, archeological research, computer analysis, folklore, gender studies, physical geography, and architectural and art history, as well as over fifty rare photographs, many of them previously unpublished.

Mile-High Fever

Mile-High Fever PDF Author: Dennis Drabelle
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
In the captivating true story of the Comstock Lode, Drabelle skillfully brings to life the exploration of the large vein of silver in the northwestern U.S. that sparked the Silver Rush from 1859-1882. "Mile-High Fever" brings to light one of the least-known episodes in American history.

The Saga of the Comstock Lode

The Saga of the Comstock Lode PDF Author: George Dunlap Lyman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Comstock Lode (Nev.)
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Monumental Lies

Monumental Lies PDF Author: Ronald M. James
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
ISBN: 1647791170
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
A playful embrace of tall tales and exaggeration, Monumental Lies explores the evolution of folklore in the Wild West. Monumental Lies: Early Nevada Folklore of the Wild West invites readers to explore how legends and traditions emerged during the first decades following the “Rush to Washoe,” which transformed the Nevada Territory after in 1859. During this Wild West period, there was widespread celebration of deceit, manifesting in tall tales, burlesque lies, practical jokes, and journalistic hoaxes. Humor was central, and practitioners easily found themselves scorned if they failed to be adequately funny. The tens of thousands of people who came to the West, attracted by gold and silver mining, brought distinct cultural legacies. The interaction of diverse perspectives, even while new stories and traditions coalesced, was a complex process. Author Ronald M. James addresses how the fluidity of the region affected new expressions of folklore as they took root. The wildly popular Mark Twain is often a go-to source for collections of early tall tales of this region, but his interaction with local traditions was specific and narrow. More importantly, William Wright—publishing as Dan De Quille—arose as a key collector of legends, a counterpart of early European folklorists. With a bedrock understanding of what unfolded in the nineteenth century, James considers how these early stories helped shaped the culture of the Wild West.

Comstock Women

Comstock Women PDF Author: Ronald M. James
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
ISBN: 0874174481
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
When it comes to Nevada history, men get most of the ink. Comstock Women is a collection of 14 historical studies that helps to rectify that reality. The authors of these essays, who include some of Nevada’s most prominent historians, demographers, and archaeologists, explore such topics as women and politics, jobs, and ethnic groups. Their work goes far in refuting the exaggerated popular images of women in early mining towns as dance hall girls or prostitutes. Relying primarily on newspapers, court decisions, census records, as well as sparse personal diaries and records left by the woman, the essayists have resurrected the lives of the women who lived on the Comstock during the boom years.

The Bonanza King

The Bonanza King PDF Author: Gregory Crouch
Publisher: Scribner
ISBN: 1501108204
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
“A monumentally researched biography of one of the nineteenth century’s wealthiest self-made Americans…Well-written and worthwhile” (The Wall Street Journal) it’s the rags-to-riches frontier tale of an Irish immigrant who outwits, outworks, and outmaneuvers thousands of rivals to take control of Nevada’s Comstock Lode. Born in 1831, John W. Mackay was a penniless Irish immigrant who came of age in New York City, went to California during the Gold Rush, and mined without much luck for eight years. When he heard of riches found on the other side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1859, Mackay abandoned his claim and walked a hundred miles to the Comstock Lode in Nevada. Over the course of the next dozen years, Mackay worked his way up from nothing, thwarting the pernicious “Bank Ring” monopoly to seize control of the most concentrated cache of precious metals ever found on earth, the legendary “Big Bonanza,” a stupendously rich body of gold and silver ore discovered 1,500 feet beneath the streets of Virginia City, the ultimate Old West boomtown. But for the ore to be worth anything it had to be found, claimed, and successfully extracted, each step requiring enormous risk and the creation of an entirely new industry. Now Gregory Crouch tells Mackay’s amazing story—how he extracted the ore from deep underground and used his vast mining fortune to crush the transatlantic telegraph monopoly of the notorious Jay Gould. “No one does a better job than Crouch when he explores the subject of mining, and no one does a better job than he when he describes the hardscrabble lives of miners” (San Francisco Chronicle). Featuring great period photographs and maps, The Bonanza King is a dazzling tour de force, a riveting history of Virginia City, Nevada, the Comstock Lode, and America itself.

Sun Mountain

Sun Mountain PDF Author: Richard S. Wheeler
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780812580112
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
Drawn to Virginia City, Nevada, and its Comstock Lode in the early 1860s, journalist Henry Stoddard mingles with mining titans, speculators, and bankers as well as the men who descend into the dark earth to wrest the gold riches from it. Among those he meets are a young Missourian named Sam Clemens, a reporter for the "Territorial Enterprise" who would transform himself into Mark Twain. (August)

John Mackay

John Mackay PDF Author: Michael J. Makley
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
ISBN: 0874177952
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
From the early 1870s until his death in 1902, John Mackay was among the richest men in the world and was without a doubt the wealthiest man to emerge from Nevada’s fabulous Comstock Lode. Author Michael J. Makley explores how, from his beginnings as a poor Irish immigrant, John Mackay developed a strong work ethic that distinguished him for the rest of his life. He came west to seek his fortune in the California Gold Rush and then moved on to Virginia City, Nevada, where he dealt in mining stocks and operated silver mines. After making a fortune in mining, he transferred his energies to banking and communications. John Mackay offers new insight into the life and achievements of this remarkable man. It also places Mackay in the broader context of his time, an era of robber barons and rampant corruption, rapidly advancing technology, national and international capitalism, and flagrant displays of newfound wealth. Even in this context, he stood out, not only for his contributions to Nevada and mining history, but also for his reputation as an important business leader fighting the consolidation and venality of corporate power in the Gilded Age. His actions freed the Comstock from a financial monopoly, resulting in moderated rates for the milling, timber, shipping, transportation, and water that made mining possible and precipitated the discovery and development of the ore field known as the “Big Bonanza.” Makley’s book recounts the life and career of one of the most successful men of his age, a capitalist of immense wealth who generously helped those around him and worked diligently in the public interest. This engaging biography will appeal to readers interested in the Comstock Lode and mining in the West during the latter part of the nineteenth century as well as general western history enthusiasts.