Virginia City Fact Sheet
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1914 , April 24, Reno Earthquake
The November 21, 1910 Tonopah Junction Earthquake, and the February 18, 1914 and April 24, 1914 Reno Earthquakes in Nevada Craig M. dePolo and Terri M. Garside Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada 89557 [email protected] March 2006 U.S.G.S. NEHRP Award No. 04HQGR0114 Research supported by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Department of the Interior, under USGS award number 04HQGR0114. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government “It began with a mumble and a rumble and a grumble, then a vibration, followed by an oscillation, a tango, a turkey trot, Castle glide, Century Club wiggle, Belle Isle joggle and a Verdi rag.” Reno Evening Gazette April 24, 1914 “We like these earthquakes in Nevada. They are indicative that the earth is settling and settlement is what Nevada wants.” Reno Evening Gazette April 24, 1914 Table of Contents ABSTRACT 1 1910, November 21, Tonopah Junction Earthquake EARTHQUAKE SUMMARY 4 EARTHQUAKE SEQUENCE 4 EARTHQUAKE CATALOG ACCOUNTS 5 NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS 6 1914, February 18, Reno Earthquake EARTHQUAKE SUMMARY 8 EARTHQUAKE SEQUENCE 10 EARTHQUAKE CATALOG ACCOUNTS 10 NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS 12 Nevada Newspapers 12 California Newspapers 38 OTHER ACCOUNTS 41 MODIFIED MERCALLI INTENSITY ASSIGNMENTS 43 Isoseismal Map 43 1914 , April 24, Reno Earthquake EARTHQUAKE SUMMARY 46 EARTHQUAKE SEQUENCE 48 EARTHQUAKE CATALOG ACCOUNTS 48 NEWSPAPER -
Frontier West” Mining
“The Frontier West” Mining • Many Americans were lured to the West by the chance to strike it rich mining gold and silver. • The western mining boom had begun with the California Gold Rush of 1849. • From California miners spread out in search of new strikes. Comstock Lode • 1859 – Gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevada. • Henry Comstock = “Comstock Lode” • Unknown to its owners, Comstock Lode was even richer in another precious metal. “danged blue stuff” • Miners at Comstock Lode complained about the heavy Blue sand that was mixed in with the gold. • Some curious miners had the “danged blue stuff” taken to California to be tested. • Tests showed that the sand was loaded with silver! Boom Towns • The Comstock Lode attracted thousands of people to the West. • The mining camp grew into the “boom town” – a town that experiences sudden growth and economic success) of Virginia City, Nevada. • Miners eventually moved into other areas such as Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and South Dakota. “Ghost Towns” • Towns grew up near all the major mining sites. Mines lasted only a few years, When the ore was gone, boom towns” turned into “ghost towns”. • Other settlements lasted and grew. Denver and Colorado Springs grew up near rich gold mines. • The surge of miners into the West created some problems: – Miners and towns polluted clear mountain streams, – Miners cut down forests to get wood for buildings, and – Miners forced Native Americans from their lands. •A few miners got “rich” quick – most did not! Railroads • Railroad Companies raced to law down track to the mines. • The federal government encouraged railroad building in the West by loaning money to the railroad companies. -
The Letters of Mark Twain, Complete by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
The Letters Of Mark Twain, Complete By Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) 1 VOLUME I By Mark Twain MARK TWAIN'S LETTERS I. EARLY LETTERS, 1853. NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA We have no record of Mark Twain's earliest letters. Very likely they were soiled pencil notes, written to some school sweetheart --to "Becky Thatcher," perhaps--and tossed across at lucky moments, or otherwise, with happy or disastrous results. One of those smudgy, much-folded school notes of the Tom Sawyer period would be priceless to-day, and somewhere among forgotten keepsakes it may exist, but we shall not be likely to find it. No letter of his boyhood, no scrap of his earlier writing, has come to light except his penciled name, SAM CLEMENS, laboriously inscribed on the inside of a small worn purse that once held his meager, almost non-existent wealth. He became a printer's apprentice at twelve, but as he received no salary, the need of a purse could not have been urgent. He must have carried it pretty steadily, however, from its 2 appearance--as a kind of symbol of hope, maybe--a token of that Sellers-optimism which dominated his early life, and was never entirely subdued. No other writing of any kind has been preserved from Sam Clemens's boyhood, none from that period of his youth when he had served his apprenticeship and was a capable printer on his brother's paper, a contributor to it when occasion served. Letters and manuscripts of those days have vanished--even his contributions in printed form are unobtainable. -
06-12-1859 Comstock Lode.Indd
This Day in History… June 12, 1859 The Comstock Lode June 12, 1859, is generally accepted as the re-discovery date of the Comstock Lode. Gold and silver had been found in the area as early as 1850 by emigrants on their way to California. It proved to be the richest silver lode in the US, with miners collecting nearly seven million tons of silver over the next two decades. Mormon immigrants first found gold in the area in the spring of 1850. They panned gold until the mountain snow melted and they could leave for California, where they expected to find more gold. In the years to come, more Issued for the 100th anniversary of emigrants passed through the canyon and tried their luck, but when the water the discovery in 1859. It pictures ran out near the end of summer, they would continue their trek to California. Comstock, O’Reilly, and McLaughlin. Ethan and Hosea Grosh, veterans of the California Gold Rush, are credited with discovering rich silver and gold veins in what is now called Gold Hill, near Virginia City in 1857. Hosea died of infection from a foot injury, and Ethan and an associate traveled to California with prospecting samples, hoping to raise funds for their dig. They left Henry Comstock to watch over their cabin and land. Ethan never finished the journey, dying of frostbite-related injuries. Comstock then claimed the cabin and land as his own. In Comstock’s possession were more ore samples, as well as detailed notes that, being illiterate, he couldn’t read. -
University of Nevada, Nevada Digital Newspaper Project
Narrative Section of a Successful Application The attached document contains the grant narrative of a previously funded grant application. It is not intended to serve as a model, but to give you a sense of how a successful application may be crafted. Every successful application is different, and each applicant is urged to prepare a proposal that reflects its unique project and aspirations. Prospective applicants should consult the NEH Division of Preservation and Access application guidelines at http://www.neh.gov/divisions/preservation for instructions. Applicants are also strongly encouraged to consult with the NEH Division of Preservation and Access staff well before a grant deadline. Note: The attachment only contains the grant narrative, not the entire funded application. In addition, certain portions may have been redacted to protect the privacy interests of an individual and/or to protect confidential commercial and financial information and/or to protect copyrighted materials. Project Title: Nevada Digital Newspaper Project Institution: University of Nevada Project Director: Jason Vaughn Grant Program: National Digital Newspaper Program 400 7th Street, SW, Floor 4, Washington, D.C. 20506 P 202.606.8570 F 202.606.8639 E [email protected] www.neh.gov History and Scope of Project Notable Historic Events in Nevada (1836‐1922) Nevada’s history from its earliest settlements, territorial establishment and statehood, until 1922, encompasses in that relatively brief period a microcosm of the history of the modern American west. Nevada found itself at a crossroads of national and regional developments. While awash with gold, silver, and other minerals, it took the emergence of a national system of transportation and national markets to capitalize those ore deposits, and by so doing vitalize what was an arid and sparsely populated region. -
MAP SHOWING LOCATIONS of MINES and PROSPECTS in the DILLON Lox 2° QUADRANGLE, IDAHO and MONTANA
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MAP SHOWING LOCATIONS OF MINES AND PROSPECTS IN THE DILLON lox 2° QUADRANGLE, IDAHO AND MONTANA By JeffreyS. Loen and Robert C. Pearson Pamphlet to accompany Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1803-C Table !.--Recorded and estimated production of base and precious metals in mining districts and areas in the Dillon 1°x2° guadrangle, Idaho and Montana [Production of other commodities are listed in footnotes. All monetary values are given in dollars at time of production. Dashes indicate no information available. Numbers in parentheses are estimates by the authors or by those cited as sources of data in list that follows table 2. <,less than; s.t., short tons] District/area Years Ore Gold Silver Copper Lead Zinc Value Sources name (s. t.) (oz) (oz) (lb) (lb) (lb) (dollars) of data Idaho Carmen Creek 18 70's-190 1 (50,000) 141, 226 district 1902-1980 (unknown) Total (50,000) Eldorado 1870's-1911 17,500 (350 ,000) 123, 226 district 1912-1954 (13,000) (8,000) (300,000) Total (650,000) Eureka district 1880's-1956 (13 ,500) 12,366 (2,680,000) 57,994 (4,000) ( 4,000 ,000) 173 Total (4,000,000) Gibbonsville 1877-1893 (unknown) district 1894-1907 (83,500) (1,670,000) 123, 226 1908-1980 ( <10 ,000) 123 Total (2,000,000) Kirtley Creek 1870's-1890 2,000 40,500 173 district 1890's-1909 (<10,000) 1910-1918 24,300 (500 ,000) 123 1919-1931 (unknown) 1932-1947 2,146 (75 ,000) 173 Total (620,000) McDevitt district 1800's.-1980 (80,000) Total (80,000) North Fork area 1800's-1980 (unknown) Total ( <10 ,000) Pratt Creek 1870's-1900 (50 ,000) district Total (50,000) Sandy Creek 1800 's-1900 (unknown) district 1901-1954 19,613 4,055 4,433 71,359 166,179 (310,000) 17 3, 200 Total (310 ,000) Montana Anaconda Range 1880's-1980 (<100,000) area Total (<100,000) Argenta district 1864-1901 (1 ,500 ,000) 1902-1965 311,796 72,241 562,159 604,135 18,189,939 2,009,366 5,522,962 88 Total (7,000,000) Baldy Mtn. -
The Comstock Historical Foundation Awarded $5K Grant
"THE WEEKLY OF STOREY COUNTY" Virginia City ~ Virginia City Highlands Mark Twain ~ Lockwood Tahoe Reno Industrial Center Vol. 33 • No. 9 Friday, February 28, 2020 Established 1987 Virginia City, Nevada 89440 50 CENTS The Comstock Dapper Duds at Father- Historical Foundation Daughter Day Awarded $5K grant BY JEN HUNT BY JEN HUNT Dads and daughters dering the street and visiting dressed in their best finery shops. The Comstock Histori- being, help us feel proud of visually beautiful. visited merchants all up and At Silver Sadie’s Old Time cal Foundation was recently where we have come from, down C Street last Saturday, Photos, Greg enjoyed a par- Dube “was on the Nevada February 22, 2020, for the awarded a $5,000.00 grant can inspire, challenge and State Museum board for ticularly brisk business, so from the NV Energy Foun- stimulate us, and make us Fifth Annual Father-Daugh- much so that he needed a 10 years and designed the ter Day in Virginia City. dation to support the design- feel healthier. mob Museum in Vegas, he wrangler outside the shop to ing of a new museum, “The For many, museums help designed the Nevada State Brilliant sunshine brought manage the flow of custom- Comstock Foundation Min- them visualize. Many people Museum in Vegas. He's done out all manner of fancy dress, ers and traffic. ing Milling Museum & Visi- have little interest in reading a lot of work on our museum including top hats and canes, It’s definitely a family tor Center,” an 8,800 square about historical events, but in Carson. -
An Adventure in History
VIRGINIA CITY - AN ADVENTURE IN HISTORY VIRGINIA CITY, Nevada —Adventure and history going back more than 150 years is just a 45-minute drive from the Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada. The mines that held silver that funded the Civil War, established Nevada’s statehood and made poor miners into millionaires are just waiting to be explored. With its wooden boardwalk, historic landmarks, including the last school of its kind in the U.S. and most expensive court house built in the state for 50 years, Virginia City, Nevada, offers a real glimpse to what life on the Comstock was all about. C Street, the town’s main drag, is lined with saloons, eateries and quaint shops. Some say it has the largest concentration of saloons for the town’s mile street – at one point in its history, it boasted more than 115 saloons. Several of these drinking establishments have sordid pasts including many ghost stories. Some say Janis Joplin, who played at the Red Dog Saloon, haunts the stage there today. Virginia City is a mecca for ghost hunters with noted ghost sightings at the Washoe Club and, in fact, offers ghost tours especially for adventuresome visitors. A visit to Virginia City really is a step back in time. At its peak, Virginia City was a thriving metropolis of 25,000 people. The bountiful discovery of the Comstock Lode in the late 1850s drew men and women from around the world to live and work in this high-desert community. At its peak, Virginia City became one of the most important industrial cities this side of Denver with the silver from the mines helping to build San Francisco. -
Kitchen-Klatter Kleaner: the Powder Library to the Town As a Memorial to Cleaner That Goes Into Solution the Minute It Hits Water (Even His Daughter Jean
KITCHEN-KLATTER MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER, 1966 PAGE 17 MARK TWAIN AT MANY POINTS In the 1860's Twain went out West to museums at either Scottsdale, Arizona, by prospect for gold and later wrote arti or Banff, B.C., Canada, and you'll see Martha Dudley Smith cles for the "Territorial Enterprise". his figure included in both those ex A desk he reputedly used, testifies to hibits. Midwesterners, out to see the United the "life that was" at the present Records there indicate that Mark States and canada on vacation, soon ghost town of Virginia City, Nevada. Twain. in manhood, was five feet, discover that Mark Twain left his im Since 1928 Angels Camp, California, eight inches tall and weighed an aver print at widely-separated points. He has honored his story The Ce?ebrated age of 129 pounds. He had a great tuft almost brings to mind the "Kilroy was Jumping Frog o_f Calaveras County of sandy hair, which later turned sil here" notices of world War II. with a frog jubilee the third weekend ver. In his last years he wore white Probably these travelers remember of May each year. Angels hotel, where clothing almost exclusively. Samuel Clemens - the beloved Mark Mark Twain stopped, is still in use. A In lieu of a trip to Mark Twain's Twain - as the author of The Adven statue of him stands in Utica Park, haunts, discovering them in his biogra tures of Tom Sau·yer and The Adven Angels camp. phy makes lively reading about a great tures of Huckleberry Finn but may San Francisco has a Mark Twain American who indeed traveled far, have skipped studying his biography. -
Timber for the Comstock
In October 2008, the Society of American Foresters will hold its convention in Reno, Nevada. Attendees can visit nearby Virginia City, the home of America’s first major “silver rush,” the Comstock Lode. Virginia City was built over one of North America’s largest silver deposits and a “forest of underground timbers.” Demand for timber was satisfied by the large forest at the upper elevations of the Sierra Nevada, especially around Lake Tahoe. After discussing historical background, this article offers a short forest history tour based on Nevada historical markers and highlighting Lake Tahoe logging history. TIMBER FOR THE COMSTOCK old was discovered in western Nevada around 1850 by prospectors on their way to California. In early 1859, James Finney and a small group of G prospectors discovered the first indications of silver ore near present-day Virginia City. Later that year other prospectors located the ledge of a major gold lode. Fellow prospector Henry Comstock claimed the ledge Over the next twenty years, the 21⁄2-mile deposit of high-grade as being on his property and soon gained an interest in the area, ore would produce nearly $400 million in silver and gold, create and the strike became known as the Comstock Lode. Finney, several fortunes, and lead to Nevada’s early admission to the nicknamed “Old Virginny” after his birthplace, reportedly named Union during the Civil War, even though it lacked the popula- the collection of mining tents in honor of himself during a tion required by the Constitution to become a state.2 In 1873, a drunken celebration. -
The Conversation: a Man for All Seasons
The Conversation: A man for all seasons By Francesca Lyman Special to The Sacramento Bee Published: Sunday, Apr. 10, 2011 "I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there before." – "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain In honor of the immortal "Huck Finn," my father and a Navy buddy just out of the service wanted to finally do some navigating on their own and decided to "light out for the territory" in the postwar late 1940s. So they ventured down the mighty Mississippi River from Illinois, in little more than a canoe, passing not "wedding-cake" style paddle steamers of yore but industrial barges, through locks and dams, along braided channels, levees and backwaters. They brought tents, provisions and plenty of pluck, and arrived in New Orleans several months – and 1,400 miles – later, having sprouted big bushy beards. To us kids, this family legend made my dad's readings of "Huckleberry Finn" all the more lustrous and full of life – and ensured my lifelong fascination with this classic writer. "Sometimes we'd have that whole river all to ourselves for the longest time," we might hear him read to us at bedtime. "Yonder was the banks and the islands, across the water; and maybe a spark – which was a candle in a cabin window; and sometimes on the water you could see a spark or two – on a raft or a scow, you know; and maybe you could hear a fiddle or a song coming over from one of them crafts." As my father and his paddling buddy came down North America's longest river, things took a less rosy turn, probably not far out of St. -
Mining Archaeology in the American West
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln University of Nebraska Press -- Sample Books and Chapters University of Nebraska Press Spring 2010 Mining Archaeology in the American West Donald L. Hardesty Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/unpresssamples Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Hardesty, Donald L., "Mining Archaeology in the American West" (2010). University of Nebraska Press -- Sample Books and Chapters. 103. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/unpresssamples/103 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Nebraska Press at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Nebraska Press -- Sample Books and Chapters by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Mining Archaeology in the American West Buy the Book Historical Archaeology of the American West Series Editors Rebecca Allen Annalies Corbin Buy the Book Mining Archaeology in the American West A View from the Silver State Donald L. Hardesty University of Nebraska Press and the Society for Historical Archaeology Buy the Book © 2010 by The Society for Historical Archaeology All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hardesty, Donald L., 1941– Mining archaeology in the American West : a view from the Silver State / Donald L. Hardesty. p. cm. — (Historical archaeology of the American West) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978–0–8032–2440–7 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Nevada — Antiquities. 2. Archaeology and history — Nevada. 3. Frontier and pioneer life — Nevada. 4. Mines and mineral resources — Social aspects — Nevada — History.