supposed to exist at that point; and the prospect for finding there a large deposit
of at least a moderately good fuel is by experts considered encouraging. Beds
of peat that burn well have also been found at one or two places in Uie State.
A railroad which can now be counted on as likely to be built within the next
two years, connecting the Virginia mining district with the heavy forests of the
Sierra Nevada must tend to greatly diminish the cost of fuel and lumber, both
of which are required in enormous quantities in the business of raising and
reducing the ores, the erection of buildings, timbering the mines, &c.; the
sums annually expended on this account, though scarcely so large now as for-
merly, amounting to over $2,000,000, nearly one-half of which it is believed
might be saved through the aid of a railroad. When the Central Pacific rail-
road, now in rapid progress of construction across the sierra, shall have been
built down the Truckee river as it is calculated it will be within a year and a
half from this time it will pass a point not more than sixteen or eighteen miles
distant from Virginia City, which would be the length of a branch road required
for connecting this place with the main trunk, and through it with the heavily
H. Ex. Doc. 29 7
98 EESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES
timbered mountains only six or eight miles west from the point of intersection
of the two roads. The suggestions made with reference to the propriety of
preventing a monopoly of the salt-fields by private individuals might perhaps be
extended also to the wood-lands, more especially in the interior mining districts,
where these lands are limited in extent, and where, although the requirements
for fuel will probably be great, large tracts have already been secured in the
nanner alluded to by private parties or companies.
MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEVADA.
Various minerals. Not only the precious, but also many of the useful metals
as well as a large variety of mineral substances, are met with in the State of
Nevada, nearly all of them widely diffused and some of the latter in such abun-
dance as cannot fail to render them commodities of economic value when greater
facilities shall exist for transporting them to the points of manufacture or
consumption. Besides the saliniferous basins already described, ores of copper
and iron rich in these respective metals; beds of sulphur, from some of which
this mineral can be obtained quite pure, though generally mixed with calca-
reous or other foreign matter ; deposits of lignite and possibly true coal, though,
so far as explored, Nevada is not a strongly marked carboniferous region ;
cinnabar, gypsum, manganese, plumbago, kaoline and other clays useful for
making pottery and fire-brick ; mineral pigments of many kinds, together with
many of the more important salts and varieties of alkaline earths ; soda in all
its combinations, nitre, alum, magnesia, &c , being encountered in nearly all
parts of the State and frequently in great abundance. Platiiimn and tin have
been found in small quantities, the latter as yet only in stream-works and never
in place, galena, zinc, antimony, nickel, cobalt, arsenic, &c., frequently occur-
ring in combination with silver and other metals. Limestone, granite, marble, and
many other kinds of stone suitable for building purposes, with slate adapted for
roofing, are common and in some instances easily obtained, the work of quarry-
ing them being carried on above ground. The most useful material of this
class consists of a species of sandstone and a volcanic rock, the former of .
light gray and the latter of a reddish drab color, both of which occur in masses
quite upon the surface, and when fresh from the quarry are so soft as to be
easily wrought, though afterwards becoming so hard as to resist not only the
influence of the atmosphere, but also a high degree of heat, some of this igneous
rock being employed for smelting and roasting works, and even the manufacture
of crucibles, with success. That iron could be manufactured to advantage in the
interior of the State where the freights are high and the consumption of this
article so considerable, is the opinion of those most conversant with the subject,
and there is a strong probability that works of this kind, upon a limited scale at
least, will be established there within a short time. One of the heaviest beds
of iron ore yet dicovered in the State is situated in the western part of Nye
county, and though not far distant from an extensive body of piiion from which
an excellent article of charcoal could readily be made, there is but little water
and no good land or important mines in the immediate neighborhood; wherefore,
although the ore is abundant, rich, and of supposed good quality, it is much to
be questioned whether iron, even of the more common kind, such as is used for
dies, shoes, castings, &c., could be made here with profit, and consequently
whether this ferruginous bed is at present of any practical importance. Upon
some of the alkaline flats, as well as about certain springs and other localites,
the carbonate of soda exists so pure and in such profusion that it, like common
salt and other similar substances, must yet become one of the staple exports of
the country. At present but a very limited use is made of this article, it being
employed only by the laundrymen and soap makers. There is now a small
establishment at Carson City engaged in manufacturing sulphuric acid, the raw
WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 99
material bring procured from the sulphur bed near the Big Bend of the Ilum-
boldt river, about the centre of Humboldt county. That other salts and mineral
substances, such as nitre, borax, alum, &c., will yet be found in this State in
such quantities as will make them of practical value, seems probable, though
not enough is *yet known as to the extent of these deposits to warrant the ex-
pression of a positive opinion on this point. Nevada is rich in organic remains
both animal and vetetable, some of the latter being of extraordinary size and
beauty. Huge fragments o/ fossiliferous wood and even the entire trunks of
large trees have been discovered lying upon the surface of the ground often in
a state of high preservation. There are springs in different places? the waters
of which being highly charged with silicious or ferruginous properties, are
constantly carrying on this fossilizing process upon animal and vegetable mat-
ter immersed in or otherwise sufficiently exposed to their operation. No dia-
monds or other precious stones have, so far as is known, yet been discovered in
Nevada, though opals and agates, the latter remarkable lor variety and beauty,
have been found at many places. Neither petroleum nor other mineral oil has
thus far been met with in the country, nor do the indications, so far as observed,
favor the supposition that they will ever be discovered in quantities hereafter,
the bituminous, like the carboniferous signs throughout the State, being scanty
and unsatisfactory.
Characteristic features of tlie Cpmstock ledge. Taken as a whole, this
ledge, discovered as already related, is not only by far the most valuable silver-
bearing lode yet found in the State of Nevada, but equals, perhaps, any deposit
of the precious metals ever encountered in the history of mining enterprise, its
productive capacity, as now being developed, surpassing, if the mass of its ores
do not in richness equal, those of the most famous mines of Mexico and Peru.
Being then so important in itself, and holding such prominence among the mines
of this State, a somewhat detailed description of its location, character, exploita-
tion, and future prospects may not be out of place. This lode is situate in
Story county, about twenty-five miles from the western border of the State.
It is found cropping out along the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a lofty em-
inence in the Washoe range of mountains, which form a lower spur of the main
sierra; with which it runs parallel, being separated therefrom by Washoe and
Steamboat valleys. Mount Davidson, like most of the range of which it forms
a part, is extremely dry and barren, containing but little water or grass, and at
present no timber at all, the few scrubby pines that once grew upon its sides
having long since dissappeared. Its bulk, like that of the Sierra Nevada and
most of the mountain ranges in this State, is composed of granite, though largely
made up of serpentine, quartz gneiss, sienite, talcose, calcareous and other pri-
mary rocks. Breccia, porphyry, trap, trachyte, argillaceous, and silicious, with
nearly every kind of igneous and sedimentary rock, are common in the moun-
tains of chis State, some rich argentiferous lodes having been found in many of these
formations. The summit of Mount Davidson is 7,827 feet above 'tide water,
1,600 feet above Virginia City and the Comsto.ck lode, and more than 3, 000 feet
above the plain of Carson river at its base. The direction and comparative size
of this lode, the length and relative position of the various claims upon it, and
its situation with reference to Virginia City and Gold Hill, the /principal towns
in the neighborhood, will be more readily understood by consulting the accom-
panying diagram, illustrating these and other points of interest connected there-
with. The strike of the principal or mother vein, the only one exhibited on
this plat, is, as will be seen, about fifteen decrees west of south, the northerly
and southerly extremities thereof bearing nearly due north and south. In width
or thickness it varies on top from twenty to two hundred feet, the most of it
ranging between thirty and seventy feet, with a uniform tendency to expansion
as penetrated downwards. The ledge, at some points along its course, as in the
grounds of the Savage and the Gould & Curry companies, and again at Gold
Hill, spreads out beyond its average width, it reaching at the latter place its
100 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES
greatest thickness, something over one hundred and fifty feet. In a vertical
direction it undergoes a similar contraction and expansion, pinching at points
to a few yards, or even feet, arid again extending to its usual size. Though
in spots appearing in high rocky projections, it does not show itself above*
ground throughout its entire length, there being considerable stretches where
no outcrop is visible. That it preserves its continuity, however, below, seems
probable, it having been found wherever searched after to any great depth.
Nor has it proven prolific in ores throughout all its. parts, there being a number
of barren spaces along it, as in the ground extending from the Central to the
Gould & Curry claim, some 1,400 feet, and at other points further south, in
none of which have any considerable bodies of valuable ores been found, though
explored to depths varying from three to five hundred feet. It is the opinion
of geologists that within these hitherto unproductive spaces paying ores will yet
be reached, though not, perhaps, until much greater depths have been attained.
In this as in most large and fruitful silver-bearing lodes the valuable ores,
though generally diffused throughout the mass of the gange or vein-stone, are
still found to be more abundant in certain portions thereof called bonanzas or
chimneys, which latter, as they usually have a pitch lengthwise the lode, must,
according to their position, often run out of the ground of one company into that
of another adjoining, leaving the one comparatively poor and enriching the other.
Under this arrangement it might happen that one of these barren spots, by a
bonanza striking into it at a greater depth, should be rendered productive, it
being, moreover, liable tp become so without reference to this system of distribu-
tion of ores, not by any means a feature of all mines. In its upper portions
the Comstock lode clipped to the west at an angle of about sixty degrees, this
angle in places being much larger, and at some points. approximating ninety
degrees. At greater depths, varying from one to three hundred feet, the ledge
after gradually assuming a perpendicular position is now, at the depth of seven
hundred feet, found pitching to the east at an angle of about fifty degrees, the
inclination varying somewhat at different points along its line. In the develop-
ment of this lode, which is now conceded by all competent judges who have ex-
amined it to be a regular fissure vein of the largest size, the usual contractions,
faults, and displacements common in this class of veins have been encountered,
and though causing much hindrance and extra labor, and at times giving rise to
no little doubt and discouragement, they have in no case destroyed the continuity
of the vein or caused it to be wholly lost sight of. Dykes of trap and other in-
durated rock have interposed at many points to check the work of exploration,
while elsewhere imbedded within the mass of the lode have been foi\nd immense
fragments of wall rock or other foreign matter barren of ore, causing much
trouble and tending to depreciate for the time being the value of the mines.
But in nearly every instance such obstacles have been overcome, these rocky
barriers being penetrated, and these bodies of worthless material disappearing
before the persistent efforts of well-applied labor.
The Comstock ledge has now been clearly traced and identified for a space,
measured m a straight line, of a little more than one mile and a half, throughout
which it has been found continuous and sufficiently rich in the precious metals
to render the entire body of the ore-bearing portions of the vein remunerative,
with the exceptions already pointed out. This .space extends from the. larger
section of the Ophir company's claim, on the north, to that of the Belcher, and
possibly of the Uncle Sam, on the south, some of the rich silver sulphurates char-
acteristic of the mother lode having been found in the latter, though not at the
depth yet reached, in large quantities. As stated, the rich ores have been found
in some cases, as in the Ophir and Mexican grounds, and at Gold Hill, quite
upon the surface, while in others it has only been reached at depths varying
from fifty to five hundred feet. In the Gould & Curry claim very fair, though
not what was then considered pay-rock, was met with in the outcropping^ of the
WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 101
ledge, the millable ores not being obtained until a deptli of nearly one hundred
feet was reached.
In the ground of the Savage company, adjoining on the south, they were
not reached until a much greater depth had been attained, while in that of the
Hale and Norcross company, lying next, nothing worth putting through the
batteries was met with until their shaft had, at great expense been sunk to
a vertical depth of more than 500 feet. In the Alpha, Yellow Jacket, and
Crown Point claims, no heavy masses of millable, ores were met with until
they had been penetrated downward from one to three hundred feet, while, as
before intimated, in N the space between the claim of the Gould & Curry and
that of the central company, as also throughout a stretch of some hundred feet
adjoining the ground of the Chollar-Potosi company on the south, and perhaps,
also, in a like space similarly situated with reference to the Belcher ground, no
metalliferous deposits of magnitude or value have thus far been developed.
Much labor and money have been expended in efforts to t^ace the prolongation
of the Comstock ledge, both to the north and south, of what are considered, in
a productive sense at least, its present termini ; but only with the results here-
tofore indicated, nothing of permanent value having been struck along the
supposed line of its course, rfr adjacent thereto, beyond these points. Quartzose
ledges exist in abundance, both to the north and south within the belt the Com-
stock is presumed to occupy, if it have an existence outside its present known
limits ; but none of these, nor yet any of the numerous lateral ledges in close
proximity to the developed section of the mother vein, and by some considered
a portion of it, have yielded more than a very insignificant percentage of the
precious metals, nor are the present prespects of these properties such as to
command for them other than mere nominal prices in the mining share market,
many, that a few years ago sold readily at high prices, being no longer salable
at all. Most of the ledges running parallel with the productive portion of> the
Comstock, and within one or two hundred feet of the latter, have been the cause
of much expensive litigation, the owners of the main lode claiming them as be-
longing to it under the theory that they would all unite at some point, probably
at no great depth beneath the surface ; a view that the courts have been inclined
to sustain arid that experience tends to sanction.
The greatest vertical depth to which the Comstock ledge has been developed
is a little more than seven hundred feet, there being several shafts along it from
four hundred to seven hundred feet deep, with many others varying in depth
from two hundred to five hundred feet, while some tunnels now under way, and
soon most likely to be completed, will strike it at a still greater depth. The
Sutro tunnel already projected, with a good prospect of being finished in the
course of four or five years, will strike it at an estimated depth of eighteen
hundred feet below the croppings of the Gould & Curry company, the highest
point upon it. This work, according to the plan proposed, js to be twelve feet
wide and ten feet high, so as to admit of a double train-way. It will be nine-
teen thousand feet long, cost between four and five millions of dollars, and when
finished will enable this lode to be worked with probable profit to a depth of
three thousand feet or more. The proprietor of this tunnel, which it is believed
will soon become an urgent necessity, proposes to tax the different companies
upon the Comstock ledge at the rate of two dollars for every ton of ore raised
after the work is completed, and they are actually enjoying the benefits of
having their mines drained thereby. The work, though formidable, is greatly
inferior, both in cost and magnitude, to several others of a similar kind already
completed, or under way, for securing deep drainage to various mines in Europe.
In the year 1850 surveys were made for a tunnel in the Harz mines, Bruns-
wick, to be nearly fourteen miles in length, and wnich it was estimated it would
require twenty-two years to finish. Work was commenced upon this tunnel in
July, 1851, and completed in June, 1864, the time required for its construction
being less than thirteen years. The product of these mines is only about half a
102 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES
million dollars in gold and silver, per annum, and the additional drainage
secured by this work was but three hundred feet, items quite insignificant com-
pared with the annual yield of the Comstock lode, and the depth of drainage to
accrue from the construction of the Sutro tunnel. A tunnel some fifteen miles
in length, designed to drain the principal mines at Freiberg, Saxony, has been
in progress of excavation for several years, forty more being expected to insure
its completion; nor does this work deepen the present drainage upon those
mines to anything like the extent attained by the Sutro tunnel. Already a
number of extensive tunnels have been commenced, designed to intersect the
Cometock lode at depths varying from five hundred to one thousand feet
beneath the surface. Some of these, after being partially completed, have been
abandoned; upon others work has been suspended at different stages in their
progress ; while upon a few operations are still being vigorously prosecuted, with
the prospect of an early consummation Some of the shafts now being sunk it
is proposed to carry ^ to a depth of twelve or fourteen hundred feet, powerful
pumping and hoisting works being provided for the purpose.
ChdTacter, quantity, value, and distribution of ores in the Comstock ledge.
The great body of valuable ores contained in the Comstock ledge consists of the
black and gray sulphurets of silver, several. other varieties having been met with
in small quantities, more especially near the surface. Native silver is found
diffused throughout all parts of the vein; and while no large masses have been
obtained, many handsome specimens have been gathered from the various
claims, the aggregate value of all the virgin metal taken out being quite large.
Combined with this ore is a small amount of the baser metals, such as the sul-
phurets of antimony, lead, iron, copper, &c. These are present, however, owly
in limited quantities, this ore being remarkable for its freedom from these and
similar substances; hence one of the elements of its comparatively cheap re-
duction. Associated with the silver is a notable percentage of gold, the bullion
extracted during the earlier working of the mines containing a larger portion of
it than at a later period when, through improved machinery and process; s and
a more careful manipulation of the ores, the silver was more closely saved. At
Gold Hill the bullion extracted at first was worth from six to eight dollars per
ounce; now it is reduced to between two and three dllars, that from most other
points along the Comstock lode being worth still less owing to the heavy ailoy
of silver it contains. The deeper the mines at Gold Hill are worked the more the
metal tends to silver. By simply crushing and amalgamating, from seventy to
ninety, on an average more than eighty, per cent, of all the precious metals con-
tained in the great mass of the Comstock ores can be extracted, thereby dispensing
with the troublesome and expensive process of roasting or smelting, to which
only a small quantity of the extremely rich or more obdurate ores are subjected.
The mass of rocky matter enclosed between the walls of this ledge is not found
to be ore-Hearing throughout all its parts. In spots it is quite barren, the ores
being collected in streaks or bunches, leaving the balance so entirely destitute
of metal, or only so slightly impregnated therewith, as to render it not worth
raising. In other places the metalliferous ores are generally diffused throughout
the vein-stone, being here usually of a lower grade than where occurring in a
more concentrated form. This lode, having been found remarkably rich at two
or three spots quite upon the surface, and these happening to be the 'points
where practical operations were first initiated, led at the outset to very exag-
gerated notions of its probable wealth, and a consequent overrating of its pros-
pective value ; a circumstance to which much of the wild speculation, as well
as many of the misapprehensions and mistakes, that subsequently characterized
the management of these mines, as well as the financial operations connected
therewith, may be justly attributed. Under the excitement of the moment, and
through the general ignorance prevailing in regard to the nature of silver mines,
it was inferred that these bonanzas would not only be of frequent occurrence
and extend indefinitely downwards, but that the entire body of the lode would
WEST OF THE EOCKY MOUNTAINS. 103
become larger and more productive the further it was penetrated in that direc-
tion ; a supposition which, it is needless to say, subsequent experience has
failed to confirm, most of these rich accumulations of ore having been exhausted
at no great depth, and the ledge generally, though increasing somewhat in
thickness as descended upon, having undergone no corresponding increment in
the volume of the ores, or in the average yield of the precious metal s. From
many of the mines along the line of the Cornstock there is at present a much
greater amount of ore being raised than formerly, because of greater facilities
for hoisting, and because a much lower grade of ore is now being worked than
aforetime. In the earlier stages of mining at this place large bodies of metallif-
erous -rock were left untouched in the upper levels, being then thought too poor
to justify removal. Many of these, as well as thousands of tons of rejected
rock thrown upon the dump piles, have since been sent to the mills, and, with
the present cheapened means of reduction, found to pay a profit ; and thus it is,
that while the average yield of the precious metals to the ton of ore has been
steadily diminishing, the aggregate annual product of bullion from these mines