Pioneer Pieces: Nevada or Bust...

No discovery has ever rivaled the intensity or concentration of those pioneers headed across the Sierra Mountains!  They left San Francisco and the California mining towns in droves, almost depopulating them in their pursuit of the Nevada foothills.

For 30 years (1840s - 1870s) Comstock mines in Nevada continued to produce riches.  In fact, mining in Nevada become quite advanced in those years. Here is a bit of background of the mining of silver ore:

During the prosperous years, the Comstock worked 8 hour shifts, and employed 1/3 of the total population of Virginia City (25,000 population).  They used explosives, drills, air conditioners, ice water storage, modern hoisting techniques and even telegraph connections and bathroom on each level of the mines.

Once the raw ore was mined, it went to the stamp mill where iron stamp shafts turned the ore into powder.  The crushed ore powder mixed with water and then went to the settling tank where the amalgamated ore became quicksilver.

Eventually, 3/4 of a billion dollars of gold and silver were mined in Nevada alone!  In the 1800s that was quite a fortune and helped to build the fortunes of many of our historic wealthy famlies.

Next time...Mining Towns Grew Up Fast