June 11, 1859 – Comstock Silver Lode Discovered in Nevada

The Comstock Lode is a rich vein of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Nevada (then in western Utah Territory at the time of discovery). It was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States, and named after American miner Henry Comstock.

1864 Map of the Gold Hill Lodes

The Online Nevada Encyclopedia reports that of the total ore taken out from the district, some 57 per cent was silver, and the remaining 42 per cent was gold.

News of the discovery drew people from across America who traveled to the area to stake a claim. Mining camps turned into commercial centers, including Virginia City and Gold Hill. At one time Virginia City had a population of 40,000 people. Today it’s America’s largest Historic District.

On June 11, 1859, after the Comstock Lode was discovered [this is the date given by Mines and Quarries 1902 by the U.S. Census Office, William Mott Steuart, United States. Bureau of the Census, 1905], resolutions were passed calling for a constitutional convention of settlers to appoint five delegates of this district, and to adopt a set of laws. Many of these laws were modeled after California’s mining customs, because of the large number of pioneer Comstock miners who came from California. The laws dealt with crimes and their punishments, as well as rules for mining and land claims.

“Mining on the Comstock”, 1877 print depicting the mining technology used at Comstock

In 1861, in an act of congress organizing Nevada into a territory of the United States, the district mining rules and customs were recognized as valid and binding under the territorial legislature of Nevada.

The Territory of Nevada existed from March 2, 1861, until October 31, 1864, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Nevada. Prior to the creation of the Nevada Territory, the area was part of western Utah Territory and was known as Washoe, after the native Washoe people.

The Online Nevada Encyclopedia suggests that the history of the Comstock Lode can be broken down into three main periods:

1859-1865: The Years of Litigation. Miners and corporations went to court to fight over mining claim boundaries and whether the lode consisted on only one, continuous vein of ore or splintered into many veins. During this six year period, miners removed an estimated $50 million in ore from the earth, but about $10 million of that sum was spent on litigation.

1865-1875: The Bank Crowd. Representatives of the Bank of California, based in San Francisco, achieved dominance over the Comstock. The Bank Crowd also built the Virginia and Truckee Railroad from the mining area, drastically decreasing transportation costs, and practiced vertical integration, much like such eastern industrialists as steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie and oil titan John D. Rockefeller.”

1875-1881: The Bonanza Group. Four Irishmen led by mining superintendents John Mackay and James Fair discovered by far the richest ore bodies in the Comstock in 1873.

As Dr. Roger D. McGrath, contributor to Irish America Online writes:

The Irishmen had discovered the heart of the Comstock Lode – ‘The Big Bonanza.’ For the rest of their lives they would be known as the Silver Kings.

By 1875 the Silver Kings had become fantastically wealthy. The Consolidated Virginia was paying monthly dividends of a million dollars, equivalent to 20 million in today’s dollars. From 1873 through 1882, the Consolidated Virginia yielded some $65 million in gold and silver, and paid almost $43 million in dividends.

The Silver Kings all lived riotously well and died with multi-million-dollar estates.”

The Silver Kings: James G. Fair, James C. Flood, John W. Mackay, and William S. O’Brien.

Peak production from the Comstock occurred in 1877, with the mines producing over $14,000,000 of gold and $21,000,000 of silver that year (about $329,393,750.00 and $494,090,625.00 today).

Deep underground exploration and mining continued sporadically until 1918, when the last of the pumps was shut off, allowing the mines to flood up to the Sutro Tunnel Level, approximately 1,640 feet beneath Virginia City. (While there was a scarcity of water on the surface, there was an excess of water underground in all the mines with continuous danger of flooding. Adolph Sutro conceived the idea of running a drain tunnel under the Comstock Lode from the lowest possible point, and work commenced in 1869. All mining from 1920 to present has taken place above the Sutro Tunnel level.)

Sutro Tunnel, 1896

Exploration and production on varying scales and in varying locations have been undertaken on the Comstock Lode in every decade since its discovery. Today, the Comstock Lode is being explored by Comstock Mining Inc. of Virginia City, Nevada, which has consolidated control of approximately 70% of Comstock mining claims.