Comstock Lode
The Comstock Lode is an ore deposit in Virginia City , Nevada , USA . It contained a large proportion of silver and traces of gold . In 1859 it was found under the local area of Virginia City. Their discovery sparked a silver rush in Nevada.
The passage was exploited by several mines , including "Gould & Curry", in which up to 675 miners worked in three shifts, "Ophir", "Mexican" and others.
In his book “Through thick and thin”, Mark Twain gives a vivid description of Virginia City at the beginning and during the silver rush and the conditions in the search for ore deposits , their registration (through “claims”) and their exploitation up to enrichment.
Between 1860 and 1880, around 6.3 million tons of silver and gold ore were mined.
Nevada owes its nickname Silver State to the huge ore deposit, which has since been mined .
literature
- Ronald M. James: The roar and the silence . A history of Virginia City and the Comstock Lode. University of Nevada Press, Reno 1998, ISBN 978-0-87417-320-8 .
- Mark Twain: Through thick and thin . Ullstein, 1995, ISBN 978-3-548-23757-2 ( digital version of the original at Projekt Gutenberg - English: Roughing It . Hartford, Conn. 1871. Translated by Ulrich Steindorff).
Coordinates: 39 ° 18 ′ 13 ″ N , 119 ° 39 ′ 0 ″ W.