Show PIONEER DAYS ON THE COMSTOCK OLD STORY entertainingly RETOLD from october issues of the detonator the story of the pioneer days of the great comstock lode of nevada liter literally ally shrieks for a movie director here are all the ingredients the early struggles of the poor prospector the wicked man who steals the papers the thrilling strike the rush close ups of the big men of the plot a couple of character parts that fill in the comedy elements indians pioneers covered wagons rough and rugged men women and scenery oh camera camera the first names recorded in connection with the discovery of the comstock lode are the brothers grosch allen alien and hosea these boys sons of a clergyman of reading pa had visited california but in 1853 returned to the carson district where at american flat ravine they located both silver and gold they prospected the country very thoroughly and were known to have made a number of important discoveries hosea died in 57 from an infected foot and later in the same year allen alien while crossing the mountains to california to consult friends relative to his workings had both legs frozen so badly that he also died before starting on his trip allen alien had left his cabin and belongings in charge of a miner named comstock who is credited with appropriating same for his own profit for a year after allens aliens death comstock remained at gold canyon watching the progress of the small camp p the original discovery in the meantime a party of six or eight from gold canyon discovered a pay streak near what is is now virginia city among these news comers was a picturesque figure named james fennimore but more generally known as old virginia who with his companions worked through the summer returning to johnstown in the winter in january 59 they were tempted out to the claim by a spell of warm weather and with them went comstock and a miner named penrod these three staked a claim on a large mound mouna at the head of a canyon to which they gave the name of gold hill fennimore discovered and claimed a stream of water a valuable find in that arid and country comstock all this time was apparently secretly seeking a lead and in june when some miners came across some strange looking earth which they did not understand comstock who had attached himself to the party said you have struck it boys he later singled out the leaders mclaughlin and oriley and told them that the water they had been sing and the ground on which they were working belonged to himself and a number of others and suggested that a ew firm be established consisting of himself penrod mclaughlin La and oriley and that they buy off the others 01 the and comstock bought off proposition was agreed to pa the men he had been previously associated with for giving i fennimore in an old horse only one man held out a joseph D winters who was finally taken in in as a partner A di vision division of feet each was made and comstock and penrod also received feet extra as a bonus for their work in fixing the deal the joint holdings were given the name of the ophir mine and the feet bonus became the famous mexican claim from which millions of dollars dollar were re taken thus comstock presumably using the knowledge gained ined grosch boys came into from the papers left by the possession of a large share of the valuable property and established his name to the comstock lode it is a significant fact that none of these original I 1 claim ants ts wealth 0 of f realized a great amount from the enormous their air mines comstock selling his one sixth share in in the ophir and his interest in the mexican to james walsh for in july J of the same year and the others parted with cheirs for foi sums varying from up to this latter sum was paid to oriley the last to sell the rush begins other diggings were opened with great frequency and tremendous and the news spread like wildfire ahe 1 he ore was sent to california to be assayed and when the astonishing returns were made known hordes of adventurers started for the bonanza fields from california bregon washington and the rush was on men came on foot on horseback and later sleighs and stages were started floundering through the snow with their passengers I 1 ahe he so called towns afforded poor shelter and the newcomers were forced to throw blankets on the ground and get along as best they could the winter that followed was very severe and many hundreds lived in excavations made in the earth it was probably the experience gained in this underground life of the first winter that led to a scotch miner miner in in 1665 after he had made his pile using an abandoned tunnel near silver city for a residence according to a story in tie he grass valley union this man excavated for himself a number of apartments A vein of gold bearing quartz ran along his roof he had silver ore for his door sill and silver in the walls of his living room he possessed a good library and being of a serious turn of mind frequently held religious services in his cave dwelling delling baptism of virginia city carson city became the rendezvous of the miners and by the end of the first year there were werd over people living there the next town of importance near the ophir mine was named silver city by comstock but during a drunken spree fennimore who had struck it rich on another claim changed the name to virginia city according to comstock old virginia was carousing around with a bottle of liquor in each hand then he fell and the bottles were broken ive baptized the ground said fennimore and then with drunken solemnity announced 1 I christen this place virginia city and the name stuck the new town sprang into prominence over night there were practically no buildings no hotel and only one small restaurant tent where not over six could be accommodated at any one time the country was barren of trees and lumber brought miles by mules sold for 50 per 1000 feet and was very scarce even when it could be secured it was needed for the mines but the town flourished regardless of the fact that for a great time it had practically no buildings the first recorder in the gold hill region was V A houseworth a blacksmith he kept his book of records on a shelf behind the bar of a saloon here it was avitable avi lable for all and frequently when a claim was not panning out satisfactorily facto rily the owner just took the books and changed the lines to suit his needs this book with many other records is now in the office of the recorder in virginia city hugh logan of sacramento was one of the early californians forn ians to visit the new fields and being satisfied of the value of the discoveries he returned to sacramento purchased a small mill with four stamps of pounds each which he transported on wagons drawn by twelve yoke of oxen and eight horses probably at no camp in the west did prices of commodities modi ties command such high figures flour went to 60 per er lbs ibs potatoes apiece and hay was a ton but money was plentiful and the prices were paid cheerfully the of the comstock fortunes For Fortu tupes jues were made with great rapidity and in in many cases ases lost los t almost as quickly but perhaps no one example has more intense interest than that of the woman who became beame c known as the of the comstock it was in in 1855 that a man named alexander cowan arrived at gold canyon with his wife a beautiful scotch girl who had married at the age of fifteen a boy named stephen hunter they emigrated to salt lake in 1850 and when he joined the mormon church and acquired a second wife she left him and married cowan the couple ran a boarding house for miners in gold canyon and soon after cowan died the girl married a man named lemuel S bowers an illiterate irishman the couple were very poor but bowers managed to acquire ten feet on the as yet undiscovered comstock ledge and the wife with her savings purchased for another ten feet adjoining this property made them rich when the strike came and they became famous for their reckless extravagance trava gance A mansion was erected in carson city where they entertained on a lavish scale bothin nothing 6 was too good for this building which was actually fitted w with ith door hinges plates and knobs of solid gold in some rooms and of silver in others the new rich couple finding it impossible to spend this money rapidly enough in nevada took a tour through europe traveling in princely style for a period of three years but soon after re turning returning bowers died leaving his wife an estate valued at about an u unscrupulous superintendent succeeded in dic dissipating si this money and the widow found herself hopelessly in debt with no means of recuperating she was courageous however and managed to eke out a living selling the precious hardware from her home and by telling fortunes taking the title of the of the comstock comstock himself left nevada in 1862 wandered through eastern oregon and idaho and finally went to montana in 1870 broken in health and fortune becom he committed suicide the comstock lode passed from its first phase of wild speculation and reckless extravagance to one of almost ruinous litiza litigation tion which continued until the period of the so called bonanza firm of mackay fair flood and obrien who introduced stability and scientific methods method s in 1869 1969 |