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The Comstock Lode under Virginia City, NV, was one of the richest lodes of gold and silver to be mined in late-nineteenth-century America. In 2000-dollars the value of the ores would be $8 billion. Surface veins were first uncovered in 1859, and mining continued at depths of up to 2,000 feet for several decades, although by 1885, when this study ends, many of the mines had been deserted. For most of my academic career I have studied and written about long-term growth trends and and related topics in colonial Latin America. A large portion of that research concerns mining in Mexico and Peru. [For list of my Latin American publications, go to Inside My Desk - HDD.] My interest in the Comstock came about accidentally. While living at Lake Tahoe as a retired ski bum, I ran across an entry describing mining accounts at the University of Nevada, Reno, Library. I was amazed to discover hundreds of boxes of mining accounts, ledgers, reports, lawsuits, etc, many of which had never been studied. For several years I worked my way through box after box of material at UNR plus I visited other depositories - Bancroft, Huntington, US Mint, Nevada Historical Society, Nevada Library and Archives and of course Virginia City. Once the research was complete, I left Tahoe for Paris where over a three-to-four-year period I wrote the manuscript. The manuscript (in pdf format) can be downloaded in toto or by chapter, the titles of which appear below. The approach (I would warn) is heavily numeric, although I have shied away from reliance of econometric models. The aim is to use company and government data to trace the performance of the mining sector as a whole and individual companies. Hundreds of claims were filed and companies were formed, although only a few enterprises had continuing and profitable operations. Several chapters are devoted to the two biggest mining operations, Consolidated Virginia and California Mining Companies, and their founders. An effort has also been made to assess the impact of mining on both the state and local economies. I do not like endnotes so the reader will have to endure extensive footnotes. In some cases I have provided links in the text to sources in my own archives and in external archives. There is no charge. It was both fun to research and to write. Besides I'm too lazy to go through all the steps necessary to sell a book. I only ask that professional courtesy be observed if any part of the manuscript is cited or quoted.
Download THE COMSTOCK: AN ECONOMIC HISTORY OF A MINING BONANZA, 1865-1885.
Individual Chapters Vita, Preface, Acknowledgements. Click here. The National Perspective in Post-Civil-War America Chapter 1: Economic Growth, Coinage Questions, Monetary Policy. Click here. Chapter 2: Overview of Nevada Mining, Geology of Comstock Lode. Click here. Statistical Profile of Mining Industry Chapter 3: From Prospectors to Investors, Profile Database, Costs versus Profits. Click here. Chapter 4: First Stage 1860 to 1870. Click here. Chapter 5: Second Stage 1870 to 1875. Click here. Chapter 6: Third Stage 1875 to 1880 and Final Stage 1880 to 1885. Click here. The Business Of Mining Chapter 7: Claims & Counterclaims, Miners' Codes, Costly Litigation. Click here. Chapter 8: Claims & Challenges of Deep-Lode Mining, Working Bonanzas at Belcher & Crown Point. Click here. Chapter 9: Types of Mills, Economics of Milling, Mills Owners & Operations. Click here. Chapter 10: Essential, Redoubtable Worker, Wages & Unions, Size of Labor Force, Tenure of Worker. Click here. Chapter 11: The Sutro Tunnel, Ever-Expanding Technological Base. Click here. The Biggest Bonanza Chapter 12: Location & Size of Bonanza, The Founders. Click here. Chapter 13: Consolidated Virginia Launched, Relaunched, Peaked & Diminished, California in Bonanza. Click here. Chapter 14: Assays Unlimited, Digging & Hoisting the Underground. Click here. Chapter 15: Labor Component, C&C Joint Shaft, Squire Dewey & Financial Chicanery. Click here. Chapter 16: Refining as Financial Bonanza, Other Mineral Mercury, Founders' Cash Flow. Click here. Mining Taxes And Public Revenues Chapter 17: Vexing Question-Mining Taxes, 1871 Mining-Proceeds Tax Amendment, Measuring Tax Impact, Tax Rates, Adjustments & Revisions. Click here. Chapter 18: Tax Revenues and Government Finances, Tax Showdown, County and Municipal Property Taxes. Click here. An Assessment. Click here. Bibliography. Click here. DATASETS |
LinksFor a brief historical description of the founding of the Comstock plus a photographic tour that includes pictures of founders, mines, mills, machinery, workers, etc., go to: For a brief history of the building of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad go to: For information (including maps) on National Historic Registry designations in and around the Comstock go to: For Guy Rocha's essay on miners' union with illustrations go to: For the Home Page of the W. M Keck Earth Science and Mineral Engineering Museum at the University of Nevada, Reno, go to: For the Home Page of the Mining History Association go to: For the Home Page of the Mining History Network (international scope) go to: For a basic factsheet on the history of the Comstock go to: For interesting photos below and above ground of Comstock mining go to: For a report on the status of the Carson River relative to mercury contamination go to: For a map that pinpoints all the mills in the Carson River Basin and can be blown up to show specific locations go to: Richard L Garner, richlygarner@gmail.com | ||||||||||||||
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THE COMSTOCK:
Map (1876) of mining claims on Comstock Lode, under Virginia City and Gold Hill, Nevada