Comstock Justice
finding its edge just to his mind, gave it a few rakes across a rock. He then
walked up to Reise and, taking a firm hold on the upper part of the organ designated by the jury, shaved it off, close up, at a single slash. As he approached Ruspas, the face of that gentleman was observed to wear a cunning smile. The executioner, however, meant business, and tossing Reise’s ear over to the jury, he went after that of Ruspas. Sturtevant pulled aside the fellow’s hair, which he wore hanging down about his shoulders and lo! There was no left ear, it having been parted with on some previous and similar occasion. Here was a fix for the executioner! The prisoner now looked him in the face and laughed aloud. The joke was so good that he could no longer restrain himself. The jury were enjoying the scene not a little and, being 2
in a good humor said that rather than anyone should be disappointed, the executioner might take of the prisoner’s right ear, if he had one. The smile faded out of the countenance of Ruspas as he felt Sturtevant’s fingers securing a firm hold on the top of his right ear. An instant after, Sturtevant tossed Ruspas’s ear over to the jury, saying as he did so that they now had a pair that were “rights and lefts” and therefore properly mated. This little ceremony over, the pair of thieves were directed to take the road leading over the Sierra to the beautiful “Golden State.” They went, not as Adam and Eve left paradise, “dropping some natural tears,” but… dropping blood.
Mining brought the best and the worst of modern American civilization to the territory of Nevada. Peoples of every continent sought fortune and livelihood here—some found riches beneath the earth, others nurtured a passable existence above it. Filthy-rich deposits of gold and high-quality silver ore laid the foundation for the frontier metropolis of Virginia City. Millionaires and thieves worked the blue clay mud of the richest known silver deposit on the continent, taking from it more than $400 million in precious metals. With the boom came the Virginia & Truckee Railroad, investments that financed many buildings in San Francisco, and Federal validation of the Silver State made manifest in the U.S. Mint at Carson City. Far-removed in space and temperament from their mining counterparts, settlers to Carson Valley labored to develop
and extend a narrow strip of natural meadow into a broad expanse of cultivated and pasture lands that provided hay, meat and butter for the Comstock district and neighboring towns. This area rose to prominence as the state’s star agricultural district. Mines required vast amounts of wood for building underground support systems. A logging empire was born in the Sierra Nevada, and one of the region’s most precious resources fell to industry as lumberjacks and mill hands cleared the Tahoe basin of nearly 600,000,000 feet of lumber and 2,000,000 cords of firewood. The environmental impact and the scars of that twenty-year harvest persist to this day.
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Boom or Bust :
Legend Nevada Historical Society : Riches from the Earth [page 6]
89
Comstock Historic District : Virginia City [page 6]
Tahoe City
Nevada State Museum : U.S. Mint [page 7] 4
Carson Valley Museum and Cultural Center [page 7]
Lake Tahoe
89
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Spooner Lake Interpretive Trail and Flume Trail [page 8] Dayton [page 9]
Genoa 50
Bowers Mansion [page 9]
207
Gold Hill [page 9]
4 Gardnerville
Genoa [page 9] [Map is not to scale]
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South Lake Tahoe
Minden
: The Manly Gamble in the Rush to Washoe
Truckee
Pyramid Lake
395
Gerlach
80
267 445
1
Reno
Kings Beach
431
Nixon
Sparks
395
7
80
Fernley
447
N
28 395
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Carson City
2
Washoe Lake
8
Virginia City
50
3 206
65
341
6 Dayton
n
50
E
W
Gold Hill Fallon
S
5
1
Nevada Historical Society : Riches from the Earth
source of fabulous mineral wealth for thousands of years, the Great Basin yielded salt and turquoise to the First People, and more recently, gold and silver to Euro-Americans. Unprecedented need gave birth to extraordinary capital and new technology; and people and cities lived and died as the land’s vast bounty was exploited. The Nevada Historical Society offers this history as a permanent exhibit. o 1650 North Virginia Street, Reno, on the north side of
o o o o
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the University of Nevada, Reno campus across from the Fleischmann Planetarium Gallery Hours : Mon–Sat, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Library Hours : Tue–Sat, 12 P.M. to 4 P.M. (775) 688-1190 Website : dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/museums/tour/nhsriches.htm
Comstock Historic District : Virginia City he Comstock Lode generated a spectacular amount of wealth and put Virginia City on the map. Unlike small settlements throughout California’s Gold Country, Nevada’s Comstock District was a highly urbanized industrial setting establishing a model for future mining around the world. By the early 1870s, the district boasted a population of nearly 25,000 — one of the nation’s larger communities. Today, the town is a remarkable collection of 19th century buildings, museums, abandoned shafts, and historic archeological sites that convey the rich heritage of this National Historic Landmark. o State Route 341, Virginia City o Virginia City Convention & Tourism Authority,
corner of Taylor and C Streets o (775) 847-7500 o Website: virginiacity-nv.org
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Nevada State Museum : U.S. Mint ith the abundance of silver and gold from the Comstock Lode, Carson City, Nevada’s state capital, made an ideal location for a U.S. Mint branch — one of only seven in the United States over the last 200 years. From 1870 to 1893, the Carson City mint coined more than $49,000,000 in gold and silver into eight denominations — Double Eagles ($20), Gold Eagles ($10), Half Eagles ($5), silver dollars, half-dollars, quarters, 20-cent pieces and dimes — all bearing the mint mark CC. The mint’s formal status was withdrawn in 1899, due to the drastic decline in mining on the Comstock; afterward it served as an assay office. In 1941, the building was remodeled to serve as the Nevada State Museum, where the mint’s Press No. 1 still operates today. o 600 North Carson Street (U.S. Highway 395),
Carson City, at the corner of West Robinson Street o (775) 687-4810 o Website : dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/museums/cc/carson.htm
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Carson Valley Museum and Cultural Center
7 arson Valley owes its development and prominence as the state’s most productive agricultural district to the efforts of pioneer farmers and ranchers. Both sheep and cattle ranchers, and the farmers who provided hay and grain to these ranchers, played a vital role in sustaining hungry miners on the Comstock. This agricultural renaissance began in the town of Genoa – originally known as Mormon Station – spreading to Gardnerville and eventually encompassing the entire Carson Valley area. Good range and agricultural practices have allowed Carson Valley to continue to be one of Nevada’s finest agricultural areas. The Carson Valley Museum and Cultural Center offers exhibits related to this region’s rich heritage.
o 1477 U.S. Highway 395 South, Gardnerville o (775) 782-2555 o Website : historicnevada.org/html/carson_valley_museum.html
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Spooner Lake State Park
nterpretive Trail: Named for Michele E. Spooner, a FrenchCanadian entrepreneur who was active in establishing the wood and lumber industry of the Tahoe basin, and was instrumental in providing square set timbering for Comstock mines. The blue waters of Spooner Lake adjoin 13,000 acres of aspen groves and mountain meadows dotted with flowers. Spooner Lake Interpretive Trail winds 2.3 easy miles through forest and meadows, and a quiet observer can spot osprey, ducks, geese and other wildlife along the way.
lume Trail: Carved into the side of a steep granite spire overlooking Lake Tahoe, the Flume Trail offers lush scenery and views that Mark Twain once described as “the fairest picture the whole earth affords.” One section of this premier mountain bike trail is an 1100-foot climb that follows the same path where wooden square-box flumes once delivered water to Virginia City in the late 1800s. Bring a picnic — it’s a spectacular place to spend the day! Trails can be done in sections. Some sections can be difficult.
o Spooner Lake State Park, U.S. Highway 50 at State Route 28 (access for both Interpretive Trail and Flume Trail) o Open daily, May-Oct.; check conditions o Websites: parks.nv.gov/lt.htm, flumetrail.com
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Other Sites to Visit 6
Dayton Settled by prospectors who panned for gold in nearby Gold Canyon. The historic Dayton Museum is open weekends. o 40 miles southeast of Reno via Highway 395 and U.S. Highway 50 o Dayton Nevada Chamber of Commerce, 35 Shady Lane o (775) 246-3256
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Gold Hill Visit Nevada’s oldest extant hotel built in 1861 as the Reisen House and now known as the Gold Hill Hotel. o State Route 341. Just down the road from Virginia City o (775) 847-0111
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Bowers Mansion Built for the first millionaires of the Comstock Lode in 1864. Tours of the Mansion are offered. o Highway 395, Washoe Valley o (775) 849-0201
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Genoa Genoa, the oldest town in Nevada, is home to museums, a historic cemetery, shopping, dining and Nevada’s oldest “thirst parlor”, the Genoa Bar. o U.S. Highway 206, off U.S. Highway 395 South
eyond ond certain unexpected turns, there are side-roads de-roads that trac trace countless ountless journeys in an age of exploration and discovery. discovery Passageways that resound with the joys and sorrows of those tho who once traveled here. And paths that wind through h h these h fforgotten and beautiful lands. These secret places of history exist in presentday northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe, ahoe, if you know where to look.
The Manly Gamble in the Rush to Washoe
Comstock Justice
STORY: DAN DE QUILLE, THE BIG BONANZA
On August 1859, two thieves, names of George Ruspas and David Reise, stole a yoke of cattle, and, driving them to Washoe Valley, offered them for sale at a price so low that they were at once suspected of having stolen the animals. They were arrested, and, it having been proven that the cattle had been stolen from a ranch, the sentence of the jury was that they have their left ear cut off and that they be banished from the country. The trial was held under a big pine tree near the western shore of Washoe Lake at the base of the Sierra Nevada. Jim Sturtevant, an old resident of Washoe Valley, was appointed executioner. He drew out a big knife, ran his thumb along the blade, and not
Boom or Bust
transports travelers to the legendary Comstock era. In 1859
what may be the greatest mineral strike in history was discovered in a mountain to the east of the Sierra Nevada. By the following year, nearly 1700 people swarmed into the surrounding areas. “Boom or Bust� seeks to bring history full-circle by offering a driving guide through a place once never imagined accessible: time itself. Funded by the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority and the Reno-Tahoe Territory, Nevada Commission on Tourism. For complete destination and lodging information please visit their websites: www.visitrenotahoe.com/heritage and www.renotahoe.com.