| The discovery of the Comstock Lode, one
of the world's richest deposits of silver and gold, turned Virginia City,
Nevada, located about 23 miles (37 km.) southeast of Reno, into a roaring
mining camp overnight. During the 12month period from June 1859 to June
1860, more than 10,000 wild-eyed miners swarmed into the area to try their
luck digging for the precious metals or living off those who did. The ramshackle
collection of tents and shanties that made up Virginia City was named for
the home state of James "Old Virginny" Finney, one of the original partners
in the Comstock Lode, who sold his share, worth millions, for a bottle
of whiskey and a broken-down horse.
By early fall, 1860, Virginia City had
scores of businesses, including a theatre, music hall, saloons and gambling
dens, lawyers' and doctors' offices, and a lively newspaper, the Territorial
Enterprise. One of its reporters was young Samuel Clemens, who later became
famous under the pen name Mark Twain, which he used for the first time
on a story he wrote for the paper. Much of the town's social life revolved
around its volunteer fire companies, which turned out in full force for
Fourth of July celebrations.
One startled visitor called rip-roaring
Virginia City the "cussedest town in the States," its citizens expecting
"a dead man for breakfast" every day. But in 1864 the rough-and-ready miners
deserted the saloons and gambling dens for a while and headed for Maguire's
Opera House, where the flamboyant actress, Adah Isaacs Menken was appearing.
Large audiences howled with delight as she leaped about the stage tied
to a snorting, pawing horse. Mark Twain wrote that Miss Menken was a better
acrobat than actress, but the appreciative townspeople made her an honorary
fireman anyway.
By 1870 Virginia City boasted six churches
and over 100 saloons to accommodate a population of 30,000. But in 1875
a great fire destroyed most of the town, with losses estimated at $ 12
million. The "bonanza barons" who had become rich there rebuilt the town
with elaborately decorated mansions and public buildings. By 1878 the town
had reached its high point with some $36 million in mine production.
Virginia City's days of glory ended in
the 1880s, however, as the production of gold and silver in the Comstock
Lode mines dwindled. Soon it was reduced to less than I,000 people and
one main street.
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