Alexander Badham staked a claim on the southeastern corner of Mt. St. Helena. Miners moved to the area creating Silverado City. Several businesses and a hotel grew up around the claim, the population swelled to 1,500. However, the mine soon played out as the vein disappeared in 1875. The miners and their equipment moved on.
Napa County produces the best wines in the State.
While still in its infancy, annual wine and brandy production reached 1,500,000 gallons. Fine quality wines are making a name for the valley and becoming a major industry. 1880 - A young writer on his honeymoon found an abandoned shack in Silverado, a ghost town on Mt. St. Helena. Short on cash, he lived there with his bride for 3 weeks. Three years later, Robert L. Stevenson published Silverado Squatters , memoirs of his stay.