Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1869-08-27
THE EVENING NEWS.
R,en,as-.---...Aa.a.. %. 1888
Another Com.tock Discoyerer.


The Inland Empire of last Wednesday
contains quito a long aud interesting
article, beaded Love, Murieh and the
Discovery Of the Coms,ock," ia which
one William Knight is claimed to be the
true %discoverer of the Comstock Ledge.
It says that In 1857, Knight, who is a
Georgian by birth, came across the
Plains, wintered at or near Ragtown, on
the Carson River, and in the spring of
1858 brought up in Gold Canyon, where
he SOC found employment as n miner.
Thus occupied he remained daring tho
summer and winter which followed and
up to the spring Of 1859. Mieing for
gold in the ~ravines was then the order
OF the day, and up to the time of which
we write, operations in the main
were confined to Gold Canyon in
the vicinity Of Johntown. 1t was at
about this time that Knight conceived
the idea that there niyhi be gold in the
r~aviues TO the n~orthward, and for the
purpose of satisfying himself concern
ing the matter, on the 18th day Of April,
1859, crossed over alone, carrying his
pick and pan, to Seveu-mile Canyon.
Finding prospects good, he located
claims for himself, old Virginia. Pete
Reilly, and may be some others whose
names we do not now recall, and soon
the whole party were az work, with fiat
tering results, in tho canyon. The pay
stratum was found to increase In size
and richness as the work was pushed
up the hill, and it was thus that tho
tracing was prosecuted into the Ophir
groupings and the Comstock discovered.
The results Of that discovery are too
well known to need commeat ut our
hands. But a word of our hero before
concluding. Like most Of the pioneers
of tho Comstock be amassed q fortune,
and afterwards went through on
stocks, and is now here in White Pine,
doing as we'll as could be expected =
having q large number Of tue most
promising locations in the district"
This does not tally with the history Of
the Comstock discovery heretofore
elected, but as We did not happen to be
here at that particular period, we shall
not discuss the point, but leave the
matter to the Coolest inhabitan.."
Relative to previous discoveries in
this section the article in question says:
"All are agreed on one point, that the
Grosch brothers, men Of scientific at
tainmeu:s, discovered the 6rss traces Of
silver ic Nevada, then Utah Territory.
These young men, it will be remem-
bered, came out from New York during
the summer Of 1857, and for a time, we
do no. remember how long, were en-
gagged in prospecting for silver along
the hills bordering on Gold Canyon,
north from the present site of Silver
City. The ruins Of the rude cabin
which they occupied, and a small fur
mace used by them 10 testing ores, are
still to be seen near the junction of
Niger Rarine with Gold Canyon. Early
in the spring of 1858 the younger Of the
brothers started across the Sierra Ne
vada Mountains via Lake Bigler to
Georgetown, California, and being
caught in q snow storm on the summit,
was 20 badly frozen that he shortly
afterward died from the effects Of the
Journey. Learning of this the other
brother FASTENED over the mountains,
and from the exposure and fatigue OF
the trip, or perhaps other and natural
causes, be also sickened and died. Thus,
whatever knowledge they had CLEANED
by their experiments concerning silver
in Nevada was lost to the world