The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-16
THE coMSToCK LODE.
IN IT'S EARLY DAYS WOMEN WE'RE
SCARCE AND MONEY PLENTY.


pectOrs FOund-WhO the Original
DISCOVERIES Were.
From the San Francisco Chronicle.
when old man Comstock after whom
the famous Comstock lode was named,
bought George Carriers wife for $500 and
a horse. saddle and bride in the fall of
1859. 1 little thought of the enormous de-
velopments that we're soon to follow"
said John F. CLARK, once familiarly known
as "Ophir Jack"
I'VE were then taking out about a nail
key Of dust every week and naturally we
had the biggest ching on top Of the ground
but that was nothing to speak Of compar-
ed with the ore that we were soon to
strike. that produced $4,000 to the ton.
Money was very easy with us at that time
and Comstock would doubtless have been
willing to pay more for the only woman
in the camp had his first offer not been &C
copied Carter. hts wife and her brother
came overland in wagon, and when they
struck our camp we offered him a job.
and it was while he was carrying dirt out
of the mine and keeping judicious
watch over his domestic at the same time
that Comstock said
Garter, what will you take for your
wife?' -
what will you give9 replied Carter.
simply.
Five hundred dollars
If you will throw in your horse, sad
die and bride, all right and the bargain
was concluded.
"Comstock wanted a bill of sale. and It
was regularly drawn up, signed and wit
messed in Johnny Newmans saloon, New
man being one of the witnesse. Carter
went back to work and stayed around for
a few DAYS, aud then took his horse and
and left never heard of him again. Aft
er Comstock sold his interest in the Ophlr
and Mrs. Carter went to Placerville and
there in a few months they had a row
and separated.
Il was one of the seven men who dis
covered the Comstock lode" continued
Mr.. Clark. Joe Winters and / were work
ing near Forest City, making small returns
when l gave Joe money and told him TO
go there and buy a claim. He bought an
interest for $50. There were seven in the
party-old man Comstock, Pat McLaugh-
lin, Pete Reilly Emanuel Penrod, or
Nanny as we used to call him; Kahn
tuck Osborne, Joe Winters and myself
We had no tents, and slept in our blank
cts under a big spruce tree. We were max
ing anywhere from 81 to Sc a day where
we were working Going back and forward
between the spruce tree and our rockers
we for long time passed over what was
afterwards the Ophir mine, without pay
ing attention to the bright sand at that
point. One day ComstOck in passing, said:
Boys. this sand looks very bright,
and he picked up a handful and carried It
to one of our rockers.
Just as soon as the water struck It we
saw that what we had for weeks been
carelessly walking over was the richest
sand we had ever seen or heard Of You
may be sure we were not long in changing
the base of our operations We construct
O. a Ordf oh 20
water from the spring, about quarter of
a mile away, and went to work The
bulge of soft, disintegrated earth was
about u feet across and nearly circular
Its edges were clearly defined and went
down with slight dip to the east The
dirt was extraordinarily rich, some of it
running as high as IS an ounce. Our wash
ings were measured almost literally by
the bucketful. We divided our wealth by
weighing II on a common set of grocers
scales. 1t was not long until our rich strike
became generally known, and miners came
from all directions during the following
winter, and the town Of Virginia City nam
ed after a drunken, worthless miner called
'Virginny, rapidly sprang into existence.
''But no one found dirt like that we
struck. The great crowd skipped out as
lively as 1t came when the Piutes went on
the warpath in the spring OF 1860 | feel
like laughing every time ] think Of that
event. Major Ormsby, who kept a store
and the overland stage station, when he
heard about the Indians. said: when
ever they see me, boys, those Indians will
quiet down. He got together all the min
ers who had guns and pistols and march
ed for the seat of war. BY the time they
found the Indians the men had shot away
all their ammunition at rabbits and birds.
and when the Piutes showed up, the min
ers, instead of seeing the Indians running,
skipped themselves, and most of them
didn't stop running until most of them
were back in California.
I'VE were not disturbed however, and
soon afterwards, at the depth of about .
feet, our mine 'petered out The soft,
easily washed dirt and sand stopped short
on a bed of hard, dark-gTay rock of orc
that we all thought was iron ore. Then
the discovery of the real Comstock lode
was made, under somewhat extraordln-
airy circumstances. 1t must be remem-
bored that in those days we did not know
much about mining and did not have
any facilities at the dump for testing
We were not exactly down in the mouth
about the mine running out, for we had
each made a handsome stake; but while |
we all thought we mad run into a bel |
of iron, we had sense enough to reflect
that If 1t was iron ore, where did the
pocket we had worked come from? 1
insisted that we have the stun assayed |
I hired a train Of pack horses. and after
digging about 900 pounds Of the rock l |
placed it in charge of man named |
Judge Walsh, and gave him the money |
to take the rock to San Francisco ana |
have 1t assayed. While he was gone Wc |
did nothing In about three weeks |
Judge returned and in a very matter-of- |
fact way confirmed our general opinion
that we had struck iron ore. 1
There is a little gold in IT." ne said |
"and a little silver, but Il don't amount
to anything and isn't worth digging
The fact was, as we afterward learn |
ed, that the ore Walsh took with him as |
sayed over $1,000 to the ton, and the 300 |
pounds produced a total OF over $l6,25D |
The men in Frisco who heard about 8; |
were so astonished that they could scarce
ly believe the report. A scheme was con-
cocted to depreciate the 'hnd and get con
troll Of 1t. I never could discover all the ]
to US that our mine was Of no account,
@-,1 the others in the plot were TO quietly