Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1901-01-24
LET FORTUNE SLIP
AFTER BLAZING THE WAY FOR
OTHERS.
n. I. r. (onstock. After Whom Me-
vsda's Great Lode Was Called. Let
Others Get millions and Sank Into .
Suicides Grave.

In little cemetery near Bozeman,
Mon, there is a nameless grave, the
tenant of which was strangely buff
feted by fate and whose career well
illustrates the vicissitudes OF min
ing life. Within its gloom crumbles
the dust OF II. T. p. Comstock, who
gave to Nevada's wondrous Big Bo-
nanza the name Of the Comstock lode.
Comstock was among the very first
OF those whose crude operations pre-
pared the way that brought to light
the hidden wealth of Nevadas match
less bonanza. He was the forerunner
OF the Mackeys, the Sharons, the Fairs,
the Floods, the O'Briens and the rest,
the story of whose millions dazzled the
world. From first to last his was a
fight with adverse fortune.
The Comstock Lode.
In the spring of 1859 several Ne
vada miners established themselves in
the headquarters at Gold Hill. Two Of
them, Pete O'Riley and Pat McLaugh-
lin, just as they were getting to be
heartily weary of their bootless quest
struck into a stratum Of the rich, de-
composed ore OF what afterward be-
came famous as the Ophir mine. One
evening as the two men were making
their last cleanup for that day Com
stock appeared on the scene and ex-
amined the product OF the new field.
He knew much better than did O'Riley
or Mclaughlin, the real value OF the
rock. Concluding that a remarkable
discovery had been made, he straight
ened up and coolly informed the two
miners that they were working on
ground that belonged to him. This
was, in all probability, very stiff
BLUM. 1t appeared that Comstock had,
in fact, obtained possession Of certain
water rights in the immediate neigh
borhood of the new discovery. Titles
in those days were not well-defined
things in Nevada mining camps. The
upshot of 1t was that the bluff worked.
The discoveries wanted to avoid trou-
BILE; they really did not begin to real
lie the value OF their find; after con-
sultation, they decided to add the name
OF Comstock and that of his friend
Penrod to their location notice. Then
Comstock demanded an additnal con-
cession of 100 feet of ground, in lieu
of his alleged water right. This in
turn he received This latter conces-
sion, afterwards known as the Mexi-
can mine, yielded millions
Its wonderfuI Ricbas
1t IS not proposed in this brief
sketch of Comstock to tell the story OF
the marvels that followed the dis
covery just referred to- The history
of mining has no chapter that resem-
bles the record of the bonanza days in
Nevada. The region was for years the
financial life of the entire Pacific coast
The era of speculation in stocks OF
bonanza properties was wild beyond
anything OF the sort the financial world
ever heard Of. Twenty-six years ago
the exact date was, in fact, Dec. %,
1S74-the aggregate value of mines in
the Virginia and Gold Hill district
whose stocks were called in the San
Francisco stock board, was SITS, H.
200. The list included the Consolidated
Virginia, whose stock as quoted on
that day, was worth s54,000,000; the
Belcher So, !2O 900; the Ophir, SIS, 000,-
900; the Mexican. S3,456 900; the Cali