Tonopah bonanza. [volume] (Butler City [i.e. Butler], Nev.) 1901-1909, 1907-04-14

oshers with their Importance r. !,
as natural to the one as to the otba,
ana each thinks the epitome OF al
righteousness has been reached whar
hollce OF the "toughness" has beer
received in way or another zach
outgrows the habit, however and
eacn mas a chance to make a portion
~ history. All frontier towns-alas
mere are no more frontier towns with
their spectacular careers and swasb
oucAler characters to furnish song
ana story to generations unborn The
idiiroad, the great ciyilizer. follows
Q closely upon the trail Of the
pathfinder to permit a frontier ~
eAist Tor more than a day-all from
'ier towns are inoculated at birth
WIN . desire to attain ~notoriety in
any Ola Way-paranoia, the alienists
IN the Thaw case, would cali itand
eirsinla City, New, and Virginia
olty' Mont, at different times sbono
as Two bright and particular stars in
Vhe galaxy Of the wilderness Of nio-
neer days. The Nevada city is so
near at home that It's history qood
and bad, its characters, commonn,aoa
= unique are as a twice-told tale
SO Tor the purpose Of this narrative
a character Of the Montana town viii
be taken.
y Montana Virginia City in the
winter of 1S64-5, when almost cou,d
De heard the toot of the iron horse
across the wide plains leading to ina
Nevada town, was a city of some
$4,000 inhabitants. Today If hoe
iess than 1000. At the time Of which
we write the 10000 people were
domiciled along the edges Of Alder
gulch for miles, for at no place was
the edge capable of holding mora
man two faced dwellings with a road
petween' except where little Daylight
sulch deployed at a right angle from
me east into Alder. There was the
heart Of the city, but the city then.
as now, had only three streets
crossed by half a dozen others. Ono
street at the bed Of the gaIch tho
other two cut as shelves IN the hin
sides while the cross streets go down
one NIL and up another, vanishing in
ne sky line in either direction.
St. lgnace, Mich. on o of its
Elongated and narrow strip of houses
along the beach of the Straits Of
A~ackinac, is nick-named The Shoe
Virginia City, Mont. might
Reil' also, in those days have re-
'etYed that appellation. or with it's
harrow line of houses, adobe and log
GLOWING the twisting contours Of
gulch' the place must have re-
.embled an old, CASTOR, knotted
ihoestring; the knot might repre-
.ent Daylight gulch and the two ends
houses up and down historic AL
Ter.
At that time Alder gulch was at
zenith of its glory as the great
st placer gold camp of the world.
all of its $500. 000.0 0O he'd been
.Xtracted and the precious yellow
letal seemed dnexhaustible. vir-
mia City, too, was at the height of
g power and its infamy. at one and !
he same time. 1t was the capital i
I Montana territory and was maxi !
lg history fast. yet it harbored the f,
1ost dastardly gang of rufians, {
laekguards and eut-throats that ever {
isgraeed this Western land. t
At close of day the miners would
sluice and dump to climb the /
muddy bank to the road above and :
long procession of hardly argonauts t
.ould wend along the winding road '
} the city. The slanting rays of a s
citing sun glinted across the sun t
nrned face of many a man after g
ard famous in the annals of the n
alton and shone upon a long array 7
men bent upon boarding the tiger ii
his lair so soon as life in the city t
wakened, seemingly determined to v
luander all the gold washed from a
le gulch during the day. Money e
as almost unknown. Gold in Il
inces was the medium of exchange. n
very store, every saloon, every II
tmbling house had its scales to cl
the precious dust found in h
.eh abundance and so lavishly, so W
antonly squandered. The stream t,
miners entered the city at Jack a
n street from the gulch road and fl
.ssed with undertaking regularity st
to Con Grams hurdy-gurdy for s.
inks before the evening meal. u
1cky Thomas gambling hall was W
st across the way and Rocky di
lomas's gilded palace contained fiji
attraction that appealed to almost I'll
cry gold hunter, old or young, yet
portals was not passed, for that re
belonged to the evenings w
prtafnmant M