The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1920-05-13
The Romance of
Mining Discovery
Continued from page -


hand over to me an undivided half in
terest."
The miners pick never opened Z
greater treasure vault than the Com.
stock, yet the story of its discovery l.,
more sOrdid than romantic. In 1859
and for eight years previously, immi-
grants had strayed from the overland
trail into the valley of the Carson and
up one Of the creeks to Gold canyon
There they had obtained a scant living
by desultory washing of the gold from
the detrItus in the gullies on the sides
of Mt. Davidson, or the Sun Peak. as
they called it then. They We're an ig-
norant and a shlftleSs lot. The gold
that they saved and the black iron
that they threw away came from the
outcrop of a great vein, but they had
no notion Of the relationship. The black
iron, rejected with many an oath be
cause ii mixed with the gold i'm their
ssuice boxes, consisted of silver sui
phide OprObably stephanite) but they
did not know it. Slowly inevitably.
these placer miners worked their way
to the disintegrated parts of the vein
itself, where the diggings became very
rich. The gold was pale in color, but
there was plenty of it. To their sur
prise the pay dirt led right down into
the earth. They continued to dig and
to wash out the gold unaware that
they were on the edge of the greatest
ore deposit in te world. A passing
stranger farmer from Truckee-
took piece of the discarded black iron
over the Sierra to Grass Valley. where
he had it assayed. The stuff was near
ly quarter silver. Quietly this man
and a few friends left that night on
horseback for the new mines, then
known as the WashOe diggings where
they bought out the disOcverers for a
song. The news spread; others came;
then more and more, until within a
few weeks hundreds were rushing
across the mountains from California |
to Nevada. That was in June 1853
The COmstock lode, as the great vein |
was called, was from $50 to 500 feet |
wide, and it could he traced along |
bare mountain range for eight miles |
Along the Outcrop hundreds of claims !
were located, but the richest ore bod |
les were found in a few mines in the |
central portion, within a distance of |
less than two miles. The total pro-
duction of tine lode was $4OO, 900, 600 !
in gold and silver. Most of this came
from a few large ore bodies called
five of which had outcrops
some distance apart The Con- Vir-
ginia bonanza, which was shared by
the Con. Virginia and California COM
Danies, was discovered 1867 feet I'M
foreground; it yielded a million tons
Of 800 ore and paid $73,29S,7OO in
dividends Within five years, from
1874 to 1879. The stock of the Con.
Virginia company sold for 81 per
share in 1870 and for $3.50 in 1875. The
hiding of this ore body was the con-
sequence of the persistent search di
'ected by two stalwart and intelligent
rishmen, John w Mackay and Jas.
J. Fair who were at the head of an
exploration company that worked for
wo years and spent 100000 in a part
f the lode that previously had been
They found other ore d
,odies in other mines They were
veil rewarded Macl0ay retired with
20. 900, 900, and Fair with something
yer half that amount. They deserv-
d It, Macl0ay possessed unusual ad-
ability and won the alb I
olute confidence of his associates, in
act of all who came in contact with
i'm. Fair had a genius for finding
re. They used to say at Virginia
'ity, Jimmy Fair has "A great nose
Or ore" Mackay went to New York !
nd became one of the big men in
rorld finance He and James Gordon Y
.ennett laid a new cable across the
ltTantfc and established the Postal 4
telegraph Cable company, the control
{ which rests now in Mackay's son. +
Iackay was a big man physically and a
,entally. a king among men, depend
BILE. self contained, strong willed, un-
ring, but he bore his part in modest
nd kindly fashion. He had no
reater pleasure in life than in doiN
indnesses. Fair retired to San
francisco and invested his money Ii
Lrgely in real estate Tradition does f.
OF record that he was ever touch "a
4" by his old -time comrades. Il
The miner is proverbially a man III
18th an open hand, and the success t.
II ones are literally besieged for is
ANS and assistance by old and new n
lends, until the giver may be for b
iven for feeling that they seek him ID
IT no other purpose The observant q
yndc begins to wonder if there be t,
ich a thing as disinterested friend f;
lfp. This is the saddest part of Il
ig a mining millionaire. Such loans b
re seldom repaid; on the contrary IT
lie loan oft loses both itself and is
lends" as PolOnius puts it. john "
z. Macl1ay, for example, was most q
beral to his old friends, and they II
oused his generosity. He saw 1T ii
early, but his tolerant spirit saved 81
i'm from misanfhrOpy. noted il