IJEVADA SILVER. 



743 



ters went from bad to worse, as every one had access to the record 

 book in the pioneer camp, and most of the prospectors changed 

 their stakes and boundaries as often as seemed best. The most 

 casual study of the Comstock region in 1860 reveals the wildest 

 Walpurgis-night revels of conflicting claims of every size, shape, 

 and age tumbling over each other three and four deep. Besides, 

 the Virginia lode was parallel to the Comstock, and many lesser 

 veins crossed it or ran near, thus giving rise to the great legal 

 problem of the day. Was the Comstock one ledge or two ledges ? 



Then followed the famous mining cases that fill volume after 

 volume of the Nevada reports — Savage against the Bowers Com- 

 pany, Chollar against Potosi (pronounced Potosed by all old 

 " Comstockers "), Burning Moscow against Ophir, and others of 



Flasii-ligiit of Drills in Nevada Mine. 



equal interest. The total number of lawsuits for twelve mines 

 during this period is 245, and 168 of these were " actions brought '"^ 

 to dispossess the claimants of ground that, under the single- 

 ledge theory, belonged to the first locators. The direct cost of 

 this litigation was $10,000,000, or one fifth of the entire product 

 of the lode during the fighting period. Pitched battles occurred 

 underground ; mines were flooded with water or filled with smoke» 

 Forts were built, armed men employed, and battles fought on dis- 

 puted claims. Some of the best mining lawyers of America were 

 trained in this age of litigation. Stewart, known as " Old Invin- 

 cible," tireless in devotion to his clients, received $100,000 from 

 Belcher and $30,000 as a single fee from Yellow Jacket. The 

 reputation of the Territorial courts suffered, and some of the 

 judges resigned under stress of public wrath. Lord, in his His- 

 tory of the Comstock, sums up the period from 1860 to 1865 with. 



