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GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



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with the discovery of which Nevada's mining history began.' To 

 the north the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway reaches Alturas 

 (184 miles), in the northeast corner of California, and has lately been 

 extended to Lakcview (238 miles), across the line in Oregon. Reno 

 is the seat of the Nevada State University, which includes the Mackay 

 School of Mines. Its manufactures include flour, foundry and ma- 

 cliine-shop products, packed meats, and beer. Farming and stock 

 raising are important industries in this ricinity^ particularly in the 



inferred in general that the land eurface 

 in 111 is vicinty was elevated and that by 

 erosion its rocks were contributing to 

 fiedimentation in other parts of the region. 



The lavas are principally andesites of 

 varied mineralogic composition , but the 

 series includes also much rhyolite and 

 some basalt. All the lavas are inter- 

 bedded with layers of volcanic ash, tuff, 

 or tuff -breccia, the last congisttng of 

 angular lava fragments thrown out from 

 the volcanic vents. Mpst of the lavas 

 are Tertiary, but some are more recent. 



The foregoing Biimmaiy of A^olcanic 

 activity applies especially to the eastern 

 Sierra foothill belt, but it is broadly appli- 

 cable to the whole western part of the 

 Great Basin pro^dnce. Moreover, the 

 lavas here described are undoubtedly 

 related directly to the extensive flows 

 that spread out over the Sierra, although 

 •the later sedimentary record west of the 

 Sierra divide is entirely distinct from 

 that in the Oroat Basin. 



^ Virginia City (PI. XLIII) is in the 

 Virginia "Range near its crest, only 12 

 to 15 mil^ south of the canyon through 

 wliich the railroad crosses these moun- 

 tains. Ten years after the first gold ex- 

 citement in California prospectors began 

 to search the stream channels of Nevada. 

 They found ''pay dirt" along Carson 

 River and traced these gravels far up- 





stream. 



jpectors 



followed these gold gravels to their source 

 high on the slopes of Mount Dai-idson, 

 and as washings from the loose surface 

 croppings yielded rich returns, they dug 

 down to bedrock. Then it was that the 

 lode was discovered. A rush of prospec- 

 tors followed, and Virginia City rapidly 

 grew into one of the principal towns of 

 the far West. In 1870 a narrow- 



miles 



age 



completed from Reno. This has been 

 referred to as the most prosperous railroad 

 in the country in its day, as it was said 

 for a time to have regularly operated 40 

 trains a day over its 52 miles of crooked 

 track. As the workings were deepened 

 the ingress of hot water and the high 

 underground temperature made mining 

 difficult. The mines were in part drained 

 by the Sutro tunnel, a notable engineer- 

 ing feat for that time. Work in the deeper 

 levels is rendered possible only by the 

 constant forcing of large volumes of air 

 through the entries and a liberal use of 

 ice water, both for drinking and for bathn. 

 ing. by the men, who work in very short 

 shifts. 



The Comstock lode is a great fissiu'e 

 vein, 4 miles long, along a line of faulting 

 in the Tertiary eruptive rocks (chiefly 

 andesite) of the Virginia Range. It crops 

 out on the east rfde of Mount Davidson. 

 The mountain range but not the summit 

 may be seen in clear weather from Reno 

 by looking up the open valley to the 

 southeast. The ore, which is of high 

 grade, carries silver and gold in quartz. 

 In the old days it occurred typically in 

 great bodies called ^'bonanzas. " The 

 district was noted for the large scale on 

 which everything connected with the 

 miiung, including the speculation, was 

 carried on. The size of the old dumps 

 and the kind of machinery' employed 

 show even those who are used to mining 

 that great tilings were done here. About 

 $400,000,000 in gold and silver, in the 

 ratio, by value, of 2 of gold to 3 of silver, 

 has been taken out of the Comstock. 

 Considerable ore is still being mined, but 

 the great bonanzas have been worked 

 out, and Virginia City is a melancholy 

 wreck of what was once a lively town of 

 some 2O,0W) neonle. 



