Other so-called rivers in Nevada are Quin River, a large creek which
rises in Idaho and runs south in Humboldt County to a small terminal
“sink” situated at the north end of a great range of mud flats and
marshes that lie to the northward of Pyramid Lake. There are good stock
ranges in the Quin River country. The Rio Virgin is a small stream about
eighty miles in length situated in Lincoln County, in the extreme
southeastern part of the State. It takes its rise in Utah and empties
into the Colorado River. It has a tributary of considerable rise called
Muddy Creek, or the “Big Muddy,” on and about which is much excellent
land and several deserted Mormon villages. At one time there were 500
Mormon families settled in this part of Nevada, but they were called
back to Salt Lake by Brigham Young, and abandoned their comfortable
homes and fine and fertile farms. The mouth of the Rio Virgin is but 800
feet above the level of the sea, all this region being in what is known
as the “Colorado Basin.” The climate is much the same as that of Los
Angeles, California. Oranges, figs, lemons, almonds, olives,
pomegranates, and all other semi-tropical fruits grow to perfection;
also cotton and tobacco. All the grains, vegetables, and fruits of the
temperate zone flourish finely. This spot is the Eden of the great basin
region.
The Colorado River forms the southeastern boundary of Nevada. Although
it is not one of the rivers of the State system, yet it is one to which
Nevada has some claim. Where it sweeps along the southern border of the
State the stream is half a mile wide and has a depth of from ten to
twenty feet. The river is navigable for steamboats from Callville, a
short distance between the mouth of the Rio Virgin, to Port Isabel, on
the Gulf of California, a distance of 600 miles. Callville is one of the
towns (now almost deserted) founded by the Mormons during their
occupation of that region of the country. The proposed railroad from
Salt Lake City would cause this region to again become populous and
prosperous.
Mineral Treasures of Nevada.
There are mines of the precious metals in every county in the State.
There are mines of gold, silver, lead, copper, and other valuable metals
in all the rugged, parallel ranges of mountains running through the
great central plateau. Mining and agriculture are thus pursued side by
side. Lying between the mountain ranges and running in the same
direction are valleys containing arable land, while on the benches and
lower hills are excellent grazing lands, on which grow nutritious
bunch-grass and other valuable native grasses. In all parts of the State
mining is being profitably pursued, and almost weekly new and valuable
discoveries of the precious metals are somewhere being made. Although
the country has been walked and ridden over in various directions for
the past twenty-five years, there are still hundreds of sections where
no real prospecting has ever been done. Even in the oldest and
best-known mining camps, many discoveries yet remain to be made.
Although explorations were made in the southern half of the State in the
early days, and thousands of mining locations made, little real mining
has been done on any of the hundreds of large and promising veins
discovered. The work done has been mere surface scratching, and the
majority of the claims have long since been abandoned by their locators.
Lack of facilities for the transportation of ores and supplies made it
impracticable to work mines situated at a great distance from lines of
railroad. The men who prospected and made locations in wild and distant
regions were men of little means, and when their small stocks of money
and provisions were exhausted, they were obliged to abandon their claims
and return to the settlements, as men of capital could not be induced to
invest their money in mines out in the wilderness far from any means of
transportation. Thus it happens that there are many sections of the
country the mines of which are the same as unprospected—mines which will
produce millions when lines of railroad shall furnish facilities for the
transportation of ore, machinery, and supplies. In Lincoln, Nye, White
Pine, Lander, Elko, and Humboldt Counties, there are hundreds of mining
districts in which this is the case, and in these hundreds of districts
are lying unworked thousands of quartz veins, all showing more or less
of the precious metals at the very surface, and even in the croppings
above the surface.
A thousand years of mining will not exhaust the mineral treasures of the
mountains of Nevada. Cheaper and cheaper means of mining and reducing
ores will continue to be found, and presently it will be possible to
work the mines of common metals which cannot now be touched. Besides
gold and silver the mountains of Nevada contain veins of copper, lead,
iron, antimony, nickel, zinc, and many others, as cobalt, graphite, and
the like. Not only are the mountains of the State rich in all kinds of
metals, but the lower lands are also filled with valuable mineral
treasures. In the basins of extinct lakes in all parts of the State, and
aggregating hundreds of square miles, are inexhaustible deposits of
borax, soda, salt, gypsum, glaubers, alum, sulphur, and many other
mineral products of a similar character, which are only now beginning to
be utilized at points near lines of railway.
Agricultural Resources.
In the limited space at command in a small book such as this it is not
possible to more than give to the agricultural and horticultural
resources of the State a passing glance, as has been done in the case of
the mining and mineral products and resources. Although until within a
very few years past Nevada has never been thought of outside of the
State as being anything else than a region of mines, of metals, and beds
of minerals, it is now evident that she has agricultural advantages and
resources long unsuspected. Nevada is well calculated to become a great
stock-growing State. Already she has her “cattle kings,” and they are
not as the roving cattle kings of other lands. They have struck their
roots deep in the soil and are permanent residents. While the tillage of
the soil alone will be found as profitable here as elsewhere for the
small farmer whose ranch is within reach of a ready market, the real and
great business of the Nevada land owner must be stock-growing. This is
not a matter of choice or taste, but is a thing demanded by the
configuration of the country, the climate, and the nature of the soil.
In order that the natural resources of the country may be properly
utilized the greater part of the valley regions (nearly all at a
distance from towns) must be given up to the stock-grower. He must have
valley lands on which to raise sufficient hay and other feed to tide his
live-stock through any severe spells of cold weather or big snow-storms
that may occur during the winter months. In order to utilize the vast
surrounding grazing ranges the cattle king must have a “center stake”
driven in some good, productive valley. This is required as a magazine
of supplies for the winter season. While cattle, horses, and sheep will
find a living on the ranges during the greater part of the winter, still
the stock-grower who would not suffer occasional disaster must be
provided against the accident of possible cold “snaps” and unusually
heavy snow-falls. A glance over the physical features of the country
shows that the proportion of arable to grazing land is very well
balanced. When proper attention shall be given to the storage of water
for irrigation it will be found that each valley will have sufficient
capacity to produce hay, grain, and root crops adequate to the
requirements of the flocks and herds that can find pasturage on the
surrounding range.
On the ranges are found several valuable native grasses, some of which
are cut for hay. Those most valuable for hay are the blue-joint,
red-top, one variety of bunch-grass, and several varieties of clover.
All these grasses grow in the moist lands of the valleys and natural
meadows, but some varieties of bunch-grass flourish on the hills and
elevated benches. Among the native grasses of the country could no doubt
be found one valuable variety at least that would grow without
irrigation and that could be greatly improved by cultivation. Such a
grass is probably that called “sand-grass,” of which large fields are
frequently seen in dry, sandy, and apparently utterly barren plains. It
grows to a height of about fifteen inches and has many spreading
branches on each stalk, which branches are loaded with a large black
seed, that is very fattening, and of which all kinds of grazing animals
are very fond. It would be well to sow the seed of this grass, which is
a species of bunch-grass, on properly plowed and prepared ground in
order to ascertain its capability of cultivation. There are not fewer
than forty varieties of native grasses found in Nevada and eight or ten
kinds of clover. Alfalfa is the forage plant most cultivated for hay,
and on a suitable soil has no superior. Timothy, red and white clover,
and other tame grasses, do well. A very valuable native forage plant,
for the reason that it flourishes in even the most arid and sterile
localities, is that commonly called “white sage.” It is a plant of a
whitish-ash color and does not belong to the “artemesia,” or sagebrush,
family. This hardy plant furnishes good winter feed for cattle. It is
resinous and bitter until after the heavy frosts of early winter.
Freezing renders it tender, sweet, and nutritious. Even human beings may
support life on the white sage. In hard winters, before the whites came
into the country, at times when no game could be found, the Piutes were
occasionally obliged to subsist for weeks at a time wholly on white sage
cooked by boiling it in baskets by means of hot stones.
The Comstock Mines.
Having now given the reader some idea of the topography and physical
aspect of the State, with a hasty general view of its mineral and
agricultural productions and resources, we shall give a more particular
account of the Comstock Lode, in which the first discovery of silver was
made; where the deepest shafts have been sunk, and where mining for the
precious metals is to be seen on a grander scale than anywhere else in
the United States, or anywhere in the New World, taking into
consideration the power of the machinery used and the examples of
scientific mining engineering to be seen. A description of the mines and
mining methods of the Comstock will answer for those of all other parts
of the State, except that in places where the ores are argentiferous
galena, or otherwise very base, smelting furnaces take the place of the
ordinary stamp and pan mills.
The Discovery of Silver.
The discovery of silver in Nevada in 1859 (then Western Utah), caused an
immense excitement in California, and indeed throughout the United
States. The excitement was one such as had not been before seen since
the discovery of the gold mines of California. Permanency and ultimate
value being considered, the discovery of silver undoubtedly deserves to
rank in merit above the discovery of the gold mines of California, as it
gives value to a much greater area of territory and furnishes employment
to a much larger number of persons. It has given wealth and population
to all the vast region lying between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky
Mountain Ranges.