USA > Colorado > History of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming, 1540-1888 > Part 25
USA > Nevada > History of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming, 1540-1888 > Part 25
USA > Wyoming > History of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming, 1540-1888 > Part 25
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Coal was found as early as 1860 in Carson valley, and has since been proved to exist in different locali- ties, along the line of the Central Pacific railroad, on the route of the Nevada and Oregon railroad, near Tuscarora and Argenta in Elko county, and in El HIST. NEV. 16
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MATERIAL RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT.
Dorado cañon. Immense tracts of peat, one bed cov- ering 15,000 acres, extend along the Humboldt river, valuable for fuel, particularly in a country destitute of timber like this valley.
Of the ores of metals used in manufactures, Nevada furnishes many. Iron, although known to exist on the Carson river as early as 1862, on Reese river in 1865, and in the Peavine district of Nye county in 1865, has been neglected. Copper, discovered first in Carson valley in 1856, and quarried in specimen blocks a few years later, was little heeded by mining men until recently. Copper ore is found on Walker river, in Elko county, and near Soda springs in Esmeralda county. The copper mines of Elko county were the first to be developed. Lead production has increased so rapidly in a few years as to place Eureka at the head of the lead producing districts of the United States. Cinnabar was discovered in Washoe and Nye counties in 1876. It is found in a crystalized state and also in amorphous masses. Nickel mines exist in Humboldt county, the discovery being made in 1882, and immediately worked. Ten car-loads of the ore were shipped within a month after it was found. Tin ore has been known to exist in Nevada since 1863, but it has never been worked or its value determined. Antimony was discovered as early as 1876, but does not appear to have been mined until 1882, when there was a shipment of the ore from Elko county. Bismuth is another metallic product of which at present not much is known.
Notwithstanding this extraordinary richness of mineral productions, or perhaps because of it, few specimens of precious stones have been found in Nevada, and those of an inferior quality. A ruby from the Comstock lode weighing one carat, after cutting, was discovered in 1882, and occasionally, opals and turquoise have been found, of little value. Of the distribution of the precious metals, the most
243
MINERALS AND METALS.
important part of the mineralogy of Nevada, I shall speak in giving the productions of counties.11
Nevada is a better agricultural country than at first glance one might expect to find. Time was when the
11 On the subject of resources and physical features the authorities are more numerous than for most new political divisions, because it has been directly in the line of travel during the whole period of the settlement of the Pacific coast by Americans. Of these Lieut George M. Wheeler's U. S. Survey Report, 1877, upon the geology, geography, and mineralogy of the country, must be consid- ered of the highest value, as well as upon other branches of natural science. Wheeler's first expedition in Nevada was in 1871, and began in the extreme southern part of the state, with headquarters at Camp Independence. He was assisted by Lieutenants R. L. Hoxie and William L. Marshall in 1873. The last published report, in 1878, embraced the botany of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The reports of the Geological Explo- ration of the Fortieth Parallel, Clarence King director, begun in 1867, bearing particularly upon the subject of mining and minerals, their distribution and relative situation, and especially the features of the Comstock lode, are also of great importance in forming an estimate of the resources of Nevada. George F. Becker, geologist in charge, devotes an entire volume to the Com- stock; and James D. Hague, another geologist and mineralogist, in a large volume called Mining Industry, considers all the mining districts of the state in a minute and careful manner. The Mines and Mining Interests of the United States, by William Ralston Balch, 1SS2, is a compilation of articles upon this subject, and contains a vast amount of information in its 1,200 pages of quarto size, in which Nevada comes in for its shares. L. Simonin, the French author of La Vie Souterraine, 1867, contrives to give some hints of . what may be found in Nevada, albeit, it is nothing of more importance than that the natives do not work in the mines. The Great West, by E. V. Hay- den, formerly U. S. geologist, discusses climate, health, husbandry, educa- tion, the Indian question, the Chinese question, and the land laws, besides giving descriptions of the scenery, geography, and geology of the intramon- tane states and territories, of which Nevada comes in for its share. The West; Census of 1880, by Robert P. Porter, whose specialty in the labor of taking the census was upon the wealth, debt, taxation, and railroads, assisted by Henry Gannett, geographer of the 10th census, and William P. Jones, is a reliable authority upon the material development of Nevada. The Unde- veloped West, by J. H. Beadle, is a work of little value; and the same may be said of Where to Emigrate and Why, by Frederick B. Goddard. Greater Britain, 1869, by Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, an Englishman, follows the stereotyped rule of English travellers, and instead of giving discriminative observations upon real things, occupies all his space. 22 pages of Nevada, with absurd and exaggerated pictures of American life. The only touch of rcality in it is a description of Nevada staging, which is a fair account of pio- neer travel. A better book, because containing more matter of a useful na- ture, is that of another Englishman, Richard F. Burton, The City of the Saints, meaning Salt Lake. Burton, however, was travelling to acquire in- formation, and, having acquired it, imparted such as he had gained in a style honest if not altogether correct. He passed through Nevada in 1860, and gives a general description. Life on the Plains and Among the Diggings, by A. Delano, 1861, devotes about 50 pages to the incidents of immigrant travel through Nevada in 1849. The book is a history of a journey overland, with its hardships and sufferings, familiar to thousands before this book was writ- ten. An Excursion to California, over the Prairie, Rocky Mountains and Great Sierra Nevada, with a Stroll through the Diggings and Ranches of That Country, is the long title of a 2-volume book, by William Kelly of England,
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MATERIAL RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT.
whole expanse of plain at the eastern base of the Rocky mountains was represented to be a desert ; yet out of that desert how many states and territories have been carved whose wealth and importance are now understood. Eastern Oregon and Nevada have been considered little better than deserts, although it was known that the Indians pastured large herds upon their nutritious grasses. Wherever the pas- turage is rich the soil may be converted to the growth of cereals, and often only water is required to make the driest and most barren-looking sections fruitful fields. The overtopping influence of the mining interest has kept back the agricultural.12
and sufficiently describes the work without saying more. Heap's Cen- tral Route to the Pacific from the Valley of the Mississippi to California: Jour- nal of the Expedition of E. F. Beale, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California, and Gwin Harris Heap, from Missouri to California, in 1853. The route called central in this work is by the old trail from Westport to near Bent's fort; thence to the Huerfano river, in the Sangre de Cristo moun- tains, and through them to Fort Massachusetts, on Utah creek, in New Mex- ico. Leaving Fort Massachusetts, the route lay up the San Luis valley to the Saguache valley, through the Cochetopa pass in the Saguache moun- tains, and down the River Uncomphagre to the Grand river fork of the Col- orado in Utah; thence across the Bunkard river and the Green river fork of the Colorado, through the Mormon settlements near Little Salt Lake and the Vegas de Santa Clara; thence along the old Spanish trail from Abiquiú across the desert to the Mohave river, into the Tulare through Walker pass in the Sierra Nevada. Except that the route was an unusual one, and the Pah Utes were found to be the worst horse thieves on the continent, there is nothing worthy of note in the book. California and its Conditions (Califor- nien und Seine Verhältnisse), by A. F. Oswald, is a hand book containing a sketch of the history, geography, statistics, climate, soils, commerce, laws, modes, and routes of travel, etc., with a map of the United States, 1849. The references to Nevada are of the briefest. Appleton's Hand Book of Travel, 1861, makes a brief notice of Utah territory, without mentioning the separation of the territory of Nevada from Utah. The traveller could not have gained much information from Appleton. The Overland Guide, by Hosea B. Horn, 1852, is a mere road book from Council Bluffs to Sacramento, and as such must have been of much use to immigrants, as it gave all the river crossings, camping places, etc., with the distances between. There are some striking inaccuracies in the distances, however, on the western end of the route. Albert G. Bracket, in the Western Monthly, a magazine, Chicago, April, 1869, has an article on Nevada and the Silver Mines, which contains a very particular description of the western portion of the state, and remarks upon the then new district of White Pine, made from personal observation. There might be mentioned also Remy and Brenchley, i. 168, ii. 382-49; Cram's Top Mem., in U. S. H. Doc., 114, 1859; Rossi's Souvenirs Voy. en Oregon, 258-60; Mayer's Mexico; Aztec, Span., and Rep., ii. 374-5; Kneeland's Wonders of Yosemite, 23; Hall's Guide to the Great West, 55-60; and Victor's Manifest Destiny in the West, in Overland Magazine, Aug. 1869.
12 In 1860 Nevada had less than 100 small farms; in 1870 there were over
245
SOIL AND PRODUCTS.
The first observed earthquake since settlement was in 1857. On the 29th of May, 1868, there were four shocks at Carson between nine and 'ten o'clock at night. They were distinctly felt in the mines, but did no damage, though they displaced bricks at the top of the court-house. On the night of December 26, 1869, a series of severe shocks were experienced, commencing at six o'clock in the evening, and con- tinuing at intervals through that night and the next day. Some buildings were injured, and at Steam-
1,000, and in 1879 nearly 1,500, ranging from 10 acres to 1,000 or more. That there are farms in the state equal to the best anywhere is sufficient evidence of what may yet be. In Nevada Biography, MS., 4, by William M. Cradlebaugh, brother of Judge Cradlebaugh of Circleville, Ohio, who came to Cal. in 1852, and to Nevada in 1859, is mention of his farm of between 400 and 500 acres in Carson valley. This MS. is devoted in great part to the history of early times and Judge Cradlebaugh's contest with the Mormon authorities in relation to the Mountain Meadows massacre. In Nevyla Miscellany, MS., containing several contributions upon the physical features of the country, B. H. Reymers of Hanover, Germany, who came to Nevada in 1870, speaking of farming, says that he gets 4 tons of alfalfa to the acre in two crops, 45 bushels of wheat, 30 to 40 bushels of barley, and raises some blue joint grass, 2 tons to the acre, all in Mason valley. Accord- ing to this author the finest draught horses in the state are raised in Lyon county, which will yet be famed for its production of English Coach, Clyde, and Morgan stock. Richard Kinnan and T. B. Rickey of Antelope valley have as fine farm and stock raising property as can be found in the world. T. B. Smith of Smith valley in Lyon county, born in Mass in 1834, came to Cal. in 1853, and to Nevada in 1859. He first settled the valley in company with R. B. Smith and C. Smith, whence the name. According to his state- ment wheat yields in Smith valley 30 to 60 bushels; barley 25 to 40 bushels; oats about the saine. Apples, prunes, pears, currants, etc., do well. T. Winters of Rcese river in 1864 had 110 acres in barley, 75 in oats, 30 in potatoes, 20 in Hungarian grass, 350 in native grasses, and 10 in vegetables. The yield is not given. Austin Reese River Reveille, June 21, 1864. Within a radius of 100 miles of Pioche, excluding the Mormon settlement of St George, are 150 farms. Pioche Record, Feb. 13, 1873. Judge Perley of Pioche purchased 640 acres in Steptoe valley for the purpose of raising fruit, grain, and blooded stock. John Guthrie in Humboldt county, brought his farm of 640 acres to be one of the most valuable on the coast. Winnemucca Silver Stute, May 25, 1882. This data was gathered for me by Geo. H. Morrison.
The climate is dry and healthful. Cloud bursts are occasional. There were three in 1872. Overland Monthly, 1873, 464-6. The most remarkable one occurred in 1874, on the 18th of August. A mass of water S feet in height came rolling down the cañon where Austin was located, sweeping through the town like an avalanche, and carrying $100,000 worth of prop- erty before it. The people being warned by a swift rider, escaped to the hills. Sacramento Bee, Aug. 19, 1874. On the 24th of July a similar food overtook Eureka without warning. Many lives were lost in this cloud burst. Marysville Appeal, Aug. 1, 1874; Reno State Journal, Aug. 1, 1874; Amador Dispatch, Aug. 1874. A flood resulting from a violent rainstorm, which probably followed a cloud burst in the mountains, destroyed $100,000 worth of property at Austin in August 1868.
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MATERIAL RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT.
boat springs the geysers were unusually active. The mines were not at all affected by the shocks, although the boilers of the steam hoisting-works blew off steam at each vibration, much to the consternation of the engineers, who could not account for the phenomenon. At the Savage mine the engineer stopped the large pumping engine, and alarmed the miners underground by this action more than the earthquake had done. In March 1872 there were two heavy shocks in White Pine county. This was probably what is known as the Inyo earthquake, which was felt at the coast. On November 5, 1873, a heavy shock was felt at Unionville and four at Virginia City between 9 A. M. and 7 P. M. The disturbance continued two days, during which time there were eight distinct shocks about the sink of the Carson, the waters of which were much agitated. In August 1868 Mount Butler, near Virginia City, was observed to be given signs of volcanic disturbance, flames breaking out in a cave, but probably from the ignition of gases.
Of the indigenous productions of the soil in Nevada, the timber is first in importance, and is found in the mountains exclusively. First on the ranges comes à belt of the juniper and nut-pine ; next above, the white pine and balsam fir; then the Douglas spruce, and on Wheeler peak and elsewhere the Rocky mountain spruce. Groves of aspen occur at a height of 9,500 feet in the Troy range, the height of the timber belt being nearly 11,000 feet in central Nevada. Occasional cedars and cottonwoods, with willows, and mountain mahogany, complete the list of trees. Their size relatively to those of the same species in California and Oregon is inferior. Trees fifty feet in height, and twelve to fourteen inches in diameter are of the average size cut for milling. The number of acres of timber, including woodland, was reported in 1879 at 1,426,410, with some counties to hear from. Congressionaliand state legislation has endeavored to protect the forestry, which with judicious
247
PLANTS AND ANIMALS.
management may be largely preserved. The flora of Nevada is much more extensive than at first sight might be supposed, there being over 1,200 plants cata- logued without completing the list. The obtrusive- ness of the artemesia, or sage-brush, obscures every- thing more modest.
Wild game is more plentiful now than thirty years years ago, being protected by game laws, and not so much needed by the Indians for food as formerly.
It would be erroneous to conclude that because few animals have chosen Nevada for their home that there was not support for animal life; for next in import- ance to its mines at present is the trade in cattle, and stock subsist almost entirely upon the native grasses. Their low hills and the loftiest summits of the moun- tains furnish bunch-grass, of which there are two varieties, that growing on the lower hills being coarser and more thinly set than that which grows further up, and which bears an oat-shaped seed. Native clover, blue-joint, red-top, and one kind of bunch- grass are found in the valleys. On all the creeks of the northern part of the state are extensive patches of rye-grass, which grows often six feet high, and makes excellent hay. The number of acres classified as grazing land in 1878, some counties not being heard from, was 7,508,060.13
13 The cattle herded upon these natural pastures make the best of beef, or which at least cannot be equalled except upon similar ranges in the bunch grass regions of eastern Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, and superior to that produced with careful farming in the eastern states. I have given so full particulars of stock raising for market in my History of Montana that it is unnecessary to repeat the account here. except to say that Nevada is vastly superior to Montana on account of the milder winters. The facts are in general the same, and the profits similar. The common stock of the country was graded somewhat by bulls kept by immigrants, but has been greatly improved more recently by imported animals. The average weight of cattle has been inereased ten per cent, and the Nevada herds in ISS6 were abont half thoroughbred. Some examples may not be ont of place. W. J. Marsh had a stock farm at the head of Carson valley of high bred cattle. T. D. Parkinson of Kelly's creek imported in ISS1 six car loads of improved stock. He had imported 'several lots before. Daniel Murphy had 60,000 acres of land in Nevada, from which he shipped 6,000 head of cattle yearly. Murphy was a California pioneer of 1844, and the largest
248
MATERIAL RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT.
The number of sheep in Nevada in 1884 was 300,- 000. The wool clip of Nevada was given in 1876 at 100,000 pounds. In 1880 the crop in Paradise valley alone was 84,000 pounds. The shipment from Battle Mountain for the year was 200,000 pounds, a falling off from previous years, owing to large sales of sheep
stock owner in Nevada, as well as the largest land owner in the world. He owned 4,000,000 acres in Mexico and 23,000 in California. He died at Elko Oct. 22, 1882. The combined herds of Glenn and his partners aggregated about 30,000 head. Todhunter and Devine had 25,000 head, and shipped 6,000 annually. They had over 100,000 acres of land. Riley and Hardin own about 30,000 cattle. Burns, Stoffal & Co. 8,000. E. W. Crutcher's stock range covered all the meadow land and water on a section of country 61 by 42 miles. He had 15,000 head of cattle and 1,000 head of horses. Hardin of Humboldt county shipped 30 car loads of beef cattle monthly to California. Wells & Co. near Rabbit creek were the heaviest cattle dealers in that vicinity. Altogether there were in 1885, 500 stock raisers in Nevada, large and small. Hansen's Mining About Eureka, MS., 4.
One of the first persons to discover the advantages of keeping cattle on the Nevada ranges was Harry Gordier, a Frenchman, who was killed in 1858 by Edwards and Thorrington that they might get possession of the eattle he had driven over the mountains from California, and was fattening in Carson valley. But he was not the only person feeding California cattle on Nevada pastures, for as early as 1855 the practice of driving stock over the mountains in summer was well known. Huffaker's Early Cattle Trade, MS., 1-2, 5-6. G. W. Huffaker bought cattle at Salt Lake City, and drove them to the Truckee meadows in 1856, fattening them and selling beef to the miners in the early days of the Comstock excitement, when prices ruled high. Cattle were first wintered on the Humboldt in 1859-60, and were of the common Texas species. Long Valley in White Pine county was first oc- cupied for herding cattle in 1869 by Alvaro Evans and Robert Ross. In that year several thousand head were driven from Texas to stock the Nevada ranges. The laws of Nevada encourage stock raising, and shield the owners of cattle from the penalties which should follow injury to crops through trespass by them. No act having been passed defining a lawful fence, the supreme court decided in 1880 that owners of stock were not liable for dam- age done to crops by their cattle unless the land was so fenced as to exclude ordinary animals. This decision placed the burden of protecting crops en- tirely upon the agriculturalist, and saved the cattle raiser the expense of herdsmen. Again, cattte must be taxed at the owners' residence, and not in the localities where they were grazed; by which decision the county was often defrauded of its proper revenue. The law of 1873 required each owner to have a brand, and also a counter-brand in case of sale. A law of 1881 provides for an inspector of hides, who may enter premises and search for hides, reporting to the district attorney as to the brands. This act in- sures equal justice to all. The number of cattle in Nevada in 1884, as esti- mated by stock raisers, was about 700,000. English capital was being used in purchasing ranges to a large amount.
The finest draft horses in the state in 1886 were raised in Mason valley. Fox's Mason Valley Settlers, MS., 1, in Nevada Miscellany. J. J. Fox, born in 1834 in Baden, Germany, immigrated to the U. S. in 1854, and to Vir- ginia City in 1860. In 1864 he settled east of Dayton, but the following year removed to Mason valley, and raised stock. J. A. Perry imported Norman stallions in 1880. Scott and Hank imported 3 English stallions of the Shire breed in 1881. J. S. Trask, W. W. Williams, and W. L. Pritchard raised
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LIVE STOCK.
to Montana. From Winnemucca the shipment for 1880 was 140,000 pounds instead of the usual amount of 250,000 or 300,000 pounds. These figures give some idea of where the sheep pastures are to be found. The total shipment by railroad in 1882 was 349,585 pounds, the bulk of which was sold to eastern dealers at from sixteen to twenty cents per pound. Angora goats were increasing rapidly in Nevada. In 1869 there were 25 of these animals reported to be in the state. In 1879 there were several bands of several thousand each. The sage brush land was found well adapted to pasturing these hardy creatures-the one animal which thrives upon this coarse diet. The long silky wool finds a ready market, and the hides are sold to the Angora Glove company of California.
In 1861 an attempt was made to domesticate the camel. A band of a dozen was first employed in this year to bring salt from Teel's marsh, in Esmeralda county, to the Washoe silver mill, a distance of 200 miles. They proved well suited to the labor, but on the discovery of a nearer salt deposit, wagons were used, and the camels turned loose to take care of themselves. This they did, increasing in number and condition. The camels taken to Nevada in 1861 were part of a herd of thirty-four which was sold at Benicia, California, by the government to Samuel McLaughlin, who had been intrusted with the care of them. They were brought to the United States for use on the plains, and increased after their arrival. In 1876 the band was taken to Arizona, with the ex- ception of a pair placed on a rancho in Carson valley, where they increased to twenty-six in a few years. But it was found impracticable to use them on the
blooded horses. In 1882 the latter shipped S thoroughbreds to Cal. This year 300 horses were sold to go east. J. W. Dean of Eureka county was the largest horse raiser in the east range of Cortez mountains. In ISS1 a ear load of jacks and jennies was imported from the western states by William Billups; mule raising having become a considerable branch of stock farming.
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MATERIAL RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT.
highways, horses being frightened by them, and suits for damages following, for which reason the legisla- ture in 1875 prohibited their running at large or being upon the public roads. A part of the herd was disposed of to the Philadelphia zoological gardens.
An experiment in ostrich farming was made in 1879 by Theodore Glancy, whose land was southwest of the Bismark range, near the old route from Carson to Bodie. Failing to hatch the eggs in sand by solar heat, he obtained a pair of birds from which, in 1881, he raised ten others. . The use intended to be made of the birds, was in transporting provisions and other parcels. Their plumage alone would make them valuable.
Hog raising proved profitable. H. C. Emmons in 1882 had 400 at the sink of the Humboldt, which was the largest herd in the state. There were several others near Lovelocks, and James Guthrie near Win- nemucea was raising Berkshires extensively. Poultry raising likewise prospered, George W. Chedec, at Carson City, having in 1882 twenty-six different breeds on his poultry farm. From these beginnings, small when compared with the area of the state, enough may be learned to remove the impression that only metals and minerals can be produced in Nevada.
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