convincing Virginia City legend: Paul Fatout, Mark Twain in Virginia City (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1964), pp. 34–39.
“a large experience”: Ibid., p. 38, citing an essay Clemens contributed to a symposium, SLC to A. Arthur Reed, Study and Stimulants, March 14, 1882, p. 120.
mine’s stock held firm: “Letter from Nevada Territory, February 1, 1863,” Daily Alta California, February 8, 1863.
assays made on ore samples: “Good Average,” Sacramento Daily Union, February 10, 1863.
A superintendent needed: Three weeks after the first appearances of “Mark Twain,” Mining & Scientific Press summarized the knowledge required to successfully superintend a mine in “Mining Education,” Mining & Scientific Press, February 23, 1863.
“the first of”: Mark Twain, The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1, p. 85; also, “9 January 1906: Paragraph 18,” in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume I, http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/view?docId=works/MTDP10362.xml;style=work;brand=mtp;chunk.id=dle9674#d1e9727. Sam Clemens told the story at least two other times in his life, albeit with different details: Samuel L. Clemens, Louis J. Budd, and Mark Twain, “A Listing of and Selection from Newspaper and Magazine Interviews with Samuel L. Clemens 1874–1910,” American Literary Realism, 1870–1910 10, no. 1 (1977): ii–100, p. 78, http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.sfpl.org/stable/27745782, accessed January 4, 2017; and Albert Bigelow Paine, Mark Twain: A Biography, Vol. I, p. 237; Mackay’s rich Irish burr: Grant Smith interview with James E. Walsh, February 10, 1931, Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 1, Folder 17, “Mackay.”
pay streak fifty feet wide: “The Mining Share Market,” Mining & Scientific Press, September 15, 1863.
equal to the Gould & Curry’s best: Mining & Scientific Press, April 13, 1863; Browne and Taylor, Reports on the Mineral Resources of the United States, 1866–1867, p. 81; the Savage paid its first dividend in August 1863, $50 per foot: “The Mining Share Market,” Mining & Scientific Press, August 31, 1863.
$6 million in 1862: “From San Francisco,” New York Times, January 11, 1863.
Gould & Curry reinforced: “The Wealth of Washoe,” Daily Alta California, February 25, 1863.
“inexhaustible”: Ibid.
“tumble over a boulder”: “The Great West,” New York Times, November 29, 1865.
every San Franciscan carried: “San Francisco’s Interest in Silver,” Daily Alta California, October 29, 1863; also, “California Gossip, April 23, 1864,” New York Times, May 22, 1864.
the bullion raised: “Mineral Wealth of Nevada,” Daily Alta California, August 26, 1863.
“a Washoe man”: “California Gossip, December 23, 1863,” New York Times, January 24, 1864.
feet on the brain: “First Impressions of Esmeralda, March 5, 1863,” Daily Alta California, March 14, 1863; “Notes of a Trip to Washoe En Route to Reese River.—No. 1,” Daily Alta California, March 15, 1863.
“the wearisome jargon”: “An Excursion to the Lakes Tahoe and Silver,” Sacramento Daily Union, July 27, 1863.
“Everything—positively everything”: “Mining & Scientific Press, March 23, 1863, quoting Territorial Enterprise, March 11, 1863.
“There was nothing”: Twain, Roughing It, p. 279.
“considerable ore from”: Grant Smith, “John Mackay Manuscript,” p. 266, Grant Smith Collection, UCB.
“a stride upwards”: Mining & Scientific Press, April 6, 1863.
rose 450 percent: “San Francisco Stock and Exchange Board,” Sacramento Daily Union, July 17, 1863.
“As the Gould & Curry”: Twain, Roughing It, pp. 274–75.
five hundred men on its payroll: “The Gould and Curry Mine,” Marysville Daily Appeal, July 21, 1863,” citing Virginia Daily Union, July 16, 1863.
Gould & Curry had previously: “Washoe Mines,” Sacramento Daily Union, June 25, 1863, citing Territorial Enterprise, June 21, 1863, which says the tunnel cut the lode four days before; “Letter from Nevada Territory, June 28, 1863,” Daily Alta California, June 11, 1863; “Gould & Curry Gold and Silver Mining Company,” Daily Alta California, January 1, 1864; Report of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel Survey, p. 170.
$150 per foot: “News from California, June 25, 1863,” New York Times, June 28, 1863.
“incontrovertible evidence”: “Washoe Mines,” Sacramento Daily Union, June 25, 1863, citing Territorial Enterprise, June 21, 1863.
Gould & Curry reached: “General Mining Stock Report,” Mining & Scientific Press, June 29, 1863.
“We are marching”: “The Comstock Mines,” Marysville Daily Appeal, July 12, 1863, citing “the lively local” of Territorial Enterprise; Clemens had spent May and June in San Francisco—he returned to Virginia City on July 2, 1863, and supposedly went straight to work.
“aglow with energy”: “Our Letter from Nevada Territory, June 9, 1863,” Daily Alta California, June 12, 1863.
“a perfect stampede”: “Matters at Napa, April 20, 1863,” Sacramento Daily Union, April 22, 1863.
“unabated fury”: “Mr. Editor,” Pacific Appeal, June 6, 1863.
“Washoe widows”: “Napa,” Marysville Daily Appeal, June 9, 1863.
“exodus”: “For Washoe,” Marysville Daily Appeal, May 21, 1863; also, “Travel to Washoe,” Marysville Daily Appeal, June 19, 1863.
jammed the trans-Sierran: “Washoe Travel,” Marysville Daily Appeal, May 15, 1863.
from four-horse teams: “Nevada County,” Marysville Daily Appeal, April 12, 1863.
on curbstones: “Legislative Proceedings,” Daily Alta California, April 22, 1863.
“immense and astonishing”: “Virginia City,” Mining & Scientific Press, August 17, 1863.
fifty wagonloads of lumber: “Lumber in Washoe,” Marysville Daily Appeal, August 29, 1863.
sixty-eight teams on C Street: “Washoe Items,” Marysville Daily Appeal, July 12, 1863, citing Virginia Evening Bulletin; other traffic jams: “THE Principal Street,” Marysville Daily Appeal, July 25, 1863.
Fish taken from Lake Tahoe: Marysville Daily Appeal, May 22, 1863, citing Territorial Enterprise.
San Francisco housecats: “Marysville,” Marysville Daily Appeal, November 8, 1863.
commerce raider Alabama: “How Washoe Suffers,” Marysville Daily Appeal, June 4, 1863; “General News,” New York Times, June 27, 1863.
The flood submerged the bottom: “Mines Flooded,” Sacramento Daily Union, January 23, 1863, citing Territorial Enterprise, January 20, 1863; Mining & Scientific Press, January 26, 1863; “The Flooded Mines,” Sacramento Daily Union, January 26, 1863; “Caving,” Sacramento Daily Union, January 27, 1863; Mining & Scientific Press, February 2, 1863; “Letter from Nevada Territory, February 1, 1863,” Daily Alta California, February 8, 1863; “The Spanish Mine,” Sacramento Daily Union, February 3, 1863; “More Water,” Sacramento Daily Union, February 16, 1863, citing Territorial Enterprise, January (presumably February), 12, 1863.
Standing from 20 to 40 feet west: “The Ophir,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 1, 1863, citing Virginia Daily Union, July 29, 1863; “The Ophir,” Mining & Scientific Press, August 31, 1863, citing Virginia Daily Union, August 20, 1863; Mining & Scientific Press, September 21, 1863; the west vein’s production: “The Ophir Mine, Early History, 1859–1865,” Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 1, Folder 7; west vein dimensions: Grant Smith, The History of the Comstock Lode (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1998), p. 81.
The situation at the Mexican: “From San Francisco, July 15, 1863,” New York Times, July 17, 1863; “Our San Francisco Dispatch, July 15, 1863,” Marysville Daily Appeal, July 16, 1863; “By Telegraph to the Union, July 15, 1863,” Sacramento Daily Union, July 16, 1863; “Particulars of the Recent ‘Cave’ of the Mexican and Ophir Mines,” San Francisco Evening Bulletin, likely July 18, 1863, citing Territorial Enterprise, July 16, 1863 (probably written by Mark Twain) and Virginia Daily Union, July 17, 1863; “Trouble in the Mines at Virginia,” Daily Alta California, July 16, 1863; “Virginia City Dispat
ch, July 16,” Marysville Daily Appeal, July 17, 1863; “Ophir,” Marysville Daily Appeal, July 21, 1863, citing Virginia Daily Union, July 18, 1863; “The Interior of the Ophir Mine,” Mining & Scientific Press, July 27, 1863, citing Territorial Enterprise, July 14, 1863 (likely written by Mark Twain); “Virginia, N. T.,” Daily Alta California, July 31, 1863; “Mexican Mine,” Daily Alta California, October 14, 1863; “The Mexican Mine,” San Francisco Bulletin, October 1864, citing Virginia Daily Union.
“an immense amount”: “The Late Fire at Virginia,” Sacramento Daily Union, July 30, 1863, citing Virginia Daily Union, July 28, 1863.
“half as good as new”: Sam Clemens to Jane Lampton Clemens and Pamela A. Moffett, August 5, 1863, www.marktwainproject.org, letters, accessed December 27, 2016.
“California-like”: “Mackay’s Ambition,” Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 1, Folder 17, citing John Mackay’s friend Dick Dey.
scorning cigarettes as fit only: Grant Smith, History of the Comstock Lode, p. 29.
“Do married women”: “Virginia City,” Marysville Daily Appeal, December 1, 1863.
Many blamed the boomtime: “Nevada Society,” Marysville Daily Appeal, October 13, 1863, citing San Francisco Bulletin.
“Washoe cities and villages”: Golden Era, November 1, 1863, citing Virginia Bulletin.
murderer named Jack Williams: “News of the Morning,” Sacramento Daily Union, December 11, 1862.
“brief artillery duel”: “Letter from Nevada Territory, December 10, 1862,” Sacramento Daily Union, December 12, 1862.
Women in the fast life sought: Marion S. Goldman’s Gold Diggers and Silver Miners is an interesting discussion of the sex and drug trades on the Comstock.
“for luck”: “Shooting,” Sacramento Daily Union, March 7, 1863, citing Virginia City Daily Union, March 5, 1863.
as one of its delegates: “Washoe Convention and Legislature,” Marysville Daily Appeal, September 12, 1863, citing Territorial Enterprise.
“abused” Juana Sanchez: “Man Killed by a Woman,” Marysville Daily Appeal, May 23, 1863, citing Territorial Enterprise, May 19, 1863.
Deborah Ann Phillips killed: “Woman Shoots Man,” Marysville Daily Appeal, December 15, 1863; “Examination of Mrs. Phillips,” Marysville Daily Appeal, December 16, 1863; Marion S. Goldman, Gold Diggers and Silver Miners, p. 142, citing Gold Hill News and Virginia Evening Bulletin of December 12, 1863, and Gold Hill News of March 30 and April 9, 1864.
Tom Peasley, proprietor of C Street’s: “Shooting Affray,” Sacramento Daily Union, September 24, 1863, quoting Virginia Daily Union, September 22, 1863; Peasley made chief engineer: “Chief Engineer,” Daily Alta California, February 22, 1863.
“To be a saloon-keeper”: Twain, Roughing It, p. 307.
“Sure as there”: “Brewing,” Marysville Daily Appeal, December 6, 1863, citing San Francisco Bulletin; also, “Our Letter from Virginia, N. T.,” Daily Alta California, October 16, 1863; “Virginia City,” Marysville Daily Appeal, December 5, 1863, citing Virginia Daily Union, December 2, 1863.
“vestibule of hell”: “A Blast from Washoe,” Sacramento Daily Union, November 3, 1863.
“Ophir holes, gopher”: “A Distinguished,” Marysville Daily Appeal, August 23, 1863.
“the belligerent elephant”: “California Regiments for the War,” Marysville Daily Appeal, September 7, 1862.
“threw up his”: “For the Liberal Army,” Daily Alta California, August 22, 1866.
returned to the Pacific Coast: “California Regiments for the War,” Marysville Daily Appeal, September 7, 1862
her husband, Dr. Edmund: “Copy of Records,” Sierra County, Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 1, Folder 18.
Louise and her best friend, Louise Meyer: “The Hungerford Family,” Grant Smith Collection, UCB, citing Smith’s late-in-life interview with Louise Meyer Howland, Louise Hungerford Mackay’s childhood friend; “Conversation with Mrs. Robert Howland,” September 5, 1929, Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 1, Folder 18.
College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University: Ellin Berlin Collection, UNR, 90-87/V/4, “Bancroft, Eleanor.”
November 12, 1861: “Princess Colonna Gets Liberty,” New York Times, April 6, 1895.
Bryants in Downieville: William B. Berry, Lost Sierra: Gold, Ghosts & Skis, p. 109; Virginia Lutes, “Life of a Gold Town Doctor and His Young Wife: Dr. Edmund G. Bryant and Marie Louise Hungerford,” The Sierran: A Publication of the Sierra County Historical Society, Volume XXXXIV, Spring 2016; the author’s February 23, 2017, email with Katie Green, Sierra Country historian and author of Like a Leaf Upon the Current Cast.
A “winsome,” pleasant young: Downie, Hunting for Gold, p. 182.
consumed the Bryants’ home: “Professional Cards,” Daily Democratic Standard, August 14, 1863, transcribed in the Ellin Berlin Collection, UNR, Ellin Berlin/90-87/II/8; “Particulars of the Fire in Virginia City,” Daily Alta California, August 30, 1863; Ellin Berlin, Silver Platter, p. 103, places them at No. 10 A Street, but doesn’t mention the fire. The Daily Alta California’s August 30 article specifically mentions the destruction of Dr. Bryant’s office.
“the septic sore”: Berlin, Silver Platter, pp. 109–10. I’m unclear on the exact sequence of events of Marie Louise’s Virginia City existence. I haven’t been able to ascertain whether the fire happened before or after baby Marie’s death. If I had to guess, I would venture just before.
“acted like an”: “Conversation with Mrs. Robt. A. Howland, September 5, 1929,” “From Mrs. Howland,” and “Dr. Bryant?” Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 1, Folder 18.
“Shameless!”: Gold Hill News, March 11, 1864, article transcribed in the Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 1, Folder 18.
whose names appeared on the mine’s deed: Margaret M. Quinlan, Office of the Storey County Recorder, to Grant H. Smith, November 23, 1929, and Margaret M. Quinlan, Office of the Storey County Recorder, to Grant H. Smith, December 19, 1929, both letters in the Grant Smith Collection, Box 1, Folder 17; the deed is recorded in Book “I” of Deeds, p. 277, Storey County Records; Smith documented Cole’s and Hirschman’s friendship with Mackay in a number of documents, through interviews with Hirschman’s son, Marion.
“more difficult to”: Eliot Lord, “The Mackay Memorial Statue,” World’s Work, Volume XIII (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1907), p. 8162.
“rich Irish burr”: Grant Smith interview with James E. Walsh, February 10, 1931, Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 1, Folder 17, “Mackay.”
scathing Irish wit: Grant Smith interview with Alexander O’Grady, Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 1, Folder 11, “John W. Mackay and the Comstock Story, Vol. 2,” p. 312.
“tolerant of anything”: Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 2, Folder 4, “Mackay Descriptions.” (The friend quoted is not identified.)
“to the living”: “Famous Life of a Maker of Millions,” San Francisco Call, July 21, 1902.
“an agreeable man”: Grant Smith Collection, UCB, Box 1, Folder 16, “The Kentuck Brings Mackay’s First Fortune.”
An imposing, handsome man: “Upon His Death Bed,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 2, 1895; “Once a Millionaire,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 4, 1895.
“good-looking quartz”: “Gold Hill,” Daily Alta California, March 6, 1863.
Of the fifty-five local miners: Mercantile Directory of Virginia City, Gold Hill, Silver City, and American Flat, 1864–1865, p. 251; the Bullion deed: Margaret M. Quinlan, Office of the Storey County Recorder, to Grant H. Smith, November 23, 1929, Grant Smith Collection, Box 1, Folder 17; the deed is recorded in Book “M” of Deeds, p. 547, Storey County Records; “Election,” Mining & Scientific Press, February 23, 1863.
Freemasons: Roll of the Members of Escurial Lodge, No. 7, F. & A. M., Virginia, Storey County, Nevada, Also, a Short History of the Lodge to December 1st, 1867.
likely to great advantage: Mackay owned at least fifty shares of the Caledonia Tunnel Company through the spring of 1864. Vario
us delinquent notices from the Caledonia Tunnel and Mining Company in Daily Alta California: March 19, 23, and 28, 1864; April 28, 1864. He owned at least fifteen shares in July 1865: “Caledonia Tunnel and Mining Company,” Mining & Scientific Press, July 25, 1865. He had quite possibly kept interests in the Milton. He deeded away all of his Union feet.
“J. W. Mickey”: “Election,” Mining & Scientific Press, April 23, 1864.
installation of a forty-horsepower engine: The Bullion steam machinery went into operation on Christmas Day, 1863: Mining & Scientific Press, January 2, 1864.
“regular old California”: Cedar Hill Float Rock and Surface Mining Company operations, summer 1862: “Notes of Nevada Travel, June 25, 1862,” Marysville Daily Appeal, June 28, 1862; “Nevada Territory,” Marysville Daily Appeal, August 12, 1862, citing Territorial Enterprise, August 6, 1862; also, “Mining in Washoe,” Sacramento Daily Union, June 26, 1862, citing Territorial Enterprise, June 21, 1862.
“thickly encrusted with”: “Rich Lump,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 5, 1862.
“fine threads and spangles”: “Mining in Washoe,” Sacramento Daily Union, June 26, 1862, citing Territorial Enterprise, June 21, 1862.
“I thought they”: Twain, Roughing It, p. 280.
CHAPTER 8: A TINY SLIVER OF MINE
“The more prominent”: “The Mining Share Market,” Mining & Scientific Press, August 24, 1863.
stockholders had availed themselves: Mining & Scientific Press, November 12, 1863; “California Gossip, December 23, 1863,” New York Times, January 24, 1864.
By the end of 1863: “San Francisco Stock Boards,” Mining & Scientific Press, January 2, 1864.
“700 pounds of bullion”: “Mining Items,” Daily Alta California, December 29, 1863, citing the Virginia City newspapers.
Wells Fargo did the majority: “Bullion,” Mining & Scientific Press, January 2, 1864.
Washoe had problems: “Blunders in Washoe Mining,” Daily Alta California, October 24, 1865.
The Bonanza King Page 65