The American Civil War Touched The Most Remote Places Of The Country. (Nevada.)

Kentucky Derby Cavalier.

First Sergeant
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
I got a kick out this article. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local...acy-claimed-southern-nevada-during-civil-war/

Miner disagreements
"It’s unlikely the few people that lived in the area at the time even knew about the secessionists’ claim. Hall-Patton said only a few hundred settlers lived in the future Clark County. Some were army deserters who chose to hide out from the war in the gold mines of Eldorado Canyon, about 50 miles southeast of present-day Las Vegas.
But Hall-Patton said the miners soon formed separate camps based on their sympathies: “Buster Falls” for those backing the Union, and “Lucky Jim,” about a mile down the canyon, for those who favored the Confederacy."

"Occasionally, fights would break out between the two camps. “They didn’t get along with each other,” the historian said. “They weren’t willing to fight for their sides in the war, but they would fight with each other.”
One infamous resident of Buster Falls, a miner and hired gun named Bill Piette, liked to shoot holes in the Confederate flag that flew over Lucky Jim, but none of quarrels between the camps ever resulted in significant bloodshed, Hall-Patton said.
After the Civil War ended, the two camps were abandoned, though Eldorado lived on for a time as Nevada’s busiest Colorado River steamboat port."

Eldorado Canyon is in Clark county, look where Clark county is on the map below. It couldn't be in a more remote area of America. The backdrop of the ACW manifested itself everywhere, how suprising.

nevada-county-map.gif


 
That's a good story! The mining towns in California did much the same thing - some flew Confederate flags, some Union. The little town of Rough and Ready (after Zachary Taylor's nickname) in Nevada County seceded from everything and was the Republic of Rough and Ready. It's said they still haven't officially rejoined the Union, but that may be a tale for the tourists!
 
That's a good story! The mining towns in California did much the same thing - some flew Confederate flags, some Union. The little town of Rough and Ready (after Zachary Taylor's nickname) in Nevada County seceded from everything and was the Republic of Rough and Ready. It's said they still haven't officially rejoined the Union, but that may be a tale for the tourists!
I didn't know that.

Virginia City was another hot bed of secessionist sympathy. They wanted the Comstock mines.
 
Yes, indeed the silver from the Comstock Lode was almost half a billion dollars into the Union coffers. Virginia City was where the bulk of Confederate sympathizers were but they had an interesting oddity in that town - their fire department. When news of Bull Run came in, the fire department squelched any celebrations the rebel sympathizers thought of having...the fire department was all New Yorkers! In Nevada, there were still garrisons and forts manned by Union troops, who very quickly put down any Confederate activities and kept any Confederate flag from flying anywhere in the state. Part of the zealousness came from Sibley's ill fated campaign in the short lived Republic of Arizona and from Southern California, which had almost separated from the rest of the state for the Confederacy - one vote short!
 
By the way, the states of California and Nevada were really worth fighting over for the Confederacy - and the Comstock Lode is worth a small side discussion - actually, its own thread! Discovered in 1857 by the Grosh brothers, it came to be known as the Comstock Lode when the brothers died before filing their claim and the guy sheep herding for them prospected for gold on the place but kept running into this pesky blue clay. Henry Comstock sold it out to George Hearst (daddy of that Hearst!) who discovered that clay was silver. It was the richest strike in American history and at peak production produced $14 million in gold and $21 million in silver per year (that day's money). Virginia City became the most industrialized city in the West and was a major hub...until the silver played out. Samuel Clemens arrived there in 1862 - not enarmored of military enterprises after a very brief stint with the Missouri militia - and got a job on the newspaper, where he first used the pen name Mark Twain. California and Nevada became intertwined - the discovery of the Comstock Lode ended the California gold rush but a large portion of the silver was on the California side of the border as well. Hearst went on to discover a number of rich deposits of gold and silver in Utah, Colorado, South Dakota and the huge Anaconda copper strike in Montana. The Big Bonanza vein was discovered in 1873, and that produced some amazing boom times and really rich people who left their names all over both states! (Yes, the old TV western Bonanza was named after this strike, and featured a show on both Henry Comstock and Mark Twain - a little free with history but not badly done!)
 
By the way, the states of California and Nevada were really worth fighting over for the Confederacy - and the Comstock Lode is worth a small side discussion - actually, its own thread! Discovered in 1857 by the Grosh brothers, it came to be known as the Comstock Lode when the brothers died before filing their claim and the guy sheep herding for them prospected for gold on the place but kept running into this pesky blue clay. Henry Comstock sold it out to George Hearst (daddy of that Hearst!) who discovered that clay was silver. It was the richest strike in American history and at peak production produced $14 million in gold and $21 million in silver per year (that day's money). Virginia City became the most industrialized city in the West and was a major hub...until the silver played out. Samuel Clemens arrived there in 1862 - not enarmored of military enterprises after a very brief stint with the Missouri militia - and got a job on the newspaper, where he first used the pen name Mark Twain. California and Nevada became intertwined - the discovery of the Comstock Lode ended the California gold rush but a large portion of the silver was on the California side of the border as well. Hearst went on to discover a number of rich deposits of gold and silver in Utah, Colorado, South Dakota and the huge Anaconda copper strike in Montana. The Big Bonanza vein was discovered in 1873, and that produced some amazing boom times and really rich people who left their names all over both states! (Yes, the old TV western Bonanza was named after this strike, and featured a show on both Henry Comstock and Mark Twain - a little free with history but not badly done!)
Lol, I believe they called the blue clay "that **** blue stuff."
 
Well, I can testify that White Pine county is (and probably was) more remote than Clark county (lived in Ely for four years). I think a lot of Nevada largely ignored the war, certainly central eastern Nevada. The region was largely populated by immigrants (e.g. Basque and Chinese) and Mormons who moved west into Nevada to escape Utah after the church was forced to officially abandon polygamy (there's still several polygamist towns in White Pine county). Most folks were just trying to hit it big and weren't much concerned with what was going on back east.
 
Lol, I believe they called the blue clay "that **** blue stuff."

:laugh: That's why Henry Comstock died poor - he was looking for gold but kept digging up that pesky silver! Way back in the day we used to rock hound in Nevada - the state is absolutely a wonderland of gems and minerals. Garnet is the state gem stone! More turquoise comes from this state than any other, the quality of the Tonopah turquoise from the Otteson Brothers and Royston mine is the world's most beautiful. It was also about the time of the discovery of the lode that Navajo silversmiths began their remarkable work - the Navajos learned silver smithing from an unknown Mexican mastersmith in the mid 1850's. Silver was mega-important to everybody!
 
Well, I can testify that White Pine county is (and probably was) more remote than Clark county (lived in Ely for four years). I think a lot of Nevada largely ignored the war, certainly central eastern Nevada. The region was largely populated by immigrants (e.g. Basque and Chinese) and Mormons who moved west into Nevada to escape Utah after the church was forced to officially abandon polygamy (there's still several polygamist towns in White Pine county). Most folks were just trying to hit it big and weren't much concerned with what was going on back east.

:rofl: John, eastern Nevada is still the wild west! (Indians and all...!) Right now I think the big 'silver' strike is going to be water...if they can find some out there!
 
:rofl: John, eastern Nevada is still the wild west! (Indians and all...!) Right now I think the big 'silver' strike is going to be water...if they can find some out there!

Yep, two pretty good sized reservations and the smallest one I know of right in Ely. I worked with several native guys on the fire crew back in the day; they were good company. Ely has inched closer to modern times since I lived there as there's now a big prison that's helped the economy. When I lived there it was like living in the early 1900s in many ways. There was a Greek Orthodox church and two restaurants operated by for-real Chinese mail order brides (both elderly but still at it). The bank still kept all it's records in a ledger book and miners, cowboys, and Indians came into town on the week-ends and got in fights in the bars (which were open 24 hours a day), and there were two legal ... um ... houses of ill repute. We had a Basque festival every year and there was a Basque restaurant in town and there were still guys who ran sheep up in the mountains and lived in those little wagons they had.

It was quite a mind warp for me. My experiences in the field were equally as remarkable - in a different way - as life in town. When I left I was happy to get out of town but am now quite glad I got to have the experiences I did.
 
Yep, two pretty good sized reservations and the smallest one I know of right in Ely. I worked with several native guys on the fire crew back in the day; they were good company. Ely has inched closer to modern times since I lived there as there's now a big prison that's helped the economy. When I lived there it was like living in the early 1900s in many ways. There was a Greek Orthodox church and two restaurants operated by for-real Chinese mail order brides (both elderly but still at it). The bank still kept all it's records in a ledger book and miners, cowboys, and Indians came into town on the week-ends and got in fights in the bars (which were open 24 hours a day), and there were two legal ... um ... houses of ill repute. We had a Basque festival every year and there was a Basque restaurant in town and there were still guys who ran sheep up in the mountains and lived in those little wagons they had.

It was quite a mind warp for me. My experiences in the field were equally as remarkable - in a different way - as life in town. When I left I was happy to get out of town but am now quite glad I got to have the experiences I did.

Ely used to be like Chiloquin - every pay day the Indians would come in and flatten it! :laugh: This generation is smart, getting to work and getting educated - good to see. The Greeks and the Basques have a really forgotten history with the building of the railroads and logging. There's still Greek ovens outside Tennant and Bray.
 
By the way, the states of California and Nevada were really worth fighting over for the Confederacy - and the Comstock Lode is worth a small side discussion - actually, its own thread! Discovered in 1857 by the Grosh brothers, it came to be known as the Comstock Lode when the brothers died before filing their claim and the guy sheep herding for them prospected for gold on the place but kept running into this pesky blue clay. Henry Comstock sold it out to George Hearst (daddy of that Hearst!) who discovered that clay was silver. It was the richest strike in American history and at peak production produced $14 million in gold and $21 million in silver per year (that day's money). Virginia City became the most industrialized city in the West and was a major hub...until the silver played out. Samuel Clemens arrived there in 1862 - not enarmored of military enterprises after a very brief stint with the Missouri militia - and got a job on the newspaper, where he first used the pen name Mark Twain. California and Nevada became intertwined - the discovery of the Comstock Lode ended the California gold rush but a large portion of the silver was on the California side of the border as well. Hearst went on to discover a number of rich deposits of gold and silver in Utah, Colorado, South Dakota and the huge Anaconda copper strike in Montana. The Big Bonanza vein was discovered in 1873, and that produced some amazing boom times and really rich people who left their names all over both states! (Yes, the old TV western Bonanza was named after this strike, and featured a show on both Henry Comstock and Mark Twain - a little free with history but not badly done!)

Here is the Bonanza episode known as "Enter Mark Twain."

 
Eldorado Canyon is my patrol area of the park. Its part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, although the mines mentioned here are outside the park boundary (and still privately owned). Its not all that remote today. Its about 20 miles by road south of Boulder City, Nevada. The little town of Nelson, Nevada exists just west of the mines. Its remote in that there are absolutely no services in the area and cell phone reception is sketchy at best. There is a historic mine tour that is a tourist attraction, with heavy recreational use at the water along the Colorado River (Lake Mohave). Nelson has a small cemetery, and the Eldorado Canyon (Nelson Landing) cemetery was relocated above the water when Lake Mohave was being filled. The cemetery in Nelson is still active for locals, with a couple of marked historic graves in it. The Eldorado Canyon cemetery only has a handful of burials that were recovered from the historic steamboat landing, and of those, only a couple are identified. Two were killed in the 1890s when an Indian went on the warpath and killed several white teamsters, miners, and citizens in the area.
 
Back
Top