Author: Grant Horace Smith Publisher: University of Nevada Press ISBN: 9781888035049 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 346
Book Description
The History of the Comstock Lode, first published in 1943, provided mining investors, engineers, and western historians with the first comprehensive, chronological history of mining operations on the Comstock. Of particular note is Smith's progressive record of the ways the mines were developed, the failures encountered, the bonanzas discovered, and the production records of the mines. In addition to the invaluable mining information, The History of the Comstock Lode includes the personal histories of the colorful men of the Comstock - "Old Virginny," the ill-fated Grosh brothers, John W. Mackay, Mark Twain, Dan De Quille, and Charles Howard Shinn, to mention a few. The book also contains many rare historic photographs of the mining district. With the addition of new material by Joseph V. Tingley, which brings the history of mining operations on the Comstock to the present, The History of the Comstock Lode will once again he enjoyed by scholars and students of mining history as well as western history buffs.
Author: Ronald M. James Publisher: University of Nevada Press ISBN: 0874179483 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 240
Book Description
Founded in 1859, Virginia City quickly became world famous for its extraordinary prosperity. Over the next two decades, the mines of “the Richest City on Earth” yielded millions in gold and silver. The newly wealthy built mansions and churches, opera houses and schools, with furniture, fashions, and entertainment imported from Europe and the Far East. Here young Samuel Clemens, reporting for the Territorial Enterprise in 1863, first called himself Mark Twain. At its height Virginia City was a magnet for immigrants and the world leader in technological innovations in mining. The city’s story did not end when the Comstock Lode played out. Beginning in the 1930s, bohemian artists, literati, and tourists were intrigued by this remnant of the Old West. The leader of Manhattan’s café society, Lucius Beebe, moved here and relaunched the Territorial Enterprise in 1950. Television’s most popular western from 1959 to 1973, Bonanza, located its fictional Ponderosa Ranch nearby. In the summer of 1965, a handful of Bay Area musicians, including Big Brother and the Holding Company, performed at the Red Dog Saloon and launched psychedelic rock, part of the inspiration for a defining decade of youth culture. Today it is both a National Historic Landmark District and a living community. Visitors come to enjoy its saloons and restaurants, admire its architecture, and learn from its museums and exhibits. A Short History of Virginia City will enhance their experience and will also be enjoyed by anyone interested in the history of Nevada, mining, and the Old West. • Includes an illustrated walking tour describing more than thirty buildings and sites
Author: Ronald M. James Publisher: University of Nevada Press ISBN: 1647791170 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 311
Book Description
A playful embrace of tall tales and exaggeration, Monumental Lies explores the evolution of folklore in the Wild West. Monumental Lies: Early Nevada Folklore of the Wild West invites readers to explore how legends and traditions emerged during the first decades following the “Rush to Washoe,” which transformed the Nevada Territory after in 1859. During this Wild West period, there was widespread celebration of deceit, manifesting in tall tales, burlesque lies, practical jokes, and journalistic hoaxes. Humor was central, and practitioners easily found themselves scorned if they failed to be adequately funny. The tens of thousands of people who came to the West, attracted by gold and silver mining, brought distinct cultural legacies. The interaction of diverse perspectives, even while new stories and traditions coalesced, was a complex process. Author Ronald M. James addresses how the fluidity of the region affected new expressions of folklore as they took root. The wildly popular Mark Twain is often a go-to source for collections of early tall tales of this region, but his interaction with local traditions was specific and narrow. More importantly, William Wright—publishing as Dan De Quille—arose as a key collector of legends, a counterpart of early European folklorists. With a bedrock understanding of what unfolded in the nineteenth century, James considers how these early stories helped shaped the culture of the Wild West.
Author: Jack DeMattos Publisher: University of North Texas Press ISBN: 1574417207 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 264
Book Description
Nashville Franklyn “Buckskin Frank” Leslie was a man of mystery during his lifetime. His reputation has rested on two gunfights—both in storied Tombstone, Arizona—but he was much more than a deadly gunfighter. Jack DeMattos and Chuck Parsons have combined their research efforts to help solve the questions of where Leslie came from and how he died. Leslie developed a reputation as a man to be left alone. Such notables as the Earps, Doc Holliday, and John Ringo wisely avoided confrontations with him. Leslie was a “lady killer” both figuratively and—in one celebrated incident—literally. Beyond his gunfighting legacy, DeMattos and Parsons also explore Leslie’s scouting with General Crook on the Great Plains and his alleged service as a deputy for Wild Bill Hickok in Abilene, Kansas. “In almost every work that in any way relates to southern Arizona in the 1880s, Leslie is present. This book will be the new standard for anyone interested in the life of Buckskin Frank. Both in form and content this book finally gives Frank Leslie a place in the Tombstone story.”—Gary Roberts, author of Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend
Author: Ronald M. James Publisher: U of Nebraska Press ISBN: 0803240082 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 175
Book Description
Spent cartridges. The pieces of an original Tabasco Pepper Sauce bottle. Shards of a ceramic pot, stained red. For archaeologists each of the thousands of artifacts uncovered at a site tells a story. For noted Comstock authority Ronald M. James, it is a story resulting from decades of research and excavation at one of the largest National Historic Landmarks in America, the Nevada town that, with the discovery of the Comstock Lode, became a boomtown microcosm of the American West. Drawing on the work of hundreds of volunteers, students, and professional archaeologists, Virginia City: Secrets of a Western Past shows how every detail—from unearthed artifacts to reports of local saloons to plans for the cemetery to surviving nineteenth-century buildings—adds to our view of Virginia City when it was one of the richest places on earth. James recreates this unlikely epitome of frontier industry and cosmopolitan living, the thriving hub of corporate executives, middle-class families, miners, prostitutes, and barkeepers—and more foreign-born residents per capita than anywhere else in the country—in a spot that had begun its life a few years earlier as the mining camp of several lucky guys. An excavation of the history of Virginia City, a window on the heyday of the American frontier, James’s book is also an enlightening look at how archaeology brings the story of the past to life.
Author: Gordon Morris Bakken Publisher: UNM Press ISBN: 0826343570 Category : Mineral industries Languages : en Pages : 270
Book Description
Bakken traces the roots of the mining law and details the way its unintended consequences have shaped western legal thought from Nome to Tombstone.
Author: Cynthia Clark Northrup Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317471520 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 2481
Book Description
Written for high school or beginning undergraduate students, this four-volume reference valiantly attempts to provide a historical framework for the perhaps overly broad concept of world trade. Entry topics were selected on trade organizations, influential people, commodities, events that affected trade, trade routes, navigation, religion, communic
Author: Ronald M. James Publisher: Arcadia Publishing ISBN: 9780738569703 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 132
Book Description
In Virginia City and its Comstock Lode, miners worked one of the richest deposits of gold and silver ever found. Many places claim that title, but the precious metals retrieved between 1859 and 1880, with an equivalent value today in the billions of dollars, played an unprecedented role in industrial history. With cutting-edge technology, Comstock engineers shaped mining throughout the world for the next 50 years. Virginia City's wealth propelled several people to Congress and others into the nation's highest society. At the same time, those who settled in the mining district built a civilized, sophisticated place. Drawing on former glories, the popular television series Bonanza perpetuated the legend, capturing international audiences with 14 seasons of programs. As one of the nation's largest historic landmarks, the Comstock continues to welcome millions of visitors.
Author: Gordon Morris Bakken Publisher: SAGE Publications ISBN: 1452265348 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 945
Book Description
To read some sample entries, or to view the Readers Guide click on "Sample Chapters/Additional Materials" in the left column under "About This Book" Immigration from foreign countries was a small part of the peopling of the American West but an important aspect in building western infrastructure, cities, and neighborhoods. The Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West provides much more than ethnic groups crossing the plains, landing at ports, or crossing borders; this two-volume work makes the history of the American West an important part of the American experience. Through sweeping entries, focused biographies, community histories, economic enterprise analysis, and demographic studies, this Encyclopedia presents the tapestry of the West and its population during various periods of migration. The two volumes examine the settling of the West and include coverage of movements of American Indians, African Americans, and the often-forgotten role of women in the West′s development. Key Features Represents many of the American Indian tribes and bands that constitute our native heritage in an attempt to reintegrate the significance of their migrations with those of later arrivals Examines how African Americans and countless other ethnic groups moved west for new opportunities to better their lives Looks at specific economic opportunities such as mineral exploration and the development of instant cities Provides specific entries on immigration law to give readers a sense of how immigration and migration have been involved in the public sphere Includes biographies of certain individuals who represent the ordinary, as well as extraordinary, efforts it took to populate the region Key Themes American Indians Biographies Cities and Towns Economic Change and War Ethnic and Racial Groups Immigration Laws and Policies Libraries Natural Resources Events and Laws The Way West The Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West brings new insight on this region, stimulates research ideas, and invites scholars to raise new questions. It is a must-have reference for any academic library.
Author: Grant Horace Smith
Author: 
Author: Ronald M. James
Author: Ronald M. James
Author: Jack DeMattos
Author: Ronald M. James
Author: Gordon Morris Bakken
Author: Cynthia Clark Northrup
Author: Ronald M. James
Author: Gordon Morris Bakken