Virginia City, Nevada

00:00     Title
00:15     Virginia City
12:55     Comstock Mining Area 
15:35     Chollar Mine 
19:04     Fin

Virginia City once was one the most famous place on earth. During the last few decades Virginia City is often associated with classic Hollywood western television shows and relatively few look into the factual history. The first generation of television viewers remember Virginia City as being the setting for the Bonanza TV series, but little is mentioned about how Virginia City came to be. Anybody that has studied world economic history certainly knows why Virginia City was once called "The Richest City In The World."  When asking the local prospectors, one will see a smile and a gleam in their eyes, which provides a vital clue.

Virginia City is where the Comstock Mother Lode was discovered in the late 1850s. A pair of prospectors were certain about where the source of the gold was located and plotted a claim. Unfortunately tragedy struck and the prospector's claim was never registered. A dubious character named Comstock ransacked the prospector's shack and stole the claim. This shady act started the biggest gold and silver rush of them all. By the time it was all over, the wild west town of Virginia City was sitting on a mountain of cold hard cash. 

Initially the gold is what the Virginia City prospectors sought and the gray color ore vein was just kind of a mystery that was assumed to be lead. After an assayer report came in, the gray color material turned out to be a very heavy concentration of silver that carried a high percentage of gold particulates. At that time in history, silver sold for the same price as gold, so the Comstock was the mother lode of all mother lodes! 

The Comstock was the richest gold and silver deposit in the world and the actual value made the 1849 gold rush look small by comparison. Back in those days, silver was the same price as gold and many foreign countries used silver to leverage their monetary system. The sheer amount of silver produced from the Comstock Mining District caused the global price of silver to hit rock bottom, which made countries like Spain to go bankrupt. The wealth generated in Virginia City literally turned the world economic structure upside down and America quickly climbed to the top of the heap. The Comstock also funded the Union during the Civil War, which was a major turning point in history. 

Virginia City certainly was a boom town during the Comstock mining days and this city attracted many people that sought an opportunity to gain fame. For example, Samuel Clemens was just another newspaper journalist when he moved to Virginia City. This is where Samuel Clemens wrote his first novel under the pen name Mark Twain and of course the book was about Virginia City during the Comstock mining era. Many legendary outlaws and organized crime figures also laid claim to fame in this town. "Ole Virginny" was famous for every lawless vice in the world and an old wild west saloon card game called Faro was king.

There is a difference between easy money and big money. To be honest, there is nothing easy about mining gold and silver, especially back in the old days. Many miners died while working in the vast maze of tunnels that run deep underneath Virginia City. Mining was backbreaking work and the highest paid miners made just over $4 per day. When the miners ended their shift, they did the town in a big way. It was easy to be a high roller back in the days when a beer cost 5¢ and a big steak dinner cost 25¢. This left plenty of money leftover for the finer things in life, like whiskey, brothels, opium dens and gambling. Virginia City certainly was a haven for sin filled vice and many died of consumption in this place. The gold rush vice heritage is part of the reason why brothels and gambling are still legal in the State Of Nevada in this modern age.

Many opportunists, con men and card sharks looked upon Virginia City as an advantageous opportunity to separate miners from their earnings. The easiest way to part a fool from their hard earned cash back in those days was a card game called Faro, not Poker. In reality, nobody played poker in the old west. In fact, Poker was a Hollywood western movie invention as far as history goes. Faro was the number one gambling game, other than Rummy and those who carried their own Faro Board were the sharks in the water. 

Faro became the number one gambling game at Virginia City saloons and more folks than just the unfortunate miners were drawn into this flashy game. The most famous Faro card table of them all is located inside the old historic Delta Saloon. A few owners of this business lost their entire fortune playing Faro at this particular table and soon after, each of them committed suicide. This famous Faro table that caused catastrophic demise gained the reputation of being the Suicide Table. This famous old west artifact is still on display in the Delta Saloon.

The Virginia City saloon crawl certainly gets the nod for being the best bar hopping venture on the face of this planet. Every saloon in Virginia City has been around since the Comstock mining days and the looks of the saloons have not changed all that much during the last 150 years. Stepping into a Virginia City saloon is literally just like stepping back in time to the days of the old wild west. 

I stepped into the old Bucket Of Blood Saloon and had a good conversation with one of the owners. The Bucket Of Blood Saloon was established in 1876 under a different name than the current one. Apparently this saloon had such a reputation for drunken brawls, knife fights and matters being settled at gunpoint that it earned the reputation of being the Bucket Of Blood Saloon. The name stuck and it certainly is apropos. The Bucket Of Blood Saloon is one of many Virginia City establishments that are perfect for old west nostalgia buffs.
    
The Red Dog Saloon was my choice for an old fashioned root beer and Irish Nachos. Originally this building was the Comstock House Hotel. About 90 years later, the Red Dog Saloon came into fruition as a famous Virginia City 1960s psychedelic era saloon. The Charlatons, Janis Joplin (Big Brother And The Holding Company) and the Grateful Dead performed on stage in the Red Dog saloon long before these bands became famous nationwide.

There is plenty to do in Virginia City other than to hop from one saloon and gambling hall to the next. Shopping for cool western memorabilia, jewelry and antiques definitely tops the list. There is a family fun place to pan gold in Virginia City and wild west reenactment shootouts happen at high noon. Doing a Comstock mine tour is a popular activity and the old historic Chollar Mine certainly gets the nod. Virginia City is a historic area and there are many museums that are well worth visiting. The mansions of the silver tycoons are open for tours and so are many of the Victorian era buildings.

Railroad buffs can take a Virginia & Truckee steam engine train ride back forth from Gold Hill to Carson City, which is where the Nevada Railroad Museum is located. The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range scenery along this railway is breathtaking to see. Information about the Virginia & Truckee Railroad can be found a couple blocks downhill from Main Street at the railroad depot or the Virginia & Truckee Railroad website.

Virginia City is a thriving living ghost town during the summer season. A great deal of history can be learned by visiting the Virginia City Cemetery, because each headstone has a story to tell. Historic site placards are located all over this town and these information resources are also found inside the buildings, so don't be shy when exploring. Paranormal tourism abounds here too. There is so much to see and do in good old Virginia City that it is best to arrive early in the day. This living ghost town is very well preserved and the experience is second to none!