Grant H. Smith The History of the Comstock Lode 1850-1920, Geology and Mining Series No. 37, University of Nevada Bulletin: Reno, Nevada, vol. XXXVII. 1 July 1943, no. 3, (revised 1966), Ninth printing, 1980. 305 pp., 1966
[p. 289] Chapter XXIX The Balance Sheet of The Comstock
[p. 289] "An unfavorable feature that was an integral part of the history of the Comstock was the disastrous stock gambling fever with its record of self-deprivations, broken hopes, and shattered lives. Along with this was the unsavory assessment record, often for the benefit only of the few in control of the mines. These debits have been dwelt upon in the preceding pages. The credit side of the balance sheet needs to be emphasized to the reader as he closes this history, that he may take pride in his newly won knowledge of the Comstock Lode.
"The Comstock was the first silver mining camp in the United States, and its discovery brought a new era not only to California and Nevada, but to the entire West.
It lifted California out of a disheartening depression. It rejuvenated San Francisco, which in 1860 was but a ragged little town of fifty-two thousand people. In 1861 more substantial brick buildings were erected there than in all of the preceding years, nor did that growth ever cease. The opportunity for investments in the early years was limited, and nearly all of the profits from the Comstock were invested in San Francisco real estate and in the erection of fine buildings. However, the entire State shared in the benefits. California was the source of all supplies, from fruit to mining machinery, and every industry thrived. Even the money that the Californians had contributed for assessments was returned in purchases.
[p. 289] "The discovery of the Comstock led men to look for mines throughout Nevada and its distant regions. Rich placers were found in Colorado in 1860, and soon afterward in Idaho and Montana. In Nevada, the thriving producing camps of Austin, Hamilton, Eureka, and Belmont sprang up, along with many smaller ones over the State. Mining for the first three decades in the State's history was the main industry, accompanied by the slow growth of the grazing, agricultural, and transportation industries. Mining was the economic factor that caused the separation from Utah of Nevada as a Territory, and later justified and supported statehood for Nevada.
[p. 289] "During the Civil War the production of the Comstock mines of over fifty millions in silver and gold was a distinct aid to the [p. 290] National Government. When Senator Stewart went to Washington in 1865 President Lincoln said to him: "We need as many loyal States as we can get, and the region you represent made it possible for the Government to maintain sufficient credit to continue this terrible war for the Union."
"The continued production through the Bonanza days of the '70s aided in the Nation's recovery and its great industrial expansion.
[p. 290] Epilogue
"The romance of the Comstock will never die. The story is an epic. It was the last stand of the California pioneers where they rose to the height of their brilliant and adventurous careers; and a robust and optimistic people throughout Nevada, many of whom were also pioneers, shared in making unforgettable history. Life was never the same for many of them in the after years, but nothing could take from them their golden memories of the Comstock Lode.