What was the comstock lode a rich deposit of

Discovered under what would become one of the most important gold camps in the West — Virginia City , on the eastern slope of Mt. Davidson, the mines would yield more than million dollars of silver and gold ore during the first decades. Gold was first discovered in the area in the spring of by Mormon emigrants on their way to the California Gold Rush.

After arriving far too early to cross the Sierra Nevada range, they camped on the Carson River in the vicinity of present-day Dayton, to wait for the snow to melt. While they were waiting, some of the men began to prospect the area a discovered gold in Gold Canyon.

Even though they found some gold, they crossed the mountains were passable, sure they would discover larger finds at the end of their route. Mining continued in the area, but a camp was not established until the winter and spring of —53, at which time there were about prospectors in the area. More ore deposits were discovered in the fall of by brothers, Ethan Allen and Hosea Ballou Grosh, sons of a Pennsylvania minister and veterans of the California goldfields.

However, before they could work or file the claim, both would die tragically. Hosea Grosh ran a pick through his foot, which eventually resulted in lockjaw septicemia and he died on September 2, His brother, Allen, while traveling to Last Chance, California in November , got caught in a snowstorm and suffered severely from exposure.

Though he was found before his death and taken to Last Chance, his legs were completely frostbitten, and refusing to have them amputated, he died on December 19, Gold Hill, Nevada Timothy H.

He and several others laid claim to several sections of the Comstock Lode in Unhappy with his current claim on Gold Hill, Comstock threatened that he would take the claim, but the miners finally agreed to give him an interest in the gold find.

Having few resources to develop these claims and unsure of the size of the strikes, all of the original discoverers would soon sell out, without ever making the huge fortunes that would come later for men such as George Hearst , William Chapman Ralston, William Sharon, Alvinza Hayward, and several others. Henry Comstock left the area broke in and went to Oregon , where he continued to prospect.

From there, he traveled to Montana , where, on September 27, , he killed himself by putting a gun to his head. Though Comstock died poor and obviously unhappy, the rich lode that he had an early part of was named for him.

It turned out that the clay was silver of exceptional purity. This discovery triggered a rush of thousands of miners to the area. A railroad was quickly built and the area became one of the most heavily industrialized areas in the West. Virginia City, a town built on top of the mother lode, was the most important city between Chicago and the Pacific in the s. The population soared from 4, in to 25, in The town's six-story hotel had the only elevator west of Chicago, and downtown had saloons, several opium dens, and 20 theaters and music halls.

Largely because of Virginia City's population boom, Nevada Territory was created in and statehood came just three years later. But beginning in , Virginia City's population began to decline, and by , only still lived in the town. Working the Comstock Lode was extraordinarily dangerous. Apart from the risk of cave-ins and underground fires, miners had to worry about underground flooding.

The temperature of water below feet rose to degrees. If you decide to carry gold on a flight then you will need to declare it and pay the customs duty. The maximum weight of gold allowed to carry for a traveler is up to 1 kg in any form.

All male passengers coming to India from Dubai can wear up to 20 grams of gold that should not cost more than Rs 50, as a duty-free allowance. How much gold can female wear while returning from Dubai to India? Female passengers can wear up to 40 grams of gold that should not cost more than Rs 1,00, Male passengers are allowed to bring in duty free gold worth Rs 50, into India.

For women the limit is Rs 1 lakh. If you are carrying gold over and above these limits, you will be subject to duty. You can import gold bars, coins and ornaments up to 1 kg during your trip to India, subject to payment of duty.

Only one perfume bottle of 1 ounce, I kilogram of silver and 50 grams of gold are allowed. Foreign currency equal to the value of 10, USD can be imported.