The history of silver mining in the United States represents a dramatic journey from obscurity to immense wealth, profoundly shaping the nation’s economic landscape. Before 1859, the domestic production of silver was largely insignificant, with only faint traces discovered and rarely pursued with dedicated exploration efforts. Most silver coin and plate in common use within the country at that time originated from foreign sources, primarily Mexico and Peru.
Centuries prior, the early Spanish invaders encountered the Aztecs of Mexico and Toltecs of Peru, who possessed significant quantities of this precious metal, extracted from the vast mountain ranges extending across the Americas. Under new governments, mining intensified, sending immense treasures back to Europe. However, the regions now within the United States remained largely unexplored for silver until after 1849, with the initial decade of Western exploration predominantly focused on gold.
Early Discoveries and Colonial Exploitation (Pre-1859)
Despite the later emphasis on gold, early colonial settlers on the East Coast had, over a century earlier, found silver mixed in small quantities with galena, or lead ore. Notable instances include discoveries in Worcester County, Massachusetts, in 1754, and in Columbia County, New York, as early as 1740. Argentiferous galena was also found in Dutchess and Westchester Counties, New York, with German communities even undertaking some early extraction. A copper vein in New Jersey, discovered in 1719, yielded silver at a proportion of four ounces per hundred-weight of ore. Swedish reports even mentioned silver discoveries in Pennsylvania, while smaller quantities were found near Davidson, North Carolina, and along the Savannah River in South Carolina. Later, the great galena mines of the Upper and Lower Mississippi River also revealed small proportions of this valuable metal.
In these early colonial days, the technology and expertise for efficient silver extraction were limited, making such experiments largely unprofitable and often abandoned. While profitability improved over time, the results were rarely enticing enough to sustain large-scale operations. By the second half of the 19th century, only the North Carolina mines in the eastern United United States were still worked for silver. It is telling that, by 1850, an estimated 99 out of every 100 silver dollars circulating in the U.S. were of Mexican or Peruvian origin, underscoring the negligible domestic silver mining output.
The Arizona Frontier and the Comstock Lode
Before the monumental discovery of the Comstock Lode, various stock companies emerged in cities like New York and Cincinnati, aiming to explore and revive abandoned silver mines in Arizona. These lands had been ceded to the United States through the Gadsden Treaty. The Sonora Company of Cincinnati was particularly prominent, commencing operations in 1858 at a new mine 75 miles south of Tucson, near the Mexican border, with processing works at Arivaca. A decade later, in 1870, the Maricopa Mining Company of New York initiated operations 70 miles north of Tucson, extracting argentiferous copper ore. The output from both these ventures was transported by wagon to Guaymas, Mexico, on the Gulf of California. Further west, near the Gila River, other profitable mines were discovered and worked, expanding the nascent silver industry on the Pacific slope.
However, the most transformative event in the history of silver mining in America occurred in 1859: the discovery of what would become the richest silver deposit in the world. Located on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Range, this magnificent vein, known as the Comstock Lode, was found in the Washoe country, approximately 25 miles over the border into Nevada (which was then part of the Utah Territory). For a decade leading up to this, tireless prospectors had scoured the Western mountain regions, equipped with knapsacks, hammers, and blow-pipes, meticulously examining rock formations.
In 1858-59, a prospecting party ascending Six-Mile Canyon in Washoe unearthed rich sulphurets of silver intermingled with free gold. Henry Phinney and Henry Comstock promptly staked a claim. Phinney, failing to grasp the immense potential, sold his share to Comstock for a mere pinch of gold dust, and Comstock himself soon sold the property, though his name permanently associated with the entire lode.
The Comstock Lode Phenomenon and Its Economic Impact
News of the Comstock Lode’s extraordinary wealth spread with astonishing speed, igniting a period of frantic excitement and emigration across California, the United States, and indeed the civilized world. This era of
