Silver Mining in the United States
By Albert S. Bolles in 1879, Updated January 2025
Silver, a lustrous and highly valued metal, held a relatively late position in the burgeoning mining industries of the United States. Before the year 1859, the domestic production of silver was minimal, almost inconsequential. Mere traces of the element had been occasionally discovered, but it was rarely the primary focus of dedicated exploration efforts. Consequently, silver coinage and silverware prevalent in the country were predominantly crafted from metals sourced abroad.
The early Spanish conquistadors, upon their arrival in the Americas, observed that the Aztec and Toltec civilizations of Mexico and the Inca of Peru possessed significant quantities of this precious metal. These reserves were extracted from the extensive mountain ranges that stretch from the southern tip to the northern reaches of the New World, known by different names depending on the region of discovery. Mining activities flourished under the subsequent colonial administrations, leading to the transportation of vast quantities of treasure back to Europe aboard Spanish galleons. However, the section of this natural treasure house located within the present-day borders of the United States remained largely unexplored until 1849. For the subsequent decade, the dominant focus of prospecting efforts was the pursuit of gold.
A century prior to this, however, eastern colonists had encountered silver in conjunction with galena, or lead ore, albeit in modest quantities. A vein of this nature was identified in Worcester County, Massachusetts, as early as 1754. Another discovery occurred in Columbia County, New York, and New England around 1740. An iron forge was established nearby to process metal sourced from Connecticut. In the same year, argentiferous galena, galena containing silver, was located in Dutchess County, New York, and later in Westchester County. The former was actively mined by German settlers in the area. A copper vein unearthed in New Jersey in 1719 yielded silver at a ratio of four ounces per hundredweight of ore. Swedish settlers reported the presence of silver in Pennsylvania during their time. Small deposits were also found near Davidson, North Carolina, and along the Savannah River in South Carolina. Subsequently, the extensive galena mines of the Upper and Lower Mississippi River valleys were found to contain a small proportion of this precious metal. While silver was present in sufficient quantities to justify extraction in some of these locations, this was rarely the case. Early colonial mining techniques were not as efficient or successful as modern methods, often leading to the abandonment of such ventures. Later, extraction became more profitable, yet results were seldom tempting. In the latter half of the 19th century, the mines of North Carolina were the only ones in the eastern United States actively worked primarily for silver mining in the United States. No precise statistics exist regarding the total amount of native silver produced in the United States in 1850. It is estimated that, at that time, 99 out of every 100 silver dollars in circulation in the United States originated from Mexican or Peruvian sources.
Before the momentous discovery of the famed Comstock Lode, stock companies were established in New York, Cincinnati, and other cities to explore and revitalize abandoned silver mines in Arizona, a territory recently acquired by the United States through the Gadsden Treaty. The Sonora Company of Cincinnati was the most prominent of these enterprises. Their operations commenced in 1858 at a new mine located 75 miles south of Tucson, near the Mexican border, with their processing facilities situated at Arivaca, seven miles from the mines. The Maricopa Mining Company of New York initiated operations 70 miles north of Tucson, Arizona, in 1870, extracting argentiferous copper ore. The output from both these mining ventures was transported by wagon to Guaymas, Mexico, on the Gulf of California. These mines were situated on the Pacific slope of the silver-bearing range of Sonora and Durango in Mexico. Additional profitable mines were discovered and exploited further west in Arizona, near the Gila River. These early operations paved the way for the transformative event that would reshape silver mining in the United States.
The most pivotal event in the history of silver mining in the United States was the revelation of the world’s richest silver deposit in 1859. This momentous discovery occurred on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Range. The range’s crest forms the eastern boundary of California, but this remarkable vein was located in the Washoe country, approximately 25 miles across the border in Nevada. Throughout the decade of the 1850s, prospectors, characterized by their tireless and often heroic dedication, meticulously explored the entire western mountain region on foot, equipped with a knapsack, hammer, and blowpipe. They traversed from ledge to ledge, gathering samples, analyzing their composition, and occasionally reducing small portions of the ore using a blowpipe on a piece of charcoal. In 1858-59, a group of these prospectors was exploring Six-Mile Canyon in the Washoe district when they encountered rich sulphurets of silver interspersed with free gold. Henry Phinney and Henry Comstock promptly filed a claim to the mine. Phinney subsequently sold his claim to Comstock for a negligible amount of gold dust, failing to recognize the immense value of the discovery. Comstock himself soon relinquished ownership of the property, although his name remained associated with the entire lode.
Prospectors closely monitored each other’s fortunes, akin to the practices of coastal fishermen. As soon as the practical implications of the discovery became apparent, the immense potential of the region became evident, prompting the filing of numerous claims along the eastern foothills of the Sierra Nevada. With the commencement of mining operations, it was realized that the richest accumulation of silver ever known lay beneath the feet of the Washoe operators. News of the extraordinary wealth spread rapidly, not only throughout California (Nevada was not yet a state and had a limited population) and the United States but also throughout the civilized world. A period of intense excitement and frenzy ensued, as famously depicted by Mark Twain in his book "Roughing It." A significant wave of emigration occurred. Several new towns emerged, most notably Virginia City, Carson City, and Silver City. Nevada was admitted to the Union as a state. The Central Pacific Railroad was extended through the region, with its closest station to the initial discovery located at Reno, on the Truckee River, twenty miles away. The narrative of silver mining in the United States was forever altered.
As noted in "The Great Industries of the United States," "There is, perhaps, no instance so striking of the promptness and daring with which American capitalists launch their money into an enterprise in which they have confidence as the development of this Comstock Lode. In 1861, this lode was a wall of black sulphuret, bedded primeval granite and quartz, on the steep slope of a lonely and barren mountain two hundred miles from roads and shops and wheat fields, parted from them by the gorges and snowy peaks of the Sierras: four years afterward a city of 20,000 inhabitants was planted on that wild declivity, and nearly $2,500,000 in assessments had been paid to develop the mines."
The general excitement was amplified by the discovery of silver deposits in other parts of Nevada. Thousands of claims were staked, many of which were extensive and well-defined, yet of little or no intrinsic value. More frequently, the claims were limited in scope, and the lodes lacked the characteristics of genuine veins or proved to be unproductive below the surface.
According to Mr. Kimball, "Notwithstanding vast differences in merit, most of these claims – the best and the worst of them – passed at wildly inflated valuations into the possession of joint-stock companies organized upon the strength of extravagant expectations. While the excitement lasted for three years, 3,000 mining companies were incorporated in San Francisco alone to work mines in the Washoe district, their nominal capital amounting to a billion dollars. However, their market value never exceeded $60,000,000. Even more numerous companies in other parts of Nevada were formed in Eastern cities."
Without awaiting the outcome of exploration or development, many of the companies hastily invested heavily in mills and machinery, much of which was unsuitable for its intended purpose, even if it had been needed. Cities were constructed in an ambitious and extravagant style, and the volume of trade barely exceeded speculation in city and town lots in mining claims. The frenzy, if anything, intensified for three years rather than subsided. In the summer of 1864, a reaction set in, as it became increasingly clear that the only mines of substantial and established value in the Washoe region were those located on the Comstock Lode, and even these were subject to periods of distrust. Other regions of Nevada, which had generated such high expectations, collectively contributed no more than five or six percent of the state’s total production, with the Comstock Lode accounting for the remainder.
Among the prominent companies operating on the Comstock Lode were Gould & Curry, the Ophir, the Savage, the Imperial, the Yellow Jacket, and the Belcher. Up to 1865, Gould & Curry and other companies rivaled each other in their efforts. To illustrate the enormous profitability of the business, it is worth noting that the cost of mining a ton of ore was approximately $10, while each ton yielded $50 worth of silver. The rapid development of these mines is reflected in the following figures. Wells, Fargo, & Company received and transported silver bullion for these companies amounting to $20 million in 1861, $6 million in 1862, $12.5 million in 1863, nearly $16 million in 1864, and $15 million in 1865. In total, approximately $70 million worth of silver was extracted from the Comstock Lode from its discovery until 1866. The history of silver mining in the United States had reached a crescendo.
Following this period, there was a slight decline in production for a few years, reaching its lowest point in 1869 when the entire lode produced only $7,528,607 worth of precious metal. However, a new phase of development ensued, characterized by rapid growth between 1872 and 1875, with the latter year yielding $26,023,036. It is estimated that forty percent of the value of the Comstock Lode’s product was in gold, making the proportion of silver for that year approximately $16,000,000. The $200,000,000 yielded from 1859 to 1876 is roughly divided into $80,000,000 in gold and $120,000,000 in silver. Within two years, rumors circulated regarding the discovery of even richer deposits on the lode, but these claims were concealed from the public, likely for stock manipulation purposes.
Nearly ten years after the initial claim on the Comstock Lode, silver was discovered in abundance in the White Pine district of Nevada. In certain areas, the White Pine deposit was so rich that sheets of nearly pure metal, valued at $17,000 a ton, could be extracted directly from the vein after the quartz had been removed. However, this supply was limited, and the yield was not consistently maintained. Silver has also been found in smaller quantities in other regions of Nevada.
Colorado, particularly in the Central City region, Idaho, and Montana also developed silver mines of considerable significance after 1865, but their yields never matched those of Nevada. By 1879, the United States produced between $20 and $25 million worth of silver annually, accounting for approximately half of the world’s total production. At that time, three-quarters of this amount originated from the Comstock Lode. A contributor to The Atlantic Monthly magazine observed that the United States possessed a larger proportion of silver relative to other metals than any other country in the world, that silver production was more stable than that of gold, and that the indications of a sustained silver supply were more promising than those for gold.
However, political factors and the discovery of increased silver supplies subsequently depressed the price of silver considerably, leading to greater fluctuations in its value compared to gold. Even before demonetization in 1873, its value had declined. The removal of silver from dollar coinage, coupled with similar actions in Germany in 1874, gradually reduced its value to nearly one-eighth of its former price. Following the demonetization act of 1878, there was a trend toward recovery, and many economists believed that silver would regain its former value and prominence in global coinage.
This, however, did not transpire, and the high values of the 1860s were never restored. The legacy of silver mining in the United States remains a vibrant chapter in the nation’s industrial history.