Goldfield: The Last Gold Rush on the Western Frontier

Abstract

The discovery of Goldfield, Nevada, in 1902, along with the earlier discovery of Tonopah in 1900, marked the revival of mining in Nevada. Mining production, which had escalated after the discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859, dropped to almost nothing with the decline of the Comstock in the 1870s. Without continued mining production, the state entered what proved to be a twenty-year depression period that ultimately led some observers to suggest that Nevada be deprived of its statehood. Nevada was saved from further abuse by the new discoveries in the southern part of the state. The Tonopah boom was moderate, as was the early development at Goldfield. Then in the winter of 1904 a rich gold strike at set off a boom reminiscent of the earlier days of the Comstock rush. Within a short time was the largest city in Nevada. The boom, however, did not last and Goldfield, confronted with a major labor dispute, was headed for oblivion. It is the basic story of discovery, boom, and bust that Professor Zanjani recounts. Hers, however, is not the ordinary history of a boom mining camp. It is a social documentary of as it moved from discovery, through its boom period and into decline. Based on a massive research effort, is more than just a recitation of facts. Zanjani gives the reader a detailed look into the lives of the people of as they worked, played, ate, slept, and died during the various phases of the camp s history. I know of no other mining boom camp that has been covered in this fashion. It is a unique story, well-told by a literary craftsman. It is, in the opinion of this writer, a classic of its kind. Russell R. Elliott, in Prefatory Note to Goldfield