Metal of Nevada By Nora Kirkeby Aug 17, 2006, 15:11 PST

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Silver - Nevada's State Symbol

"With regard to the Comstock Lode, gold, having been discovered at the head of Six-Mile Canyon, Nevada, in 1859, was the first target of miners, but it soon became apparent that the real mineral of importance in the area was silver. Abraham Lincoln financed the Civil War domestically with fiat currency called Greenbacks, and overseas with silver, because of its acceptance as "real" money. He made Nevada a State in 1864 even though it did not contain enough people to constitutionally authorize statehood (Bush, 1992§)."

"As silver mines were developed, privately funded mine railroads were connected to the federally supported transcontinental railroad, which provided access to smelters and markets. Throughout the latter half of the 19th Century, Colorado, Idaho, and Montana became mining havens, and mining became so important to the western economy that the problem of competing claims, discussed above, resulted in the passage of the Mining Law of 1872, which regulated the procedures for staking claims on Federal lands, working claims, and obtaining title (privatizing) to the minerals."

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey

Photo courtesy of the United States Geological Survey

Keywords: Nevada state symbols, Nevada symbols, Nevada state metal, Nevada metal, Nevada state reports, Nevada, state reports, Classbrain

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