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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781626199477 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Arcadia Publishing SC |
| Publication date: | 09/28/2015 |
| Series: | Haunted America |
| Pages: | 144 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Rush to Washoe
Quest for Silver
The Unfortunate Grosh Brothers
If anyone has a reason to haunt the canyon areas around Virginia City, it would be Hosea and Ethan Allen Grosh. And yet, their ghosts don't seem to wander here. Their tragic story starts with the California gold rush that began in 1848 with James Marshall's gold discovery on the American River in California. Thousands of men said goodbye to families and friends and headed west. In the spring of 1849, the two sons of Reverend Aaron B. Grosh said farewell to friends and family in Reading, Pennsylvania, and set out for the placer mines of California.
Like so many others, they arrived at the placer mines of El Dorado County in search of spectacular riches. Urged on by dreams of gold nuggets sparkling in the streams and rivers of California, they stayed long after the gold rush ended. Still clinging to their hopes of striking it rich, they waited for the next big opportunity. Before that chance came, California became a state. On that same day in 1850, the United States Congress, by Organic Act, created the Utah Territory, which incorporated most of what is modern-day Nevada.
In 1852, word began to spread of a gold discovery in the far-flung region of the Utah Territory. Like they had to California, men came scurrying to Gold Canyon (near present-day Virginia City) in search of the riches that had eluded them in California. Among them were Hosea and Ethan Allen Grosh. They soon learned that this region of the Utah Territory was vastly different from lush and green California. This was a land of sagebrush, scraggly pines, dust and rock. Unlike the gold rush of California, where gold was found in rivers and streams, this gold was located in an arid, high desert region, and it was being pulled from the ground. There wasn't much, but it was enough to assuage gold fever. Only the strong would preserve in this influx that would be known as the Rush to Washoe.
Of all the men (and women) who came seeking silver in the Utah Territory, Hosea Ballou and Ethan Allen Grosh would suffer such bad luck that they almost seemed cursed. The original discoverers of the Comstock Lode, the Grosh brothers should have ended up being the wealthiest men in the territory. Instead, they were the most tragic. While the two brothers worked beside other prospectors, they noticed men tossing a rich blue-colored ore aside as worthless, and their interest was piqued. Better educated than most of the men here in the canyon, they thought of silver — silver that could make them very rich. They wisely told no one of their suspicions. Let the other men meet and socialize late into the evening. Not the Grosh brothers, who returned to their Johnstown cabin each night to pore over their many metallurgical books. The more they read and analyzed the ore samples, the more convinced they became that the blue stuff scorned by the other miners was indeed silver. Sharing their find with their father, they wrote in November 3, 1856: "We found two veins of silver at the forks of Gold Canyon ... one of these veins is a perfect monster."
Nineteen days later, on November 22, 1856, they wrote, "We have hopes almost amounting to certainty of veins crossing the canyon at two other points."
To be certain it was silver, they would need to analyze the ore further. But this would take more money than either of them had. So they headed back to El Dorado County, California, for the winter. Hoping to make enough to finance their operations in the Utah Territory, they prospected for quartz.
When they returned to Gold Canyon in the spring, they were still short of cash and still as determined to locate and claim the rich veins they suspected were in the canyon.
On June 8, 1857, Ethan Allen wrote to their father.
We struck the vein in Gold Cañón. A dark gray mass, tarnished probably, by the sulfuric acid in the water. It resembles thin sheet lead, broken very fine — and lead the miners suppose it to be. The ore we found at the forks of the canyon; a large quartz vein at least, boulders from a vein close by here shows itself. Other ore of silver we think we have found in the canyon, and a rock called black rock — very abundant — we think contains silver.
They located what they referred to as our monster vein — the silver veins that crossed Mount Davidson — and quickly staked their claim. Then they set out to assay the ores. With an assay value of approximately $3,500 per ton, the silver would indeed make very rich men of them. When Ethan Allen wrote to his father, "We have had very bad luck," he couldn't have known that he and his brother would be besieged by that bad luck until the end of their short lives.
While working one sweltering August morning, Hosea missed his mark and struck his foot with the pickaxe. He soaked the deep wound in water and carefully bandaged it. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to stop the terrible infection. Blood poisoning set in, and Hosea died two weeks later on September 2, 1858.
Ethan Allen was inconsolable. On September 7, 1858, he wrote to his father, informing him of Hosea's death:
In the first burst of my sorrow I complained bitterly of the dispensation which deprived me of what I held most dear of all the world, and I thought it most hard that he should be called away just as we had fair hopes of realizing what we had labored for so hard for so many years. But when I reflected how well an upright life had prepared him for the next, and what a debt of gratitude I owed to God in blessing me for so many years with so a dear companion, I became calm and bowed my head in resignation. "O Father thy will, not mine, be done." Our happy faith in the perfection of God's wisdom and goodness will be your consolation as this cloud passes over your head, for well I know your heart is full of the great hope which caused Paul to shout in triumph, "O death where is thy sting! O grave where is thy victory!"
On September 11, 1858, Ethan Allen again wrote to his father:
I feel very lonely and miss Hosea very much — so much that at times I am strongly tempted to abandon everything and leave the country forever, cowardly as such a course would be. But I shall go on; it is my duty, and I cannot bear to give anything up until I bring it to a conclusion. By Hosea's death you fall heir to his share in the enterprise. We have, so far four veins. Three of them promise much.
Ethan Allen Grosh was not a quitter. After paying his creditors and leaving Henry Comstock to safeguard his personal possessions and his cabin, Ethan Allan packed up his ore samples and started for California with his friend R.M. Bucke in late October.
Like that of the ill-fated Donner Party, the arduous journey should never have been attempted this late in the year. The men encountered one mishap after another. Halfway toward their destination, they found themselves trapped by heavy snowstorms that were raging in the Sierras. When their food supply dwindled, they were forced to slaughter their mule. Finally, their matches became soaked, and they could no longer stay warm by a fire.
Later, Bucke would say that if not for Grosh's refusal to give up, he would have stopped there and died. Spurred on by Ethan Allen Grosh's determination, they walked in knee-deep snow for four days before being rescued. Their legs were badly frostbitten, and desperate measures were needed. One of Bucke's legs was amputated. But Ethan Allan refused a similar surgery. The decision cost him his life. He died on December 19, 1858, three months after his beloved brother Hosea's death.
The Ghost of Henry Comstock
What became of the Grosch brothers' silver? Henry Comstock was a man who knew opportunity when it knocked at his door. When he received word of Ethan Allen's death, he quickly helped himself to the brothers' maps and other mining implements. He claimed, as his own, that area in the canyon where the Grosch brothers had discovered their monster vein. Within the year, Patrick McLaughlin and Peter O'Riley made a discovery in Six-Mile Canyon to which Henry Comstock and his partner, Emanuel Penrod, laid claim. McLaughlin and O'Riley agreed to cut Comstock and his partner in. This was the rich Ophir Mine that would bring people from all over the world in search of silver and untold wealth during the Rush to Washoe.
Henry Comstock consulted those in the spirit realm regularly, paying strict attention to what they had to tell him. While most historians view Comstock as a lazy opportunist, he managed to get the richest silver lode in the history of the world named after him. But like the luckless Grosh brothers, Comstock would be dealt a bad hand by fate. He hastily sold his share of the mining claim for $10,000, very little considering the millions that it would one day be worth. Easy come, easy go, and before he knew it, Henry Comstock was broke again. He left Nevada sick and friendless. In 1870, he was living in Montana when, one day for no apparent reason, he picked up his pistol and shot himself to death.
He is buried at the Sunset Hills Cemetery in Bozeman, Montana. However, he prefers to haunt Virginia City. Four years after his death, strange lights were seen in the Ophir Mine. Worse, the sounds of someone far below using a pickaxe emanated up from the depths. No one wanted to go down and investigate. Finally, a young Irishman agreed to find out what was going on. With his friends teasing him about what he might find, he bravely stepped into the cage. And as it slowly lowered to the seven-hundred-foot level, he hoped he wouldn't find anything unearthly. The cage jerked to a stop, and he got out. There it was again, the sound of a pickaxe chipping away. He waved his lantern in the direction of the sound and gasped. The rotting corpse–like ghost of Henry Comstock leered at him. "I'm Henry Comstock, and this is mine!" the ghost screamed.
"I know, I know," the young man agreed. "I came down to see what was causing all the ruckus, and now I'll just go back up." He stepped back into the cage, giving the signal for it to be raised.
The ghostly Comstock laughed wickedly, "Don't ever come back!" This isn't the last time the ghost of Henry Comstock has been spotted. He watches over his Ophir Mine site above ground, too. More than once, his haggard ghost has been seen angrily standing guard near his mine.
Old Virginny
Separating fact from fiction is not always an easy endeavor for the historian. This is especially true in regard to James Finney, aka Old Virginny. Did he really get drunk one night, break his bottle of whiskey in the street and proclaim the town to be Virginia (City)? According to legend, he did just that, and perhaps he did. After all, he was said to be from Virginia. This may have happened in a moment of homesickness. So there it is — legend or not, James Old Virginny Finney is generally credited with naming Virginia City.
Old Virginny was no exception to the bad luck that seemed to have dogged early discoverers of the Comstock Lode. Considering that Finney was approximately forty-four years old when he died after his horse threw him, you have to wonder about that appellation "Old." Legends and stories abound. They say Old Virginny sleeps eternally at the Dayton Cemetery.
Sandy and Eilley Bowers: The First Comstock Millionaires
Their love story is the stuff of northern Nevada legends. In the nineteenth century, when a woman got married, she generally stayed married. Even when her husband turned out to be less than a knight in shining armor, she had no choice but to look the other way. There were little or no opportunities to do anything but stay in their marriages and raise their families, so women usually did just that. But not Eilley Orrum.
Other women might sulk in silence, but Eilley had no qualms about severing the bonds of matrimony when there was no other choice. When her second husband heeded the call of Brigham Young to return to Salt Lake, Eilley refused to go. Knowing full well this would mean divorce, she waved him on his way. Eilley loved Nevada, and by consulting her peep stone (crystal ball), she knew that another husband would eventually come along. He came in the form of Lemuel "Sandy" Bowers, a tall, handsome miner who stayed at Eilley's makeshift boardinghouse in Gold Canyon. To read more about Eilley and Sandy Bowers, see one of my other books, Haunted Reno.
Did I say the stuff of legends? I meant every word of it. When Sandy couldn't pay his rent, Eilley agreed to take a small portion of his mining claim in lieu of the rent. Theirs was a love match that really blossomed when they struck it rich in Gold Canyon. Shortly, Sandy and Eilley would become the first Comstock's millionaires; unfortunately, neither their luck nor their money held out. However, before it all went, Sandy and Eilley moved out of their Gold Canyon shanty and hired builders to construct the finest home in the state. The site they chose was not in Virginia City but just down Geiger Grade in Washoe Valley. In order to furnish the home as befitting to their elevated status in the community, the nouveau riche Bowerses prepared for a European trip. Once in Europe, they would purchase the finest carpets, fabrics and antiques. Yesterday, Eilley might have ladled up some miner's bowl of beans, but today she was Queen of the Comstock.
Before they embarked, the ever-generous Sandy wanted to share his good fortune with friends, so they hired out the fabulous International Hotel at the corner of Union and C Streets and threw themselves a bon voyage party. Everyone on the Comstock was invited. No expense was spared, and nothing was too good for the Bowerses' guests. All types of food and drink were offered. This was to be a party the Comstock would not soon forget. Champagne glasses were not allowed to remain empty. As costly delicacies from faraway San Francisco were served to his guests, Sandy proudly rose to speak: "I've had powerful good luck ... so go ahead enjoy yourselves. I've got money to throw at the birds."
It wasn't boastfulness, but a simple statement of fact. Sandy Bowers's wealth and good-hearted generosity were legendary among his fellow miners. While in Europe, Eilley attempted to visit Queen Victoria. She'd even had an elegant lavender dress created for the occasion. Victoria was not impressed with upstart miners' wives or twice-divorced women, and so the queen declined to meet with Eilley. A long-told tale is that of Eilley and the ivy. So offended by Victoria's snub, she went home to Bowers Mansion and pulled up all the ivy plants said to have been taken from cuttings of Buckingham Palace.
When he died a few years later, the vultures had all but picked Sandy's financial bones clean. Left penniless, Eilley started giving readings and telling fortunes to survive. But that's another story. Today, the Bowers Mansion still stands (unusual for Nevada) down in Washoe Valley, and back in Virginia City, the site of the International Hotel is the parking lot next to Grandma's Fudge. Several suicides and murders took place in the hotel. That might account for some of the weird activity that's been experienced here during the early morning hours. Maybe Sandy and Eilley's grand party continues on the other side. When all is silent, the saloons are closed, no one is on the streets and you can't even hear a hungry coyote howling in the distance, there is that faint sound of laughter and tinkling champagne glasses.
The International Hotel
The International Hotel was built at a cost of $14,000 and touted as the Hotel of the Territory. The brick building was three stories tall, featured a three-foot-high firewall on its roof and was far superior to the previous International Hotel that had occupied the same spot on the corner of Union and C Streets. An early advertisement proudly proclaimed, "The building is entirely fire-proof."
Unfortunately, this wasn't true. On the morning of October 26, 1875, a disastrous fire raged through Virginia City, leaving thousands of people homeless. More than one thousand buildings were destroyed. Among them was the fireproof International Hotel. Two years later, a third International Hotel was built at the same location. Far grander than those previous, the new hotel extended the entire block from C to B Streets, was six stories tall and had one hundred rooms and an elevator.
The International was the tallest building on the Comstock and the finest the area had ever known. San Francisco–bound stages left regularly from the hotel, and rooms went for as much as $500 per month. Many notables of the day stayed there, including Comstock millionaire John Mackay, who kept a permanent room at the hotel. When President Rutherford B. Hayes came to Virginia City on September 7, 1880, there was no question that he and his party would stay anywhere but at the International Hotel. From its C Street balcony, he gave a rousing speech to hundreds of cheering spectators.
Thirty-four years later, Virginia City lost its showpiece on a cold December morning in 1914, when a fire raged through the hotel, destroying it in a matter of hours. It's said that all hotels have their secrets, and the International is no exception. In his book Elegance on C Street: The Story of the International Hotel, author Richard Datin wrote of the Mystery Room. This particular room on the B Street side of the building was the site of numerous suicides. Several deaths took place in this room and at other spots in the hotel. It's certainly mysterious that the room most often involved in the deaths at the International was the only room out of 160 that hadn't burned. In fact, nothing within the room was destroyed in the fire.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Haunted Virginia City"
by .
Copyright © 2015 Janice Oberding.
Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Foreword, by Debbie Bender,
Acknowledgements,
Introduction,
1. Rush to Washoe: Quest for Silver,
The Unfortunate Grosh Brothers,
The Ghost of Henry Comstock,
Old Virginny,
Sandy and Eilley Bowers: The First Comstock Millionaires,
The International Hotel,
Samuel Clemens Comes to Town,
The 601 Vigilance Committee,
2. Lore, Legends and Hauntings,
Silver Terrace Cemetery,
The Murder of Julia Bulette,
John Millian Is Hanged,
He Owned a Restaurant,
Six-Mile Canyon,
The Red Camel,
The Ghost of Peter Larkin,
Ghost Tabby,
Suicide and the City,
Ghost Adventures Live Ghost Hunt Takes to the Basement,
The Washoe Seeress,
Superstitious Miners,
The Tragedy of the Jones Boys,
Séances and Fortunetellers,
Pine Trees at the Firehouse Restaurant,
Motorcyclist on Geiger Grade,
Walks Down D Street,
Old Lady at the Gold Strike,
The Faceless Phantom,
Ghost Dog of D Street,
Writers on the Comstock,
Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg,
Upstairs at the Virginia City Visitor's Center,
3. There's a Ghost in My room: Haunted Hotels,
Cowboy Ghost at the Gold Hill,
Rosie and William at the Gold Hill Hotel,
Miners' Cabin,
Dreams at the Sugar Loaf Motel,
The Silver Queen,
Florence Ballou Edwards and the Silver Dollar Hotel,
4. Haunted Comstock Locations,
Fourth Ward School Museum,
Virginia City Middle School,
Silver State National Peace Officers Museum,
The Delta Saloon and Casino,
The Death of General Jacob Van Bokklen,
St. Mary's Art Center,
Piper's Opera House,
MacKay Mansion,
St. Mary's in the Mountains,
St. Paul's Episcopal Church,
The Chollar Mansion,
Television Show Notes and Ghosts,
Haunted Bars and Restaurants,
Comstock Antiques,
Home Sweet Haunted Home,
5. The Washoe Museum,
The Washoe Club: Beginnings,
Séance with the Ghost Adventures Team,
Ghostly Child,
Who Is in the Crypt?,
What the Tour Guide Saw and Heard,
Investigating the Washoe Club,
Epilogue,
About the Author,