The bonanza king : John Mackay and the battle over the greatest riches in the American West

Crouch, Gregory, 1966- author.

Book 2018

Traces the rags-to-riches frontier story of Irish immigrant John Mackay, describing how in mid-nineteenth-century Nevada he outmaneuvered the pernicious "Bank Ring" monopoly and thousands of rivals to take control of the history-making Comstock Lode.

Item Details & Discovery

Explore Topics & Themes:

Comstock Lode (Nev.) History 19th century

Gold mines and mining Nevada History

Mackay, John William, 1831-1902

Silver mines and mining Nevada History

Virginia City (Nev.) History 19th century

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Biographies

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ISBN:

9781501108198
1501108190

Edition:

First Scribner hardcover edition

Description:

ix, 466 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Notes:

Includes index

Contents:

A rough Irish lad
Gilded dreams--and the hard fist of California reality
The lure of the Washoe diggings
The rush to Washoe--and an Indian war
Surrounded by riches--and unable to get them out
Revving up the boom
The first boom, frenzied and exuberant
A tiny sliver of a mine
The rise of the Bank Ring
The Irish coup
The Lode's worst day
Jones's sick child
The consolidated Virginia mine
The strike
The big bonanza
The bonanza king
The cable war
Twilight

LCCN:

bl2018055915

Control Number:

2490827

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