MINING AND LUMBERING IN THE WEST

The rumors of gold at Pike’s Peak, Nevada, silver at Comstock, Nevada, and other minerals at countless other locations drew' settlers westward in the quest for instant riches (it should be noted that a large number of Californians traveled eastward for exactly the same reason). Persons of all backgrounds, including women and some Chinese who had left their jobs in railroad construction, all took part in the search for riches. Stories of the wild nature of many early mining towns are generally accurate; stories of the failure of most speculators to find anything to mine are almost always true. Most prospectors who did find something in the ground found it much too difficult to dig for and then to transport; oftentimes they sold their claims to Eastern mining companies, such as the Anaconda Copper Company, who did the work for them. For many of these companies, minerals such as tin and copper became just as profitable as gold and silver to mine.

Lumber companies also began moving into the Northwest in the 1870s to start to cut down timber. The lumber industry benefited greatly from the federal Timber and Stone Act, passed in 1878. This bill offered land in the Northwest that was unsuitable for farming to “settlers” at very cheap prices. Lumber companies hired seamen from port cities and others who had no interest in '‘settling” to buy the forest land cheaply and then to transfer the ownership of the land to the companies.