The Nevada mining discovery that triggered the Comstock Lode boom in 1859 was silver.
The lode was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States. It lay beneath the Virginia Range near Virginia City, in the western part of the Nevada Territory. Prospectors initially noticed gold-bearing material, but the enormous silver deposits soon became the defining resource.
The discovery brought miners, investors, engineers, and merchants into the region. Virginia City grew rapidly, and profits from the mines helped finance transportation, newspapers, political activity, and Nevada’s development as a territory and state.
The Comstock Lode is sometimes described simply as a gold rush because gold was found there too. Its historical importance, however, came chiefly from silver. The boom declined later in the nineteenth century as ore extraction became more difficult and prices changed.