This is a brief account of the Comstock Lode silver mines, and description of the geographic features of the state of Nevada including the railroads. Silver not only defined Nevada, but influenced the opening of the American West as far as San Francisco. Dan De Quille (pseudonym for William Wright) wrote extensively on the history of mining in the area of Nevada, and published the larger work “The Big Bonanza” assisted by Mark Twain, both of whom were part of the Sagebrush School of writers.