Photo Tells True Story for Mining Day

One Museum photograph intrigued Museum volunteer Suzanne Linford, and inspired her to research it:

At the entrance to the Comstock silver and gold hard rock mine in Nevada, 12 men stand in a photograph taken in 1862. They look at us across the 150 years since they posed for this company photo, with their arms crossed over their bare chests. They are the mine supervisors chosen for trusted management positions. They come from Cornwall, England.

Cornwall is the legendary home of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable and Merlin the magician. In reality, it is a hard land and an enchanted one, accepting of invasions, grueling work and unseen possibilities.

These Cornishmen came to America because the copper and tin mines at home played out, and the market for these metals dropped in the mid-19th century. They brought knowledge and skills – honed from 2,000 years of such mining. One major invention was the “Cornish engine,” a steam powered engine that pumped water out of mines. This machine helped allow mines to go as deep as 2,000 feet in the Comstock lodes. One adage went that at the bottom of every large hole in the ground, one would find a Cornishman.

The Cornish miners were a mine owners dream. They worked 12-hour work shifts, seven days a week and held pro-management and anti-labor union views. Those who were Methodists didn’t drink alcohol. They were positive and always had a “Cousin Jack” who could fill any job vacancy. Consistent with their cultural heritage that combined hard work and a belief in what was possible, they were said to possess the ability to foresee possible disasters – signaled by underground elves.

Look for the photo in our Spirit of the West exhibit, and take a tour with Suzanne Linford or another volunteer docent daily (except Sundays) at 2:45 p.m. And on Jan. 14, it’s Mining Day! Try your hand at gold panning inside the Spirit of the West exhibit’s re-created 19th-century placer mine and boom town. Have your earnings authenticated at Silver City’s Wells Fargo Bank and take your treasure home! 11am-3pm. $2 per “miner.”