THE EMPTY INTERIOR, Chapter 13

Chapter 13 mentions the many ghost towns in the Empty Interior, most of them former mining communities, once thriving, that are "now abandoned except for the tourists who come to see their remains." (Pg. 270)

Virginia City, Nevada, 1880s

The Comstock Lode silver strike of 1859 was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States, located under what became the town of Virginia City, Nevada, one of the most famous boomtowns of the Old West. After the discovery of silver was publicized, prospectors flooded the area and, by 1870, the city's population soared to 20,000 people. Mining camps became areas of immense wealth, and the economic boom led to the growth of Nevada and San Francisco. At its peak, Virginia City had a population of nearly 30,000 residents. Mining slowed after 1874, and by the time the Comstock Lode ended in 1898, the city's numbers had declined drastically.

Virginia City, Nevada, today

Virginia City, Nevada

"Today," the text reads, "some of the old abandoned mining centers such as Virginia City are tourist attractions." Virginia City was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and draws over two million visitors each year. It is considered part of the Reno-Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area.

South Dakota, too, has a town rich in Wild West lore - Deadwood, South Dakota. It boomed in much the same way Virginia City did. Though in violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills in 1874 and announced the discovery of gold. Deadwood grew from a small cluster of shacks to a boomtown of 7,000 people in just a short time, and became famous as one of the most lawless towns of the West. Prospectors, gamblers, and outlaws were common, and many characters of the Wild West passed through Deadwood.

Deadwood, South Dakota

Deadwood, 1880s

Deadwood, South Dakota

Deadwood, SD

The most famous town guest was Wild Bill Hickok. He had been a hunter, soldier, scout, and sheriff, and had brought order to the Kansas towns of Hays and Abilene. But Hickok didn't come to Deadwood for law enforcement, he came to play poker. One day, while sitting in a saloon with his back to the door, Jack McCall, a local thug, walked in the bar and shot him in the back of the head. As Hickok fell dead across the table, his card hand was revealed - a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights - known now as the "dead man's hand."Deadwood was in the news because of the murder of Wild Bill Hickok. Jack McCall's first trial, which resulted in an acquittal, was sent to retrial. Because of a ruling that found Deadwood to be an illegal town, having been founded in violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty, the trial was moved to a Lakota court of law, where McCall was found guilty of murder and subsequently hanged.

Deadwood, South Dakota, today

Deadwood was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, but the town was declining. Highway 94, built in 1964, bypassed it. A 1987 fire destroyed several buildings in the historic district, and following the fire, the "Deadwood Experiment" began, which tested gambling as a means of revitalizing a city. Only the state of Nevada and Atlantic City had legal gambling at that time. Deadwood became the first small community in the United States to seek "legal gambling revenues as a way of reinvigorating a town and maintaining local historic qualities." Gambling was legalized in 1989, and immediately the town enjoyed economic improvement in the form of new revenues and development.

www.legendsofamerica.com/we-knightsladr2.html
www.iceclearspirit.com/nevada.html
www.renoscasinos.com/virginia/street2.jpg
www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-southdakota/Deadwood1876-500.jpg
www.legendsofamerica/photos-DeadwoodPeople.html
www.msnbc.msn.com/.../ns/travel-road-trips/
www.media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/21/71021-004
www.freewebs.com/dakotachips/Deadwood.jpg
www.fulltiltpoker365.com/2007/12/full-tilt-poker/
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadwood,_South_Dakota