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Five Territorial Checks issued to Identified Gould & Curry Mill Workers

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 200.00 USD
Five Territorial Checks issued to Identified Gould & Curry Mill Workers
SOLD
75.00USDto b*****s+ buyer's premium (18.75)
This item SOLD at 2018 Jun 23 @ 15:20UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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These five Stateler & Arrington checks were issued to different workers of the Gould & Curry Mill. Three checks are signed by Charles Strong as supt. and two are signed by Charles Bonner. All were identified using the 1864 Collins Comstock directory. Workers include: Owen Kelly (laborer), W.F. Alexander (watchman), A.J. Lamb (amalgamator), Ulric Fizette (teamster), and James Cahill (laborer). The story of the Gould & Curry Mill is the story of the risk and extravagance of the early rich days on the Comstock. Strong was in charge of the Gould & Curry Mine and oversaw the development of a grand 40 stamp mill at the intersection of Six Mile and Seven Mile Canyons for close to a $1 million dollars in 1863! The mill used the Freiberg process to treat the ores which lost out to the Washoe process being developed at the other Comstock mills. As a result, much of the G&C ore was not processed by their new mill and instead sent out. The mill was essentially torn down and rebuilt in 1864 to use the Washoe process. Strong resigned his post, or was fired for his extravagant spending and miscalculation with the mill. Bonner succeeded him. These checks are issued in 1863 and 1864, and thus could represent workers at both mills. Strong left the Comstock and eventually took his own life in 1883. Comstock historian Elliot Lord had harsh words about the first mill, calling it "the most conspicuous monument of inexperience and extravagance ever erected in a mining district." Date: 1863-64 Location: Virginia City, Nevada HWAC# 63993