of railroad cars passing a mountain gorge; also, a telegraph line extending along the line of the railroad. In the extreme background, appears a range of snow-clad mountains, with the sun rising in the east. Thirty-six stars encircle the whole group. For an outer circle, the words, "The Great Seal of the State of Nevada," are engraven, with the words, for the motto of the State, "All for Our Country." The State Legislature, at its adjourned session (1866), provided for the appointment of a State Geologist, authorizing a preliminary and superficial geological survey of the mineral resources of the State, and appropriating $6,000 for defraying the expense of such survey. An act was also passed providing for establishing and maintaining a Mining School, and creating the office of State Mineralogist-his salary not to exceed $4,000, and that of each of his necessary assistants not to exceed $3,000. Acts were passed, at the same session, providing for the condemnation of real estate required for mining purposes, and concerning the location and possession of mining claims, repealing all previous district mining laws, and providing for the formation of new districts. At the first State election, held in November, 1864, Delos R. Ashley, of Virginia City, was chosen to represent Nevada in Congress, the State being entitled to one Representative only. The Legislature, at its first session (1865), selected for United States Senators, William M. Stewart, whose term expires March 4, 1869, and James W. Nye, of Virginia City, whose term expires March 4, 1871. The total vote of Nevada for President, in November, 1864, was 16,420. At the State election, held in November, 1866, Henry G. Blasdell was reelected Governor, and Delos R. Ashley Representative to Congress. The total vote cast at this election for Governor was about 9,500. This vote was divided among the different sections of the State about as follows: 1,600 votes were cast in the Reese River District, 300 at Humboldt, 360 at Esmeralda, and 530 in Nye County, and the remainder, 6,720, more than two-thirds of the entire vote of the State, in the counties that depend for their wealth, and even their subsistence, wholly or mainly, upon the Comstock Lode. AREA OF STATE AND STATE LANDS.-The State of Nevada, extending from the 37th to the 42d degree of north latitude, and from the 38th to the 43d degree of longitude west from Washington, contains an area of about 81,539 square miles, or 62,184,960 acres, of which, perhaps, 1,300 square miles, or 832,000 acres are covered with water by the several lakes. This would leave 80,239 square miles, or 51,354.960 acres, as the total land area of the State. The following is an esti mate of the aggregate quantity of land belonging to the State: The 16th and 36th sections for the support of schools,..... 2,852,942 acres. For benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts,.......... 1,500,000 acres. For internal improvements,... 500,000 acres. For University, two townships,...... 46,080 acres. 12,800 acres. Add 300,000 acres for each Senator and Representative, 90,000 acres. Total, 5,014,622 acres. From the redemption of swamp and overflowed lands, it is probable that the State will realize from the grants made to it by the General Government at least 5,500,000 acres. All this domain, together with five per cent. of the net proceeds of all sales of public lands made in the State by the General Government, has been, by the State Constitution, devoted to the cause of education. Thus it will be seen that the State has the material source whence can be derived a school fund of magnificent proportions. COUNTIES AND COUNTY TOWNS.-Nevada is divided into twelve counties. The following is a list of the counties and county towns: PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.-We derive the following details from the report of A. F. White, State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Nevada, for the school year ending August 31, 1865: The census returns showed 1,287 boys, and 1,312 girls-total, 2,599 white children-between six and eighteen years of age. The number of white children under six years of age was 1,913, and the number between 18 and 21 was 152. There were 1,348 children attending the public schools, and 725 attending private schools. The number of Indian children was 121; of Mongolian, 24; and of negro children, 23. There was only one blind person in the State, and only one who was deaf and dumb. The average number of months during which schools were maintained was eight and five twenty-eighths. Thirty-one free public schools had been maintained without rate bills. The total valuation of school-houses and furniture was $34,753.50; of school libraries, $150, and of school apparatus, $800. In the 33 school districts in the State, there were 20 primary schools, 7 intermediate, 3 unclassified, and 3 German schools. There were 23 school-houses, 2 of which were built of brick and 12 of wood, and 9 rented buildings were occupied for public school-houses. There had been 6 new school-houses erected during the year. The number of teachers employed was 37-14 male and 23 female teachers. The average monthly wages paid male teachers was $89.76, and of female teachers, $85.20. There had been issued during the year 26 first grade certificates to teachers, 21 second grade, and 5 temporary. The average monthly salary of the county school superintendents was $37.50. The State school fund for the year amounted to $5,075.72, giving a little over $1.95 to each child of school age. The percentage raised by county school tax was 15 cents on each $100 of assessable property in the State. In Esmeralda County the percentage was 20 cents. The receipts of the school fund from all sources amounted to $65,277.35 for the school year, and the expenditures to $50,732.58. The total amount of receipts into the general school fund was greater than it was the year previous by $3,293. The number of pupils attending school was increased by 716 over the preceding year. Several schoolhouses in process of erection at the beginning of the year had been completed, and six new ones were begun, finished, and furnished during the spring and summer of 1865. VOLUNTEERS AND MILITIA.-From the annual report of John Cradlebaugh, Adjutant-General of Nevada, dated January 1, 1866, we learn that during the late civil war there voluntarily enlisted into the service of the United States from Nevada 34 field and line officers, and 1,158 privates, retained for service on the plains, aiding to protect the great overland highway, and also the settlements upon the frontier, from Indian incursion and depredation. The number of enrolled militia in the county of Ormsby was 731; in Esmeralda, 550, and in Churchill County, 131. These were the only counties from which returns had been made. FINANCES.-It appears by the annual report of A. W. Nightingill, State Controller, that the receipts into the State Treasury, from all sources of revenue, during the first fiscal year, commencing November 1, 1864, and ending December 1, 1865, amounted to $466,147.31. The total amount of expenditures for the same period was $463,416.04. The State indebtedness, on the 31st of December, 1865, was $423,316.27, nearly three-fourths of which was territorial indebtedness assumed by the State. COUNTY STATISTICS.-The following facts and statistics, relating to eight of the ten counties in Nevada, are condensed from the reports of the county assessors, and embraced in the annual report of S. H. Marlette, Surveyor-General, for the year 1865. Churchill County has 30,000 acres of natural hay land. The mountains and valleys in all the mountain ranges afford an excellent quality and an abundant quantity of nutritious bunch-grass. During 1865 the loss of hay in the county from the overflow of water and from drought was estimated at 1,000 tons, at $40 per ton; the loss of barley at 300 tons, at $120 per ton, and other losses on Old River, from the same causes, at $15,000. There are in Churchill two salt marshes, extending over 19,000 acres, beside others which furnish good salt. There are also large deposits of soda and sulphur. There were three quartz-mills in progress of erection, at a total cost of $375,000, with fifty stamps, which were to commence work the next spring. The hay product in the county in 1865 was 2,000 tons. It had 300 work oxen, 300 other cattle, and 350 horses. It contained 50,000 acres of farming and grazing land. Esmeralda County had 17 quartz-mills; 12 of them had steam and one water-power; the horse-power of the engines was 497; 16 mills had 169 stamps; the mills employed from 500 to 1,000 men; the erection of 14 mills cost $950,000. All the mills worked by wet crushing. One ten stamp mill at Silver Peak crushed 10 tons per day and employed 60 men. There was one saw-mill in the county worked by water-power. There were four toll-roads, about 125 miles in length. The county produces plumbago, coal, fire-clay, salt in abundance, alum and lime-rock. The price of lumber was from $30 to 40 per 1,000 feet; wood, $5 to $7 per cord; barley, 5 to 6 cents per pound; potatoes, 6 to 8 cents per pound; butcher's meat (beef), at wholesale, 6 to 7 cents per pound, and at retail, 8 to 15 cents. The total valuation of real and personal property in the county for 1864 was $1,518,010. Humboldt County has 150,000 acres of tillable land, which, by irrigation, might be doubled. It has 640,000 acres of grazing land. Blue-joint, clover, and other nutritious grasses grow in great abundance on the hills. There were, in 1865, 300 acres sown with barley, producing 12,000 bushels; 5 acres with wheat produced 150 bushels, and 50 acres of potatoes yielded 10,500 bushels. The average prices were: wheat, $6 per bushel, barley, $5, and potatoes, $3. Sulphur is found in large quantities in a pure state. Salt springs and salt deposits are also to be found in various parts of the county. Limestone is one of the principal rocks in this section of the State. In 1865, to September 30, there had been shipped from the county $50,000 worth of assayed silver bullion, and $50,000 worth of crude or unassayed bullion. There were 352 men employed in the quartz-mills. The price of wood for fuel was $18 per cord. The Humboldt canal, in course of construction on the Humboldt River, is to be 90 miles long, 15 feet wide, and 3 feet deep. The dam and 30 miles of the canal were completed in 1865, at a cost of less than $1,000 per mile. It is calculated that the canal, during the driest portion of the year, will furnish power sufficient for 40 quartz-mills of 20 stamps each. Lander County has nineteen quartz-mills, 16 of them had steam, and 3 water-power; the number of stamps in the mills was 163, and 1,000 men were employed in the mines. There were also 10 steamhoisting works. The average cost of milling ores was $75 per ton. There were 36,000 tons of ore extracted in 1865. One salt marsh in the county was being successfully worked. Limestone of a good quality is found in Lander. The price of wood was from $7 to $10 per cord. The county contained 28.895 acres of hay land; 8,227 acres of land under culture, and 44,723 acres of woodland. There had been erected in the county 5 steam saw-mills, which were in operation. It had 3,793 cattle, 669 sheep, and 165 mules. Nye County has 50,000 acres tillable land, and one-half of its territory is grazing land. It had in 1865, 2 saw-mills in operation, one ready to start, and 4 in course of construction, besides numerous mills driven by horse-power. Pure sulphur abounds in the county; anthracite has been found; entire mountains consist of limestone formation, from which an excellent lime has been burned; stone, suitable for building purposes, is also found; immense beds of salt, some covering an area of over 50 square miles, exist in the county. Nye had 1,000 work oxen, and 1,000 other cattle. There were 4 quartz-mills in the county, with 38 stamps and 500 men employed in the mines. The total cost of erecting the 4 mills was $204,000. One-fifth of the entire county is metaliferous land, and $100,000 worth of ore has been extracted from its mines. Lyon County had in 1865, 600 acres of land under culture, which might, with irrigation, be increased to 6,000 acres, and 7,000 acres of hay and agricultural land that might be increased to 10,500 acres. There were in the county 7 toll roads, with a total length of 93 miles, and one road, from Dayton to Austin, was in course of construction. Coal has been found in Lyon. It had 600 work-oxen, 400 other cattle and 1,200 horses. One large foundry had been built, containing 7 lathes, 1 iron drill-press, 7 vice-benches, 2 forges, and a smelter, consuming 33,000 pounds of stone-coal per month. This foundry employed 60 hands. There were in the county 34 quartz-mills, in 21 of which steam, and in 9 water was the motive power. The horse-power of the engines in these mills was 940, and the number of stamps, 508, with a crushing capacity of 6,375 tons. There were 1,815 cords of wood consumed per day in 28 mills. The number of pans used in the 34 mills was 422, and the number of men employed in the same, 325. The California Telegraph Company had 80 miles of telegraph line in the county. Storey County has but little agricultural, grazing, or grass land. There were in the county in 1865, 100 milch cows, 300 horses, and 300 mules. The animals slaughtered during the month of August of that year consisted of 6,500 cattle, 1,650 sheep, and 75 swine. There were in the county 10 breweries and 2 manufactories of cider, syrup, essences, etc. The proceeds from the mines in Storey, during the first three months of the fiscal year 1865, were as follows: Whole number of tons of ore worked paying over $20 per ton, 257,728; gross yield from same, $9,316,083.54; average yield per ton, $36.14; whole number of tons of ore sold, 18,577; amount realized from sales of same, $123,322.04; average price of same per ton, $663. Six tons of ore were shipped out of the State, yielding $500 per ton, and thus making a gross yield of $3,000. There were 4 arastra mills in the county, worked by waterpower, and containing 13 arastras, with a capacity for reducing one ton and a third per day per arastra. Storey had 36 quartz-mills-34 wet, and 2 dry crushing; horse-power of engines, 1,510; number of stamps, 623; crushing capacity, 850. In Washoe County, several large ditches had been constructed—the Denter Ditch, with a width of 5 feet at the bottom, 7 feet at the top, and a depth of 2 feet, constructed at a cost of $15,000, and the Consolidated Company Ditch, 3 miles long, 10 feet wide at the bottom, 14 at the top, and 3 feet in depth. The price of hay was $25 per ton at the place of production; wheat raised, 23 tons; barley, 100 tons; oats, 125 tons; potatoes, 1,478 tons; other vegetables, 898 tons; saw-mills, from 12 to 18 in number, cutting on an average about 30,000,000 feet of lumber per annum, one-tenth of which was used in the county for building and fencing purposes, and the remainder taken to Storey County; the receipts from cord-wood were $75,000 per month, employing 200 men and 500 draft animals in cutting and transporting it to market. The number of cattle was 2,249; horses, 840; sheep, 1,855. There were |