Pancakes & Silver
Historical Map Reading, Data Extraction, and 3D Visualization
Introduction
Whether you're a cartographic savant or not, reading a mining map is no small feat. Like a bee to honey, their inherent beauty draws in even the most inexperienced map readers but the technical details can quickly feel overwhelming.
With nearly 1500 mining maps and views in our collections here at Stanford University Libraries, we had a strong desire to break down these barriers and place these maps on an easily understandable pedestal where they belong.
The following story seeks to highlight the history and data buried within maps and views of the Comstock Lode, a significant lode of silver ore discovered in Virginia City, Nevada in 1859. We will provide with you a detailed reason for selecting this particular lode at the end of the story but in short, it gave focus to what follows. We also encourage you to visit our online exhibit:
Here you will be able to discover the full range of the mining maps and views held in our collections.
Following a brief explanation for its name (Comstock Lode), we will look at four maps in chronological order that we believe provide a broad sense of mining maps and views. As librarians, we love fun facts and making connections and have taken the liberty of digging holes for you. We will then demonstrate how to extract data from these mining maps and views in order to turn these pieces of paper into digital three-dimensional (3D) models.
So without further ado, hop into our mine cart and enjoy the ride!
Behind the Name
Henry Comstock, onlinenevada.org
In 1859, the first major lode of silver ore in the United States was discovered near Virginia City, Nevada. Located under Mount Davidson, the lode would go on to be named after the quirky American miner, Henry "Pancake" Comstock, and incited a silver rush that overtook Virginia City and nearby Gold Hill.
Why the nickname Pancake? Henry Comstock found bread hard to make and instead chose to sustain himself on pancakes.
Mining Maps & Views
1860
De Groot's Map of the Washoe Mines
Author: Henry De Groot, journalist and miner | Publisher: Hutchings & Rosenfield | Collection: Barry Lawrence Ruderman, Stanford University
Henry De Groot
Henry De Groot began in New York City as a journalist reporting on mining and arrived in San Francisco in 1849 to follow the gold rush. He quickly became a respected expert on the technicalities of mining districts and eventually headed east to report on the Comstock Lode.
With the Comstock Lode being discovered in 1859, De Groot's Map of the Washoe Mines was one of the first maps published depicting the newest glint on a miner's horizon.
Along with this map, De Groot also published Sketches of the Washoe Silver Mines with a Description of the Soil, Climate and Mineral Resources of the Country East of the Sierra in the year 1860.
1861
Panorama From the Summit of Mount Davidson, Washoe Range: Birds Eye View of Nevada Territory, the Virginia District, Flowery and the Deserts of the Emigrant Road, Washoe Proper, the Truckee Country, and the Eastern Range of the Sierra Nevada
Explanations: J.J. Cooper | Publisher: Edward Vischer | Collection: David Rumsey, Stanford University
Giving even the most contemporary technologies a run for their money, this unique map provides a 360º bird's eye view of the Comstock Lode mining district located at the base of Mount Davidson.
The central portion of the map is drawn from the perspective of standing at the summit of Mount Davidson while illustrations of several mine entrances encompass this focal point. The text on the left provides further insight into the role of tunneling companies:
The text on the right discusses the principal crushing mills:
1861
Backside: Panorama From the Summit of Mount Davidson, Washoe Range
Explanations: J.J. Cooper | Publisher: Edward Vischer | Collection: David Rumsey, Stanford University
Who is J.J. Cooper?
On the front of this map, it is noted at the bottom that Explanations were provided by a J.J. Cooper. On the back, Edward Vischer states:
Despite this detailed account of how Vischer's panoramic map came to be, he does not share with us J.J. Cooper's background or occupation. To avert any dismay from this hole in information, we are delighted to provide you with the following leads:
J.J. Cooper directory listing in 1864, Hand-book Almanac for the Pacific States: An Official Register and Business Directory, 1864
Check payable to J.J. Cooper in 1874, Exhibits by Nevada Stamp Study Society
Newspaper listing of J.J. Cooper, virginiaandtruckee.com
1864
Virginia City, Nevada Territory (N.T.)
Author: Grafton Tyler Brown, painter, lithographer, cartographer | Lithographer: C.C. Kuchel | Collection: Barry Lawrence Ruderman, Stanford University
By 1864, and as this view depicts, Virginia City was in full swing with all the necessary components of a booming mining town in place: the assay office, livery, dry goods store, bookstore (and circulating library), banks, tobacconists, furniture purveyors, jewelers, hardware, and clothing stores. Missing from the vignettes are the abundant saloons (numbering 100 by 1880) and houses of "ill repute" that no doubt were in abundance as well.
This view was created by Grafton Tyler Brown , an African-American artist and lithographer working out of San Francisco. He established his own company at the age of 26 publishing bank notes, labels, maps, stock certificates, and illustrations.
Can you locate the Daily & Weekly Territorial Enterprise building?
Samuel Clemens was a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise from late fall 1862 until May 1864, using the pen name Mark Twain for the first time.
Bringing this view to life:
St. Paul's Church, The J. Paul Getty Museum
Burrall's Pioneer Bookstore, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
1866
Topographical Map Showing the Locations of the Sutro Tunnel
Author: Charles F. Hoffman, topographer | Collection: Barry Lawrence Ruderman, Stanford University
In 1860, Adolph Sutro proposed the construction of a tunnel in order to drain excess water; this was becoming a dangerous and expensive burden for miners and mining companies.
This map shows the 1,280 acres of land granted to the Sutro project by an Act of Congress with the proposed tunnels depicted in red. Numerous lodes are shown in blue including the Comstock (running directly beneath Virginia City), the Monte Christo, and the Great Flowery.
To the right of the map is a geologic cross-section starting at the intersection of the Comstock Lode and the Sutro Tunnel running to the mouth of the tunnel with shafts noted along the way.
At the top is a Longitudinal Section "showing the workings and their relative depths." It is noted that by April 1870, they expected the "yield of bullion" to total $120,250,000. Construction began on the tunnel in 1869 (three years after this map) with the main tunnel complete in 1878.
Data Extraction
1875
Map of the Comstock Lode and the Washoe Mining Claims in Storey & Lyon Counties, Nevada
Compiled by: T.D. Parkinson, C.E. (Chief Engineer) | Lithographer: Grafton Tyler Brown | Collection: Barry Lawrence Ruderman, Stanford University
Virginia City, from Mt. Davidson, No. 8, The J. Paul Getty Museum
Although mining of the Comstock Lode was in decline by 1875, this map vividly depicts the myriad claims staked at its peak. Along with defining the claim footprints, we are also presented with the Longitudinal Section of several claims. This section, found at the top of the map, depicts the subsurface depths of each claim in a cross-section view.
To compile information for the purpose of creating a dynamic visualization of this map, the following data was extracted:
- Control points for georeferencing
- Claim footprints
- Datum line association
These concepts will be expanded upon in the following sections.
Control Points
Control points were first identified in order to georeference the map. For this map, the city's streets proved to be too outdated to be reliable control points and therefore, the following prominent geological features were selected:
- Mount Davidson
- Flowery Peak
- Sugar Loaf (Peak)
The following road has largely remained the same and was able to be used as an additional control point:
- Seven Mile Cañon
Using ArcMap, these control points were applied to georeference the map, and the Nevada State Plane Coordinate System of 1927 was applied during this process to achieve the most accurate projection.
Claim Footprints
For the simple purpose of having a light at the end of our tunnel for this project in its current state, the following selection of 12 claims were chosen to be represented as polygons, a concept that is expanded upon in the upcoming Data Extraction section:
- Knickerbocker
- Caledonia
- Overman
- Seg(regated) Belcher
- Belcher
- Crown Point
- Yellow Jacket
- Imperial and Empire
- Bullion
- Chollar Potosi
- Hale & Norcross
- Con(solidated) Virginia
With the map georeferenced, it is unnecessary to have measurement data for these claims. Rather, this becomes defined when digitizing their footprints as a polygons.
Depths
In the Longitudinal Section found at the top of this map, we are provided with depths for each subsurface level of the claim from both the land surface and the datum line. Despite this, another map was selected as a data extraction resource for the subsurface architecture to maintain as much consistency in the data subsets as possible.
This concept along with datum line will be expanded upon in the following section.
1870
Plate 3. Horizontal Map Gold Hill Mines Workings, Comstock Lode
Surveyor: George F. Becker | Atlas Author: Clarence King, USGS Director and geologist | Publisher: Julius Bien | Collection: David Rumsey, Stanford University
This map provides a plan view as if you were standing directly above the mine shaft looking downwards. It provides the necessary footprints and depths for each subsurface level below a claim.
The method for extracting and then visualizing this information is discussed in the sections to follow.
Belcher Shaft
From the aforementioned map, Belcher Shaft was selected to demonstrate the process for digitizing and visualizing the subsurface architecture of a mining claim.
Focusing on this section of the map, we can see what looks like a tangle of tunnels for the Belcher mining claim. A closer look reveals that each color defines a different level which are then also labeled with their depth in feet. Stated in the atlas to which this map belongs:
This map along with the others did not reveal the datum line elevation but did provide enough association to locate the following resource:
In order to begin digitizing these tunnel footprints at their corresponding depths, the map was first georeferenced in ArcMap using the claim footprint map as the basemap. The shaft entrances are defined on both maps and were used as the necessary control points.
Once georeferenced, each tunnel's footprint was again represented as a polygon which in turn defines the tunnel's measurements, a number which is not explicitly represented on this map. It is also possible to define these measurements by utilizing the scale given: 100 feet to one inch (one square = one inch). These polygons were then assigned to their depths using attribute tables which enables automatic extrusion , a process that is demonstrated in the following section.
Data Visualization
Claim Footprints | Aboveground
In ArcMap, the map is associated with a digital elevation model (DEM) in order to then reflect the elevation of the space it represents; the United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Elevation Dataset (NED) for Nevada was used in this case.
Because this DEM is measured in meters, the data extracted from the two maps was then converted from feet to meters to ensure consistency throughout all the necessary workflows.
The digitized polygons and their corresponding attribute tables were then taken from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro to build a three-dimensional scene.
In ArcGIS Pro, the polygons for both the claim and tunnel footprints were extruded. Through this process, the claim footprints became three-dimensional representations of their claimed space. The result of this workflow is viewable to the right.
To enhance visual association, the polygons viewable to the right have been extruded beyond their natural land surface. The view below provides additional reference to the digitized claim footprints with labels:
Digitized claim footprints with labels, Map of the Comstock Lode and the Washoe Mining Claims, 1873
Please continuing scrolling for the subsurface view.
Claim Footprints | Subsurface
As a result of the aforementioned extrusion workflow, the subsurface depth of each claim is now visually tangible and easily compared.
With this portion complete, the tunnel footprint visualization is described in the following section.
Tunnel Footprints
Going back to Becker's plan map of the subsurface shaft and tunnel architecture, the visualization viewable to the right is again the result of the aforementioned extrusion workflow. By utilizing the data recorded in their attribute tables, each digitized tunnel footprint for Belcher Shaft became represented at its assigned subsurface depth.
For further reference, the visualization to the left is included below with labels:
Belcher Shaft tunnel footprints, Horizontal Map Gold Hill Mines Workings, Comstock Lode, 1870
This data subset can now be merged with the claim footprints, a visualization which is viewable in the following section.
Claim and Tunnel Footprints
The visualization now represents all digitized components:
- Georeferenced map with assigned DEM
- Digitized claim footprints
- Digitized tunnel footprints
- Claim footprints with depths
- Tunnel footprints with depths
In Review
The two maps below were georeferenced using control points, a process which enables their features to be digitized as polygons. Because the maps are georeferenced, these polygons represent their actual land space.
For the 12 arbitrarily selected claim footprints, including Belcher:
Again arbitrarily selected, for the tunnel footprints in Belcher Shaft:
Claim footprint visualization:
Tunnel footprint visualization for Belcher claim and its tunnels:
Cool, But Why?
In the book Seeing Underground , author Eric C. Nystrom examines the significance of creating models for Virginia City's subsurface world. The quote above coming from a miner in the early 20th century is not how this story ends and rather, begs to be debunked. Right?
Geohumanities | Spatial Humanities
Historic events are rarely linear nor isolated and cartographic resources provide foundational context for questions and problems. As seen throughout this story, the concepts of space and place acted as pivotal points for discovery of elements that humanized and conceptualized what began as flat pieces of paper.
Mining Law
As seen in this view from below (right), claim tunnels often extend beyond their claim footprint, a practice that is just asking for trouble. Historically, models have proven to be effective in mining litigation due to general courtroom ignorance when it comes to subsurface mining activity and architecture; three-dimensional visualizations of this nature understandably make it easier for someone to comprehend this world.
Environmental Science
Environmental conservation is imperative and subsurface modeling such as this has the potential for aiding in the alleviation of fugitive emissions. Additionally, as we seek alternative energies that are less detrimental to our environment, further subsurface analysis has the potential to enhance research in natural refrigerants and geothermal energy.
Conclusion
As promised, we want to end with an explanation for why we chose this particular lode and share with you a delightful full-circle moment we were able experience.
Each year a group of unabashed map nerds conglomerate at a designated meeting place around the country. We are called the Western Association of Map Libraries or in all its acronymic glory, WAML.
While the group is primarily comprised of map and GIS librarians, it is an association open to the public and we can attest to it being a group of folksy, welcoming humans. To learn more about WAML, visit our website:
The 2019 conference was held at the University of Nevada-Reno, just about a half hour north of Virginia City, Nevada; the meeting's proximity to the site of the renowned Comstock Lode was a phanerite begging to be mined, if you ask us.
Following two days of presentations on a wide variety of mapping and GIS topics, we ended the conference with a tour of Virginia City and needless to say, what we found at the Way It Was Museum really sent us over the edge, viewable below:
01 / 06
We sincerely thank you for enjoying this story with us. When we decided to pursue this topic for presentation, we thought it was a good idea. Now having worked on it periodically for two months, we think it's a really good idea. The content related to mining maps and views has proven to be endless and while we aimed to cover our bases, there is undoubtedly much more left to be researched.
We again invite you to further discover this topic by viewing our Stanford University Spotlight Exhibit:
