People/politician

William Stewart

William Stewart, politician, from United States. Linked to silver, gold.

The lucky break

Moved to the Comstock in 1860 and became its best known lawyer, arguing the Comstock was a single continuous vein.1

The downfall

Left the Senate in 1905 and unsuccessfully chased mining bubbles at Bullfrog until his death in 1909.1

Legacy

US Senator for Nevada for twenty-eight years.1

Story cards

Drag to turn the globe

Where next

Mines

Worked atComstock LodeThe lawyer who argued one vein or many, in a fight that cost millions.1

Sources

  1. William Stewart Online Nevada Encyclopedia

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

Keep exploring

Stories with these minerals

Lessons from historyBooms and busts: what mining history shows1859-2025Lessons from historyLucky breaks: the finds that almost did not happen1623-2009History of miningGold fever: the rushes that filled continents1848-1900Lessons from historyPrice shocks and the supply response1893-2025

All mining storiesThe world runs on rockAll mineralsMining by country

Pictures: South Africa: a crowd of people gathered outside The Goldfields offices in Johannesburg. 1896., Unknown (Wellcome Collection) (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Falu gruva, Lundberg, Bengt A / Europeana (CC0 1.0); Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).