The discovery of gold in Gold Canyon by Abner Blackburn, a member of the Mormon Battalion in 1849, sparked a rush of miners seeking their fortunes in the Sierra Nevada region. However, the miners did not establish permanent settlements and instead moved back and forth across the mountains in search of “pay dirt.”
As early as 1850, miners migrated to the mouth of Gold Canyon, near the Carson River downslope from Mount Davidson, seeking relief from the crowded California goldfields during the summer months. Yet, they would return to California before winter’s snow arrived.
In August 1850, Chinese, Mexicans, and Indigenous people digging at Gold Canyon indicated the region’s attraction to multiple ethnic groups at the start. The following year, in 1851, Gold Canyon housed around 200 prospectors during the summer, but the transient nature of the settlement remained evident as there were no permanent buildings.
In September 1850, travelers observed miners on the “other side” of the Carson River in the Pine Nut Mountains. Troubles with Native Americans were documented in pioneer diaries, referring to stolen livestock.
The winter of 1850-1851 witnessed James “Old Virginny” Finney, the namesake for Virginia City, wintering over at Gold Canyon, possibly becoming the first white man to spend winter in Northern Nevada, then part of Utah Territory. A log trading post, built by Spafford Hall, was constructed around 1852 and later sold to James McMarlin, who subsequently sold it to Major William Ormsby.
By 1852, Gold Canyon began showing some permanency with the appearance of three log cabins, including a trading post, a boardinghouse, a tavern, water diversions, livestock, and a rail system that carried ore from the upper Gold Canyon to the Carson River. Despite this progress, Genoa, also known as “Mormon Station,” boasted even more development in the same year, with houses, blacksmith shops, ranches, farms, and trading posts.
It was in 1852 when William Dolman, one of the original claim holders in the Gold Canyon/Virginia City area, witnessed his first gold mining operations upon arriving at Gold Canyon in October of that year. He was en route to California’s goldfields but stayed, playing a significant role in Nevada’s mining history.
In the summer of 1853, Gold Canyon had four female residents, including one 12-year-old, highlighting the slow growth of women in the mining settlement. Meanwhile, “Johntown,” a small mining settlement, emerged as a trading post established by Walter Cosser in late 1853, about two-and-a-half to three miles north of Dayton in Gold Canyon.
Settlements also sprang up along the eastern front of the Sierra in 1851, including Franktown, French’s Fort, Jack’s Valley, and other “way stations” such as Ragtown and Jamison’s Station. Additionally, Mason Valley and the Walker River area had hopeful placer miners.
In 1858, the establishment of Curry’s Warm Springs, which later became a Nevada State Prison, occurred. The Washoe used the springs even before the arrival of settlers. Walley’s Hot Springs, situated two miles south of Genoa, was also utilized by the Washoe until the advent of pioneers in the area.
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