Comstock Lode

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/comstock-lode

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Comstock Lode?1859
2. Who invented Comstock Lode?Square set timbering and the Washoe process
3. What is the location?Eastern slope of Mount Davidson, Virginia Range, Nevada
4. What is the main city?Virginia City
5. Why did so many people go to Nevada after the Comstock Lode was discovered?Because the discovery announced in 1859 started a silver rush, drawing prospectors, entrepreneurs, and laborers who wanted to find silver and make money.
6. How did miners keep their mine tunnels from falling in?They used a special technique called square set timbering, building interlocking wooden cubes to support the tunnels and stop collapses.

Argentiferous: Containing or bearing silver.
Metallurgy: The science and engineering of metals, including their extraction and processing.
Amalgamation: A process where a metal is combined with mercury to form an alloy.
Great Basin: A large, arid region in the western United States characterized by internal drainage.