LOT Holabird-Kagin Americana  /  Mueller ~ Schmidtmann Western Americana BONANZA  / 

1820

Virginia City,NV - Storey County - c1878 - Adolph Sutro Portrait Photograph (1, with The Daily Indep

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Photographic Images Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 1,000.00 USD
Virginia City,NV - Storey County - c1878 - Adolph Sutro Portrait Photograph (1, with The Daily Indep
In this two piece collection are a Boudoir Portrait of Adolph Sutro and a supplement from The Daily Independent, Oct. 31, 1874. This supplement is focused on Sutro’s Tunnel Project. Boudoir style card mount total dimensions measure 5”x8 ¼”, white single matte, high contrast, and focus is sharp. There is some foxing on the photograph. Photographer identified as George Daniels Morse, located at his Palace of Art Studio at 315 Montgomery Street, San Francisco. Mautz tells us that Morse operated on Montgomery Street between the years of 1867-1881. This is a very crisp profile of Adolph Sutro. It is interesting to note that this portrait photo is the same format as the portraits of the Bank of California Board. Included with this photograph is a period supplement from The Daily Independent. This supplement was sent to Comstock residents and backers of Sutro’s Tunnel. This particular issue is focused on the Sutro’s Tunnel. Included is Sutro’s complete lecture “Mines and Mining” that he delivered at Piper’s Opera House in Virginia City. Also included in the supplement is a detailed description of Sutro’s plan to drain water from the Comstock Mines. The newspaper supplement is complete with four underground diagrams and twenty-seven illustrations. The Supplement suffers from wear, especially at the folds. This is a great collection that brings to life one of Sutro’s and the Comstock’s most ambitious projects. In 1865, Sutro was given permission by the State to build a tunnel from the Comstock Lode to a location three miles east northeast of Dayton, called Sutro. The tunnel would provide ventilation, drainage, and access for the mines. Congress passed the Sutro Tunnel Act on July 25, 1865, which provided him rights to the land he needed for the tunnel and declared that the mines using the tunnel must pay royalties. All he needed was the financing. He found some initial support after the Yellow Jacket fire in 1869, but much of his needed support came from England and Germany after 1871. The nearly 4 mile long tunnel was connected to the Savage Mine on July 8, 1878. Throughout the struggle to find financing for the tunnel, Sutro’s potential backer, the Bank of California, remained against supporting the project. Unfortunately the tunnel was connected after the mines had extended far deeper than the 1600 foot deep point of intersection.

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