President Abraham Lincoln made Nevada a territory in the fall of 1861 to protect its rich silver and gold mines from the Confederacy. Fast-tracked to statehood in 1864, the Silver State has been one of the country’s highest-producing states of the two precious ores. In the early 20th century, Goodsprings mineral district hard rock miners worked deep underground to extract rich silver and gold veins as well as ore bodies of zinc, lead, platinum, palladium and copper.
Courtesy UNLV Special Collections
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