Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/275

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NEVADA 263 it is partly separated by the Colorado river), and S. W. and W. by California. The state is divided into 14 counties, viz. : Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Lyon, Nye, Ormsby, Storey, Washoe, and White Pine. The principal cities and towns are Virginia (pop. in 1870, 7,048), Gold Hill (4,311), Hamilton (3,913), Carson City (the capital of the state 3,042), Treasure (1,920), Austin (1,324), Elko (1,160), Pioche City (1,144), Reno (1,035), Dayton (918), and Silver City (879). The population, exclusive of tribal Indians, in 1860 was 6,857; in 1870, 42,491, of whom 38,959 were whites, 357 col- ored, 3,152 Chinese, and 23 Indians; 32,379 were males and 10,112 females ; 23,690 natives and 18,801 foreigners. There were 9,880 fami- lies, with an average of 4' 3 persons to each, and 12,990 dwellings, with an average of 3*27 to each. The number of male citizens of the Uni- ted States 21 years old and upward residing in the state was 18,652. Nevada has fewer inhab- State Seal of Nevada. itants than any other state. Of the native pop- ulation, 3,356 were born in the state, 3,265 in New York, 2,390 in California, 1,858 in Ohio, 1,488 in Pennsylvania, 1,144 in Illinois, 1,083 in Maine, 1,053 in Missouri, 997 in Massachu- setts, and 958 in Utah. Of the foreigners, 5,035 were natives of Ireland, 2,549 of Eng- land, 2,365 of British America, and 2,181 of Germany. There were 727 persons 10 years old and upward unable to read, and 872, in- cluding 198 Chinese, unable to write. Of the total number of persons 10 years old and up- ward returned as engaged in all occupations (26,911), 2,070 were employed in agriculture, including 555 laborers and 1,242 farmers and planters ; in professional and personal services, 7,431, including 35 clergymen, 3,939 laborers, 166 lawyers, 110 physicians and surgeons, and 61 teachers ; in trade and transportation, 3,621 ; and in manufactures and mechanical and mi- ning industries, 13,789, of whom 8,241 were miners. The number of tribal Indians in Ne- vada in 1874, according to the report of the United States commissioner of Indian affairs, was between 4,000 and 5,000, viz. : Pah-Utes, 800 ; Pi-Utes in the S. part of the state, 1,031 ; Pi-Utes (1,000), living partly in W. Nevada and partly in N. E. California ; Western Shoshones (1,945) and Goship Utes (460), living partly in central and E. Nevada, and partly in Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. The Pah-Utes have two reservations of 320,000 acres each, including Walker lake and Pyramid lake respectively. The southern band of Pi-Utes belongs on .a reservation of 3,900 sq. m. in the S. E. part of the state, but only about 500 have been removed to it. The tribes of Nevada are not hostile, and many of their members are engaged in agricul- ture. With the exception of the S. E. corner, which belongs to the basin of the Colorado river, and a small portion in the N. E. drained by the Owyhee and other tributaries of the Snake, Nevada forms part of the elevated region ly- ing between the W T ahsatch and Sierra Nevada mountains, and known as the Great Basin. The general surface is a table land, with an altitude of 4,500 ft. above the sea, traversed with great uniformity by nearly parallel ranges of mountains rising from 1,000 to 8,000 ft. higher. These ranges for the most part have a N. and S. direction, and are separated by valleys from 5 to 20 m. wide, the bases of the mountains having also about the same width. The mountains are frequently intersected by ravines, which form easy passes, and in some places are broken into confused and detached masses. The valleys sometimes extend more than 100 m., uninterrupted except by an occa- sional butte or projecting spur, and frequently, where the mountains disappear or contract, unite with other valleys, or expand into broad plains or basins, some of which are unobstruct- ed, while others are dotted with buttes or cov- ered with groups of rugged hills. The Sierra Nevada mountains, which form a portion of the W. boundary, reach an elevation of from 7,000 to 13,000 ft. above the sea. The rivers of Nevada are small and unnavigable, and with the exception of the Owyhee and other streams that flow N. into Oregon and Idaho, and join the Snake, a branch of the Columbia, and the Rio Virgen and other small tributaries of the Colorado in the S. E., have no outlet to the ocean. The Colorado is navigable along the S. E. border to Callville. Some of the streams terminate in beautiful lakes ; others disappear in " sinks " or sloughs. Many of them in their course sink in the porous soil, and reappear a few miles further on. There are many small mountain streams that lose themselves soon after reaching the plains. The Humboldt, the longest river, rises in the N. E. corner of the state, flows generally W. for upward of 200 m., when it receives the Little Humboldt from the north, bends S. W., and after a further course of nearly 100 m. terminates in Humboldt lake or sink. Walker river is formed in the S. W. part of the state by the junction of the E. and W. forks, which rise in the Sierra Nevada in California, and flows first N. E. and then S.