[My SF Past] Silver Bonanza Kings

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Gloria Lenhart

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Feb 27, 2012, 5:43:48 PM2/27/12

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In 1859, the Comstock Lode was discovered near Virginia City in Nevada, probably the richest vein of gold and silver ever found. Fortunes were made from mining and stock speculation including that of William Ralston, founder of the Bank of California and builder of the Palace Hotel, his partner William Sharon, and George Hearst, father of media tycoon William Randolph Hearst.

By 1868, many thought the Comstock Lode was tapped out. James Fair and John McKay, both miners who had worked the Comstock, disagreed. They convinced financiers James Flood and William O’Brien to back further exploration. In 1873, the partners uncovered the biggest vein of silver ever found, a Bonanza strike. Overnight the value of their mines skyrocketed and four partners became enormously wealthy.

James C. Flood

1826 - 1889

A New Yorker who came to San Francisco during the Gold Rush, Flood owned a downtown bar with his partner William O’Brien. Bartender Flood began to trade stocks using tips he overheard from his customers. Soon partners sold the bar and opened a stock brokerage. In 1868, Flood and O’Brien formed the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company with partners O’Brien and MacKay.

His son, James L Flood, was a real estate investor who built the Flood Building downtown.

William S. O'Brien
1825 – 1878
O’Brien removed himself from the day to day operations of the mining company and despite his fortune, preferred to live simply and quietly. He died just four years after the strike of diabetic complications then known as Bright’s disease.

James Graham Fair
1831 – 1894
Born in Ireland, Fair grew up on a farm in Illinois. He came west in 1850 and was superintendent of a mine in Virginia City by 1868 when he partnered with Flood and O’Brien.

Shrewd and ruthless in business, Fair was known as Slippery Jim. He also was a famous women chaser. His wife divorced him in 1883 and raised their four children alone. Fair moved to a hotel downtown and continued to carry on a series of public affairs. After his death, two different women came forward claiming to be his wife.

Photo by Matthew Brady , Courtesy: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Brady-Handy Photograph Collection.

John William Mackay
1831 - 1902
McKay was the richest of the Bonanza Kings because he owned two-fifths interest in the mine, having bought out an early fifth partner named Walker.

Like O’Brien, Mackay left daily operations of the company to Flood and Fair. In 1866, he used his fortune to escape to Paris with his new wife. In the 1880s, he formed a communications company that laid two transatlantic cables, bringing cable rates down. He was involved in planning the first transpacific cable which was completed after his death.