09/03/2026
Here is a lil Nevada History for ya.
I recently had the opportunity to participate in an i-80 Gold legislative mine tour in northern Nevada. The experience gave me a much better understanding of what modern mining looks like today and also gave me a chance to spend time in historic Eureka and learn more about the community that grew alongside mining more than a century ago.
The first experience was modern mining.
At Granite Creek, we went underground and saw firsthand the equipment, engineering, ventilation, drilling, ground support, rock bolts, mesh, and heavy machinery that make underground mining possible. At Ruby Hill near Eureka, we were able to see the scale of the open-pit operation and learn more about i-80 Gold’s continued development in Nevada.
Mining remains an important part of Nevada’s economy and workforce. What stood out to me was not only the size of the operations, but also the amount of planning, safety, technology, and specialized skill involved.
I also learned more about i-80 Gold’s workforce-development and community programs, including job fairs, scholarships, education, STEM outreach, local procurement, and investments in rural communities.
As a Native person, I also recognize that mining is a complicated subject for many Tribal communities. Jobs and economic opportunity matter, but so do our land, water, cultural resources, sacred places, wildlife, plants, and the responsibility we have to future generations.
I went on this tour to learn, not simply to promote mining. Seeing the operations firsthand helped me better understand both the opportunities and the questions that need to continue being asked.
The second experience was historic Eureka.
Separate from the mine tour, I had an opportunity to explore some of Eureka’s historic downtown and its underground tunnel system.
One important part of this history is that the story of Eureka did not begin with mining.
This area is part of the Great Basin, where Native people lived, traveled, hunted, gathered, and maintained relationships with the land and water for thousands of years before the mining boom. Western Shoshone history is especially important in this region, and the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, a federally recognized Western Shoshone Tribe, is located south of Eureka in Railroad Valley.
Native people did not disappear when the mining towns developed. Western Shoshone and Paiute people continued living in the region as Eureka grew. Historical records show Native people working in mining-related industries, including early smelting operations, and also in ranching, livestock work, day labor, and other jobs that supported the growing communities.
The discovery of silver and lead in the 1800s marks the beginning of Eureka as a mining town, but it does not mark the beginning of people living on, using, and caring for this land.
By the late 1800s, Eureka had grown into one of Nevada’s major mining communities. Thousands of people lived in the area, and the town supported mines, smelters, saloons, hotels, breweries, stores, banks, rail transportation, ranching, and a substantial Chinese community.
Historical research estimates that roughly 500 Chinese residents lived in Eureka during its mining-boom years. Chinese residents operated businesses and worked throughout the local economy. Historical accounts also suggest that Chinese residents may have used portions of Eureka’s underground passage system for movement and community activities during a time when discrimination and hostility were common.
I toured underground brick rooms, cellars, and passages beneath the historic commercial district. These underground spaces were used over the years for storage, moving merchandise and b**r between businesses, protection from severe weather and fires, and later were associated with bootlegging and other activities.
The historic building we toured has its own remarkable history. It dates to 1879 and over the years housed a saloon, the Old Corner Chop House, the Lani and Repetto Saloon and Eureka Brewery, and later the Farmers and Merchants Bank.
One of the people connected to that history was Edna Covert Plummer, an attorney who became one of Nevada’s early women legal pioneers and helped organize the local bank.
These two experiences gave me two very different views of Nevada mining.
One showed me what mining looks like today.
The other showed me what mining helped shape more than 100 years ago — communities, businesses, transportation, migration, ranching, opportunity, conflict, and a history that is still visible beneath the streets of Eureka.
And even before that mining history, Native people were already here.
There is a lot to learn from all of it.
