it were crowded all the elements of a rough and active civilization.
Thousands of cabins and tents and brush wakiups... were seen on every
hand. Every foot of the gulch... was undergoing displacement, and it was
already disfigured by huge heaps of gravel which had been passed
through the sluices and rifled of their glittering contents.... Gold was
abundant, and every possible device was employed by the gamblers, the
traders, the vile men and women that had come in with the miners into
the locality, to obtain it. Nearly every third cabin was a saloon where
vile whiskey was peddled out for fifty cents a drink in gold dust.
Many of these places were filled with gambling tables and gamblers....
Hurdy-gurdy dance-houses were numerous.... Not a day or night passed
which did not yield its full fruition of vice, quarrels, wounds, or
murders. The crack of the revolver was often heard above the merry notes
of the violin. Street fights were frequent, and as no one knew when
or where they would occur, every one was on his guard against a random
shot.

"Sunday was always a gala day.... The stores were all open.... Thousands
of people crowded the thoroughfares ready to rush in the direction
of any promised excitement. Horse-racing was among the most favored
amusements. Prize rings were formed, and brawny men engaged in
fisticuffs until their sight was lost and their bodies pommelled to
a jelly, while hundreds of onlookers cheered the victor.... Pistols
flashed, bowie knives flourished, and braggart oaths filled the air, as
often as men's passions triumphed over their reason. This was indeed
the reign of unbridled license, and men who at first regarded it with
disgust and terror, by constant exposure soon learned to become a part
of it and forget that they had ever been aught else. All classes of
society were represented at this general exhibition. Judges, lawyers,
doctors, even clergymen, could not claim exemption. Culture and religion
afforded feeble protection, where allurement and indulgence ruled the
hour."

Imagine, therefore, a fabulously rich mountain valley twelve miles in
extent, occupied by more than ten thousand men and producing more than
ten millions of dollars before the close of the first year! It is a
stupendous demand on any imagination. How might all this gold be sent
out in safe-keeping? We are told that the only stage route extended from
Virginia City no farther than Bannack. Between Virginia City and Salt
Lake