The Bonanza King

John Mackay and the Battle over the Greatest Fortune in the American West

By: Gregory Crouch

Narrated by: John Keating

“A monumentally researched biography of one of the nineteenth century’s wealthiest self-made Americans…Well-written and worthwhile.” —The Wall Street Journal

A rags-to-riches frontier tale of an Irish immigrant who outwits, outworks, and outmaneuvers thousands of rivals to take control of Nevada’s Comstock Lode.

Born in 1831, John W. Mackay was a penniless Irish immigrant who came of age in New York City, went to California during the Gold Rush, and mined without much luck for eight years. When he heard of riches found on the other side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1859, Mackay abandoned his claim and walked a hundred miles to the Comstock Lode in Nevada.

Over the course of the next dozen years, Mackay worked his way up from nothing, thwarting the pernicious “Bank Ring” monopoly to seize control of the most concentrated cache of precious metals ever found on earth, the legendary “Big Bonanza,” a stupendously rich body of gold and silver ore discovered 1,500 feet beneath the streets of Virginia City, the ultimate Old West boomtown. But for the ore to be worth anything it had to be found, claimed, and successfully extracted, each step requiring enormous risk and the creation of an entirely new industry.

Now Gregory Crouch tells Mackay’s amazing story—how he extracted the ore from deep underground and used his vast mining fortune to crush the transatlantic telegraph monopoly of the notorious Jay Gould. “No one does a better job than Crouch when he explores the subject of mining, and no one does a better job than he when he describes the hardscrabble lives of miners” (San Francisco Chronicle). Featuring great period photographs and maps, The Bonanza King is a dazzling tour de force, a riveting history of Virginia City, Nevada, the Comstock Lode, and America itself.

informative

very well documented and detailed. I would recommend to any history buff. not only the Mackay family but Virginia city and Comstock mining history

A Masterpiece! Outstanding Narration!

I can't wait to read his other books! Fabulous storytelling! Oh, why can't history telling be so fascinating all the time for everyone? I could feel the author's breath in my ear. The narration is worthy of an Oscar award!

Great book should be compulsory reading for school

Read this book. So worth your time. All students should read this book. A real rags to riches saga.

a solid listen

A bit dry at times, but an interesting bit of American history. Pairs well with Louis Lamour's story "Comstock Lode". I'd recommend the Louis Lamour book first as it ensures the reader's curiosity is sufficient to power through any slow bits of this book. perfect for a car trip through to the American west. Also complements various western histories by HW Brands centered on the California gold rush.

Very detailed book about mining and John Mackay

The generation of this title is done wonderfully by John Keating, It is almost worth listening to the book just so you can hear John narrate this with a slight Irish accent. The amount of mining history and mining information you will learn from this book is astounding. I learned many things about silver mining and deep rock mining that I never knew and never understood. John mackey was a wonderful man with great talent and hard work and perseverance, One thing that stands out is his work ethic and his joy in just doing the work. John love to work and it made him happy. If you've ever been to Virginia City this book is worth a listen or a read.