excerpted entirely fromThe Big Bonanza by Dan DeQuille, 1876

Although occupying the western portion of the Utah Territory, the laws under which the people of the Comstock range were at this time living were of their own making. At a meeting held by the miners of Gold Hill, June 11, 1859, the following preamble and "rules & regulations" were unanimously adopted:

Section 1. Any person who shall wilfully and with malice aforethought take the life of any person, shall, upon being duly convicted thereof, suffer the penalty of death by hanging.

Section 2. Any person who shall wilfully wound another, shall upon conviction thereof, suffer such penalty as the jury may determine.

Section 3. Any person found guilty of robbery or theft, shall upon conviction be punished with stripes or banishment, as the jury may determine.

Section 4. Any person found guilty of assault and battery, or exhibiting deadly weapons, shall upon conviction, be fined or banished as the jury may determine.

Section 5. No Banking games, under any consideration shall be allowed in this district under the penalty of final banishment from the District.

At the present day (1876) all manner of gambling games are allowed by the state laws and are licensed by the state and cities. In the original documents, preserved in the old Gold Hill book of records, there are given several additional sections, but as they relate to matters not of general interest to the reader, I have omitted them. One of these provides that "No Chinaman shall hold a claim in this District."

As may be seen, the laws of the first settlers were few and to the point; they were for use, not for ornament or the puzzling of the common understanding. In each settlement were in force some such "rules & regulations" as these. The man who broke one of the rules was sure to suffer a strict inforcement(sic) of the "regulation."

The Big Bonaza is available from Nevada Publications at   http://www.ghosttowns.com/nevadapublications.html. The man behind this enterprise is Stanley Paher. Visit this site for much more info on Nevada mining history and ghosttowns, of which we have plenty!