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Lord Rick Rowe | Create Your Badge
 

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Above:  In this photo I am looking down at Devils Gate which is a narrow opening through two walls of dark craggy rock. If you look carefully you can see that the main road passes between the rocks. Prior to this a toll house use to reside at the entrance where those daring enough to travel through here faced the possiblity of also being robbed.

Devils Gate was one of the first locations I visited when I moved to the Carson Valley area. Every time you hear anything named after the devil it is like a train wreck you have no choice but to take a look. Devil's Gate has allot of history but more importantly it is what it once symbolized that makes this place so well known to the local people of the Comstock Lode.

In 1850 a man by the name of John Orr and Nicholas Kelly unearthed a golden nugget near what we call Devils Gate today. It was the first gold nugget discovered in Gold Canyon and within a decade a stamp mill and many mining operations had begun surrounding this location.

During the Paiute War the towns people of Silver City constructed a wood cannon and stone battlement that would be used for protection built on these very rocks. If any intruders tried to enter the gate the cannon could be used as a scare tactic or even as a weapon.

But not only does this landmark symbolize strength it also marked the boundaries between Storey and Lyon County. The narrow gorge at one time thousands of miners and pioneers made there way through here seeking a chance at striking it rich in the Comstock Lode area.

Silver City Nevada was not as large as Virginia City but they certainly were neighboring towns which is why I enjoy living in this region. I can visit an old mill in Silver City then go drink some brews at the Saloon in Virginia City. Silver City however had quite the growth and everyone of those that made the town had to pass through the gate. The town had numerous saloons, four hotels, cemetery, boarding houses, mills, mines, corrals, stables and many businesses. The town served as a freighting center for many of the people who worked at these mills and mines.

The Devils Gate is composed of two large walls of rock that are seen on each side of the road that takes you up into Virginia City. They were formed from Lava Rock and eventually blasted and widened so that it could be used for a toll road. The problem was with this is that it attracted allot of crime as sometimes the price of the toll here was robbery. Allot of the thieves could hide out here near the narrow opening closing in on there victims. Over the years many who dared to travel the toll road had their watches, gold, jewelry, silver, wallets, and purses stolen. More then likely other things probably were taken to such as horses and the women were probably raped as well.

It served as a hideout for highwaymen and robbers. J. Ross Browne a journalist wrote that the narrows through the gate were unsafe due to the fact of its "unhallowed character of the place". This same journalist traveled through the gates although he was never robbed he always felt that the sinister name was a symbol of sin. His words were once he crossed "It is to late for repentance" perhaps he was right. Afterall many of those who crossed devils gate ended up committing later acts of sin. You had your bordellos, shootouts, thieves, murders, drunks and those who meant tragic ends. These were folks who wanted a little more then what life had to offer them so they came to the Comstock Lode and passed through these gates. Sometimes all that awaited on the other side of them is a criminal cashing in on an involuntary toll.

So as you can see their is a bit of tragedy associated with Devils Gate area and at night hiking down into the gorge is pretty creepy shit trust me I know. I climbed down into the gorge at night and we did capture some EVP's here but they were stolen. Nonetheless this place has a dark history to have an opportunity to be able to unmask it. There are feelings of being watched, intense cold spot activity and even a aqueduct that goes right under the very rocks the same ones that were once blasted apart to be used to form this toll road. The toll house at one time use to stand at the entrance but it is no longer around as time has been Silver Cities worst danger to many of its historical sites.

Eventually the Virginia City & Truckee Railroad was finished and then it was very uncommon for anyone to travel using this toll road. This caused Silver Cities demise it was no longer needed as a freight center as with the railroad just miles up the road it was a new means to export and import. It was also a more safe means to travel by rather then travel in a narrow gorge where you might get robbed or even murdered.

Copyright By
Lord Rick
Founder, Author, Talk Show Host and Producer


   

         

   

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