toldailytopic: What is the greatest city in the world and why?
Virginia City, Nevada (circa 1876)
"I have just heard five pistol shots down the street.... The pistol did its work well...two of my friends were shot. Both died within three minutes." - Mark Twain describing Virginia City to his mother in a letter.
In its heyday, Virginia City was considered the most important settlement between Denver, Colorado and San Francisco, California.
It had all the makings of a great
Wild West town.
Ride your tired horse slowly down the dusty streets and you are sure to find...
Cantankerous prospectors seeking their fortune in silver. :hammer:
Upbeat piano tunes drifting out of
saloons full of rowdy cowboys playing cards and eyeing the "ladies of questionable employment" who keep watch with a smile and a wink. :upright:
A proud sheriff with a thick handlebar mustache who is bound and determined to clean up his wholesome town and "send all the riffraff a packin'." :BillyBob:
A young boy in suspenders trying to convince
a girl in pigtails to trade him two sticks of licorice and a kiss for an orange and blue (chipped!) "cat's-eye" aggie. :straight:
A school marm with a wicked gleam in her eye and a (greatly feared) hickory stick tucked under one arm, incessantly ringing a brass bell for children who will not respond for at least another 10 minutes. :sibbie:
A stalwart and deeply pious preacher reading the Good Book in an empty church.
oly:
A bar fight turned shootout that leaves three cowpokes dead (and ignored) in a puddle of mud. :AoO:
A passel of tired and hungry
homesteaders walking beside a wagon full of bored children pulled along by a contumacious
donkey. :dead:
Two horsethieves hanging by their necks and swinging slowly back and forth, back and forth. :Letsargu:
A scrawny coyote sniffing around behind the hotel, hoping to find a chicken bone tossed out the previous evening. :dog:
Did you blink? You probably missed the town. Turn your horse back around and go back. This is a snapshot of American history that has faded into long-forgotten memory.
The silver was fully mined by 1898, and the town began to loose residents. By 1930, there were only 500 people left.
"Here's to the sunny slopes of long ago."
