NEVADA, one of the states of North America, is bound on the w. by California; on the s. by California and Arizona; on the c. by Utah and Arizona; and on the n. by Ore gon aria Idaho. Lat. 35° to 42° n.; long. 114° to 120° Iv.; area, 104,125 sq. miles. The population in 1870 was 42.491 (including 3,152 Chinese), besides 4,000 tribal Indians. The chief river is the Humboldt. The principal lakes are the Mud lakes, Pyramid bikes, and the Walker and Carson lakes. Nevada is the center of that elevated basin which reaches westward from the Rocky mountains to the Sierra Nevada, at a mean altitude of about 4,000 ft. above the level of the sea. Numerous mines, either of gold or silver, have been discovered. The whole country is rich in mineral wealth. Besides gold and silver, nuieksilver, lead, and antimony are found. The territorial capital is Carson city (pop. 3 042); hut the principal town is city (pop. 7,048). The product of silver in Nevada the decade 1359 to 1869 was valued at $137.382,000; in 1875 its value was about $40,478.869.
NEVADA is a portion of the territory acquired by the United States from Mexico under the treaty of Guadalupe Bildaltro, belonging previous to' its transfer to the "department of Alta California." Prior to its acquisition by the government it. was Inhabited The abori6nal races. there being no settlemeiitAr civilized people. not even a mission, within its borders. The first settlements were made in 1848 by the Mormons, some of whom, in passing back and forth between California and Salt lake,. observing the excellence of the land, located in the Carson and Washoe valleys. The following year they were joined by a few adventurers, who, attracted by the gold dis coveries in California, had made the journey overland, but stopped on finding here the object for which they had set out. Front this time the population gradually increased until in 1859, when silver was discovered, it. had swelled to about 1000 people. Daring the next two the it increased to 17,000; and, as stated above, by the returns of the census of 1870, the population was 49,491. It was constituted a territory in Mar., 1831. and was admitted into the union as a state in Oct., 1864.
Viewed as a whole, geographically, the state, in common with the great American basin of which it forms a part, may be considered an elevated plateau, having a general altitude of more than 4,000 ft. above tide-water. Traversing this lofty plain are numerous challis of mountains, separated by valleys having a width varying from 5 to 20 ant., anal usually about equal to that of the adjacent mountains measured through their bases. The course of these valleys is, as a general thing, parallel to the main axis of the moun tains. which have for the most part a northerly and southerly strike. These mountains vary in height front 1000 to 5,000 ft. above the common level of the country, having therefore an absolute elevation of from 5,000 to 9,000 ft. above the sea. For a dis
tance of nearly 300 m. the Sierra Nevadas form a natural barrier along its western and south-western border, the line between this state and California running partially upon its summit and partially along or near the eastern base of this range, which, though not here attaining its greatest altitude, has nevertheless within the limits of Nevada a general height of more than 7,000 ft., a few of the loftier peaks reaching a height of 10,000 feet. The mountains are covered nearly everywhere from base to sum mit with a growth of forests, consisting of a variety of pine, spruce, and fir, which are well adapted to make superior lumber. No oak or other hard wood of any size is found oat this slope of the Sierra, nor, indeed, in any other part of Nevada. The alternation of mountains and valleys is preserved with much regularity throughout the state, being most marked in the central portion. Sometimes the former contract or are so broken up as to transform the valleys into broad plains or basins, some of which are open and unobstructed, while others are covered with isolated clusters of rugged hills. Through a few of these run streams of water supplied from the mountain rills, and in these much of the laud is arable, the quantity usually being proportioned by the size of the stream. In the valleys, however, that have no streams there is scarcely any Land that can be used for agriculture. In fact, the more extended plains are marked by a great degree of ster ility, being destitute for the most part of wood and only scantily supplied with grass. This system of valleys and plains, inclosed by mountains, and sometimes connected with each other, constitutes a series of basins, each having a drainage of its own, but scarcely any of them having an outlet to the sea. To this mode of drainage Nevada, as well as many other parts of the great basin, is entitled for some of its peculiar topographical and geological features, the common receptacle of the gathered waters becoming, according to circumstances, a lake, a meadow, an alkali flat, or a salt-bed. The Humboldt, the longest and largest river in the state, is usually fordable in many places; and the Reese river, though having a length of nearly 150 in , is not over 10 or 15 ft. wide, nor has it an average depth of more than 2 feet. Like the other rivers of the state, these terminate in small lakes and pools. In respect to the approximate amount of land of the different qualities, the state surveyor's report for 1874 states that the agricultural land amounted in that year to 1,505,000 acres; grazing land, 22,210,276 acres; timbered land. 3,699,700 acres; and that the mineral lands already opened were 2,582,720 acres. The entire amount of mineral land is believed to exceed 6,000,000 acres; the amount of agricultural laud is 17,608.960 acres; of reclaimable swamp-lands, 74,880 acres. The barren and worthless sandy lands amount to about 2,151,680 acres.