IN THE DISTRICT COURT, FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT, STOREY COUNTY, NEVADA TERRITORY. GOULD & CURRY SILVER MINING Co., PLAINTIFF, vs. NORTH POTOSI GOLD AND SILVER MINING CO. DEFENDANT. OPINION OF REFEREE, AUGUST 22, 1864

[Nevada]: Nugent, John

Published by Goodman & M'Carty, Printers, Virginia, N.T., 1864

12pp., printed in double columns. Original printed wrappers. Vertical fold. Wrappers and upper margin of several leaves with some smoke damage, not affecting text. Good. A scarce, early, and significant Nevada imprint, giving referee John Nugent's decision in this important mining case. Plaintiff Gould & Curry Silver Mining Company brought an "action of trespass" suit against the North Potosi Gold and Silver Mining Company, arguing that the North Potosi claim, adjacent to its own, was actually a spur of the plaintiff's established vein. After a protracted and costly legal battle, the courts appointed Nugent to review the case and prepare an impartial recommendation. His report on the geological characteristics of the Comstock Lode, and subsequent conclusion in favor of the plaintiff, formed the basis for the court's final decision in favor of Gould & Curry. Because of the importance of the case, Nugent's report was printed almost immediately in San Francisco and Virginia City newspapers prior to this first pamphlet publication. Streeter notes that it was "a case of such importance in its day that each side argued, quite improperly as pointed out by the referee, that an adverse decision 'would be seriously detrimental to if not destructive of the prosperity of the District.'" "A fundamental document of Nevada legal lore" - Eberstadt. Not in the Nevada AMERICAN IMPRINTS INVENTORY. ARMSTRONG 203. STREETER SALE 2326. EBERSTADT 165:562. Seller Inventory # WRCAM48088

Bibliographic Details

Title: IN THE DISTRICT COURT, FIRST JUDICIAL ...
Publisher: Goodman & M'Carty, Printers, Virginia, N.T.
Publication Date: 1864