King of the Comstock South: The Life, Letters, And Legacy Of Lewis Chalmers

This is the untold story of Lewis Chalmers, a Scottish mining capitalist who spent two decades chasing silver sixty miles south of the original Comstock Lode.

In lengthy letters to friends and financiers in London, he chronicled his day-to-day struggles at multiple lodes in the mountains of Alpine County, California—from miners’ strikes to fending off a series of financial disasters. In addition to hard-rock silver shafts, Chalmers’ ambitious projects included the mammoth Isabella Tunnel, a nearly mile-long venture he promoted as a “Second Sutro.”

Part charming conman, part resourceful entrepreneur, part silver-tongued dreamer, Chalmers wangled funds from influential European friends to keep his mining enterprises going until 1885, when he returned to London. Remnants from his mining days still survive. But the true treasure he left behind was an extensive collection of letterbooks.

Excerpts from Chalmers’ business and personal correspondence provide a detailed record of his adventurous pursuit of silver and offer a fascinating glimpse into the mind of this brilliant, lively, and tenacious man.