Urbanization occurred throughout the American West in a repeated pattern. In the latter half of the 1800s, the earliest urbanization of a region usually had its impetus
from mining. As the mines became established,
new markets became available for lumber and farm products that had not existed
before. Agricultural and logging communities sprang up on the heels of mining
towns. Transportation and communication systems next developed, then major
distant cities grew to service the multifaceted economic environments that
had grown in the city's sphere of influence. Early urbanization created by
the Comstock as well as the many other mining towns throughout the American
West provided the base upon which our current infrastructure developed. Now many can comfortably enjoy modern civilization where a century and half ago
there was wilderness and desert that was capable of supporting many fewer people than today.