Setting the Record Straight
Ok let’s start off by setting some things straight! Nevada did not become a State because we had gold and silver. The reason we become a State was political not financial!
Two things were happening at the time in America. First President Lincoln was running for re-election against John Fremont, and General George McClellan. Lincoln thought it would be a close race and he knew that most voters in Nevada would vote for him.
Second Lincoln and the North were trying to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery and again Lincoln knew that Nevada representatives along with the public were in favor of the passage of the 13th Amendment; and sympathetic to the North.
Because of these political reasons, Nevada was to become a territory and the 36th State in the Union; even though the entire Nevada Territory had only a total of 20,000 people in it, which was one sixth of the requirement for even a single representative in U.S. Congress.
In retrospect Lincoln easily won re-election, and the 13th Amendment was also easily ratified. Nevada wasn’t needed to do either; and Nevada has been a pain in the rear of the Federal government ever since.