John W. Mackay, an Irish immigrant, became the most powerful figure on the famous Comstock Lode. In August of 1859, when the news rang out, “There’s Silver in Washoe!” Mackay left the placer mines of California and joined the rush to the Comstock silver. On the way, he was heard to say, “All I want is $30,000; with that I can make my old mother comfortable.” Fifteen years later, John Mackay was making $300,000 per month! He had become the most important member of the “Big Four” who came to dominate the Comstock Big Bonanza. The Big Four—Mackay, Fair, Flood, and O’Brien—not only controlled all the major mines, but they dominated the economic life of the district. Virginia City and the Comstock were theirs. Mackay managed to double the millions he had already made on the Comstock with other wise investments as well.​

He became a legend in his own time and, when he died, his estate left millions to the University of Nevada, where they built the Mackay School of Mines and the Mackay Science Building in his honor.​

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