Virginia City was a mining boomtown; it appeared virtually overnight as a result of the Comstock Lode silver strike of 1859, found because of the sticky mud washed from the shovels while mining for gold! During its heyday, Virginia City had more than 30,000 residents and was called the richest city in America. Virginia City is also the "birthplace" of Mark Twain, as it was here (in February 1863) that the young writer Samuel Clemens, who was then a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper, first used his famous pen name, Mark Twain. Virginia City, USA's largest National Historic Landmark, is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. President Lincoln needed gold and silver to keep the Union solvent during the Civil War, so on October 31, 1864, Lincoln made Nevada a state, even though it didn't have enough people to constitutionally authorize statehood. Take a trip to this famous city through the lens of John D. Weigand and through the verse of Penelope Dyan, who is an award winning author, attorney and former teacher. Dyan and Weigand see what kids see, and know how to grab their interest. Nothing is spoon fed here as Dyan's intent is to inspire questioning and learning, and this is what she does best, because to learn one begins with inspiration.