Bowers Mansion is another reminder of the Comstock bonanza. Lemuel S. "Sandy" and Eilley Orrum Bowers were probably the first millionaires produced by the fabulous find in Gold Canyon.

As strangers, they had adjoining claims. After a rich vein was struck, they were soon married and had the mansion built.

Misfortune followed fortune and soon all was lost. The richness of their vein gave out; a new mill was destroyed; financiers balked. Then Sandy died in 1868.

Maneuvering to make the property self-sustaining, Eilley struggled on, finally, in 1878, losing the mansion by foreclosure to Myron C. Lake. Thereupon, the property had a succession of owners including Henry Ritter, who managed it as a popular resort from 1903 to 1946. Eilley Orrum Bowers had died in 1903, in poverty and unwittingly, she and Sandy left a legacy to Nevada.

Citation from Nevada Division of Water Planning