Tonopah, a historic mining town located between Las Vegas and Reno, was the site of one of the richest booms in the West, which took place on May 19, 1900. This historic town began with the discovery of gold and silver by prospector Jim Butler, and it happened by accident. What happened was this: Butler’s burro had gone missing during the night. When he found him the next morning, he picked up a rock to throw at him. It wasn’t just any rock he picked up. It was an extremely heavy rock. Butler soon realized he had stumbled upon the second richest silver strike in Nevada history.  Read the entire article here….