Lake Valley offers look at silver mining life There is one ghost town tucked away on the back roads of Sierra County that shines like the silver in the hills that put it on the map. In fact, few folks had even heard of Lake Valley until 1878. Today, it is one of the best preserved ghost towns in America, one that people from all over the world make a special trip to see. What happened in 1878 is the stuff legends are made of. A blacksmith named John Leavitt took out a lease on a claim and two days later discovered one of the largest lodes of silver the world has ever known. He called it the "Bridal Chamber." It was a hollow in the hillside with walls of solid horn silver. A railroad was constructed to the Bridal Chamber to haul out the loot. The find turned out to be worth almost $3 million, quite a sizable chunk of change today, but especially so in 1878. Well, it's a sure bet ole George W. Lufkin was crying in his beer. That's because he sold the claim that the Bridal Chamber was found on to the Sierra Grande Mining Co. for a hundred grand. The company later leased part of the claim to Leavitt, and it's also a sure bet he hung up his blacksmith tools for good after the discovery. As the story goes, Lufkin died broke and is buried in the Lake Valley graveyard. Lake Valley was first called Daly, named after ancient lake beds nearby. The town grew into a fairly lively place with about 4,000 folks, 12 saloons, three churches, a couple of newspapers, stores, hotels, stamp mills and smelters....