In the 1900 year, the two-decade depression had been continuing in Nevada. By an occasion, miner Jim Butler outcropped gold and silver, which attracted investors to the new camp, Tonopah. This relief from discovery, which put the two-decade depression to an end, dramatically changed Nevada’s social, political, and economic life. To begin with, mining developments in southern and central Nevada enticed Nevadans and outside investors, who decided to transport ore to California markets and overseas by building railways. This led to creating company towns (highly dependent on mining railways) designed to ensure stability. Urbanization caused immigration (which led to the rise of prostitution), establishing schools, churches, and public libraries. Concerning political life, the local government appeared, in company towns, companies regulated population behavior and even approved the saloons. Politics was in high interest among society: it was hard to find a voter who has not been a candidate for office at some time. As for the economic impact of the mining boom in Nevada, although mining railroads allowed establishing hotels, liquor and ore export, and other financially profitable activities, they also created the lack of employment and supplies because of migration. Moreover, the railroad’s presence created a sense of permanence, allowing to build a community, such as the Mesquite Club (1911), a women’s organization still involved in community education and civic activities. Strikes on labor issues appeared: workers demanded to be united as a class, abolishing the wage system.
The Progressive Era changed Nevada by providing different reforms and changes concerning taxes, women’s suffrage, woring conditions. Representatives of the progressive movement (usually women) in Nevada tried to improve living conditions, generally advocating democracy and social justice. Francis Newlands, for instance, served the nation, proposing a corporate tax to control trusts and working on various measures, aiding women’s suffrage. Denver Dickerson recommended different Progressive laws to the 1909 legislature, increasing tax assessments on railroads. Tasker Oddie joined the party’s caravan around Nevada and pushed in the legislature the law about compensation for railroad employees who were injured in the workplace. As women still lacked the vote in Nevada, Anne Martin became the president of the Nevada Women’s Civic League and helped to pass federal laws to fund maternal health care. The progressive Era allowed mining to remain the central sphere of the economy.