Patti in Nevada

Received an email from Brian Jones :

"If you hadn't known already you will have seen how much Adelina Patti influenced the area and its people and how much is remembered directly by, sadly, very few people now and indirectly by many others. Could this be an idea for a book? Yes, there are books but has any book looked at Patti and the local community? When I was a boy many local people had memories of Patti and memories related to Patti. Most have gone but there might still be much material out there.

Incidentally, I was lucky enough to visit Virginia City, Nevada, an old silver boom town of the Victorian era. The Opera House was still there. In a book listing performers was the name of Adelina Patti. It must have been a massive effort on her part to get there (presumably from San Francisco) and an unusual audience for her. At that time Virginia City was very rich (for some) so the audience must have been a mix of the elegant rich and rough rowdy miners. It must have been quite an evening. Some of those silver dollars might have helped build the Craigynos Opera House."

Thank you Brian for this intriguing piece of information.