The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Bowers, Eilley
c.1827–1903, American frontier figure, b. Eilley Orrum in Scotland. She became a Mormon and moved (1855) to Nevada with her second husband. He returned (1857) to Salt Lake City, but she remained, earning her living by running a boardinghouse for miners. Her claim in the Comstock Lode was next to that of Lemuel Sanford Bowers, whom she later married. They were among the first to derive great wealth from the lode, and they erected a great mansion near Virginia City, Nev. Their mine soon gave out, and she died in poverty.
