The Night Leah Sutro Nearly Killed a Woman (and Then Hosted the President)
In the autumn of 1879, former President Ulysses S. Grant made his way across Nevada on his grand World Tour. His route carried him through Dayton by rail, a line that continued just a few miles up the valley to the bustling town of Sutro, where the train often stopped to service the famous Sutro Tunnel, that great engineering marvel meant to drain the mines of Virginia City.
Awaiting him at the grand Sutro mansion was to be a fine evening of celebration. Candles were lit, linens pressed, and champagne chilled. Yet one notable figure was missing: Adolph Sutro himself. His wife, Leah Sutro, searched high and low through town before setting off toward Virginia City, determined to find her husband. There, inside the bright dining room of the International Hotel, she found him, not alone, but dining quite comfortably with a young woman named Hattie Trundle (better known in polite circles as Mrs. George Allen).
Leah, never one to faint or fret, did what any spirited Comstock lady might have done when faced with betrayal. She seized the nearest champagne bottle and took a swing. She narrowly missed, and a flurry of shocked guests quickly pulled her away before any true damage was done.
Composed once more, Leah returned to Sutro, straightened her dress, and that very evening hosted President Grant and his party with impeccable grace. Whatever turmoil had passed was hidden beneath the gleam of polished silver and the pop of another bottle, this one poured properly into glasses. The next morning, Grant stood upon the mansion’s front steps and offered a few courteous remarks before venturing into the Sutro Tunnel itself. The trek, nearly four miles beneath the earth, was hot, damp, and claustrophobic. Later he confessed that it was “one of the worst experiences of my life.” When the president departed, Leah quietly packed her bags, gathered the children, and boarded the next train west. She returned to their grand home in San Francisco, never to set foot in Nevada again.
It has been said that Grant had spoken on the porch of The Odeon, though there is no actual evidence to support that, unfortunate as it is.
Grant’s likely route through Northern Nevada in October 1879, following the Virginia & Truckee Railroad and into the heart of the Comstock. Reno, Steamboat Springs, Washoe City, Carson City, Empire, Mound House, Dayton, Sutro, Silver City, Gold Hill, Virginia City, Consolidated Virginia and California Mine (C.&C. Shaft).
