Virginia City was part of a land promotion scheme begun in 1908. Shrewd dealers advertised it as a future metropolis and implied that good rains and bumper crops were typical of the region. Naive buyers were taken on tours through the town, where they saw shops, a lot reserved for the courthouse, and a roadbed for the railroad. The town was named for the wife of an early county landowner. Although a local cowboy remarked that Virginia City's biggest crop was "suckers," many people bought land, only to face a ruinous drought from 1909 to 1912. Most soon moved away, leaving the site vacant.