While I don't really keep a bucket list of places I'd like to
explore in Nevada, there are several sites that have long intrigued me and that
I had not been able to visit for one reason or another. Until recently, one of
those was Lovelock Cave.
I think I first learned of the cave while visiting the Nevada
State Museum in Carson City many years ago. A display showed a handcrafted
duck-shaped object made of reeds and explained it was a replica of several that
were discovered in 1924 in Lovelock Cave, along with fishing nets.
Later, I stumbled upon the fascinating story of the so-called
red-headed giants, who, according to the legend, lived in the very same cave.
Of course, I later learned the bones of the alleged red-haired giants, which
were indeed found in the cave, had simply been mis-measured and they were
actually pretty average in size.
Still, such a place sounded pretty interesting so when my wife
asked me where I wanted to travel on our vacation this year, I suggested,
Lovelock Cave.
Even ignoring the giants, the cave has an interesting backstory.
In about 1911, two gold miners from Lovelock, James Hart and David Pugh, filed
a mineral claim on the cave and began mining bat guano.
As they removed several feet of accumulated guano from the cave,
they encountered human mummified bodies as well as Native American artifacts
such as parts of baskets, trays, weapons, pieces of netting, and tule rushes.
The pair ceased their operations in the spring of 1912, deciding it was too
much trouble to screen the guano, which was sold for fertilizer, from all of
the other refuse.
Hart and Pugh decided to contact the Paleontology Department at
the University of California to tell them of the many Native American objects (and
bones) they had dug up. The university sent a team to study the site and it
later reported salvaging several thousand items just from the guano dump piled
out of the cave.
A more formal excavation of the cave was conducted in 1924 by
archaeologist Mark Harrington (the same person who, a year later, would
discover the Lost City in Southern Nevada), who was sponsored by the Museum of
the American Indian in New York City.
Harrington’s dig uncovered portions of the cave that had not
been disturbed by the miners and other curiosity-seekers over the years. In
all, he and his team, which included several Northern Paiute laborers, found
some 40 pits and caches.
Among the most significant of these was a storage pit containing
a tule mat on which 11 beautifully-crafted canvasback duck decoys along with
bunches of feathers tied with tule string (thought to have been saved for
future use on the decoys) and several bundles of snares made of twigs and tule
string.
As for the mummified bodies, said to have numbered as many as
60, over the years most were sent to various museums where they remained, often
in storage, for many years. More recently, the remains have been repatriated in
accordance with federal law.
The decoys turned out to be an important discovery as they were
later carbon-dated and found to be more than 2,000 years old, making them the
oldest decoys of their kind ever uncovered.
Part of what makes the decoys so special is their craftmanship.
They were constructed of tule rushes (long reeds) tied together with a tule
cord. Other rushes were bent over to form a bobtail while the heads were made
from wrapped rushes bound to look like a duck’s head. The decoys were then
painted to resemble the real thing with actual feathers wedged into the bodies.
The result is a truly impressive and lifelike decoy.
Eventually, the decoys became part of the National Museum of the
American Indian in Washington D.C., where they still remain.
Lovelock Cave is located about 30 miles southwest of Lovelock.
To reach it, head to Lovelock on Interstate 80, then take the main exit. From
Main Street, turn right on Amherst Avenue, which become Nevada State Route 397.
Continue south on 397 for 6.5 miles, then continue straight on
South Meridian Road for two miles. Turn left on Derby Road and continue for
another 2 miles. After crossing a ditch, the road will veer right. The cave is
located about 7 miles farther.
Good instructions are available on Google Maps and there are
signs along the way guiding you to the cave site.
Once at the site, you can park and either head up a hillside
trail to the cave or take a short nature walk. At the entrance to the cave,
visitors are also gifted with a spectacular view of the surrounding Humboldt
Sink area.
For a great view of the cave, check out Howard Goldbaum’s 3D
video at https://allaroundnevada.com/lovelock-cave/.
For a good overview of the cave and other information, go to https://travelnevada.com/discover/26025/lovelock-cave-backcountry-byway.
