The Time the Sundance Kid Robbed A Train Near Humboldt House

 

Harry (The Sundance Kid) Longabaugh and Etta Place

     If you’re driving on Interstate 80 about 35 miles southwest of Winnemucca you might notice a sign indicating something called “Humboldt House.” If you look fast, you might be able to see a few older trees and a handful of buildings, but not much activity.

     But about 150 years ago, Humboldt House, also called Humboldt Station, was a pretty happening place. Established in 1866 as a stagecoach stop, it soon became an important stop on the Central Pacific Railroad after that line was completed in 1869.

     From the early 1870s until 1900, Humboldt House grew into a small settlement with a hotel that catered to railroad travelers. It became known as one of the best places to eat on the rail line.

     It was that very same railroad line, in fact, that brought a small group of outlaws to Nevada on July 14, 1898. At about 2:30 a.m., two men stopped the Central Pacific Railroad’s east-bound passenger train No. 1 at a spot about one-mile east of the Humboldt House.

     According to Winnemucca’s Silver State newspaper, the train was operating at a high rate of speed “when two masked robbers, one armed with a Winchester and the other with a revolver, leaped over the tender of the engine and covered Engineer (Philip) Wickland and Fireman McDermott with their weapons and demanded that they stop the train immediately.”

     After Wickland brought the train to a stop, he and McDermott were ordered to climb down from the locomotive and escort the armed men to the Wells Fargo express car. Once there, Wickland was instructed to tell the guard inside the car to open the door.

     The guard, whose last name was Hughes, shouted he wasn’t going to comply and extinguished the lights inside car. He grabbed a rifle and prepared to protect whatever valuables were inside the car’s safe.

     One of the would-be thieves then put a small stick of dynamite under the door, lit it, and reportedly said, “I guess that will fetch him.”

     Following an explosion, which demolished a part of the railcar door, the robbers called to the messenger to come out and “be a good fellow.” This time he did so and one of the thieves climbed in the car with more dynamite, which he used to successfully blow open the safe.

     After collecting any valuables from the safe, the robbers led the railroad employees a little way away from the train, then, according to Hughes, “shook hands with us and saying adios disappeared in the darkness.”

     Hughes later described the two men with one being of medium height with a reddish beard and hair, while the other was shorter and very dark. “They were both cool and seemed to know what they were about,” he told the newspaper. A third man, who remained unseen, apparently was in the shadows, holding their horses.

     So who were these train robbers? The following day, the Silver State reported that the thieves had gotten away with between $20,000 and $26,000 or, it noted, it could have been as little as $9,000. Later reports further downgraded the robbery, saying the pair only stole $450.

     Regardless, a train robbery is still a train robbery, and law enforcement immediately began searching for the culprits. A posse was formed and followed the horse tracks of the thieves but then disbanded when it became apparent the robbers had too great a head-start.

     Authorities quickly arrested two men they thought were responsible but they were found not guilty after a short trial.

     Soon, however, the Pinkerton Detective Agency settled onto new suspects: members of the notorious Wild Bunch Gang, who had been seen in the Humboldt County area in the days before the robbery.

     According to Donna B. Ernst, author of “The Sundance Kid: The Life of Harry Alonzo Longabaugh,” the Sundance Kid had a distant cousin, a bartender named Seth Longabough, living in Eureka, Nevada, so he regularly visited him in the late 1890s.

     The Pinkerton Agency soon decided the three men responsible for the robbery were Wild Bunch members Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan, George “Flat Nose” Curry, and the Sundance Kid.

     In his book, “He Rode With Butch and Sundance: The Story of Harvey ‘Kid Curry’ Logan,” author Mark T. Smokov wrote that the three men met up at Robbers Roost in Utah before heading to Nevada. According to the Pinkertons, they spent a couple days scouting the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks near Winnemucca planning their robbery.

     In the end, none of the suspected hold-up men was ever prosecuted for the crime. Logan would later kill himself after being cornered by a posse for a different crime in 1904. Flat Nose Curry would die in 1900 after being shot by a sheriff while rustling cattle. And the Sundance Kid is believed to have been killed, with his partner-in-crime, Butch Cassidy, during a shootout with federal police in Bolivia in 1908.

Artist and Writer Sydney Martinez Shares Her Love for Nevada in New Book

   It’s pretty clear that Sydney Martinez has a special relationship with the state of Nevada. As the former lead writer/photographer for Travel Nevada, the state’s tourism promotion agency, she spent about a decade traveling and photographing nearly every community in the state.

   That experience not only instilled in her a deep appreciation of the Silver State, but a thirst to explore as many as possible of the thousands of dirt roads, trails, and paths that spread across the wide Nevada landscape.

   For the past several years, Martinez, who graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a degree in journalism and minor in photography, has scratched that Nevada itch, traveling all over the state with her husband, Jonathan, and faithful dog, Elko.

   Many of their adventures have appeared on her blog, FindingNevadaWild.com, as well as on her periodic Legends of Lost Nevada podcast.

   Most recently, however, the enterprising Martinez, who is also a gifted jewelry designer (under the brand name Song Dog Silver, also sold on her website) has expanded her reach into a new venture, a beautifully-illustrated hardcover book titled “Finding Nevada Wild: The Terrain, Culture, and People of the Most Mysterious State in the West.”

   Published by Schiffer Publishing, the 320-page book is a visual treat with hundreds (or so it seems) of color photographs enhanced by Martinez’s enthusiastic prose.

   The book is not so much a guide book—although there is useful how-to information about being properly prepared before traveling on the state’s remote backroads—as it is a celebration of all the things that Martinez loves about Nevada.

   For instance, a chapter titled, “Sounds from the Sage,” addresses the beauty in heading out into the state’s wide-open landscapes and simply listening.

    “Just like the way you can see millions of stars amid true darkness, being out in Nevada’s isolated terrain affords some of the darkest, quietest experiences a person can have in the lower 48 states,” she writes. “There, you can really hear the way the world sounds.”

   Another chapter, “Hot Water,” seems to be a topic close to Martinez’s heart. She writes that searching for hot springs in the state’s outback is where she began her love affair with Nevada. “This is the place where it all started—where I found myself, and Nevada found me,” she says.

   Her chapter, “Great Drives,” is particularly fun, describing spectacular paved-road journeys, such as those through Lamoille Canyon near Elko, Rainbow Canyon in Lincoln County and the Valley of Fire Scenic Byway near Overton.

   She also describes several more rustic drives on roads that aren’t paved, such as the one leading to the Walker River State Recreation Area in Lyon County, the trip up Kingston Canyon in the middle of the state and the drive through the Monitor Valley, also in the center of the state.

   Other roads less traveled that she spotlights include Success Loop near Ely, High Rock Canyon in northern Washoe County, and the Lunar Crater Backcountry Byway.

   Martinez also takes the reader on her journeys through Nevada’s many colorful, rustic, and memorable rural bars that includes a section on the origins of the Picon Punch (with a recipe). Among the water holes captured by her lens and prose are the various Owl Clubs, the Jiggs Bar, the Overland Hotel and Saloon in Pioche, and the Outdoor Inn & Red Dog Saloon in Jarbidge.

   Several of Nevada’s most photogenic ghost towns get the Martinez treatment as do rural hotels/motels (in the chapter, “Great Stays”). The book nears the finish line with a chapter on the state’s best places to enjoy Dark Skies and a chapter on geology and rockhounding, which is a particular passion of hers.

   The concluding chapter, “Nevadans & Other Wily Wonders,” features some of the colorful people she has encountered over the years as well as brief descriptions of several petroglyph and pictograph sites she has discovered, rural art galleries, and other “wonders.”

   “Finding Nevada Wild: The Terrain, Culture, and People of the Most Mysterious State in the West,” by Sydney Martinez is available from Amazon and other online retailers as well as at Nevada bookstores. It can also be ordered on her website, which is www.findingnevadawild.com.

The Sweetest Tour in Las Vegas: The Ethel M Chocolate Factory

 

   There is definitely chocolate in the air at the Ethel M Chocolate Factory in Southern Nevada.

   That’s because the factory is where they make some of the world’s most beloved chocolates. Ethel M is the upscale candy brand of the Mars family, which is better known for its sweet products like M & M's, Mars Bars and Snickers.

   When Ethel M Chocolates first appeared in the 1980s, they were somewhat unique because they were filled with liqueur creams, including Amaretto, Bourbon and Creme de Menthe. The alcohol-flavored fillings were an interesting gimmick, but the candy gained its most rabid fans because of the quality of the chocolate.

   That’s when the company opened the Ethel M Chocolate Factory, which is its version of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory—but without the weird “Oompa-Loompas.” Tucked in the industrial section of Henderson in Southern Nevada, it’s a candy manufacturing facility that offers free tours and samples.

   During a short self-guided tour of the state-of-the-art candy plant—which is on display behind large glass windows—a recorded message explains that Ethel M uses a special formula to make its gourmet chocolate.

   According to the tour, Ethel M Chocolates are technically a milk chocolate although the company incorporates many of the characteristics and flavors associated with dark chocolate. This process results in a richer, more flavorful chocolate.

   Behind the windows, visitors can see the many machines that mold, shape, fill and prepare each chocolate. There is something hypnotic about watching hundreds of little, round chocolates marching on a conveyor belt.

   Over the years, while the liqueur chocolates have continued to be popular, Ethel M has broadened its product line to include other items, such as white chocolate, chocolate coins (sold in clever packages to resemble slot machines) and truffles.

   No surprise that the best part of the Ethel M Chocolate factory tour is the end when visitors are deposited in a gift shop and given a free chocolate. Picking one is difficult because there are so many types of chocolates but for those unable to make up their minds, there are always sampler boxes to take home.

   Additionally, the adjacent Cactus Garden Café offers delicious baked and chocolate-dipped treats, along with a variety of milkshakes and hot chocolate drinks.

   Outside of the factory, Ethel M has another attraction, a three-acre Botanical Cactus Garden exhibiting more than 350 different species of cactus, succulents and desert plants from the southwest and various deserts throughout the world.

   To a non-cactus expert, this place seems like a prickly Garden of Eden. You can find a wide variety of plants ranging from Beavertail and Purple Pancake Prickly Pears to Golden Barrels and Saguaros.

   A series of concrete pathways wind through the Botanical Cactus Garden. Interpretive signs provide details about each plant.

   Ethel M Chocolates and Botanical Cactus Garden is located seven miles from the Las Vegas Strip. Drive 5.5 miles east of the Strip on Tropicana Avenue to Mountain Vista. Turn right on Mountain Vista and drive 2 miles to Sunset Way (past the factory). Turn left at the traffic light into Green Valley Business Park, then left again on Cactus Garden Drive.

   The factory and gardens are open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free.

   For more information, go to: https://www.ethelm.com/en-us/locations/henderson-flagship?srsltid=AfmBOorPh5t5JlVhZHG95fKnwBC_RS-3QaLZdC56ttwJnDhtNRECoQX9.

Lovelock Played an Important Role in the Settling of Nevada

 

The famed Round Courthouse in Lovelock, Nevada

   Sometimes it’s easy to overlook a place like Lovelock. It’s about halfway between Winnemucca and Reno, so many travelers on Interstate 80 pass by it on their way to somewhere else.

   But Lovelock is a community filled with rich history that deserves to be explored. Located about 90 miles east of Reno, the town traces its roots to the 1840s, when travelers on the Humboldt Trail (or Emigrant Trail) began stopping in the area for water and grass.

   Because of the great abundance of the latter, the region became known as Big Meadows and was an essential stop for travelers who needed to recharge before continuing south through the treacherous 40-Mile Desert.

   Additionally, in the 1850s and 60s, several significant mining discoveries were made in the area, including at Unionville and Rochester.

   In the 1860s, Englishman George Lovelock established a large ranching operation in the valley. In 1868, he gave 85 acres to the Central Pacific Railroad for a townsite, which was named in his honor. Originally called “Lovelock’s,” in the 1920s the name was shortened to simply, Lovelock.

  As mining dwindled, agriculture and ranching became more important. At the turn of the century, Lovelock was the location of the ranch of John G. Taylor, owner of one of the west’s great cattle empires. At one time, Taylor owned 60,000 head of sheep, 8,000 cattle, 130,000 acres of land and leased another half million acres.

  Additionally, the meadows proved ideal for growing crops such as barley, wheat, oats and alfalfa. The latter continues to be an important crop for local farmers.

   Wandering around the streets of Lovelock, which, sadly, contains many vacant lots and empty building, you’ll find a number of structures with history, including:

   • The Lovelock Depot, on the corner of Main Street and West Broadway Avenue, was constructed in 1880 by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The building is the only remaining example of a series of residential #2-style two-story depots erected through Nevada by the railroad. The building has been restored and is now owned by the city of Lovelock, which leases out space to commercial businesses.

   • The First National Bank Building (1905) in the former heart of Lovelock’s commercial district. It was originally the home of the First National Bank and the Lovelock Tribune newspaper.

   • The Lovelock Post Office on Dartmouth Avenue was built in 1937 and is considered a prime example of the Moderne architectural style. Inside, it boasts a large mural that the Smithsonian Institute has called one of the best representations of early Western art. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

   • The Pershing County Courthouse at the intersection of Main Street, Western Avenue and Central Avenue was constructed between 1919 and 1920. It has an unusual round design (one of only a handful of round courthouses ever built). Designed by famed Nevada architect Frederic DeLongchamps, it incorporates a Classical Revival style of architecture and was patterned after the Pantheon in Rome.

   • The Marzen House Museum, located west of the downtown off Cornell Avenue, was built in 1874 and is one of the area’s oldest homes. It was constructed by Colonel Joseph Marzen, owner of the Big Meadow Ranch, one of the region’s largest cattle operations. Restored in the 1980s, it now houses a fine local museum containing displays that tell the history of Lovelock. (For more info, go to: pershingcounty.net/community/marzen_house_museum/index.php)

   An excellent source of information about Lovelock and its history is the History of Lovelock (& Pershing County) Facebook group. It is a public group but you must request permission to join. To access it, go to: www.facebook.com/groups/lovelocknevada.

The Odd Life and Times of Elko's Robert F. Caudill (Better Known as 'Doby Doc')

 

Remnants of Doby Doc's collection of Nevada artifacts, such as these buildings, can still be found at the Clark County Heritage Museum in Henderson, Nevada.

   The late Nevada historian Howard Hickson once described Robert F. Caudill, the man typically known as “Doby Doc,” as “an honest to goodness died-in-the-wool Western character.”

   Hickson said many of Doc’s antics were legendary—and nearly unbelievable—and “a great deal of gray area” surrounded many of his activities, which usually had to do with the legal—and not quite so legal—acquisition of historic Nevada artifacts.

   As Hickson put it, Doc’s “philosophy boiled down to him getting away with thievery and not getting caught. That made it all okay. We’re not talking about simply everyday theft. We mean legendary stealing.”

   For example, sometime after the Eureka-Nevada Railway (formerly known as the Eureka and Palisade Railroad) closed down, Doc apparently decided the locomotive and rolling stock still sitting outside in the ghost town of Palisade, should have a new home. According to Hickson, he took all of it and transported it to his storage yard in Elko.

   Doc, who lived in Elko for nearly 40 years (from about 1906 until the late 1940s), was a pathological collector of historic stuff. His acquisitions ranged from clocks and smaller items to entire abandoned (and even not quite abandoned) buildings, trains, old mining ore carts, an entire schoolhouse (from North Dakota), and a Chinese Joss House.

   A February 18, 1962 editorial in the Nevada State Journal noted “For years Elko County residents scratched their heads as Doby Doc foraged for his Nevada memorabilia. Some though Doc must be a little off his beam, gathering all that junk. What good could it ever possibly be?”

   In 1947, Doc approached the city of Elko to request $50,000 to help him build a small replica of a mining town on the outskirts of the community. It would include much of the memorabilia he had collected over the years.

   The city’s response, not surprisingly given Doc’s reputation as a bit of a shady character—in addition his thieving, he had been once been a bootlegger—was to ignore the request.

   But shortly after, Doc was contracted by a new western-themed hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, the Hotel Last Frontier, to bring all of his treasures south and set up a tourist attraction.

   Known as the Last Frontier Village, it was Las Vegas’ first theme park and incorporated many of his old buildings, railroad equipment (he now had three complete trains with rolling stock), wagons, ore carts, etc. along with newer, faux-old time western structures. Doc also added a few wooden Indian figures, folks dressed as miners and cowboys, and kiddie rides.

   From 1950 to the late 1950s, Las Frontier Village was a popular attraction, often highlighted by Doc’s presence. He would wander the grounds telling his tale tales and other stories.

   According to Hickson, when ownership of the Hotel Last Frontier changed, Doc had a disagreement with the new owners and decided to remove all of his items. Almost overnight, he trucked everything out of the village and put it in a cluster of warehouses he owned near the Las Vegas Airport.

   Over the next few years, Doc purchased a piece of the Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas, which became his new main interest. It’s said that parts of his vast collection were sold over the years. One of the old locomotives is believed to have become part of another Old West theme-park, Old Las Vegas on the Boulder Highway.

   Additionally, some of the buildings were moved to Boulder City to become part of Fort Lucinda, another Old West theme park that boasted llama rides, a 3-foot narrow gauge railroad and a wax museum. It closed in 1966 and became the Gold Strike casino.

   Fortunately, some of the old buildings, which included the former Tuscarora Jail, a toll cabin and a general store, were stable enough to be donated and relocated to the Clark County Heritage Museum in Henderson. They continue to be on display there in what has been described as a state of arrested decay.

   According to the 1962 Nevada State Journal editorial, the bulk of the collection—some 65 truckloads—was sold for $3 million to an entrepreneur developing an elaborate western-themed town at Apache Junction, Arizona.

   As for Doc, he lived out his days in Las Vegas, dying of pneumonia at the age of 90 in August 1979.

Learn the Fascinating Stories About Western Nevada's Historic Ranches

The old Huffaker Mansion, now a private business, was built in 1881.

   While mining was the main economic engine for early Nevada, agriculture was an equally important one. In fact, during the state’s pioneer era, a number of large ranches and farms were established in parts of the state where water was available and the soil was good for growing things.

   This sometimes-overlooked aspect of the state’s past is finally given its due in a book written by Nevada historian Holly Walton-Buchanan titled, “Land of the Buckaroo” Historic Ranches of Western Nevada.”

   First published in 2013 by Reno publisher Jack Bacon (with a second edition in 2020), this handsome and lavishly-illustrated 192-page publication tells the stories of the first ranches to pop up in the western portion of the state and their important ways they supported the state’s silver mines, especially in the Virginia City area, as well as the transcontinental railroad built through Reno.

   In the book’s prologue, Walton-Buchanan, author of the excellent book, “Historic Houses and Buildings of Reno,” describes the life of a Nevada buckaroo as well as the various breeds of cattle that have been raised in the state. She includes a section on the rise of sheep ranches, the types of horses commonly used, and the buckaroo’s tools-of-the-trade.

   Chapter one is devoted to the development of ranching in the Carson Valley area in the 1850s. In this section, Walton-Buchanan insightfully interweaves the story of Nevada’s statehood with the rise of these ranches by pioneers such as Heinrich Dangberg, August Dressler, and others.

   In the next chapter, she shifts her focus to the Truckee Meadows region and the creation of ranches by early settlers such as Peleg and Joshua Brown and Louis Damonte. Remnants of their once-large holdings, including Peleg Brown’s original house built in 1864, can still be found in south Reno.

   The origins of familiar Reno place/street names, such as Huffaker and Holcomb, also began with ranches in the southern part of the Truckee Meadows, and that story is told in Chapter three. For instance, rancher Granville Huffaker established a successful operation in the early 1860s, known as Huffaker Station.

   His brick and stone ranch house, built in 1881, is still standing while the first Huffaker School, a one-room schoolhouse built in 1868, has been relocated to Reno’s Bartley Ranch Park, but has been restored to near original condition.

   Other chapters describe the golden age of ranching in western Nevada, a period that lasted from the 1860s to the end of the 19th century, as well as a handful of other prominent spreads such as the Peckham Ranch, the Callahan Ranch, the Wheeler Ranch, the Sparks Ranch, and Caughlin Ranch.

   The book’s penultimate chapter focuses on the rise (and eventual fall) of ranches established by Italian-American settlers in the late 19th century, including those owned by the Capurro, Casazza and Avansino families.

   In her epilogue, Walton-Buchanan brings the story up-to-date, explaining how the Truckee Meadows ranches largely ended up becoming today’s housing tracts, shopping centers and industrial parks.

   “Those wishing to visit the pockets of ranching activity that persist along the base of the Sierra Nevada will find the majority of today’s ranching activity in Carson Valley,” she notes, before closing with a quote from the late Bob Capurro, a member of one of the old-time ranching families in Reno: “This town was just so beautiful—it was green as far across the valley as you could see. Those were the days.”

   Fortunately, Walton-Buchanan’s book exists to remind us of that time.

    “Land of the Buckaroo” Historic Ranches of Western Nevada,” by Holly Walton-Buchanan can still be found in used bookstores, such as AbeBooks and, occasionally, a copy will show up at Grassroots Books in Reno.

Visiting Sparks' Marvelous One-Room School House

 

  Visitors to Sparks sometimes wonder why there’s an old one-room schoolhouse near Victorian Square? The reason is simple: it’s the oldest remaining school building in the state and it was originally located in Glendale, a small settlement that is now part of Sparks.

  Known as the Glendale School, the structure was built in 1864 and was used continuously until 1958, meaning it was used as a school longer than any other building in the state.

  Another key fact is that one of its alums was Nevada’s U.S. Senator Patrick McCarran, who served in the Senate from 1933 to 1954.

  Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, the school is a gabled, one-story wooden structure that was the first educational institution in the Truckee Meadows. According to the nomination form, the school, which cost $1,466, opened in April 1864 and attracted four students.

  In addition to being used for classes, the building also served as an early community center, hosting dances, meetings and other social functions. At the time the school closed in the 1950s it only had 18 students.

  Interestingly, the school was built before the town of Glendale had been established. Prior to 1866, the area was known as Stone and Gates Crossing.

  The crossing traces its beginnings to 1857, when a trading post was erected to serve emigrants crossing Nevada to reach California. In 1860, a bridge was built over the Truckee River at the site and a small settlement formed.

  By 1866, when the settlement changed its name to Glendale, it had grown to include couple of stores, a blacksmith shop, several saloons, a small hotel, and, of course, the school.

  In 1868, Glendale residents thought that the Central Pacific Railroad might locate its main facilities in their hamlet. Their hopes were dashed, however, when the railroad’s surveyors showed up immediately after the Truckee had overflowed its banks and found water in many of the buildings.

  Instead, the railroad chose to establish the town of Reno as the site of its operations and by 1869 many of Glendale’s businesses relocated to the newer community.

  In 1976, the abandoned school building was moved from its original location to a site adjacent to the Reno-Sparks Convention Center at the south end of Reno. There it remained (adjacent to the relocated Lake Mansion) until 1993, when it was relocated to the Victorian Square district in downtown Sparks.

  The school building, which has been restored to its early 20th century appearance, is open for tours (conducted by reservation, which can be made with the Sparks Heritage Museum).

  Adjacent to the Glendale School is Locomotive No. 8, built in 1907 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. The ten-wheeler was one of the last steam engines to operate on the Southern Pacific line and was retired in 1954.

  Attached to the engine are two historic Southern Pacific train cars, including a 1911 Pullman Car, said to have been used in 1948 by President Harry Truman on the successful whistle-stop campaign that helped get him reelected.

  The park also includes a replica of the original Sparks train depot (it’s about 25-percent smaller than the original), which was built in 1975 from the original plans.

  The city of Sparks was established in 1905, following relocation of the Southern Pacific Railroad's main division point from Wadsworth to Sparks. The railroad rerouted its tracks along the eastern Truckee River corridor to eliminate several dangerous curves and grades.

  The railroad originally looked at Reno for its new shops, but went east because of cheaper land. A passenger station and freight yard opened in 1905.

  The town began to develop around the railroad’s facilities. Many railroad employees who had worked in Wadsworth were sold lots in the new community and moved their homes to Sparks.

  The new town was originally called “East Reno” for a short time, then “Harriman,” after E.H. Harriman, owner of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Finally, in April 1904, Harriman decided to name the community in honor of Nevada’s then-popular Governor John Sparks.

  The historic Glendale School is located at 905 Victorian Avenue in downtown Sparks.

New Book Explores the Fascinating History of UNR

   On the cusp of Nevada’s birthday on October 31, there is a new book that recounts the rich history of the University of Nevada, Reno. Titled, “The University of Nevada, 1874-2024: 150 Years of Excellence,” the book traces the story of the university from its earliest days in Elko to the present.

   Written by John Trent, a longtime Nevada journalist and senior editor of News & Features at UNR, the 9.5-inch by 9.5-inch coffee table-style book is lavishly illustrated with historic and contemporary photos.

   In the Introduction, Trent explains how the university was initially located in Elko, but struggled because of its remote location. In 1885, the state legislature voted to move the school to Reno, where it continued to face challenges.

   However, Trent notes, the hiring of Hannah K. Clapp, a lifelong educator, as the university’s first faculty member helped the college to begin to realize its potential. Clapp, who held a number of positions during her 14-year tenure, was responsible for greatly expanding the university’s library (to include more than 11,000 books).

   Over five chapters, Trent describes a number of the university’s high points, which include the invaluable financial support of Clarence Mackay, son of one of the Comstock’s most successful mine owners, in the university’s early period to the contributions of various faculty members and students.

   Relying on oral histories and interviews, Trent also shares tales about ground-breaking athletes such as Marion Motley, who later helped break the color barrier in professional football, and Colin Kaepernick, who many consider the greatest quarterback to ever play at UNR.

   The book includes a section on the student activism of the 1960s and 70s, when the university was the site of anti-Vietnam War protests, sit-ins, and the fire-bombing of two campus buildings in 1970.

   Trent also describes the challenges faced by faculty member Ben Hazard, who, after accepting a teaching position at UNR as its first black professor, encountered housing discrimination. His experience was cited as one of the reasons for Nevada’s adoption of an open housing law in 1971.

   Later chapters detail the university’s enormous growth as it added new programs, such as a medical school and a college of engineering. Other efforts to boost enrollment were the result of the state adopting the Millennium Scholarship for high-achieving high school students, which helped reduce the cost of a college education for many Nevada students.

   In 2019, the university attained the status of being an R1 institution, meaning it was ranked as one of the top research universities in the nation.

   Among the most recent changes at the university was the acquisition in 2022 of the former Sierra Nevada College at Lake Tahoe, which was repurposed as the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. The new satellite campus permitted the university to augment its research efforts in the Tahoe Basin and build stronger connections to the Lake Tahoe community, according to Trent.

   “The University of Nevada, 1874-2024: 150 Years of Excellence,” by John Trent was published by the University of Nevada Press and is available on its website (https://unpress.nevada.edu/) or in local bookstores or online book retailers, such as Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Goldfield Hotel is a Silent Witness to a Community's Rich Past

   The rise and fall of the Goldfield Hotel could be seen as a reflection of the city’s own story. The hotel was built in 1907-08 during the height of the mining town’s boom times and its long, slow demise has paralleled the area’s decline.

   Standing four stories tall, the hotel, which is in the center of the community, was designed by a Reno architect named George Holesworth, a partner in the prestigious firm of Curtis and Holesworth, which had also designed Morrill Hall on the University of Nevada, Reno campus and the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah.

   Construction of the $250,000 (about $8.7 million in today’s dollars) Neo-Classical-influenced structure took more than a year due to a delay caused by a labor dispute.

   Historian Patty Cafferata, who has written about the hotel, said the first floor was built using granite imported from Rocklin, California and the building incorporated many of the newest amenities, including steam heat and an electric elevator.

   The 150-room hotel’s lobby was paneled in dark mahogany wood and three iron pillars in the room were outfitted with cushy, circular black leather buttoned banquettes. According to Cafferata, it cost more than $40,000 to furnish the hotel.

   From the street level, the brick and stone hotel rose 56 feet in height and was 170-feet long on one side (Columbia Street) and 100 feet in depth along Crook Avenue. Above the first floor, the hotel takes a “U” shape with a central area flanked by two wings.

   The hotel’s original owners were two successful early Goldfield miners, Granville Hayes and M.J. Monette (known collectively as the Hayes-Monette Syndicate) who had struck it rich with their leased Mohawk No. 2 mine. But in 1908, banker George Wingfield, partnered with U.S. Senator George Nixon, formed the Goldfield Consolidated Mine Company, which swept up all the producing mines in the district.

   In addition to owning all of the district’s mines, Wingfield also gained financial control of many other prominent businesses in the region, including the John S. Cook and Company Bank, Tonopah’s Mizpah Hotel, the Tonopah Banking Corporation, and the new Goldfield Hotel.

   The opening of the Goldfield Hotel was a call for celebration. Its “soft” opening on January 15, 1908, included a lavish party for some 650 guests. The official opening in June 1908 included special Pullman train cars that transported visitors from San Francisco.

   In its earliest years, the hotel was apparently profitable. However, as the area’s mines began to fade, so did the appeal of such a grand hotel. By 1911, it was starting to lose money. After 1917, Wingfield began leasing it to others to operate. In 1923, shortly after a fire destroyed nearly all of Goldfield, Wingfield sold it to Elko hotelier Newton Crumley.

   Crumley, who would later own the Commercial Hotel in Elko (with son, Newton Crumley, Jr.) in turn sold it in 1925 to Joseph Basile, Jr., who was the first of a long line of owners who came and went during the next two decades. The last time the hotel actually had paying customers was in September 1945.

   In subsequent years, the hotel has passed through the hands of additional owners, many of whom announced plans to restore it to its original glory—and even started work on it— but none ever completed the monumental job.

   Today, the hotel remains boarded up—a reminder of Goldfield’s better times. In recent years, the old hotel, which is allegedly haunted, has been featured in several ghost hunter-type programs. In 2022, the property was listed for sale at a cool $4.9 million.

   For more information, go to: http://www.goldfieldhistoricalsociety.com/goldfield-hotel/. Patty Cafferata’s book on the hotel is titled, “The Goldfield Hotel, Gem of the Desert” and it can be found in bookstores or online book vendors.

Visiting Goldfield's Unusual International Car Forest of the Last Church

   Perhaps the most unexpected aspect regarding Goldfield’s International Car Forest of the Last Church is that the massive art installation, consisting of some three dozen upturned cars planted in the desert, was created to break a world record.

   The forest was the brainchild of two men, Chad Sorg and Mike Rippie, who, in 2002, decided to “plant” cars on 80-acres of vacant land owned by Rippie that bordered U.S. 95.

   Both Sorg, a Reno artist, and Rippie, a longtime resident of Goldfield, were familiar with famous car-art installations, like the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, which consists of 10 Cadillacs buried nose down in the ground, and Nebraska’s Carhenge, a similar art piece, which has 38 vehicles.

   Rippie wanted to set a new world’s record for most upturned cars used in an artwork (it’s actually listed that way by Guinness Book of World Records) by having even more vehicles and knew he could do it since he owned more than 40 cars, trucks, and buses.

   Between 2002 and 2012, the two used a backhoe and lots of elbow grease to make the art project/attraction/world record site a reality. In some cases, the vehicles were planted nose in the ground while in others, several cars were stacked on top of each other.

   Perhaps most impressively, the two managed to plant several buses, including one that on a hill that rises high over the car-littered landscape.

   The two also hoped that people would come to the site and express themselves artistically by spray painting the cars. The result are some pretty crazy and imaginative designs, such as a Picasso-esque face of a cat painted on the hood of an upright car.

   At the entrance to the forest is a small structure with a large sign identifying the place. Another placard informs visitors they are entering at their own risk and warns to not climb on the vehicles because it isn’t safe.

   Continuing on the dirt road for a short distance, you can drop into a ravine containing the bulk of the vehicles or drive to a rise above the ravine where a bus and several other vehicles are perched.

   Visitors can basically wander around for as long as they want, taking photos and reveling in the place’s weirdness. There is no admission charge although the attraction’s website notes it is a legal non-profit and accepts donations.

   Since the car forest was created, the site has become a popular attraction for travelers on U.S. 95, appearing in features in magazines and newspapers from all over the country.

   According to an article about the car forest that appeared in ROUTE magazine, Rippie and Sorg eventually had a falling out. Rippie continues to live in Goldfield but the site is now owned and overseen by Sharon Artlip, owner of a Goldfield rock shop.

   A nice video of the International Car Forest was produced a couple of years ago by the excellent Wild Nevada television program. Here’s a link to the segment about the car forest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0JcPAUML_E.

   For more information about the International Car Forest of the Last Church, go to:  https://internationalcarforestofthelastchurch.com/ or check out the Travel Nevada information about the site at: https://travelnevada.com/arts-culture/international-car-forest-of-the-last-church/.

Goldfield's History Comes Alive at the Town Cemetery

  The historic Goldfield Cemetery, located just north of the Central Nevada mining community, has some good friends.

  Unlike some old mining town cemeteries that have been ignored or have fallen into disrepair, Goldfield’s graveyard has been well-maintained and protected by residents and supporters over the years. Representatives of the local historical society have even placed small metal plaques on many of the crosses and markers giving short information about the deceased.

  The result is a cemetery that isn’t a mystery, but rather is a place where you can learn about the individuals buried there and, in learning their cause of death, get a glimpse into their lives and the time when they resided in Goldfield.

  The town, which now has a population of about 230 people, was once was the largest city in Nevada with some 20,000 residents. Gold was discovered in the region in 1902 and within a short time a vast boomtown had been constructed around the mines.

  The community experienced its heyday from about 1903 to 1910, after which the mines became less productive. The largest mining company closed its operations in 1919 and four years later a fire caused by an exploding liquor still destroyed much of the town. 

  In its early years, the town’s cemetery was located in the downtown, adjacent to the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad Depot. Deciding the location was not the best first impression the city wanted to make for any visitors disembarking from the train, in 1908, all of the bodies were exhumed (about 70 at that time) and relocated to the present site.

  According to local lore, the group that took on the task of moving the dead became known as the “Official Ghouls.”

  While considered one big cemetery, the Goldfield graveyard consists of more than a half-dozen smaller burial grounds that cater to various religious groups and fraternal organizations.

  Thus, there is a general area but also designated places for Catholics, Protestants, Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Elks, Knights of Pythias, the Moose Lodge, and even members of the International Workers of the World labor organization. On the southwestern edge is a Potter’s Field.

  If you respectfully stroll through the cemetery you’ll be able to find out about such luminaries as:

  • Count Constantine de Podhorsky, a Polish nobleman turned mine promoter who was shot and killed while eating in a French restaurant on March 21, 1907 by a man who claimed the count had seduced his wife.

  • Thomas and Lucy Heslip, who both died tragically in August 1909. According to records, Lucy Heslip was sitting on her porch with two female friends one evening when a man named Patrick “Pegleg” Casey, who was drunk, came by to attempt to shoot her friend, Mrs. Alice Mann, for rejecting his advances. Casey shot Mann, injuring her, then fatally shot Lucy Helslip. He apparently tried to kill himself but failed. Upon learning his wife had been killed, Thomas Heslip decided he couldn’t live without her and killed himself the following day by ingesting cyanide.

  • The unknown man who died from eating paste. While it seems like a hoax, apparently on July 14, 1908 a man died from eating too much library paste. A doctor concluded that the man was starving and in bad physical condition when he wolfed down an entire jar of paste. The only identifying property on the man was a letter from a man named Ross. He is buried in the Potter’s Field.

  • Perhaps the strangest death—yes, even weirder than dying from eating paste—occurred on March 17, 1918 when local gravedigger and cemetery sexton John F. Meagher died while digging a grave. Meagher encountered a large boulder while digging and decided to load it with blasting powder to break it up. After lighting the fuse, he accidentally fell into the grave he was digging. As he scrambled to get out, the explosion went off and killed him. He was discovered the next day lying in the grave, which, ironically, became his final resting place.

  For more information about Goldfield’s wonderful cemetery, go to: http://www.goldfieldhistoricalsociety.com/goldfield-cemetery-stories/.

Gemfield: A Place Rockhounds Can Really Dig

  There are a couple of things that make Gemfield, an area located about four miles north of Goldfield in central Nevada, a special place for rockhounds. The primary one is that Gemfield has been described as the largest deposit of gemstone quality chalcedony in U.S.

  Additionally, at Gemfield, visitors will find no less than six different types of chalcedony, which is a fine-grained native silica quartz stone. And, even more amazing, the site is free to enter and there is only a $1 per pound fee, which you pay on the honor system.

  Getting out to Gemfield is relatively easy. You head south of Tonopah on U.S. 95, then, just before you reach Goldfield, you turn on a pretty-good dirt road that is marked with a Gemfield sign. Drive for about three miles into the foothills and you’ll reach a large sign board beneath a Joshua tree. The sign board displays rough maps showing the locations of the half-dozen different sites nearby where you can hunt for the different colors of chalcedony.

  “This mine produces gem quality chalcedony consisting of Bullseye, Multiflow, Dendritic, and Banded picture rock patterns, as well as agates, jaspers, Opalite, and more,’ the sign states. “Colors range from green, which when polished rivals jade, to the deep reds of carnelian.”

  The dig sites are on a claim on Bureau of Land Management land, so be respectful of the area.

  As you head out to Gemfield, there are a couple of things to bring with you. Since there is absolutely no shade (except near the Joshua tree), make sure to pack plenty of water and wear a hat and sunscreen.

  Also, it’s best to have a bucket in which to put your rock finds, a squirt bottle with water for cleaning the rocks to see the patterns and a geologist’s hammer or rock pick.

  Lastly, have patience. Rockhounding is an activity that involves carefully and slowly chipping at rocks so as not to damage any good finds. It’s a bit like fishing and requires sticking with it and taking your time.

  During a recent visit, we followed the directions to the various chalcedony dig sites and tried our hand at several. The sites are located in spots within a half-mile or less of the sign, so there are lots of places to check out. When you get to one, it essentially looks like a mound of broken rocks. Sometimes there are larger boulders/stones and small trenches. This is where it happens.

  One of our favorites was the site marked for Bullseye Chalcedony. Here we found a number of beautifully stripped and banded stones. In some cases the bands are red-brown against a white or tan background.

  Other mounds yielded stones that were light purple (lilac), faintly green, red, and blue tones. We’re not hard-core rock people, but we picked up a couple of pounds and looked forward to washing them off and taking up a relative’s offer of using his rock tumbler on a couple of the stones to see what they look like when they’re shiny and polished.

  There is a website for Gemfield that provides some information, at http://www.gemfieldnv.com/. Additionally, the state of Nevada’s Travel Nevada website offers additional useful tips and information at https://travelnevada.com/rockhounding-mining/gemfield/.

Classic Book Tells the Story of Reno's Most Eccentric Millionaire

   In Jack Harpster’s book, “The Curious Life of Nevada’s LaVere Redfield: the Silver Dollar King,” readers learn about the bizarre and fascinating life of a man who has been described as one of Reno’s richest and most unusual residents.

   Published in 2014, the book tells the story of Redfield, who died in 1974, and who was known for residing in an iconic stone mansion at 370 Mount Rose Street.

   During his life, it appears Redfield was seriously interested in only a couple of things—the acquisition of as much land as he could buy, purchasing and hoarding as many silver dollars as he could obtain, gambling and not paying taxes.

   Born on October 29, 1897 in Ogden, Utah, Redfield experienced serious poverty as a child. His father died when he was young and his mother was forced to raise seven children alone.

   As a young man. Redfield moved to Idaho and worked a variety of entry-level jobs, including as a potato digger and in a department store, which is where he met and married a co-worker (Nell).

   In about 1921, the couple moved to Los Angeles, where Redfield became a securities broker. It was during this time that he began shrewdly buying and trading depressed and seemingly worthless stocks that he thought had a chance to rebound.

   His investments proved particularly insightful and he truly hit the jackpot, earning his first millions, in the years immediately following the 1929 stock market crash when he paid pennies for serious depressed stocks no one wanted and later sold them when they became valuable.

   By the early 1930s, he was buying real estate at tax sales as well as bankrupt oil companies.

   In 1935, when California was considering instituting a state income tax, Redfield decided to move to Reno, which, at the time, promoted itself as a shelter for the tax weary.

   Shortly after arriving in Reno, he and his wife purchased the big stone home on Mount Rose Street, which had originally been built in 1930 or 1931 by a family named Hill.

   Redfield lived there until his death and his wife continued to live in the home until she died in 1981. Since then, family members have continued to own the property.

   After Redfield settled in Reno he soon began purchasing land at tax sales, just as he had done in California, including huge tracts of land being sold by the Southern Pacific Railroad near Mount Rose and above Lake Tahoe. Eventually, he would own more than 55,000 acres in Washoe County.

   Perhaps because he had seen so many banks close during the Depression, Redfield distrusted financial institutions and had little use for government. He abhorred paying income taxes so much that he attempted to hide his earnings.

   However, in 1960, the government caught up with him and Redfield was convicted of tax evasion. He went to jail for 18 months.

   Additionally, perhaps because he grew up poor, he was unusually thrifty—he reportedly saved money by buying dented canned food at a discount at supermarkets and was often seen driving around town in an old pickup truck, dressed like a farmer.

   Additionally, because he didn’t want the government to know his actual worth, he took to keeping large amounts of cash and coins in his home. In the 1940s, he began buying bags of uncirculated silver dollars (many minted at the former Carson City Mint) and stashing them in his house.

   Over the years, Redfield’s primary hobby and vice was gambling. According to Harpster, he was a nearly nightly visitor to downtown Reno’s casinos for many years.

   At the time of his death, executors found 680 bags of silver coins and 407,000 Morgan and Pierce silver dollars (351,259 of them un-circulated and still in original U.S. Mint bags; each bag held 1,000 coins) hidden in places throughout his 15-room stone mansion.

   His net worth was estimated to be about $70 million.

   Not surprisingly, rumors of his cash hoard circulated throughout the community—Reno was still a fairly small town in the 1950s and 60s—and in 1952, and again in 1963, his home was robbed and burglars made off with a portion of his coin cache.

   In response, Redfield began hiding his silver dollars behind false walls in his basement.

   Following Redfield’s death, once his estate had found all of the silver dollars, they sold them to a coin auction house, which gradually released them to collectors (they were sold over several years to prevent dumping too many on the collector market at one time).

   In her later years, Nell Redfield became a well-respected philanthropist, donating part of her fortune to a number of local charities and helping to establish a community college branch in South Reno.

   Jack Harpster’s “The Curious Life of Nevada’s LaVere Redfield: the Silver Dollar King” remains in print and can be found on Amazon or in most local bookstores.

Warm Springs May Fade Away But Its Rich History Remains

 

Stone corral at Warm Springs

   Not much remains of the old settlement of Warm Springs, located about 50 miles east of Tonopah on U.S. 6, at the point where it intersects with Nevada State Route 375, the beginning of the famous Extraterrestrial Highway.

   The handful of ruins are all that have survived of this former stagecoach stop that traces its beginnings to the mid-1860s.

   Not surprisingly, the area’s natural hot springs are what attracted people originally to the area. Nevada historian Shawn Hall has written that the first non-Native American folks to stop at the site were probably freight wagons and stagecoaches traveling between Eureka and Elko, attracted by the springs.

   In about 1866, a small stone house was built adjacent to the bubbling hot springs. While this settlement didn’t amount to much more than a welcome rest stop for travelers passing through this remote part of the state, a general store and lodging house were erected at Warm Springs near the end of the 19th century.

   Apparently, this little way station managed to survive during the next couple of decades. In January 1924, Warm Springs gained a post office and Ethel Allred was named postmaster of this tiny oasis.

   That, however, served as Warm Springs’ peak. Less than five years later, in June 1929, the post office was closed forever.

   Since then, there have been a few short-lived developments in the area. Sometime in the 1970s, a saloon, café, gas station and RV park opened near the old settlement site but those businesses have been closed for a long time.

   Additionally, around that time someone constructed a nice, concrete swimming pool near the café. While the pool, surrounded by nice shade trees, still looks mighty inviting to anyone who stops, unfortunately it’s on private property, surrounded by a high, locked fence and no trespassing signs.

   The actual Warm Springs spring can be seen about a quarter of a mile uphill from the swimming pool. Scalding hot water pours from the ground into a manmade ditch that leads to the pool. Rivulets of hot water also trickle into marshy land around the pool.

   The site of the former settlement of Warm Springs, located a few yards away from the pool, contains a few ramshackle wooden buildings that appear to have once been part of the early 20th century incarnation of Warm Springs.

   Additionally, you can find the tumbled-down walls of an old stone corral and piles of scrap wood and metal that may be the remains of the old store and lodging house.

   About 60 miles southeast of Warm Springs via the E.T Highway is Rachel, the self-proclaimed heart of Nevada’s UFO country. The community borders the high security military base often called Area 51, which is rumored to be where the U.S. government allegedly stashes recovered alien space ships and other secrets.

   For more information about Warm Springs, go to: https://www.rachel-nevada.com/places/warmsprings.html.

Trip to Mary Austin's 'Land of Little Rain'

  “If ever you come beyond the borders as far as the town that lies in a hill dimple at the foot of Kearsarge, never leave it until you have knocked at the door of the brown house under the willow tree at the end of the village street, and there you shall have such news of the land, of its trails and what is astir in them, as one lover of it can give to another.”— Mary Austin, The Land of Little Rain

  It’s easy to see how the Owens Valley area inspired writer Mary Austin. Bordered to the west by the craggy peaks of the Sierra Nevada range and majestic Mount Whitney, it is a land of great beauty.

  When Austin lived in the area at the end of the 19th century, Owens Lake hadn’t yet been drained to provide water to the city of Los Angeles and the area hadn’t become as dry and dusty as it is today.

  Austin spent 18 years in the small town of Independence, which is a pleasant, tree-lined community that is also the seat of Inyo County. It was during her time in Independence that she became interested in the western landscape and began writing about it.

  She arrived in the Owens Valley after her husband, Stafford Wallace Austin, was hired by the U.S. General Land Office in the 1890s. Austin soon became fascinated by Eastern California’s people and environment, and began spending considerable time listening and observing.

  Filling notebooks with stories, Austin practiced her art, eventually crafting stories that she was able to sell to national magazines. In 1903, she published “The Land of Little Rain,” a collection of short stories about the connection between the land, animals and people in the West.

  After gaining a measure of fame, Austin departed Independence but her experiences continued to flavor her work for the rest of her life. She died in New Mexico in 1934.

  Today, Austin’s presence can still be felt in Independence. The brown house under the willow tree (at 253 Market Street), which she and her husband built, remains standing. While it is a California Historical Landmark, it is also a private residence, so don’t disturb the inhabitants.

  Additionally, the nearby Eastern California Museum (155 N. Grant, about two blocks from the Mary Austin home) is an excellent place to learn more about Austin and the rich history of the region.

  The museum, founded in 1928, contains fine displays of Paiute and Shoshone basketry as well as an exhibit on Manzanar, the World War II Japanese-American internment center located five miles south of Independence.

  The five-acre grounds of the museum are covered with artifacts that help tell the region’s story.

  For instance, an extensive collection of agricultural machines and equipment remind you about the large farms that could once be found in the valley while the giant digging tools remind you about the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct (1908-1913), which eventually dried out the valley.

  Additionally, more than a dozen historic buildings can be found in the museum yard in a recreated pioneer village. The structures are authentic 19th century buildings relocated to the museum because they would have been destroyed if they had remained in their original settings.

  The collection of buildings includes an old general store, a blacksmith shop, an assay office, miner’s shacks, a livery stable, a barbershop and a three-hole outhouse.

  Adjacent to the pioneer village is a recreated Shoshone settlement with grass shelters and lean-tos.

  The museum gift shop offers a wide selection of books about Inyo County, including the works of Mary Austin. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. There is no admission charge but donations are welcome.

  Independence is located about 200 miles south of Carson City via U.S. 395.

  For more information, contact the Eastern California Museum, www.inyocounty.us/residents/things-to-do/eastern-california-museum.

The Complicated Nature of Beautiful Mono Lake

 

  Mono Lake is a true wonder. With its stark, otherworldly appearance and other attributes, it is by far one of the most complex and unique ecosystems in the American West.

  It is, at the same time, a desolate high desert lake and a vibrant, living, special environment teeming with unusual lifeforms and formations.

  Located about three hours southwest of Fallon via U.S. 50 and U.S. 395, Mono Lake traces its beginning to more than 700,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest bodies of water in North America.

  Fed by melting glaciers, the lake once measured five times its present size of about 60 square miles (geologists believe the lake covered about 338 square miles and reached a depth of 900 feet).

  In addition to having direct ties to the Ice Age, the lake also has been the site of extensive volcanic activity, starting about 13,000 years ago, which helped shape its current state.

  For example, the rounded black hills to the south are remnants of giant, uplifted volcanic craters. At one, Panum Crater, easily accessible from Highway 120, you can hike to the dome and rim of a long-dead volcano.

  The area's volcanic heritage is also evident at Black Point, at the lake's north end, which features large fissures you can walk through, and at various hot springs and steam vents found in the basin.

  The lake's trademark tufa formations, however, are its most impressive and unusual landmarks. At various places around the lake, you can find clusters of these towering calcium spires and plugs 

  Tufa is the stone formed when calcium-bearing freshwater springs bubble up through alkaline lake water that is rich with carbonates. When the two combine, limestone deposits develop, which can, over years, grow into large towers.

  Tufa formations, however, can only grow beneath the lake’s waters. When the lake level falls and the tufa is exposed to air, it ceases to grow.

  A number of interpretive trails lead to patches of tufa formations located around the lake, including a large selection near the Mono Lake County Park, at the northwest end, the Scenic Area Visitor Center in Lee Vining, and the South Tufa Area at Navy Beach (accessible from Highway 120).

  The latter contains some of the largest and most impressive tufa. Dozens of the gnarled, knobbed, and rippled tufa towers line the southern lake shore.

  Visitors can wander along the beach, wandering through the maze of formations, which, depending upon the light and your mood, can assume exotic and mysterious shapes.

  While the lake appears dead, it is actually an alkali soup of strange but fascinating lifeforms. Both the brine shrimp and brine flies flourish on its algae-laden waters.

  Additionally, the lake is popular with many species of birds (who eat the shrimp and flies), including the California gull, the eared grebe and snowy plovers. In fact, 90 percent of the state of California's population of California gulls is born at Mono Lake.

  Swimming is permitted in the lake and, because it is more than 1,000-times as salty as the Pacific Ocean, an interesting experience because you float much easier. However, rangers warn that you should keep the water out of your eyes or any cuts because it will sting.

  When you feel the lake's water you find it thicker than normal lake water. Mark Twain once wrote: "Its sluggish waters are so strong with alkali that if you only dip the most hopelessly soiled garment into them once or twice, and wring it out, it will be found as clean as if it had been through the ablest of washer woman's hands."

  Despite its unique qualities, it's a small miracle that Mono Lake continues to exist. In 1941, the City of Los Angeles began diverting water from four of the five streams that feed the lake.

  During the next few decades, the lake level dropped 40 feet and doubled in salinity. Fortunately, using legal tools, environmentalists and local community groups were able to work with the city to start the process of restoring the flow of water to the lake.

  For more information about these ongoing efforts, go to: www.monolake.org.

How Owens Valley Became a Desert Wasteland

   Driving on U.S. 395, just south of Lone Pine, California, you’ll encounter a big, open largely-alkali valley just east of the highway. The vacant white patch spreads out for miles until reaching the rising Sierra Nevada range. On many days, parts of the valley are so dry, you can see dust devils forming on the flats.

   But it wasn’t always that way out here. In fact, until the early 20th century, this area, known as Owens Valley, was the home of Owens Lake, a prosperous and verdant farming and ranching region.

   What happened to Owens Lake is a story that is interwoven with the development and rapid growth of Southern California in the 20th century. In order for one to grow and succeed, the other had to virtually disappear.

   By the late 19th century, the city of Los Angeles had begun to realize that it simply didn’t have sufficient water to support its future growth. Located in a dry basin that typically receives about 14 inches of rain annually, the city had traditionally relied on the Los Angeles River and wells for its water.

   After identifying the Owens Valley as an ideal source of water, the city began acquiring water and land rights—often using subterfuge and political pressure—in the region. Following the approval of a local bond to pay for the project in 1905, work began on building the system of canals and storage reservoirs to transport and capture Owens Valley water north to Los Angeles.

   The first phase of the project, which encompassed some 233 miles of infrastructure, was completed in 1913.

   While considered an engineering marvel, the Los Angeles Aqueduct, as the project became known, was not without controversy. Once Owen Valley farmers and residents realized the what was happening, they used legal and, in some cases, extra-legal means to stop the water transfer.

   By the 1920s, agriculture in the Owens Valley began to suffer due to the water diversions. In 1924, a group of farmers succeeded in destroying part of the aqueduct, but it was quickly repaired. Two years later, the amount of water being drawn from the valley was so substantial that Owens Lake was completely dry.

   In 1970, a second Owens Valley Aqueduct was constructed to divert even more water to Los Angeles (from surface sources and groundwater pumping). This resulted in nearly all of the Owens Valley springs and seeps to dry up and disappear.

   In response to lawsuits and political influence, in the 1980s and 90s, Inyo County, in which Owens Valley is located, and the city of Los Angeles entered into an agreement designed to provide a reliable water source to Los Angeles while also better managing groundwater pumping in Owens Valley.

   To date, those efforts have not resulted in any substantial changes to the dry valley, which continues to see groundwater pumping at a rate higher than the water resources can be recharged.

   As a result, visitors to the Owens Valley can still see the radical changes that have occurred because of such a massive siphoning of water. Owens Lake remains a barren, alkali flatland, with occasional patches of vegetation. Large dust storms rise from the dusty white lakebed. It is a place that appears out of a dystopian Science Fiction movie. But, sadly, it’s all too real.

   For more information about the history of the Owens Valley and the impacts of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, go to: https://www.inyowater.org/documents/reports/owens-valley-water-history-chronology/.

Early California History Comes Alive at Rancho Petaluma Adobe State Park

   The Rancho Petaluma Adobe is an impressive place. At two-stories and measuring about 200 feet by 145 feet, it was, at the time it was built (1836) the grandest house in Northern California.

   The structure, made of adobe bricks and hand-cut redwood timbers and planks, was the largest privately-owned adobe building in California and remains the largest example of the Monterey Colonial-style of architecture popular during the Californios era (roughly 1769 to 1846), when the area now known as California was under Spanish and Mexican rule.

   Even today, despite being only about half its original size (portions of the complex disintegrated over the years), the adobe, located on Adobe Road on the east side of the city of Petaluma, is worth a visit.

   Visitors can wander the cool adobe buildings, with their large overhanging roofs, and imagine a time when it bustled with activity as one of the largest agricultural enterprises on the West Coast.

   The adobe traces its origins to 1834, when Alta California Governor José Figueroa granted then-Lieutenant Mariano Vallejo a large tract of land that became known as Rancho Petaluma (the name, Petaluma, is taken from the native Miwok language for the places, which roughly translates as “flat back” or “backside of the hill.”).

   Figueroa wanted Vallejo to occupy and develop the land in order to keep it from being claimed by the Russians, who had established a fort (Fort Ross) on the coast.

   Vallejo soon began construction of the large adobe house, which boasted walls that were three-feet thick. It was designed to serve not only as a home but as Vallejo’s offices and as a fort, if necessary. With the latter in mind, the structure had iron grills and shutters on the windows.

   Over time, Vallejo enlarged the compound (it was never fully completed) and added a tannery and a blacksmith shop. At its peak, the rancho was more than 66,000 acres, with some 50,000 head of cattle, 24,000 sheep, and acres of fields of wheat, grains, and grapes. In addition to being supported by cowboys (known as vaqueros) and field workers, the rancho employed more than two-thousand Native American workers, who were generally paid with food, clothing, and other goods.

   In June 1846, a group of American settlers began what became known as the Bear Flag Revolt, a movement to create an independent republic in Northern California. The ragtag rebels succeeded in capturing Sonoma and imprisoning Vallejo. The revolt lasted only 25 days, after which the rebels were absorbed by U.S. government forces. The U.S. had declared war against Mexico in May 1846.

   When the conflict ended, in 1848, the U.S. had won control of California. The old Mexican ranchos, including Vallejo’s vast holdings, were eventually broken up as the former owners were forced to provide proof of title, which was often difficult (and expensive to prove) because of the imprecise maps of the time. Additionally, the California Gold Rush brought thousands of new residents, who homesteaded or simply squatted on land. Owners often lacked the financial resources to legally evict squatters.

   In 1857, Vallejo sold the adobe complex and surrounding 1,600 acres to William Whiteside for $25,000, who became the first of several owners over the next few decades. In 1910, the Native Sons of the Golden West Petaluma chapter purchased the decaying adobe compound with the intention of restoring what it could and, eventually, making it a public park.

   During the next three decades, the Native Sons raised funds to restore the buildings. In 1951, the site was turned over to the State of California, which made it the centerpiece of the Petaluma Adobe State Park.

   In addition to housing a small museum that describes the adobe’s history, the park hosts living history demonstrations and other events throughout the year. Located at 3325 Adobe Road in Petaluma, the park is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Admission to the park, which allows you to visit the structures, is $3 for adults (18 and older), $2 for children 6-17, and free for children 5 and under.

   For more information, go to: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=474.

Exploring General Vallejo's Sonoma Home

   Once upon a time, General Mariano G. Vallejo was one of the most powerful men in what would become the American West. In 1834, Vallejo was sent by the Mexican Governor in Monterey—at the time California was part of Mexico—to establish a community and military outpost at Sonoma, located 30 miles north of San Francisco.

  The settlement was intended to discourage Russian settlers and adventurers at nearby Fort Ross from expanding into the region. By 1836, Vallejo’s Sonoma Pueblo had become the chief military base for the Mexican government in Northern California. To support the post, the community of Sonoma formed around it and, by 1845, the settlement had a population of about 300, including 45 houses.

  In the early 1840s, however, American settlers began streaming into the region, overwhelming the Mexican government, which had unsuccessfully attempted to prohibit them for owning land or holding office.

  In June 1846, a group of disgruntled settlers seized Sonoma, including the base, imprisoned its leader, Vallejo, and declared the creation of the independent Bear Flag Republic.

  The crisis was resolved about a month later, when the Bear Flag group withdrew, taking down their flag, which was replaced by an American flag—signifying that the United States was assuming control over Northern California.

  As for Vallejo, he was soon released and remained one of Sonoma’s most prominent citizens. While Vallejo originally owned 175,000 acres in Sonoma and Petaluma, including vineyards and a quarry, he gradually lost influence (and his land) after the region became part of the U.S.

  In 1851, however, he decided to build a home for his family—he and his wife had 16 children, of which 10 survived—in Sonoma, which is still standing today and open for tours.

  Known as “Lachryma Montis” or “Tears of the Mountain,” after a nearby spring, the Vallejo home was unique because it was a “kit house,” meaning it was ordered from a catalog and the pieces were shipped from New England to Sonoma, where it was assembled.

  Vallejo, however, modified the plans to reflect his Mexican heritage. While the home has a New England-style Gothic Revival Victorian exterior, the interior is lined with stucco, a material usually associated with Mexican buildings.

  The result is a clever marriage of the two influences. The white, two-story home has the classic appearance of an ornate Victorian with the insulating qualities of adobe, meaning it is generally cool and comfortable inside regardless of how hot it is outside.

  Visitors touring the Vallejo house, which is now operated as a state park, will find that most of the elegant furnishings inside the home are original.

  The guided tour of Lachryma Montis begins in the Vallejo front room on the first floor. There, you can see the family’s piano, draperies, wall paintings and overstuffed chairs and sofas, all of which reflect the designs of the Victorian era.

  The next stop is in the dining room, which boasts a magnificent marble fireplace as well as a large dining room table covered with fine china (a British “Willow” pattern) and other utensils. Cooking was done by servants in a separate building at the rear of the house.

  Nearby is the study room with wall-size bookshelves, a fireplace, secretary, lamps and end tables.

  From here, the tour moves upstairs to the family bedrooms. The master bedroom has a massive walnut bed and other furnishings, including a large portable toilet—the house had no indoor plumbing or toilets.

  The grounds of the Vallejo estate are also quite lovely. In addition to the kitchen and servants building at the rear, there is a separate one-room Victorian “doll house” adjacent to the main house, which served as a private reading room for Vallejo and his wife (after all, they did have all those kids).

  Additionally, the grounds boast several original fountains and a large Swiss Chalet building, now a museum filled with exhibits about Vallejo’s life, which was originally used for wine and olive storage.

  Following Vallejo’s death in 1890, his 15th child, Luisa Vallejo Emparan, owned the house. Although the state of California acquired the property in 1933, she continued to live in it and served as a tour guide and caretaker until she died in the mid-1940s.

  The Mariano Vallejo home is directly west of the main part of downtown Sonoma at Spain Street and Third Street West. The home is open for tours on weekends. For more information go to https://www.sonomaparks.org/location/general-vallejos-home/ or https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=479.

History and Beauty Found at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts

 

     It’s a mistake to overlook San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. Originally built as part of the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, which celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal, the Palace of Fine Arts is a magnificent edifice that continues to delight visitors who stroll the shaded grounds surrounding its scenic lagoon.

   The structure was designed by famed California architect Bernard Maybeck, who said it was inspired by an etching depicting a Roman ruin reflected in a pool by 18th century Italian artist Giovanni Piranesi.

   The domed palace housed art exhibits and was one of eleven pavilions constructed for the exposition, which was built on 635 acres of land reclaimed from the San Francisco Bay.

   Like the rest of the structures, the Palace of Fine Arts was originally supposed to be a temporary building that would be removed once the exposition was over. However, a prominent San Francisco socialite, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, was so taken with its classical beauty that she founded the Palace Preservation League while the fair was still ongoing to save the building.

   Her efforts were successful and for several years the palace housed art exhibits. During the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration commissioned several artists to replace deteriorating murals on the rotunda ceiling and, later, the building housed eighteen lighted tennis courts.

   By the 1950s, however, it was clear that the Palace needed to be completely reconstructed. Built of wood covered with a mixture of plaster and a burlap-type fiber, the colonnade and rotunda had deteriorated over time and were considered unsafe.

   In 1964, the original Palace was demolished with the exception of the steel structure of the exhibit hall. The buildings were carefully rebuilt in concrete with steel beams installed to support the rotunda dome. The structure was retrofitted in 2010 to ensure it would survive an earthquake.

   Since it was built, the Palace has become a beloved San Francisco landmark; in recent decades it has been particularly popular as a setting for weddings. It’s also a lovely spot for a picnic or a walk around its scenic lagoon, which is surrounded by towering Australian eucalyptus trees.

   Additionally, a variety of wildlife have taken to living in and around the latter including ducks, geese, swans, frogs and snapping turtles that can be seen sunning themselves on partially submerged tree roots.

   Not surprisingly, the Palace’s photogenic setting in San Francisco’s Marina District has served as a backdrop for a number of films, such as “Vertigo,” “The Rock” and “Bicentennial Man.”

   The Palace’s exhibition hall became home of the Exploratorium from 1969 to 2013, an interactive hands-on science museum for children. In April of 2013, the Exploratorium relocated to Piers 15 and 17 on San Francisco’s Embarcadero. The exhibit hall is now primarily used for special events.

   The Palace of Fine Arts is located at 3301 Lyon Street near San Francisco’s Marina District. For more information, go to https://palaceoffinearts.com/.