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.