Exploring the New East Walker River State Recreation Area

 

  One of Nevada’s newest state parks facilities is all about ranching.

  Known as the East Walker River State Recreation Area, located about 14 miles south of Yerington, the park is devoted to celebrating the ranching culture of western Nevada, while offering plenty of recreational opportunities.

  The park, along with Ice Age Fossil State Park near Las Vegas, are the only new state parks that have been established in the past two decades.

  The East Walker River Recreation Area encompasses nearly 30 miles of river corridor and 12,856 acres of land. It was created when the Walker Basin Conservancy, a non-profit environmental group seeking to restore Walker Lake, bought four historic ranches that border the East Walker River.

  According to the group, the goal was to secure the water rights from the ranches in order to return more water to the lake, which has been receding in recent decades. The group gifted the land, estimated to be worth more than $8 million, to the state for the park.

  The ranches included the Pitchfork, Nine Mile, Rafter 7 and Flying M ranches, which can trace their roots back more than 125 years.

  At the present time, only the Pitchfork (originally known as the Strosnider Ranch) and the Nine Mile are open to the public.

  The Flying M Ranch, owned by Barron Hilton, remains under a life lease and will become available for public use after his death. The Rafter 7 Ranch, which includes a large ranch house, is still being developed as a large-group setting.

  The initial phase of the park’s development began on the Pitchfork Ranch property in 2018, with the opening of a visitor’s center (in an attractive stucco building that was the original ranch house) and completion of campsites, some with RV hook-ups, and covered picnic areas.

  Additionally, the park offers four one bedroom, one-bathroom cabins (with additional bunkrooms accommodating two twin bunkbeds) at a place called Antelope Acres, which is about a mile and a half from the main entrance.

  Cabins can be reserved using a form found on the state park service web site (http://parks.nv.gov/parks/walker-river). Cabins cost $95 per night on week nights and $120 for weekends.

  A stop into the visitor’s center is a chance to ask park staff any questions about the area, view a handful of exhibits, and pay the $5 day-use fee.

  One of the best ways to enjoy the park is by kayaking on the East Walker River (bring or rent your own). Currently visitors can float for about six miles but the route will eventually stretch some 50 miles.

  A good account about kayaking at the park recently appeared on Public Broadcasting’s Wild Nevada television show (watch at: www.pbsreno.org/watch/wildnevada/s5-episode1/).

  The park also offers trails as well as roads for off-road vehicles, horseback riding, mountain bikes. Private working ranches surround the park’s property, so pay attention to signs marking no trespassing.

  To reach East Walker River Recreation Area, head south of Yerington on State Route 208 for about eight miles, then head east on a marked, graded dirt road for another six miles or so. The road can be wash-boarded and a little rough for passenger cars but easy for a higher clearance four-wheel drive vehicle.

  For more information, go to the Nevada State Park web site for the park, which is: http://parks.nv.gov/parks/walker-river.

The Sweet Surprise that is Wilson Canyon

  Wilson Canyon is a narrow rock passageway in the Singatse Range, which separates Smith Valley from Mason Valley in western Nevada. Stretching some three miles, the canyon is an unexpected scenic treasure that is also popular with off-road vehicle enthusiasts.

  The canyon’s spectacular reddish-gray-colored volcanic rock walls were carved by the West Walker River, which runs through the canyon before intersecting with the East Walker River a few miles to the east.

  Located 13 miles southwest of Yerington, Wilson Canyon was named for brothers David and William “Uncle Billy” Wilson, who settled in the area in 1863.

  David, Wilson who was born in Ohio in 1829 and raised in Missouri, headed to California in 1850 to seek his fortune as a gold placer miner on the Yuba River. Three years later, he returned to Missouri and, in 1855, married Abigail Butler of Ohio.

  Following service in the Union Army during the Civil War, David Wilson and his wife and family returned to the west, this time heading to Nevada, where his brother, William Wilson, was mining.

  The brothers settled in the Wilson Canyon/Mason Valley area, where David became a successful rancher while William, who had previously worked as a miner in Virginia City, continued to seek his fortunes in the region’s mountains.

  In 1866, William struck it rich in the Pine Grove area. While David would spend the rest of his life in the Mason Valley area, becoming a prominent rancher and community leader, William made and eventually spent a fortune developing mining properties in Pine Grove.

  William died nearly penniless in Pine Grove in 1911 at the age of 80. His brother, David, died four years later in the Mason Valley home of his friend, John McGowen, at the age of 85.

  An interesting side note is that in addition to his own sons, David Wilson took in and raised a young Northern Paiute boy named Wovoka, who also took the name Jack Wilson. Wovoka would later become an important Native American religious figure and leader, who started the Ghost Dance Movement in 1890.

  From 1910 to the late 1940s, the Nevada Copper Belt Railroad line ran through the canyon.

  In more recent decades, the Bureau of Land Management has maintained a recreation area for day-use and overnight camping, which is located at the western edge of the canyon. Camping is primitive with no utility hook-ups and on-site vault restrooms.

  The recreation area is popular with all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts and dirt-bikers, who can travel on some three-and-a-half miles of trails in the area.

  Additionally, the Wilson Canyon Nature Trail, developed in 2011 with assistance from the state of Nevada, Lyon County and local volunteers, is a 3.5-mile loop that offers beautiful views of the area.

  Lining the trail, which is rated moderate, are a handful of signs that help hikers identify various plants and animals (including mule deer, waterfowl and raptors, found in the area. You will also find petrified wood stumps and other fossils along the way.

  For more information about Wilson Canyon, go to: www.alltrails.com/trail/us/nevada/wilson-canyon.

Glimpses of Early Reno Still Found in Historic Powning's Addition Neighborhood

 

Reno's McKinley School

  In recent years, more and more attention is being paid to a Reno neighborhood known as Powning’s Addition. Directly west of downtown Reno and north of the Truckee River (roughly bordered by Keystone Avenue, Commercial Row, Arlington Avenue and Riverside Drive), the area contains some of the community’s most historically-significant structures.

  The neighborhood takes its name from Christopher Columbus (C.C.) Powning, one-time owner and editor of the Nevada State Journal newspaper, who served as the primary force behind its development.

  Powning, who is now largely forgotten, owned the newspaper from 1871 to 1891, and also served as president of the Reno Water, Land and Light Company, the main utility provider for the community.

  In 1886, Powning purchased 122 acres of land west of the downtown, which he divided into lots and began selling under the name, Powning’s Addition.

  According to historical records, while sales were steady in the beginning, with a number of Italian families locating in the new neighborhood, construction was stop-and-go because of Nevada’s roller coaster economy, which, at the time, was so dependent on mining.

  As a result, homes were built in the subdivision over a five to six-decade period (from the 1890s to the 1940s). Construction styles varied with early houses built with a Queen Anne design (popular in the late Victorian period) and later homes largely being Craftsman bungalows, a style popular in the 1930s.

  Additionally, commercial development began to appear along First and Second streets, which intersect the tract, due to the increasing popularity of the automobile, particularly after the development of the Lincoln Highway, which passed through downtown Reno.

  Today, Powning’s Addition is a mixed-use neighborhood with many quaint historic homes, some still used as residences, surrounded by office buildings, apartments, commercial developments, and elegant houses that have been converted into businesses.

  Several years ago, Nevada historical writer Patty Cafferata produced an excellent walking tour booklet (“A Walk Through Time: The Historic Powning’s Addition in Reno, Nevada”) that listed some two dozen noteworthy sites in Powning’s Addition, including:

  • The McKinley Park School at 925 Riverside Drive. This beautiful Mission Revival-style school, now an arts center, was erected in 1909-10. The school was one of Reno’s “Spanish Quartet” schools, designed at the time by noted Nevada architect George Ferris in a Mission Revival style. Today, McKinley and Mount Rose Elementary School still survive.

  • The Pearl Upson House, 937 Jones, is a good example of the Queen Anne-style architecture. This red brick, two-story house was built in about 1902 by Mr. and Mrs. Pearl Upson and still serves as a private residence.

  • Dow House, 935 Jones, is another classic red brick Queen Anne, built about the same time as the Upson home. It boasts a wrap-around porch and is currently used as an office.

  • Rocovits Gas Station, 100 Winter, considered Reno’s oldest gas station. The gas station, believed to have been constructed in 1914, was one of the early commercial businesses built in Powning’s Addition.

  • Dondero Property, 96 Winter and 98 Winter, is a prime example of some of the development by Italian-American homeowners. The brick bungalow at 96 Winter served as the residence of Archangelo and Amelia Dondero, the first Italians to own a business in downtown Reno (“The Northerner” saloon on Center Street, now part of Harrah’s). The two-story building behind the house, at 98 Winter, was a boarding house for Italian immigrant railroad workers.

  • Lora J. Knight House, 615 Jones, is a magnificent home and matching cottage that was built in 1931 by a prominent Southern California philanthropist. Mrs. Knight, who also built the Vikingsholm mansion at Lake Tahoe, accommodated guests here before they made the long journey to Lake Tahoe. Over the years, it has been remodeled extensively and is currently used as offices.

  • St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 310 West Second, is an impressive cathedral built in 1907 and rebuilt in 1910 after a fire. It utilizes a blending of architectural styles, including Renaissance, Classical and Baroque and remains in use as a Catholic Church.

  Unfortunately, “A Walk Through Time: The Historic Powning’s Addition in Reno, Nevada,” is out of print but it can occasionally be found on online used bookseller sites.

Virginia City's Fourth Ward School Remains Important Link to the Past

  One of the most impressive historic structures still standing in the old mining town of Virginia City is the community’s majestic Fourth Ward School.

  Well-maintained due to the ongoing efforts of many in the local community, the Fourth Ward School is proof of the importance of historic preservation efforts.

  The school was built in 1876 in the French-influenced Second Empire architectural style, which was popular in the late 19th century.

  Inside, room boasts high-ceilings, transoms above the doors and large windows that allowed the free flow of air were included in the design because it was thought that they helped reduce the spread of contagious diseases.

  The school’s relative opulence—cost estimates range from $50,000 to as high as $100,000—reflect the era when it was built. The mid-1870s were the peak of the Comstock mining boom, so it was only fitting that such a successful community build such an impressive schoolhouse.

  Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the school is its size. It was constructed to accommodate more than 1,000 students in 16 classrooms. Housed on its four floors were both a grammar school and a high school.

  The structure also boasted many surprisingly modern conveniences—at least they were modern for the times—such as a central heating system, water piped to every floor, drinking fountains and indoor “Philadelphia-style,” patented, spring-loaded, self-flushing toilets.

  According to Nevada historian Susan James, the school achieved several educational milestones during its day, including being the first high school to award diplomas for successful completion of nine grades (by 1909, it had added all 12 grades).

  Virginia City’s declining fortunes along with the school’s age and construction of a newer school building resulted in the Fourth Ward School closing in 1936.

  For the next three decades, the magnificent structure stood empty, its fate uncertain. Starting in the 1960s, however, the community rallied around efforts to save the old school.

  Finally, in the 1980s, the building was rehabilitated. In 1986, it reopened as a museum devoted to the school’s rich past and to telling the history of the Comstock region.

  Today, a visit to the Fourth Ward School is a chance to glimpse the glorious history of 19th century Virginia City. Several of the old classrooms have been renovated and filled with historic artifacts telling both the story of the school and the city.

  While the building boasts a modern elevator, walking to the second floor is a special treat because you can trudge up the worn wooden steps used by so many generations of Virginia City students—and almost feel their presence.

  At the top of the stairs is a classroom that contains an old print shop, which was part of the school's vocational curriculum. A larger room across the hall is set up with chairs for public presentations and performances.

  The school’s Changing Gallery features an exhibit offering an overview of the history of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, including recent efforts to reconstruct the historic rail line between Virginia City and Carson City.

  The Fourth Ward School Museum is located at 537 C Street at the south end of Virginia City (the Gold Hill side). The museum is open daily from May 1 through October 31, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  During the winter, the museum offers reduced hours. Call 775-847-0975 ahead of time to see if they are open. For more information, go to www.fourthwardschool.org.

Carson City Region's Best Walks and Hikes Spotlighted in New Book

 

Jumbo Grade trail, included in Mike White's new hiking book

  Author Mike White knows his way around Carson City. That fact is obvious after reading his latest book, “50 of the Best Strolls, Walks, and Hikes Around Carson City,” published recently by the University of Nevada Press.

  Reno-based White, who has written nearly two-dozen books about hiking in Nevada and California, focuses on trails and walks in the vicinity of Nevada’s Capital City. Aided by informative maps and photos (by award-winning outdoor photographer Mark Vollmer), White provides detailed directions and descriptions of the various trips in the book.

  The book is divided into four geographical sections: Eagle Valley and the Carson River; the Foothills; the Mountains; and Washoe Valley and Virginia City. Within each, he describes about a dozen individual hikes/walks that can be found in that area.

  For example, he kicks off the first section (Eagle Valley and the Carson River) with the popular Riverview Park walk, an easy trek that my wife and I enjoyed doing when our children were young. The trail, which has several loops, takes visitors through some 108 acres of sagebrush, wetlands, and cottonwoods on the west bank of the Carson River. We often saw wild horses along the way during our regular walks.

  Within each entry, White includes a map, photos, distance information, elevation gain, things to look for, recommended users (e.g. hikers, trail runners, bikers, etc.), whether dogs are allowed, difficulty of the hike, and recommended best time of year to make the trek.

  The section titled the Foothills focuses on hikes in the hills around Carson City, such as the V & T Railroad Grade (which overlooks the northern part of the city), the Waterfall Trail and Kings Canyon Loop (directly west of the city on Kings Canyon Road and takes you to the only waterfall in the area), and C Hill (where you can hike up to the big white “C” above the city).

  The Mountains section takes visitors outside of the city limits and includes directions for hiking portions of the Tahoe Rim Trail, the hike to Marlette Lake, the famed Flume Trail, and the Lam Watah Trail to Nevada Beach.

  The final section, Washoe Valley and Virginia City, includes hikes in Davis Creek Park, the Jumbo Hill Loop (which rises above Washoe Valley’s east side and leads to Virginia City), the easy Deadman Creek Loop at Washoe Valley, and the fairly challenging hike to the top of Mount Davidson above Virginia City.

  One of the highlights of each entry are Vollmer’s beautiful images, particularly of the views visitors will find and of the wildlife they may encounter.

  The book begins with an informative section addressing things such as the best ways to hike with children, hiking with dogs, trail etiquette and safety, what to pack on backcountry hikes, and other useful tips.

  “50 of the Best Strolls, Walks, and Hikes Around Carson City” by Mike White is available on the University of Nevada Press website (www.unpress.nevada.edu/) or in local bookstores or from online booksellers.

Exploring the Remains of Historic Candelaria

  Wandering the handful of ruins in the old mining town of Candelaria, it’s hard to believe the town once boasted some 1,500 residents and its mines produced more than $1 million per year in ore.

  Only a few stone walls and arches, piles of wooden and metal debris and a cemetery mark the spot of what was once one of the most successful mining communities in Esmeralda County (the county was later split into two counties, Esmeralda and Mineral, with Candelaria becoming part of Mineral County).

  Candelaria traces its beginnings to 1864, when Mexican prospectors discovered silver in the hills about 12 miles northwest of the Columbia salt marshes (some 120 miles south of Fallon). They established a mine they named Candelaria in honor of Candle Mass, a Roman Catholic holiday.

  While the ore was promising, the camp really begin to grow until the late 1870s, when German and Slovenian miners arrived and staked the Northern Belle Mine, which proved extremely profitable. Within a few years, large stamp mills were erected at nearby Belleville (eight miles northwest) and the boom was under way.

  In 1876, a visitor to Candelaria could find a post office, hotels, restaurants, stables and a budding business district. Water, however, was virtually nonexistent.

  Residents paid as much as $1 per gallon—it cost $2 to bathe—for water that had to be transported from a spring nine miles away. In fact, some historians claim that whiskey and other alcoholic beverages were much cheaper to drink than water.

  The lack of water is said to have been particularly difficult because it meant the stamp mills operated without water, generating clouds of silica-laden dust that caused the miners to suffer and die from lung-related diseases. A water pipeline was built in 1882 from nearby Trail Canyon and the price of the precious commodity dropped to five cents per gallon.

  The town also reportedly had three doctors, two lawyers, a school, bank, telegraph office, two breweries, a newspaper and two dozen saloons—but, despite its Christian name, no churches (in fact, the town never had a church).

  Perhaps the most important event for the town happened in 1882 with completion of a spur of the Carson & Colorado Railroad. The route connected Candelaria to shipping points at Mina and Keeler, a town near Owens Lake, California.

  A fire destroyed a substantial part of the budding metropolis in 1883. The next year, a strike at the mines affected the area's output. That was followed by a gradual decline of the mines’ output.

  By 1890, the town was in a serious slump that was only exacerbated by the national financial panic of 1893, which cut off new sources of capital and caused many of the mines to close.

  The district revived briefly just after the turn of the 20th century with new mining discoveries but that flurry of activity was short-lived.

  The Carson & Colorado Railroad abandoned the area in 1932 (after having been consolidated with other railroad lines in 1905 to become the Nevada & California Railway). It had provided only intermittent service during the previous three decades.

  Open pit gold mining operations were initiated in the 1970s, which obliterated much of the area around the historic mining district, including the site of an adjacent mining town called Metallic City. Today, large chain-link fences surround the open pit mine that border the old town.

  As a result, the desert is slowly reclaiming Candelaria, which hasn’t had a resident in more than 90 years. Photos of Candelaria taken twenty-five years ago show many of the same buildings, but in much better shape and in greater number.

  The best remains include the former bank building, which, according to records, later served as a saloon and general store as well as a fairly intact stone building across the street. All aaround are a handful of stone foundations, wooden walls, fences and collapsed ruins.

  The two stone structures, in fact, are the most substantial survivors of a main street that once stretched for a half-mile or so through this small, dry valley surrounded by rough, black lava-rock hills. A few miles miles north of the townsite is the cemetery, which is definitely worth checking out.

  Candelaria sits 14 miles south of Mina, off U.S. Highway 95 via a marked, paved road (which leads to the modern mining operation). Mina is located about 35 miles south of Hawthorne in central western Nevada.

  For more information about Candelaria, check out Stanley Paher’s “Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps” and Shawn Hall’s “Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of Southern Nevada,” which has a chapter on Candelaria. Both are available from online booksellers.

  You can also find a nice selection of contemporary photos at https://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nv/candelaria.html.

The Vastness of Nevada Becomes Very Real in Railroad Valley

One of the oil-pumping stations found in Railroad Valley. (Photo courtesy of Farmartin)

   There are no trains in Railroad Valley. In fact, the long, narrow valley located northeast of Tonopah via U.S. 6, has never had a train.

   The name is believed to have derived either from a proposed narrow-gauge railroad line that would have passed through the valley (stretching from Elko down to Lincoln County) or from a large gravel bar, a remnant from an ancient lake, at the northwest end of the valley that resembled a railroad grade.

   Whatever the origins, the valley has been inhabited for nearly 12,000 years, according to archaeologists, with the earliest residents being the Clovis people and, in more recent times, by members of the Western Shoshone people.

   The first non-Native Americans to pass through the valley included the explorer Jedediah Smith, who, in 1826-27, led a small expedition searching for a mythical waterway (Buenaventura River) that allegedly flowed through the unexplored western territories to the Pacific Ocean.

   In mid-June 1827, Smith wrote of crossing the then-unnamed valley, which had little water or grass. He said game was scarce, although he was able to kill a rabbit for food.

   The next non-Native to enter the valley was the Great Pathfinder, John C. Fremont, who lead an expedition through the region in 1854. Again, he noted the lack of vegetation and game, and pretty much passed through as quickly as he could.

   Prospectors were the next to explore the valley, following the discovery of silver and gold ore in Austin (1862), Hamilton (1867), Troy (1867) and Grant (1868). Soon, smaller but promising discoveries were made in the mountains surrounding the Railroad Valley, in the Grant, Quinn Canyon, and Reveille ranges.

   With the arrival of the mining camps, came the need for services, and ranching operations began to crop up in the valley.

   According to Robert D. McCracken and Jeanne Sharp Howerton, authors of “A History of Railroad Valley, Nevada,” within two decades, from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s, “the Native Americans living in the area quickly lost their best food-producing sites,” including foraging and hunting lands at Duckwater, Currant Creek, Blue Eagle, and Lockes as large sections of the valley were fenced.

   By the 1890s, portions of the valley had been developed with various ranches producing hay or being used for grazing cattle as well as for salt mining, and other agricultural uses. McCracken and Howerton note that the valley became known as “good stock-raising country with large springs and abundant forage for cattle.”

   Additionally, starting in the late 1860s, the mountains around the valley were harvested for their timber, particularly white pine and fir. Logging apparently continued in the mountains to the east until the 1920s.

   The presence of geothermal springs also contributed to the valley’s development, particularly to the north end, where Big Warm Springs is located. This portion of the valley is now part of the Duckwater Indian Reservation, which was established in the 1940s.

   Perhaps the most important development in Railroad Valley in the mid-20th century was the commercial drilling and pumping of oil. Starting in 1954, Shell Oil began pumping oil in the Eagle Springs area of the valley.

   By the 1990s, Railroad Valley wells had produced nearly 38 million barrels of oil from a handful of wells. Even today, the first thing travelers on U.S. 6, which traverses Railroad Valley, notice are the handful of oil well pumps rising up and down methodically.

   Additionally, ranching still hangs on in the valley and mining companies periodically explore for new discoveries in the surrounding ranges.

   As one of the largest valleys in Nevada—Railroad Valley measures some 120 miles long and between 9 and 12 miles wide—the valley remains a vast and wide-open landscape that truly defines the state’s basin and range areas.

   For more information about the valley, check out Robert D. McCracken and Jeanne Sharp Howerton’s excellent “A History of Railroad Valley, Nevada,” published by the Central Nevada Historical Society and available at online book sellers.