Calistoga's Francis House Somehow Defied the Odds

   When one tells the tale of an historic property, especially in fast-growing places like California and Nevada, the story typically ends with the destruction of the venerable old structure, which is inevitably replaced by something new and shiny.

   But there’s an old house in the quaint community of Calistoga, located at the north end of California’s famous Napa Valley, that somehow dodged a date with a wrecking ball to become an elegant and magnificent small hotel.

   Located at 1403 Myrtle Street, the historic John H. Francis House was built in 1886 in the classic Second Empire style of architecture (similar in appearance to Virginia City’s Savage Mansion, which was built in 1861). The house has the distinction of being the only stone residence built in that style in the Napa Valley.

   James H. Francis, who commissioned construction of the house, was a prominent Calistoga merchant (his brother, George, was owner of the Napa Register newspaper in the city of Napa).

   Francis had a mercantile store on the corner of Lincoln and Washington streets in the downtown area and owned several ranches, including one north of Calistoga on which there was a productive silver mine.

   His three-story mansion incorporated locally-quarried stone as well as curled redwood. When completed, it was arguably the most elegant and impressive single-family home in Calistoga.

   Following Francis’s death in 1891, the house was sold to Colonel Myron E. Billings, a Civil War veteran and justice of the U.S. Criminal Courts who had been appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant. Billings modified the house over the next several decades, installing electricity, hot and cold running water, and indoor bathrooms both upstairs and downstairs.

   In 1918, Billings died and the house was rented to a local nurse, Mabel Martin, who converted it into the Calistoga Hospital. According to author Jane Hodges Young, writing for North Bay Biz magazine, Martin married a local minister and widower, C.L. Peterson, and the two operated the hospital until the mid-1940s.

   During the next two decades, several additions were made to the building, which also was sold several times until closing in 1964. According to Young, in 1970, it was purchased by Donald J. Selvey, who apparently was a hoarder who did no maintenance or upkeep of the property and used it to store his cars and other junk.

   Despite being placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the once-grand old house was essentially abandoned for more than 50 years, slowly decaying (the second floor and the stairs collapsed at one point). In 2015, it was listed as one of the ten most endangered historic properties in the county by Napa County Landmarks.

   In 2007, the property was purchased by Napa developer Neil Schafer, who announced plans to build a luxury resort on the property, but that fell by the wayside with the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Finally, tired of having such an eyesore and hazard in the middle of town, the city of Calistoga began discussing demolishing the house.

   In 2014, however, the crumbling ruin was acquired by Dina and Rich Dwyer of San Francisco, who spent three and a half years removing debris and lovingly rebuilding the house into a boutique hotel.

   Completed in 2018, the Francis House is now a beautiful, meticulously-restored, five-bedroom luxury inn with a swimming pool, tennis court and infrared sauna and salt room. Even if a night’s stay isn’t in your plans, the place is certainly worth checking out.

   For more information, go to https://thefrancishouse.com/.

Nevada State Route 722 is Truly a Lonely Road

 

Old U.S. 50, which just might be the real Loneliest Road in America

  If you want to find a road even lonelier than U.S. 50, which is officially called the Loneliest Road in America, than go no further than State Route 722, a paved highway that runs parallel to U.S. 50, that boasts even less traffic.

  Also known as the Carroll Summit Road or Old U.S. 50, SR 722 stretches between Eastgate and Austin, slightly south of U.S. 50.

  SR722 was, for many decades, part of U.S. 50. In the mid-1960s, however, state highway engineers realized that a more northern route avoided having to cross the high Desatoya Range, which can be treacherous to drive in the winter (and the road would often close).

  Once the new route of U.S. 50 opened, the old road continued to exist to service the handful of ranches and homesteads along the way. But few travel the 58-mile stretch of road unless they have to.

  And that’s too bad. SR 722 is actually very scenic and offers some wonderful views of wide-open Nevada landscapes.

  To access the route, head east on U.S. 50, past Fallon. Three miles east of Middlegate, travelers will find the turn off for State Route 722. The road slowly begins to climb as it heads toward craggy rock cliffs pocketed with small caves.

  An historic marker notes this is also the site of Wagon Jack Shelter, where prehistoric artifacts of the native Shoshone people, some dating back more than 1,500 years, have been found.

  The road passes through a narrow passageway in the rocks and an old stone house, which was once an Overland Stagecoach Station called Eastgate.

  The name was given to the area in 1859 by Captain James H. Simpson, who that year led an U.S. Army survey of Central Nevada. It reflected his observation that the shape of the terrain served as a natural pass or gateway into the surrounding valley.

  The highway continues to climb into the mountains, passing a small creek that has cut unusually deep channels in the soft ground. It passes a small rest area, just a picnic table under a few trees, before zigzagging through increasingly dense groves of pine trees.

  Soon, the steep climb ends at Carroll Summit, elevation 7,452 feet. This high pass, sometimes closed by snow, is a large part of the reason that U.S. 50 was relocated decades ago to lower ground to the north.

  The old highway now begins to gradually descend through the Desatoyas. Interesting, fractured rock cliffs, some of which resemble the formations found at California’s Devil’s Postpile, crop up occasionally.

  Along the way, travelers can view picturesque, small streams parallel to the road as well as a lush assortment of plant life, including large cottonwoods.

  Here and there, there are the ruins of historic ranches and other structures, such as the former Carroll Station, now little more than a little wooden frame house (it had been brought to the site from Lake Tahoe when the highway was built over the summit in 1924-25). The station once hosted a bar and a gas station.

  Up the road you can also see a couple of old stone buildings that are part of the Campbell Creek Ranch.

  At about 30 miles from the turnoff, the road crosses Smith Creek Valley, usually little more than a dry lakebed, before climbing over Railroad Pass (elevation 6,431 feet).

  To the south are the Shoshone Mountains, including North Shoshone Peak, which rises 10,313 feet. The air here is clean and fresh. In the spring, it’s often possible to see colorful fields of wildflowers.

  The route drifts south of the newer Highway 50 through the Reese River Valley. The view is gorgeous, with the snow-capped Toiyabe Mountains to the southeast and the broad Reese River Valley stretching out north and south for as far as you can see.

  The old highway crosses the Reese River, which during most years is more deserving of being called a creek. Ahead is Austin’s airport, a dirt landing strip with a windsock and a couple of small buildings.

  Throughout this valley, you can occasionally find cows wandering across the road and milling about the shoulders.

  About three miles west of Austin, State Route 722 re-merges with U.S. 50 and the side trip is over. You immediately miss the loneliness and almost want to turn around to do it again, just to see how things look from the other direction.

Cool Cars on Display at Don Laughlin's Classic Car Collection and Museum in Laughlin

 

Rare Muntz automobile in Don Laughlin's Car Collection Museum
 in Laughlin, NV (Photo courtesy of Travel Nevada/Sydney Martinez)

  Laughlin casino owner Don Laughlin enjoys old cars. In fact, he likes them so much that he’s collected dozens of them, many of which he displays in two showrooms at his Riverside Resort and Casino.

  The Laughlin Classic Car Collection includes more than 80 antique and collectible automobiles, many of which are owned by the casino magnate—who is the namesake for the Southern Nevada community of Laughlin—and some of which are on loan from other collectors.

  The Laughlin collection, however, is a bit different from car museums like Reno’s National Automobile Museum or the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan in that many of the autos on display are for sale.

  Indeed, as you enter either of the two exhibit areas at the Riverside you can pick up a copy of a newsletter that lists about 17 of the classic vehicles that you’re about to view, which you can take home for the right price.

  Additionally, Laughlin is continually rotating the cars on display—it’s said he has access to about 150 different vehicles—so you’ll find a different combination of cars each time you tour the collection.

  Laughlin’s two exhibit halls encompass more than 30,000 square feet and are climate controlled in order to preserve the valuable cars on display.

  The first exhibit space, located adjacent to the Riverside’s main valet entrance on the ground floor, serves as a kind of teaser for the collection. Here you can view a variety of desert racing machines—equipped to handle nearly any kind of desert terrain.

  The main showroom on the third floor of the resort’s South Tower is where you find the most valuable cars. In this hall, nearly 50 cars and motorcycles are jammed into nearly every available square foot.

  Wandering through the collection, you might spot cars ranging from a beautifully restored-to-factory-specifications 1930 Ford Model A to a cherry 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air.

  Interpretive signs on many of the cars describe what’s special about them. For instance, the collection boasts a rare four-seat 1952 Muntz Jet. This sleek, red auto was the creation of a TV and electronics sales pitchman, who went by the name, “Madman” Muntz.

  In the early 1950s, Muntz decided to expand his business to include automobiles and developed the Muntz Jet, which incorporated a Cadillac engine.

  The streamlined car proved fairly popular—he sold 374 of them in less than a year. Unfortunately, he priced the vehicle at $5,500 each but his costs exceeded $6,500 apiece. Within a few months he had lost about $400,000 and was forced to shut down his operation and ceased production of the Muntz.

  Another car on display has an equally interesting story. Described on a sign as a 1937 Hudson 8 Boattail Speedster, this beautiful, aerodynamic vehicle was actually constructed in the 1980s from vintage Hudson parts.

  According to the display, despite its clearly 1930s appearance, the Hudson 8 was concocted by artist Gunner Lindstrom in 1984 as part of a series of drawings entitled “Hudson’s That Never Were.”

  Car collector Bill Albright was so impressed with the designs that he cobbled together a dead ringer for the never-made Hudson 8 using vintage Hudson parts and pieces.

  Many of the cars are just fascinating to look at. For instance, there’s a marvelous 1930s-era Cord, boasting shiny chrome pipes coming out of the hood, as well as a very elegant 1941 Hollywood Graham, which in addition to looking cool has a fast six cylinder, super-charged engine.

  One of the oldest cars in the collection is a beautifully-restored, bright yellow 1915 Ford Speedster, that looks ready to hit the road.

  Yet another intriguing car in the collection is a reproduction of a 1936 Auburn convertible. This powerful, chrome-accented roadster combines the classic styling of the original Auburn with modern amenities like power windows and air-conditioning.

  The first floor of the Laughlin Classic Car Collection is open Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is free.

  The larger third- floor exhibition hall is open Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is free with a King of Clubs Players’ Card or $3 without the card.

  For more information, go to http://www.riversideresort.com/don-laughlins-classic-car-museum/.

Finding Pioneer George C. Yount in California

   It was while growing up in the small town of St. Helena, in the middle of California’s Napa Valley, that I first heard the name, George C. Yount. In our local history classes, we were told Young was the first non-Native American to settle in the valley and, later, the town of Yountville was named after him.

   Later, I discovered he was a famous mountain man, guide and fur trapper who had joined an expedition led by William Wolfskill that, in 1830, had traveled from Santa Fe, New Mexico to the Mission San Gabriel in Southern California—a route that became part of the Old Spanish Trail and later, the Santa Fe Trail.

   During its travels, the group decided to follow the Virgin and Colorado rivers, then continuing west along the Mojave River. This route, however, had them only touch parts of the territory that would eventually become the state of Nevada.

   After the group arrived in California, it splintered, with Yount heading north. Along the way, he trapped sea otters on the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, and traveled up the California coast to Sonoma.

   It was there, in 1834, that he encountered General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the governor of Northern California. He offered his services as a carpenter to the general and in return Vallejo gave him the first land grant in the Napa Valley. He established a homestead, which he named Ranch Caymus.

   In the years after receiving the grant, Yount built a blockhouse in which to live and a grist mill. A few years later, in 1843, he received a second land grant, Rancho La Jota, on Howell Mountain north of Rancho Caymus, where he built a sawmill. With that grant, Yount owned a total of 16,341 acres in the Napa Valley.

   In 1855, Yount, who was famous for his hospitality to new settlers to the area, set aside land on which to establish a townsite, which was named Sebastopol, until it was discovered that another community in Sonoma County was already using that name. The town was later renamed Yountville in his honor.

   Yount was born in Burke County, North Carolina in 1794, but grew up in Missouri. He fought in the War of 1812 and in the Indian Wars, before embarking on the life of a mountain man. In 1818, Yount married Elizabeth (Eliza) Wilds, with whom he would have three children.

   The union was short-lived, however, with Yount more-or-less abandoning his family after deciding to pursue the life of a mountain man. She divorced him and later remarried.

   In 1855, Yount married a second time, to another woman named Elizabeth, and also called Eliza. By all accounts, Eliza was a shrewd businesswoman who helped her husband with legal matters, including fighting the many squatters who sought to homestead on his land.

   In October 1865, George Yount died in his home at the age of 71.

   It was with such knowledge in mind that I recently sought to find Yount’s final resting place. For years, I had driven around Yountville, seeing the signs for his grave, but never bothered to visit it.

   So, I followed the signs this time, which led me to the aptly-named George C. Yount Pioneer Cemetery and Ancient Indian Burial Grounds. Established in 1848 as a native burial-grounds, the cemetery at Jackson Street and Washington Street in Yountville is a peaceful cluster of new and old headstones monuments commemorating many of the area’s pioneer citizens. Adjacent is a large vineyard that spreads over a small hill.

   Yount’s grave is easy to find—again just follow the signs. It’s an impressive white marble obelisk on a carved base, surrounded by an elegant short, wrought-iron fence. Additionally, as you walk through the cemetery, which has some 949 graves, including members of the Wappo tribe, which predates Yount’s arrival, and Civil War veterans.

   For more information, go to the Napa County Historical Society’s page on Yount, https://napahistory.org/george-yount/.

Famous 'Wally World' Art Collection on Display at Ely's Art Bank

Ely's Art Bank: Home of Wally Cuchine's art collection

  

  An old and dear friend of mine, Wally Cuchine, recently passed away at the age of 75. For those who didn’t know him, Cuchine was a Nevada art collector without peer for most of his life.

  Over decades, he collected more than 2,000 original works by Nevada-based artists, which he displayed in a pair of doublewide trailers in Eureka, Nevada (one was his home, which was jammed with art, and other, which he called the Shed Gallery, was filled wall-to-wall with his art).

  Fortunately, prior to his death, Cuchine donated a good portion of his collection to the Ely Art Bank, a public gallery where his pieces are regularly rotated and displayed.

  Cuchine was born in Helena, Montana in 1947 and, after serving in the Air Force for four years, settled in Las Vegas. He later attended Sierra Nevada College (now Sierra Nevada University) at Lake Tahoe, where he earned a degree in environmental science.

  After that, Cuchine lived most of the rest of his life in rural Nevada. He worked in various positions in Fallon, Lovelock, Caliente, and Hawthorne before operating the Bristlecone Convention Center and the White Pine Public Museum in Ely.

  In 1993, he took on what he described as his dream job, overseeing the restored Eureka Opera House in Eureka. It was a position he held until his retirement in 2011.

  But his passion was always art, especially about Nevada. Beginning in the 1970s (and continuing for the rest of his life), he began collecting pieces of Nevada art—and just never stopped.

  As an aside, he also collected Nevada-related books and had, at one time, a private collection that would rival the Nevada section at the Nevada State Library in Carson City.

  His art collection gained statewide recognition in 2014, when 35 of his pieces toured the state as an exhibit called, “Wally’s World: The Loneliest Art Collection in Nevada.”

  The program booklet for that exhibition (www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/77th2013/ExhibitDocument/OpenExhibitDocument?exhibitId=2186&fileDownloadName=ho0307_nac_c.pdf) offers insights into Cuchine and his collecting, which was written by the late Jim McCormick, a prominent art professor and historian.

  Also, in 2019, former University of Nevada Reno graduate students, Julia Moreno and Shevawn Von Tobel, produced a wonderful short film about Cuchine and his art collection, “Wally’s World: The Loneliest Art Collection,” which can be viewed on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQuIZ7L5SHE).

  Today, the Ely Art Bank/Garnet Mercantile in Ely, Nevada, is where you can view a big chunk of the collection. The Art Bank was established in 2013, when an Art Deco former bank building in the historic mining town was converted into an art gallery and cultural center.

  Adjacent to the Art Bank is the Garnet Mercantile, a former J.C. Penney store, which houses the Cuchine Collection in its basement gallery. The Mercantile is open Fridays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

  For more information about the Art Bank and the Cuchine Collection, go to: http://elynevada.net/wally-cuchine-art-collection/.

  For more information about the life of Wally Cuchine, go to: https://sierranevadaally.org/2022/09/24/beloved-eureka-arts-collector-wally-cuchine-has-died-at-75/.

Nothing Middling About Middlegate's Monster Burger

  For decades, the tiny enclave of Middlegate, located about halfway between Fallon and Austin on U.S. 50, was little more than a place to stop if you forgot to gas-up before hitting the Loneliest Road in America.

  Back then, the only business in Middlegate, the Middlegate Station, offered a gas pump, a pay telephone, a small motel, a bar, and a restaurant. The closest attraction was the famous Shoe Tree, an old cottonwood in which hundreds of pairs of shoes, as well as plastic pink flamingos and other objects, had been tossed.

  Fortunately, not much has changed over the years.

  The Middlegate Station and a new Shoe Tree are still there, but what has changed is that the restaurant has become nationally-known for something called the Middlegate Station Monster Burger.

  This beast of beef—which weighs in at a whopping three pounds—includes a 1 1/3-pound angus beef burger on a sourdough mini boule that is topped with lettuce, pickles, red onion, cheese, onion rings, olives, and a pepper, plus fries.

  Anyone who can eat the burger and fries in one sitting can receive either a free t-shirt or a baby monster “onesie” for your baby.

  The challenge of tackling the Monster has made national foodie websites and been featured in media throughout the country.

  The backstory on Middlegate is equally interesting. The area was first named in 1850 by surveyor James Simpson, who was hired by the U.S. government to layout a western route. Simpson saw the cuts in the nearby mountains as “gates,” and named them Eastgate, Middlegate, and Westgate.

  In 1859, the Overland Stage Company began establishing stations across the middle of Nevada to service its stage and freight line, and established one at Middlegate. Later, Middlegate became one of the changing stations (for changing out horses) for the Pony Express during its heyday from 1860-61.

  According to the Middlegate Station website, in 1942, a woman named Ida Ferguson bought Middlegate Station from the Bureau of Land Management at an auction and began restoring the old wooden building still standing at the site. In 1952, she opened a bar and café, which served travelers on the historic Lincoln Highway/U.S. 50 drive.

  With construction of the interstate highway system in the early 1960s, especially Interstate 80, traffic on U.S. 50 dried up. Ferguson sold Middlegate and retired.

  During the next 20 years, until 1984, Middlegate passed through a succession of owners, none of whom updated or tried to do much with the property. But in 1984, the Stevenson family purchased Middlegate and began making improvements, although they admit it remains a work in progress.

  In recent years, of course, all the attention from the Monster Burger has helped raise awareness about Middlegate’s existence. Today, it’s not uncommon to walk into the station and find visitors from all over the world, drawn to the modest structure by its legendary hamburger.

  Features on Middlegate have appeared on the well-known Atlas Obscura website (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/middlegate-station-nevada) as well as on Only In Your State (https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nevada/epic-burgers-town-nv/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=newsletter) and in Nevada Magazine (https://nevadamagazine.com/taking-on-the-middlegate-monster-burger/).

  For more information, go to the Middlegate Station website, https://middlegatestation.webs.com/.

Owyhee: Unusual Name, Beautiful Area

 

One of the peaceful creeks found at Owyhee, Nevada

   Located about 350 miles north of Fallon via U.S.95, Interstate 80 and Nevada State Route 225 (north of Elko), the tiny community of Owyhee, on the Nevada-Idaho border, is about as remote a place as one can find in the Silver State.

   With a population of nearly 1,000, Owyhee (known as Un Kwahain in Shoshoni) serves as one of the largest communities in the sprawling Shoshone-Paiute Duck Valley Indian Reservation, covers nearly 300,000 acres.

   The town’s unusual name, Owyhee, does not have Shoshone or Paiute origins but can be traced to the early white trappers who, in about 1820, called the Owyhee River, which today runs through the settlement, the Sandwich Island River.

   The name was to honor a trio of native Hawaiian trappers who were killed at the river’s mouth during an encounter with the native Bannock people. After the Sandwich Islands became more widely known as the Hawaiian Islands, the name of the river changed as well, but was phonetically corrupted to Owyhee.

   In 1863, the Western Shoshone chiefs and the governors of the Nevada and Utah territories signed the Treaty of Ruby Valley, which sought to cease hostilities between the Shoshone and white settlers in northern Nevada and allow for development of the lands in the region.

   In the years after the signing of the treaty, the tribe began requesting land be set aside for its needs, which had been promised. It wasn’t until 1877, however, that President Rutherford B. Hayes finally signed an order granting land for a reservation.

   The town of Owyhee was founded around the time the reservation was established.

   Sadly, that was not the end of the tribe’s difficulties with government representatives. In the late 1870s, the agent for the Western Shoshone Agency, a white man, stole goods intended for the Shoshone, a practice that continued until he was replaced in 1882. During his tenure, many Shoshone departed the reservation due to the harsh conditions.

   In 1884, there was a move to force the Shoshone to relocate to Fort Hall in the Idaho Territory but that effort failed.

   In 1886, the government reversed itself and the reservation size was expanded by President Grover Cleveland to accommodate the Northern Paiute tribe. The reservation was expanded again in 1910 by President William Howard Taft.

   As for the town of Owyhee, it became a thriving agricultural community (which it remains today) and gained its first substantial building in 1881, when a schoolhouse was erected. Additionally, that year a stage line was established that connected the town to Elko.

   By 1886, the town gained a newspaper, the Duck Valley News, which, unfortunately closed after one month. But the community continued to grow and by the mid-1890s, it had about 600 residents as well as a physician and a small infirmary.

   In the early 20th century, Owyhee saw the arrival of telephone service (in 1904), a new school (also in 1904), and a hospital (in 1914). 

   Toward the end of the 1930s, a handful of native volcanic stone buildings (resembling the ones built at the Stewart Indian School in Carson City) were erected in the town, including a new hospital, a powerhouse, a tribal gym, and a tribal court building. Many of these structures can still be seen in the community, although not all remain in use.

   Perhaps the biggest development to benefit Owyhee in the post-Depression years was the construction of the Wild Horse Dam, about 32 miles to the south, which, since then, has provided a reliable water source for the Duck Valley’s residents, cattle (but watch out for them, however, they will wander in front of you on the highway!) and agriculture.

   Today, Owyhee is a sleepy town located about 100 miles north of Elko that boasts limited services and a handful of the picturesque native stone buildings erected in the late 1930s. One of the most impressive is the former hospital building, built in 1937, which boasted two seven-bed wards. It closed in 1976, when a new community health facility opened.

   If you pull off the highway south of the town, you can also find several beautiful, creek-fed meadows. Sitting beside one these ribbons of water can be a peaceful respite on a long journey.

   For more information about Owyhee, go to www.shopaitribes.org/spt/.