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Yesterday: The Road to Dreamland
A wrong turn at Area 51, the top-secret military base near Rachel, led this Harley traveler on an unexpected detour. BY HOWARD SIEGEL Every summer I seek escape from the pressures and populace of New York City by heading out to the desert Southwest on my Harley. I make the trip alone, completely free to […]
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The Final Word: Alicia Barber
Alicia Barber, Ph.D., is an award-winning writer, historian, and consultant. She is the author of “Reno’s Big Gamble: Image and Reputation in the Biggest Little City.”
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The Showgirl: A Las Vegas Story
For decades, the stage spectaculars ruled Las Vegas’ entertainment scene. The showgirl became much more than a topless talent: She was proudly promoted as the symbol of her city.
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Yesterday: The Case of the Sky High Prospector
After looking for regular employment without much success, Al decided to strike out on his own as a self-employed prospector. Ed and Louise Vigus at the hardware store agreed to stake him with a pick and shovel, and for the most part he subsisted on a diet of spaghetti and beans while peddling his nuggets and rocks passersby from a humble roadside shop.
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Yesterday: The Sabotage of Two Toed Pete
There was plenty of sporting money in Virginia City in 1891, and hundreds of people came by to see Leo and his keg of beer. Some, like Two Toed Pete, were willing to bet that Leo's mouth was bigger than his muscles.
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Yesterday: The Dat So La Lee Basket Mystery
Four baskets woven by legendary Washoe weaver Dat So La Lee were stolen from the Nevada Historical Society in 1978. The tale of their return reads like a Hollywood plot.
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Las Vegas’ Westside Story
For five months in 1955, Las Vegas’ Westside District was an unlikely center of African American entertainment, culture, and optimism. The source was the city’s new Moulin Rouge Hotel, which opened at a time when racism was rampant across the nation.
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Robbery at Rawhide
One of the West's last stagecoach robberies reads like a good heist novel: the criminal duo, the masked hold up, a posse, good old-fashioned police work, and swift justice. However, this 1907 robbery ends on a mysterious note.
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Yesterday: The Orange Rock Down Vegas Way
In 1924, a San Francisco family relocated to an isolated homestead in remote Nevada. The author remembers the family Studebaker rumbling down cow trails, weekly trips to town for provisions, and a mysterious orange rock behind her home.
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Yesterday: Ferris’ Wonder Wheel
Everyone knows about the popular carnival ride, but did you know it was inspired by a water wheel on Nevada’s Carson River?
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Revitalizing Sutro Tunnel
The Sutro Tunnel in northern Nevada is an engineering marvel. Along with other sites within the Comstock Historic District, it served to put Nevada at the center of mining technology, politics, and finance in the mid 1800s.
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The Disaster at Mazuma
When a sudden cloudburst bursts over the small towns of Seven Troughs and Mazuma, residents had only seconds to evacuate out of the raging torrent. After the flood waters rushed through the canyon, a town was completely destroyed.
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Austin Adventures
Two friends embark on America's Loneliest Highway to prove that they're not boring. Along the way they'll encounter history, spontaneous wine walks, wild burros, and an appreciate for the rugged landscape in the heart of the Great Basin.
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The Mormon’s Nevada Gold Mines—Success or Failure?
During the economic depression in the 1890s, members of the Mormon church acquired a group of mining claims in Nye County. While these claims had promise, would they be the answer to the church’s financial losses?
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A Paradise Named Galena
For outdoor recreation, Galena Creek Regional Park outside Reno is a splendid, outdoor playground that’s hard to beat during any season—but especially autumn. Moreover, Galena has a historical Nevada notch that's not so well-known.
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A Preppie in Pioche
After hitchhiking cross-country from my family's home in New Rochelle, New York, I landed in Salt Lake City looking for a job—any job a husky kid could get. The "men wanted" newspaper ads called for muckers in a Nevada mine. I walked to the hiring office of Combined Metals near my hotel. It was the first of May 1946. I was still a teenager, not long out of Kiski Prep near Pittsburgh.