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Through the Lens: Nevada’s Wild Northwest
During my senior year of high school, I took a trip to the Black Rock Desert. I remember sitting in the back seat as we drove through Wadsworth and Nixon, past mysterious Pyramid Lake, and into the unknown toward the tiny town of Gerlach. The landscape was alien to me; at that point in my life, I hadn’t explored outside the Gardnerville-Carson City-Reno area, and I had no idea what secrets hid in the Nevada desert.
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On the Sails of a Prairie Schooner
For the pioneer of the mid-1800s leaving life behind to verify whispers of gold out west, the scene must've been something spectacular. In many cases, the ordinary family farm wagon was modified for the trip: hickory bows were affixed to the wagon bed and a canvas cloth was stretched over the top. The wagons in those days became known as prairie schooners, due to the cover’s resemblance to a boat’s sail.