History

From adventurers and gunslingers to writers and thinkers, Nevada’s history was shaped by individuals witah grit and drive. Each issue, we look at one of these notable heroes from the past. Whether born or raised, these aren’t just Nevadans: they’re Legendary Nevadans. 

For 150 years, the Nevada State Prison—located in Carson City—housed some of the state’s most high-profile offenders. Since shuttering in 2012, community groups have worked to preserve its past. 

Thunderbird Lodge is a sight to behold. Even from the parking lot, visitors can’t help but snap photos of the manor nestled amid pine trees and car-sized boulders. The summer home of a Depression-era millionaire, Thunderbird Lodge is lavish and remote. It is also a place of many secrets that, when revealed, help paint a picture of the mysterious man who built it. 

Who was Howard Hughes? He is remembered as the billionaire who spent much of his late life in near isolation. His demand for privacy is the stuff of legend. When he stayed in hotel rooms, adjacent rooms were also rented, and blankets were draped over all windows. Even employees rarely—if ever—saw him, and most communication was done by phone. 

But above all, Hughes was a shrewd capitalist. To best understand this, look no further than the four years he spent in Las Vegas.  

Lincoln Hall is steeped in mystery, history, and tales of the unexplained. While most souls who entered this 125-year-old dormitory eventually moved on with their lives, not all did. Discover the stories of the past, and learn how you can visit one of the state's most famous university buildings.

Sarah Winnemucca was born around 1844, near what is today Lovelock. Her name at birth was Thocmetony, and she was a daughter of the leading family of the Kuyuidika-a—a band of the Paiute people.  

Within a year of her birth, Winnemucca’s grandfather encountered John C. Frémont—one of the area’s first white explorers—at what is now Pyramid Lake.

Some structures are immediately identifiable: The Eiffel Tower, Westminster Abby, and the Space Needle among them. For Nevada ghost town enthusiasts and historians, it’s the façade to the Sutro Tunnel.

The tunnel and adjacent ghost town were closed to visitors for decades, yet the portal remained as a reminder of Comstock Lode and Nevada history. In 2021, Friends of Sutro Tunnel acquired the 150-year-old property, and today, visitors are invited to wander back in time to explore this historic site. 

Nothing sparks pride in where you reside quite like a flag. However, creating a banner to represent an entire culture or geographic region isn’t easy work. Nevada’s flag is beloved by residents today, but it took four (almost five) versions until the matter was settled. 

During its heyday, Echo Bay—located on the Overton Arm of Lake Mead—supported a hotel, a huge marina, a convenience store, and plenty of visitors. Once the playground of some rather colorful types, it is not quite the attraction it once was, although there is still plenty to see and do in this remarkable area.

It seems unlikely that the California Gold Rush would spawn Nevada’s first Jewish synagogue. Yet, that’s where Temple Emanu-El’s story begins. 

Jewish merchants from the East Coast and Europe joined the mass migration to California in the late 1840s, seeking prosperity as suppliers of goods and services just as they had done back home. When The Comstock Lode hit in 1859, hundreds of merchants headed east to Nevada, settling at what was then called Fuller’s Crossing, a hospitable location for receiving merchandise from San Francisco. Arrival of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1868 made the community—now renamed Reno—an economic hub, and the Jewish community was there to stay. 

“This is KGFN, Radio Goldfield, the Voice of the Old West!” Chances are if you live in central Nevada or have driven through the area on U.S. Highway 95, you’ve probably heard, or at least heard of, Radio Goldfield. It’s about the only signal on the FM radio dial for many miles.

In the 1860s, Virginia City was a rough and tumble mining camp, with 24-hour hustle and bustle. Men swarmed the streets and saloons, while miners labored deep within the tunnels underneath the town. The loud, constant clanking metal of stamp mills and jarring explosions echoed throughout the valley and mountains. It was a dangerous place, where rope and cable sometimes broke, sending cages full of miners falling to their deaths. Many an accident or fire in the mines or city left children as orphans.  

Sometime during the peak of Pioche’s boom, Athe Meeks, returning from delivering a load of timbers to a mine, was suddenly startled by two men with weapons drawn. The pair rushed out in front and forced Meeks’ mules to a stop. The highwaymen ordered him to show his hands, but he would have none of it; instead he pulled his six-shooter and shot Al Miller, one of the would-be robbers, dead. The second desperado, known as Little Frank, fired a wild shot at Meeks. He returned the favor, and his shot hit its target—Little Frank was found a little way down the road, also dead. Although most times it was the banditti who came out on top, this was just one of the scenarios that played out between robbers, cattle rustlers and horse thieves, and those delivering their goods to customers in Pioche.

In 1961, eager movie buffs filled theaters across the country for the debut of "The Misfits." Shot entirely on location in and around Reno, the movie had all the makings of a blockbuster. Directed by John Huston and written by Arthur Miller, it starred Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, with Eli Wallach, Thelma Ritter, and Mont­gomery Cliff sharing the bill. The story was based on Nevada reality. In 1956 Miller, seeking a divorce, spent his six weeks' resid­ency in a cabin near Pyramid Lake. While there he met three Nevada mustangers who impressed him as being "the last three unreconstructed originals in the United States."

In memory of the past, 12 women fight to preserve its historic future. BY TAMERA BUZICK Grant Smith, author of “The Comstock Lode,” once wrote, “What boy or girl ever forgot their first picnic at Bowers Mansion? It was a trip to paradise.” If you grew up in northern Nevada, you most likely have fond […]

The 500-foot tall, 520-foot in diameter High Roller—located on The Las Vegas Strip—is the World's Largest Observation Wheel. It features 28 glass-enclosed cabins, travels one foot per second, takes 30 minutes for a complete revolution, features more than 2,000 LED lights and 112 cables, and runs parallel to Las Vegas Boulevard. The Strip superstar was built at a cost of $300 million by Caesar's Entertainment. 

Reno and Sparks; the sage and the pine; picons and more picons—Nevada has indeed churned out the most inseparable of dynamic duos. Both in legend and reality, however, indisputably no more inseparable pair exists than the desert silver miner of the 19th century and his oft-plodding desert jackass.

Impatient, impetuous, and occasionally infuriating, Lydia Adams-Williams was all those and more. The word shy, however, was definitely not included in that list.

The importance of women to Nevada’s history is well documented and irrefutable. From Sarah Winnemucca to Helen Stewart, Hanna Clapp to Felice Cohn, the sisters of the Silver State left their own indelible stamp on the face of Nevada. While many women have made their mark, a select few were the first to do so in their respective fields. These women—and to be sure, there are many others—helped pave the way for more women to enter the workforce and seek positions that had been previously dominated by men. These leading ladies took the chance to go where no woman had gone before, and for that, they are our favorite firsts.

On a quiet day in March 1926, businesses in Las Vegas shuttered their doors. Local schools closed for the day and the federal post office was deserted, for most of the city’s residents were attending the funeral of Helen Jane Wiser Stewart. The homage paid to Stewart by the city she helped create would have surprised the unassuming and frail woman. But the legacy of her strength, character, intelligence, and spirit was evident to all who knew her, and it continues to inspire today.

Despite the Hollywood version of cattle raising in the Old West, few ranchers employed a gun-for-hire to eliminate rustlers or sheepherders. This is not to say it wasn’t done; around 1895, a few of the larger spreads in Wyoming brought in a “regulator” named Tom Horn to “clean up” the range, and at $500 a head, he was well on his way to doing so when he was convicted of murder and sent to the gallows. For years, Jack Davis faced the likelihood of the same fate.

Another Round of Bad Boys The Wild West saw more than its fair share of criminal capers. BY RON SOODALTER Once again, we step out into the dusty street to face down a handful of early Nevada’s baddest bad guys. For those who have read the first two installments of the Outlaws of Nevada trilogy, […]

Emma Wixom was born on Feb. 7, 1859, in the Alpha mining camp near Nevada City, California. Her father Dr. William Wixom moved his family to Austin to start a physician’s practice shortly before Nevada achieved statehood. It was in Austin that the girl’s bright future began to shine, and her talent brightened an otherwise dusty mining camp. From there, it was only a matter of time before her mellifluence would grace the rest of the world. 

In 1910, the penalty for stealing (or kidnapping) a girl in Nevada was five years in prison or a fine of $2,000, while anyone convicted of stealing a horse could be imprisoned for 14 years. At the same time, if a U.S. woman married a foreigner, she lost her citizenship. Another law during the early 1900s, this one concerning community property between a husband and wife, allowed a man to sell or will community property without the consent of his wife. And finally, any wages a woman earned while living with her husband were not deemed her property unless her husband allowed her to use the wages, which were then considered a gift from him. 

The rancor felt about the above-noted laws being created without any say from female constituents was growing, and the cry of “taxation without representation” was reborn. While that sentiment was enough to ignite the American Revolution, it sparked little fire with the male citizens of the young nation. It took until 1920 before half of the citizens of the U.S. were granted the right to vote. But the fight began long before. 

The thermometer was toying with the century mark on Sept. 3, 1906 in Goldfield, when two men touched gloves in the center of the ring. The fight was now underway. It was the favorite—Oscar “the Battling Dane” Nelson vs “the Rank Faker” Joe Gans, as the local press described him.

The Ong, as it became known, was said to have wings as long as the tallest pine tree, colossal webbed feet, and was covered in both feathers and scales. Legend maintains that the creature also had a human-like face.

Though cowardly as the beast may have been at times, the Ong didn’t just drag people away for fun.

It consumed them.

Ghost town tells a tale of resurrection and fortitude. BY MICHELLE SINAGRA St. Thomas seems an unlikely name for a Nevada ghost town. It conjures up Caribbean fantasies of powdered sugar beaches, crystalline waters teaming with marine life, and warm balmy breezes. But this St. Thomas lies in the harshness of the Mojave Desert and […]

For 100 years, streetlights have illuminated Genoa—Nevada’s oldest settlement—thanks to a group of dedicated townsfolk.
In 1919, Lillian Virgin Finnegan and her aunt Jane Raycraft Campbell encouraged the 200 or so townspeople to hold a dance in what is now the Genoa Town Hall to raise funds for streetlights. Young ladies passed trays of free homemade candy, and after the dance, a midnight supper was served at the Raycraft Hotel.
Today, on the last full weekend of September, Genoans make and sell candy for the two-day Candy Dance Arts and Crafts Faire, which draws between 30,000 and 50,000 visitors to the town, population around 900.

“It’s not just a building full of old school desks.”

Lara Mather is ready to make her point. As executive director of the Historic Fourth Ward School Museum in Virginia City, her excitement about sharing what is really inside the 143-year-old building that sits at the south end of town is palpable.

Part 2: More tales of the dastardly desperados that roamed the Silver State. BY RON SOODALTER As described in part one of Nevada’s Outlaws—published in the July/August 2017 issue—Nevada was every bit as wild as such legendary Western Gomorrahs as Deadwood, Tombstone, and Dodge City. The lure of gold and silver and the prospect of […]

On Nov. 18, 1955, Las Vegans awoke to a fire near the very top of Mt. Charleston where there was not a scrap of wood to burn.

“Flame, just like there was a fire,” Henderson resident Lavern Hanks recalls. Her husband who worked for KLAS-TV tried to investigate. But men with rifles blocked the road to Kyle Canyon. So, he turned around and went home.

Tall tales in journalism were relatively common on The Comstock and surrounding regions during the late 1800s. Because a lull in readership was becoming a worry at the “Daily Appeal,” Sam Davis did as any self-respecting editor would: he conjured up a fictitious newspaper and lied to his readers, and they ate it up. Everyone loves a juicy story, and Davis painted the “Mangler” and its editor as the juiciest.

When Langston Hughes caught the 5:55 a.m. train from Truckee, California, to Reno in September 1934, he was 10 years into a career that would be marked by greatness and controversy. Already a successful poet, novelist, and journalist at the age of 32, Hughes was widely regarded as the unofficial poet laureate of the Harlem Renaissance, which in the 1920s ushered in a prolific and important time for African-American authors, artists, and musicians.

Melvin Dummar recounts his brush with fortune and loss.   BY SHAUN ASTOR “I grew up in Fallon. There was an airport, where the Churchill County rodeo grounds are at,” Melvin Dummar, now 74 years old, recalls on a warm evening as the sun falls behind the Resting Spring Mountain Range to the west of […]

In a world of PayPal, Bitcoin, and all manner of electronic currency where paper money looks downright antiquated, coins are relegated to almost nuisance status. Heavy and destined for the ashtray or swear jar, coin as currency is a near relic. But since 1792, the U.S. has been minting coins for trade and commerce, and in all that time just eight towns were honored with the presence of a mint. Carson City is one of those towns, and the history of the Silver State's only mint is one that could make you rethink that change rattling around in your pocket.

Elvis Presley, who would have turned 60 in 1995, once reigned in Las Vegas. Some say he still does. BY MIKE WEATHERFORD | January/February 1995 But on opening night Elvis went down “like a jug of corn liquor at a champagne party,” according to Newsweek.When Elvis Presley made his Las Vegas debut in 1956, the 21-year-old […]

Nevada State Railroad Museum staff and volunteers   Rolling Through the Years How the Nevada State Railroad Museum Cares for its Collections. BY CHRISTOPHER DE WITT The Nevada State Railroad Museum (NSRM) in Carson City has a significant collection of Nevada-related restored and unrestored rolling stock—a term that refers to any vehicle used on a […]

  WHO IS THE FOUNDER OF RENO? History is evasive on the story of two men and a lucrative spot on the Truckee River. BY JACK HARPSTER On May 9, the city of Reno celebrates its sesquicentennial. The area came to life as Lake’s Crossing in 1861, when Myron Lake purchased a wooden bridge, rustic […]

SNOWSHOE THOMPSON – HERO OF THE SIERRAS Post and promises, legendary mail carrier always delivered. BY BRANDON WILDING “Most remarkable man I ever knew, that Snowshoe Thompson. He must be made of iron. Besides, he never thinks of himself, but he’d give his last breath for anyone else—even a total stranger.” —S.A. Kinsey, Genoa Postmaster […]

’30’ is ticked off  for Sam Davis Sagebrush School journalist penned Silver State history. BY CHIC DIFRANCIA On March 18, 1918, the “Car-son City Daily Appeal” carried a front-page obituary for its former publisher and editor, Samuel Post Davis. The headline read: “‘30’ Is Ticked Off For Sam Davis.” Now archaic, “30” at the time […]

Tears of joy and sorrow have both been shed at the site of Donovan Mill in Silver City. The intense and unexpected changes that follow the boom and bust cycles of small Nevada mining towns have been the only constant. Pioneering new ideas and techniques were discovered and put into action here: a place rich with mining innovation, as well as with gold and silver. Originally the land was an idyllic part of the hunting and gathering territory of the Washoe Tribe. The possibility of wealth brought speculators and adventurers, eventually changing the landscape forever. The community, settled in 1859, was filled with people who proved themselves to be independent, resourceful, and self-motivated.

The Sacramento-to-Reno section of the Central Pacific Railroad was completed in the spring of 1868 and the many Chinese laborers who had risked life and limb laying track over the Sierra Nevada received final payment and were left along the line to fend for themselves. Many settled in Reno, where they constructed flimsy bare- wood structures at the crossroads of Virginia and First streets along the banks of the Truckee River and attempted to put down roots in the community they now called home.

If you were to ask the average Western history buff to name the most infamous desperados of the late-19th-century frontier, he would no doubt rattle off such names as Jesse James, John Wesley Hardin, and Billy the Kid. It is highly unlikely that such monikers as “Big Jack” Davis, “Three-Fingered Jack” McDowell, “Fighting Sam” Brown, or “Farmer” Peel would ever come up. And yet, these products of a raw and often lawless Nevada, as well as dozens of their contemporaries, were every bit as piratical as their more notorious counterparts.

A Peek Into the Past Photos from Manhattan’s heyday provide a glimpse into yesteryear. STORY BY LORRAINE A. DARCONTE PHOTOS COURTESY JOSEPH DEISS A cache of photographs taken in the small mining town of Manhattan in the early 1900s was discovered by chance, and the images taken by Percival Nash offer a personal look at […]

There’s a state locomotive? Indeed there is. While most people can name our state animal or state song, all told there are 22 official state symbols as designated by the Nevada Legislature. How many can you name?

A bonehead challenge in Nevada’s ‘wooden wonder’ BY BOB SAGAN That ancient adage—a fool and his money are soon parted— might have found its purest form of expression in a little-known incident that occurred in 1875 Nevada, had it not been for a hefty dose of dumb luck. The incident in question was triggered by […]

VIRGINIA CITY – A MYSTERIOUS MURDER ON THE COMSTOCK Unanswered questions loom after the murder of a notorious prostitute. BY ROBIN FLINCHUM It’s been 150 years since that dreadful January morning when Mary Jane Minieri left her little cottage on Virginia City’s D Street and stepped carefully through the mud to her friend and neighbor Julia Bulette’s […]

The Petticoat Prospectors Looking back: The little-known history of female miners in the Silver State BY TERRY SPRENGER-FARLEY “We do not see any reason why women should not engage in mining as well as men. If they can rock a cradle, they can run a car; if they can wash and scrub, they can pick […]

Nevada Sentinel E Clampus Vitus keeps keen eye on the state’s story STORY BY ERIC CACHINERO PHOTOS BY ASA GILMORE If you’re a consumer of Nevada history, E Clampus Vitus may play a bigger role in your life than you’d expect. Sure, you may think that this group of men, donning red shirts and badge-clad […]

The Territorial Enterprise FIRST SHUTTERED 100 YEARS AGO, THE ICONIC COMSTOCK NEWSPAPER LIVES ON. BY CHIC DIFRANCIA When William Jernegan and Alfred James pulled the first sheet of the Territorial Enterprise off an old Washington hand press in Genoa on Dec. 18, 1858, a newspaper legend was born that has endured to this day. Future […]

Law, Order, and a Game of Chance THE EARP BROTHERS SEEK THEIR FORTUNES IN NEVADA. BY RON SOODALTER Life in the Old West—Hollywood notwithstanding—was often mundane. The deadly gunfights and daring hold-ups were comparatively few. Yet, certain names have attained legendary status, selling countless books and millions of theater tickets, while the reality was considerably […]

Lake Tahoe Famiy at the Reins of a Half-Century of Memories. BY TERI VANCE   With a natural affinity for the outdoors and animals, Sam Borges had always dreamed of a life working with horses. And when a sense of dissatisfaction with the routine of his job in San Jose, Calif., came upon him, Sam […]

Harolds Club RENO’S WILD WEST CASINO EXPERIMENT LEAVES LASTING IMPRESSION ON GAMING. BY DORESA BANNING The giant, $60,000 mural that once hung over Harolds Club’s South Virginia Street entrance in Reno now stands in front of the Reno-Sparks Livestock Center as an homage to this pioneering Nevada casino. The 70-foot-long, 35-foot-tall painting is vibrant in […]

  The Genes of our Jeans JACOB DAVIS, RENO’S UNSUNG INVENTOR, CREATES A FASHION LEGEND. BY KATHLEEN PAINI CLEMENCE When a jean-clad crowd filters into Reno’s Knitting Factory on concert nights, it’s unlikely many know they are entering the site where fashion history was made. Formerly known as 31 Virginia Street, the property housed the […]

History never repeats itself, but the Kaleidoscopic combinations of the pictured present often seem to be constructed out of the broken fragments of antique legends.— Mark Twain         Then & Now: Boulder/Hoover Dam HISTORIC ENGINEERING FEAT STANDS STRONG FOR NEARLY 80 YEARS. BY ERIC CACHINERO We love historic places in Nevada, and […]

The Beauty of this Nevada State Park Burns Bright. BY ERIC CACHINERO Fire is a truly wondrous element. It can be used to heat, cook, forge, ignite, power, illuminate, and even sustain life. But it’s not flames that light up Nevada’s first state park, rather millions of years of geologic activity that gives the landscape […]

Historic Train Roars Back to Life. BY WENDELL HUFFMAN After slumbering for almost 90 years, the historic locomotive Glenbrook is once again under steam, blasting its whistle just a short distance from where it first started operating in 1875. This Memorial Day, the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City is set to host the […]

St. Augustine’s Cultural Center AUSTIN CHURCH GETS A SERIOUS MAKEOVER. STORY & PHOTOS BY ERIC CACHINERO On Christmas Eve 1866, St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Austin was officially dedicated. The bricks and solid-granite foundation used in its construction were pulled from the Austin quarry and brickyard, which flourished in the 1800s. The church was constructed […]

Nevada’s musical legacy stretches back more than a century. BY NELLIE DAY Nevada leaves a lasting impression on people for many reasons. Case in point: Nevada has been a keen source of musical inspiration for more than a century. Just ask Dan Reynolds, lead singer of Imagine Dragons—an American indie rock band from Las Vegas—who […]

Experience “The 36th Star” Emancipation Proclamation is Centerpiece of Nevada Museum of Art Exhibition. BY JERI SINGLEY As Nevada celebrates its sesquicentennial, the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno is giving visitors the chance to explore the state’s heritage through its exhibition, “The 36th Star: Nevada’s Journey from Territory to State.” Three years in the […]

This historic icon’s influence spans more than 150 years. BY TAMERA BUZICK The best view of Nevada’s gold- and silver-mining days can still be seen from the Bowers Mansion porch. On a warm summer afternoon, you can sit back and enjoy the same view once seen through the eyes of early Nevadans. If you use […]

Established as a railroad town on the swamps east of Reno, this Nevada community has shimmered for more than a century. BY ERIC CACHINERO | May/June 2014 Although Sparks is often overlooked in the annals of Nevada history, the story of the development of this railroad town is as strong as the steel from which its tracks […]

BATTLE BORN BIRTHDAY CAKES In 1964, Nevada celebrated its 100th birthday in ‘stupendous’ fashion. It plans to do the same in 2014. BY MATTHEW B. BROWN | MARCH/APRIL 2014 In 1964, Nevada celebrated its 100th birthday in ‘stupendous’ fashion. It plans to do the same in 2014. BY MATTHEW B. BROWN | MARCH/APRIL 2014 The Nevada Centennial […]

THE METROPOLIS THAT WASN’T North of Wells lies one of Nevada’s more intriguing ghost towns, with zero ties to the state’s mining past. BY GREG MCFARLANE Many of Nevada’s ghost towns boomed, prospered, and faded in the 1800s, when the state was largely undeveloped and had no major population centers. It’s hard to believe that […]

We honor African-Americans, past and present, who have shaped our state. BY MATTHEW B. BROWN On Monday, January 20, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Nevada and the rest of the country. King is the recognizable face and symbol of the mid-1900s civil-rights movement, even making a trip to Las Vegas in 1964 […]

Sinatra Jr. Kidnapped, December 8, 1963. Looking back at the botched abduction of a Las Vegas crooner 50 years later. BY JONATHAN SHIPLEY While lounging around in a T-shirt and a pair of underwear, Frank Sinatra Jr. enjoyed a chicken dinner seemingly without a care in the world. Joined by John Foss, trumpet player for the […]

Commemorative Stamps Nevada has recognized its milestones through the years on various U.S. postage. By THOMAS LERA NEVADA FIRST SETTLEMENT CENTENNIAL On October 3, 1945, Nevada Senator Pat McCarran wrote to Postmaster General (PMG) Robert Hannegan, suggesting the issuance of a commemorative stamp for the first post office established in the Territory and State of […]

MOBILE MUSEUM Nevada was one of the first states to bring its rich history to children and adults alike. BY PETER BARTON In 1953, Judge Clark J. Guild, founder of the Nevada State Museum, along with James W. Calhoun, recognized that the state’s wide-open spaces prevented many Nevada schoolchildren from visiting the museum in Carson […]

Tonopah photographer Jim Galli has earned quite the reputation for connecting the past to the present via his black-and white images. But these aren't digital pictures converted with modern computer software—these are the real deal, taken with a circa 1910 Kodak Cirkut panoramic camera.

Turn back the clock a century, and Goodsprings was where residents of Las Vegas went for their entertainment and shopping needs, not the other way around. It's hard to imagine visiting Goodsprings—located about 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas— today, but that's the beauty of the majority of Nevada's small towns. There’s still excitement to be found; you just have to know where to find it.

Reaching a daily circulation of more than 15,000 copies, Virginia City's Territorial Enterprise was at one time the largest newspaper west of the Mississippi River. Readers of this Nevada publication were treated to the prose and tales of famous journalist and author Samuel Clemens, who used the legendary nom de plume of Mark Twain. But another Enterprise reporter, renowned for his gymnastic vocabulary and whom some considered to be a better writer even than Twain, was William Wright.