May – June 2019 – Nevada Magazine

What’s Inside

Odyssey of a Ghost Town Explorer: Part 9

Just around suppertime on July 11, 1912, housewives prepared meals, miners clocked in and out, and children played in the streets of the northwest Nevada mining camp of Mazuma. The town rested at the mouth of Seven Troughs Canyon, just below the mining camp of the same name, and on that day, everything seemed normal in this little slab of sagebrush, save for an unusually colossal gathering of somber thunderclouds that hovered just up the canyon. Then, amid thunderous roars and cloudburst, a biblical tsunami rained down upon the canyon as if Heaven’s bathtub had swiftly cracked in two. ... read more

2019 Silver State Scavenger Hunt

NEVADA MAGAZINE CELEBRATES OUR STATE’S NATURAL WONDERS. Click here for complete rules. Have you ever traversed the narrow slot canyons of Cathedral Gorge? Gazed upon Lake Tahoe’s most iconic bonsai tree? Hiked among the vibrant red sandstone in the Valley of Fire? Gazed across the seemingly infinite flatness of the Black Rock Desert? ... read more

Nevada's Only National Memorial

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. ... read more

Personally Perfect Weddings

Getting married in Las Vegas—if Hollywood is to be believed—is for the young, the foolish, the headstrong, or the inebriated. In the really far-out tales, those qualities are all rolled up in one impatient, lovestruck couple who have just met and take their new-found passion all the way to the altar. ... read more

Nevada's Outlaws

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 easy picki ... read more

Reno Rodeo Turns 100

A century of the Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West. BY GUY CLIFTON In spring 1919, the Commercial Club of Reno—a precursor to the Reno Chamber of Commerce—created a committee known as the Reno Rodeo Association. The committee was f ... read more

True Grit: Lovelock

From 1841-1869, the lure of gold and silver, gentler weather, and the chance for a new life encouraged some 250,000 people to leave the comforts of their eastern homes and set out West. Many emigrants chose to follow the California Trail, and many died when they tried to cross the 40-Mile Desert, which ran roughly between Lovelock and Fernley. ... read more

Only In Your State: Fly Geyser

Had Dr. Seuss had the ability to create one lasting physical memorial here on Earth, Fly Geyser would probably be his contribution. This magical manmade monument rests on the edge of the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada. ... read more

Cottonwood Station Eatery

It’s dusk in the tiny desert village. Through a canopy of cottonwood trees, crimson mountains turn purple in the falling light. Wild burros cross the parking lot of the gas station, which also serves as the town’s general store and sheriff’s department. Less than 20 miles away, rows of jingling slot machines and miles of concrete are towered over by neon signs. These two worlds are somehow both located in Clark County. The latter is the Las Vegas Strip and the former is Blue Diamond which is home to Cottonwood Station Eatery—a culinary outpost tucked deep inside Red Rock Canyon. ... read more

Yesterday: Nevada Mines Yield Great Wealth

This story originally ran in the May/June 1939 issue of Nevada Magazine. Mining has been recognized as one of Nevada's major industries since the very beginning of its settlement. From the time when gold was first discovered at the mouth of Gold Creek Canyon, near Dayton, in Lyon County, back in 1849, down to the present day this industry has c ... read more

Iconic Las Vegas Sign Turns 60

Imagine driving into Las Vegas, and being greeted by a sign that reads “Welcome to Las Vegas The Gateway to Boulder Dam.” If your drive took place before 1959, that’s what you would have seen at the intersection of Fremont and Main Streets. It wasn’t until the 1950s when the golden age of neon signage—and today’s iconic sign—began on the Las Vegas Strip ... read more