mcmuseum

Nevada and the Civil War

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 18:59:55 GMT

Nevada and the Civil War

Nevada and the Civil War

The State of Nevada became a state at the end of the Civil War in 1864. Nevada nicknamed the “Battle Born State”, was formerly Nevada Territory and under federal control. The Comstock Lode (the Virginia City Area) was a main source of silver and helped provide funding for the Union war efforts. Abraham Lincoln, president from 1861 until his assassination in 1865, needed Nevada’s electoral votes to win re-election against democrat George B. McClellan. To achieve statehood before the deadline for Lincoln’s re-election the entire 16,543-word constitution was telegraphed to Washington from Carson City via Salt Lake City, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The two-day, 12-hour transmission cost over $4300, roughly $90,000 today, and was the longest telegraph ever sent at that time. Nevada received statehood one week before Lincoln’s re-election. Following his re-election in 1864 , Lincoln sought to heal the war-torn nation through Reconstruction .

The Compromise of 185 0 failed to alleviate tensions over slavery between the slave-holding South and the free North. As the slavery debate in the Nebraska and Kansas territories became particularly acrimonious, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed popular sovereignty as a compromise; the measure would allow the electorate of each territory to decide the status of slavery. The legislation alarmed many Northerners who sought to prevent the spread of slavery, but Douglas's Kansas–Nebraska Act narrowly passed Congress in May of 1854. Lincoln's Peoria Speech of October 1854, in which he declared his opposition to slavery, was one of an estimated 175 speeches he delivered in the next six years on the topic of excluding slavery from the territories. Lincoln's attacks on the Kansas–Nebraska Act marked his return to political life. The South was a slavery-based economy using free slave labor in the agriculture industry. While the North depended on more of a factory-based industry economy. Abraham Lincoln wanted to stop the whole slavery industry.

After Lincoln’s election in November 1860 and before his inauguration in March 1861 seven southern states seceded from the Union forming the Confederate States fearing his opposition to slavery and their way of life. Four more states would secede following the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861 that formally started the Civil War. Lincoln wanted the United States to stay together and had used it as part of his campaign speeches. Most of the Confederate States would rejoin the Union in 1868 during Reconstruction, the last four in 1870 after ratifying the 14 ^th Amendment banning slavery.

Nevada provided 12,000 volunteer soldiers to the Union of the North, more than requested. The Civil War was the bloodiest war fought in the United States. Young men as young as 15 years of age were allowed in. Women were not allowed to be soldiers, but some disguised themselves as men and entered. Most soldiers died of disease. Diarrhea and dysentery were the leading causes of death as well as inadequate sanitation and a general lack of medical knowledge regarding germs and malnutrition.

Summerfield Family

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 21:21:15 GMT

New ti

The Summerfields helped shape Mineral County and Hawthorne in the Early Days

Alexander Summerfield was one of the earliest settlers of Nevada, a pioneer merchant of Hawthorne who built the first store called the Summerfield Mercantile (or People’s Cash Store) and stocked it with general merchandise in May 1881. Born in Poland in 1842, he arrived in San Francisco at fourteen years of age and began earning his own living as a clerk in a store in the old town of Shasta, California.

Hawthorne and its development were of deep interest to Alexander and for twenty-three years he ran a store in Hawthorne. Alexander was a member of the school board and was the postmaster for nine years. A member of the Republican party, he was a highly involved member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also served as the president of the local fire department and later became the treasurer.

Alexander married Miss Esther Bloomfield in June 1876. Esther was a native of New York but was reared in Nevada. Her father was Elias Bloomfield, one of the brave pioneer settlers of this state. The Summerfields had 13 children but only six children lived, Solomon, Abraham, Rose (White), Hattie

(Thiessen), Myrtle (Sullivan) and Frances the youngest. Alexander remarried following Esther’s death to Lydia Jane Summerfield who was 35 years younger and had no children. Alexander is buried in the Hawthorne Cemetery.

Solomon, the oldest of the six children, stayed in Hawthorne and became active in the community. At 22 he was elected to the Nevada State Assembly and moved to Reno to work for the railroad in Sparks, later becoming the town’s first postmaster. Solomon returned to Hawthorne to take over his father’s store before moving to Mina and opening his own store called the Mina Mercantile, which he ran till the 1930’s. He was involved in mining, the fire department, the chamber of commerce, Knights of Pythias and was a Mineral County Commissioner at one time. Solomon was also the Postmaster in Mina.

In the Mineral County Museum, we have a fantastic article on Solomon and sister Rose’s husband Jay White about a bike ride to Carson City, via Lucky Boy, Fletcher, the Elbow, Wellington and then on to Carson City in October 1896. Solomon was married to Lucille McBride and they had three daughters, Ester, Lucille (later Travelle) and Gertrude (later Hillygus). Wife Lucille died of the Spanish Flu in 1918 and Solomon died in 1935 at 58 years old, both are buried in Mina. It was said that Solomon had the largest funeral in Mina’s history.

Life was not perfect for the Summerfield family. Alexander and Ester’s son Abraham could not stay out of trouble. He was often out of work and was found guilty of several crimes including robbing a post office and spent time in both the state prison and in a federal penitentiary.

Rose Summerfield married Jay White (D.A. in Hawthorne and Secretary to Governor Belzar). She lived a full life. As it turns out, I found photos of her and Jay White in the museum with a lot of other family members that seem to go on and on. (The Parker family photos). So, if your grandfather was Fred Parker you are related to the roots of Hawthorne.

In the 1900 census it was recorded that Hattie was 15 years old and living at home. I found a photo of her when she was a young teen. Hattie married Albert Thiessen, a railroad worker, on August 12, 1904 and died on May 21, 1907 in San Francisco, California.

According to some of the records I found there were two Frances Summerfields, one was a female who may have died at an early age and the same name was given to male child born later. Frances Summerfield lived in Hawthorne, Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States in 1910 and Judicial Township 4, Inyo, California, United States for about 10 years. He registered for military service in 1918 and died on 21 April 1953, in Inyo, California, United States, at the age of 58, and was buried in Mount Whitney Cemetery, Lone Pine, Inyo, California, United States.

References

Findagrave.com

Mineral County Nevada by Sue Silver

https://criminalgenealogy.blogspot.com/

Hawthorne’s Cemetery book in the Mineral County Museum

Mineral County Independent News

The Parker Family Photos

Walker Lake Bulletin

If you went back to 1876

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 19:43:11 GMT

New title

If you went back in time to 1876, you would find there was no railroad but there was a boat that take you across Walker Lake. It is hard to imagine now, but in 1876 at one time there was a ferry that came from the mouth of Walker Lake to Cat Creek. This was before Hawthorne existed and the railroad was not here yet. Later in time, Cat creek was dammed up and made into a reservoir, in the 1930’s the Civilian Conservation Corps(CCC) Camps as a water conservation project built the Cat Creek Dam and reservoir to send the water to the military base and other areas in the community. The CCC Camp of was part of Franklin D. Roosevelt New Deal Program.

Walker Lake was an obstacle to getting freight shipped to different areas. The West side of the lake had lots of steep cliffs and the East side was full of sand dunes. Sewell C. Knapp had a solution to this. Ferry supplies from the mouth of the Walker River through the lake and on to the Southwest side to the mouth of Cat Creek. It became known as Knapp’s Landing. This place was a very busy with two ships a day crossing Walker Lake. There was a ranch established by Sam Nichols in that location too. This route was faster causing supplies coming from Mason Valley and other places to be cheaper. It was considered the first white settlement in this area.

Supplies were loaded in Wasson’s Camp in 1876 at the North End of Walker Lake. Warren Wasson was a prominent figure in the region known as a friend to the Paiute and former Indian Agent (nicknamed Long Beard) About the same time as the transportation issue was being solved the Native Americans were being placed on the Reservation in Schurz.

Dutch Creek was not officially there yet. It was illegal to mine in that area. Although there were rumors of mining going on. It was after the railroad was established when Dutch Creek really took off. (Somewhere around 1906)

Candelaria and Belleville were in its heyday. In 1876, transportation to the booming mining camp of Candelaria, Nevada, relied on long-distance wagon freighting due to its isolated location. Goods and people were transported roughly 120 miles from the nearest major railroad hub in Wadsworth via the Wadsworth-Columbus Freight Route, as the railroad did not arrive until 1881.

In 1881, the Carson & Colorado Railroad was built on the East side of the lake and the town of Hawthorne was established. The railroad provided a more direct transportation service that was faster and cheaper. That is when the ferry transportation died out.

Tasker Oddie

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 20:29:59 GMT

Tasker Oddie

Tasker Oddie and Hawthorne Nevada

Tasker Lowndes Oddie (October 20, 1870 – February 17, 1950) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 12th Governor of Nevada and a United States Senator . He was a member of the Republican Party . Although for most of his young life he was more of a miner than a politician. In December 1903, Oddie married Claire Gardner MacDonald, they divorced the following year in November 1904. In November 1916, he married Daisy Rendall MacKeigan and they were married until his death. Oddie had no children with either wife.

Tasker Oddie invested heavy in mining in Nevada and, although he never made any real money, was indirectly responsible for reigniting mining in Nevada at the end of Comstock era. In May of 1900 a miner named Jim Butler found a rock that looked like promising ore. Butler showed the ore to others but no one was interested. After returning to Tonopah, Butler showed the ore to Tasker, then a young lawyer from New York who just been elected Nye County District Attorney. Tasker had a friend in Austin, Walter Gayhart, that taught chemistry and they had him assay the ore and found it worth more than $200 a ton. Jim Butler staked his claim and a new mining boom began. Today, the third week in May, Tonopah celebrates Jim Butler Days and his discovery which led to the development of the Tonopah Mining District and put Tonopah “on the map”.

For many years Tasker went back and forth between Austin and Ione on horse back until he invested in a car. He would camp along the way if he could not get there in a day, which he mostly did. He did invest in the Lucky Boy Mines and Camp Ashby in Mineral County and many other places in Nevada like Austin and Ione. When he was campaigning for governor he went on the road with no money. He mailed out a lot of letters to people asking for support. While he was at Lucky Boy Mine he sawed off the back of his touring car to make it a flat bed for running supplies back and forth to the mine. He took that same car, loaded it up with food, blankets and tools and went on the campaign trail. He camped in the desert, cooked his own food and had just enough gas to get to the next town. He hoped to generate enough money to keep him going. At that time the roads in Nevada were very bad and bumpy. Oddie would stop and talk to anyone who would listen. He became well known and won the election.

During his time as governor he was unmarried, so his mother took over his finances. She moved into the Governor’s Mansion along with his sisters and took over many duties that a governor’s wife would normally do.

Later in time, Oddie became a senator for Nevada. At one point his opponent was trying to sway the vote his way by buying alcohol and giving it away all over Mineral County Nevada. It did not work. Tasker Oddie won a second term in the senate.

On July 2, 1926 the town of Hawthorne was gutted by fire destroying many businesses. On August 7 ^th , 1926 after an explosion of the Navy Base in New Jersey, Oddie wired the Secretary of Navy recommending Hawthorne for the new military base. Many agreed with this choice and the Naval installation was moved to Hawthorne, rejuvenating the town.

Tasker really was fond of central Nevada and lived a great deal of it in Belmont, Tonopah, Ione and Pine Creek Ranch which is north east of Tonopah. Today the ranch is privately owned and operated.

Tasker Oddie died on February17,1950 at the age of 79. He is buried at the Lone Mountain Cemetery in Carson City Nevada.

References

Book: Letters From The Nevada Frontier

By Tasker Oddie

Book: Sagebrush Statesman, Tasker Oddie of Nevada

By Loren Chan

Online: Tonopahminingpark.com

Albert A. Bass

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 20:24:10 GMT

Albert Bass

Albert A. Bass

(This is a reprint from Sue Silver)

A native of Missouri, Albert A. Bass and generally known as AA Bass arrived in Nevada sometime around 1890. He was mining at Pine Grove Nevada, then in Esmerelda County. A few months later James L. Butler and his wife, Belle discovered the prospects that resulted in the boom town of Tonopah, which Kick-started the mining industry at the turn of the 20th century. Bass according to one report, was the “35th man to arrive in Tonopah in February of 1901.

Bass took a lease on Butler’s Valley View Lodge in 1901 and the summer of 1902 was successful enough in that mining venture to open a new hotel in Tonopah with his partner, James Breen. Known as the Palace Hotel, it had a bar and sleeping apartments in the substantial stone building Bass built with another partner, Zeb Kendall. Today it is known as the Bass Building and it is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

About 1906 Bass was married in Bishop California to his wife Anna Meagher and two years after that he made a strike “about ten miles west of the old camp of Belleville in Esmeralda County. Two months later reports of the “ new camp of IBEX” were being mad in the local and Reno newspapers. It location was variously described and one account indicates the “new town” was to have at one time been named “Buckeye”

From 1908-1930, A.A. and Anna Bass continued to reside in their cabin home they had built near Marietta. (The Cabin Under the Rock) Four years earlier Bass had filed an application for a military pension from his service in the Spanish-American Was which cited he was an invalid. He had served as a private for six months in Company A, 1st Battalion, Nevada Infantry, before being discharged.

In June of 1930 Mrs. Anna Bass died at the Mineral County Hospital in Hawthorne . She was buried in the cemetery at Mina, the nearest active cemetery to her home.

Four years later, Albert A. Bass died on March 11, 1934 at Hawthorne having been brought from his home near Marietta the week prior. He was buried with military honors at the Mina Cemetery. His only surviving relative was his nephew, Howard Pressley, who had been his companion at Marietta “for some years”

While A.A. and Anna Bass have been gone for a very long time their home in Mineral County is kept alive by the survival of their little mountain home, now known as the “Cabin Under the Rock”

The Mineral County Museum is grateful for the donation of this beautiful photograph of the one our county’s earliest pioneer citizen by Mr. and Mrs. Edison and the story of its discovery by Swede Edison of Mina. And it is on display at the museum.

Rawhide

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 19:23:58 GMT

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The Boom and Bust of Rawhide Nevada

The ghost town of Rawhide is just northeast of Pilot Cone in Mineral County, Nevada. The rise and fall of Rawhide only lasted about two years. It started in September of 1907 as a tent and grew to roughly 10,000 people in about 8 months. A true Boom and Bust town. In other parts of the country mining was slowing down and all eyes turned to Rawhide. It had one long main street, there was no planning of the town, first there were tents, then wooden structures. The population grew and so did the stories of new strikes. Work was plentiful. Speculators were mostly selling mining stock, not actually digging in the mines. There were no large mines, only several small mines. The production at Rawhide as shown by the Nevada Bureau of Mines 1908-1916, the years of the greatest production, was $1,287,246.00 in a combination of gold, silver, copper and lead. Water was the biggest problem as it had to be hauled in, mostly from Dead Horse Wells, at five cents a gallon. A water system was started but it was abandoned before completion. A few businesses had water and others put in their own systems and hauled water to them. A railroad was planned, but never materialized.

The story of Rawhide would not be complete without talking about some of the people who lived there. Newspaper editors flocked to wherever there was talk of a new promising vein and Rawhide was no different. Swindlers also followed eager to capitalize on another’s hard work. There were also honest people who came hoping to make their fortunes in the booming area such as the Grutt brothers. Eugene, Fred, Emil and Leo Grutt helped make Rawhide famous. Eugene took the lead in running a mine on Grutt hill. Together they made money by buying and selling shares of stock. They also helped to organize the telegraph company. When Mineral County was formed from Esmerelda County, Eugene became Sheriff and served two terms from 1911-1919.

Tex Rickard, a prize-fighting promoter, opened and operated a saloon called the Northern. Rickard had previously owned, with partners, a saloon in Goldfield also called the Northern and another in Nome, Alaska. He is credited with bringing prize fighting to Nevada. Rickard never actively mined, his “gold” came from staking and selling claims, promoting prize fights, his Rawhide Northern saloon, and gambling.

Born Jacob Simon Herzig, George Graham Rice was a good-looking classy businessman and promoter (with nefarious intentions), who had a history of swindling people. He had spent two years in Elmira Reformatory for stealing from his father’s business. Jacob later spent four years in Sing Sing for forgery and stealing his father’s business. Upon his release from Sing Sing he took the name of another inmate, George Graham Rice. He had a Machiavellian personality. Rice wrote a book called “My Adventures With Your Money” while in the Nevada State Petitionary for mail fraud. He was an editor of a newspaper at one point and was considered partly responsible for Rawhide’s rise and fall.

Following an influenza epidemic and a flash flood which destroyed many buildings, the town kept going until a fire started at a rooming house and destroyed most of Rawhide. In January of 1909 there were only 2000 people left. There were a few residents, about a hundred people in the depression era who hung in there for many years up until about the mid-1960s. Anna Rechel was the last known resident, she lived with her brother until he died, and it was decided that it was not safe for her to be there by herself anymore. Visitors between the years of 1967 and the early 1980’s could still see standing buildings in Rawhide, including Mrs. Rechel’s house, an old Lumber Store that had been moved to Rawhide from Wonder, Nevada and several other buildings.

A large mining operation became interested in the Rawhide area in the late 1980’s thanks to new mining technologies and an upswing in gold prices. The new mine operated for about 20 years before closing and leaving behind a huge open pit which had completely taken over the original town site. The mine ended operations in 2002-2003 and the pit itself has been permitted as a landfill. Visitors to the area will find nothing remaining of what was once, for a very brief period, a booming town called Rawhide.

Resources:

Historic Mining Camps of Rawhide Nevada by Hugh A Shamberger

A Miner of Her Own by Sally Zanjani

My Adventures with your Money by George Graham Rice

Wikipedia.org

Willian Hawthorne

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 19:53:12 GMT

William Hawthorne

William Alexander Hawthorne was a pioneer lumberman and rancher in Nevada who was the namesake for the town of Hawthorne. He moved to the region from Pennsylvania in 1878, located a mine on Mt. Grant and established a ranch on Cat Creek. The town of Hawthorne was eventually named after him when the Carson & Colorado Railroad established it as a division point in the early 1880s , solidifying his connection to the area’s early development. He was considered a Prosperous, middle-aged well to do Nevada William Alexander Hawthorne was a pioneer lumberman and rancher in Nevada who was the namesake businessman , who spend his time in the desert hills prospecting for gold and silver. He owned 980 acres near Walker Lake. He was active in encouraging the railroad to consider a townsite on the edge of Walker Lake. The railroad had a different location for the townsite than Hawthorne (which it is where it is today). Out of respect for Mr. Hawthorne, they named the new town in his honor. At the time William Hawthorne was Justice of the Peace in Carson City. The 1875 city directory spells his name without the “e”, making one question of the proper spelling of the town of Hawthorne. William Hawthorne never actually lived in Hawthorne. He had his cattle ranch and mining interests here as well as many other places. He resided in Carson City. Hawthorne was killed outside of the Grand Hotel in San Francisco by a falling scaffold placed by a contractor. Hawthorne was 81 years old at the time of his death. He is buried in an unmarked grave in Lone Mountain Cemetery in Carson City, next to his wife Sarah Jane who passed away before him. They had three children together.

There is a story that he found and lost a mine out near Luning. He was out prospecting and found what he thought was a rich vein. It was getting dark and he decided to call it a night, leaving his pick and shovel and some other tools in the hole, hoping to return the next day. He did not make it back there, for various reasons, until later. Then he could not find the hole he had dug. Some cattlemen were herding cattle in the area some years later and found a hole with an axe and shovel in it and thought that may have been his original discovery. That mine turned out to be profitable for the cattlemen. There are many mines dug in that area and it is thought to be in the Bell Mining District.

References:

Wilipedia

Find a grave

Pioneer Nevada by Harold’s Club

The first gas chamber was used in Nevada

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 20:43:39 GMT

The first attempt to use the gas chamber was not successful. It was used on Gee Jon. It was pumped into his cell while sleeping and there were too many leaks, which lead to construction of the gas chamber. After this failure, a makeshift airtight chamber was quickly constructed in the prison butcher shop out of a retrofitted barber chair. This gas chamber was tested on two kittens which died within 15 seconds. It was the worlds first use of the gas chamber. He was successfully executed, however there was a leak that allowed a liquid to drop on the floor which caused him to take as much as 10 minutes to die. The chair that was modified for the gas chamber is on display at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas.

The story began on the evening of Aug. 27, 1921 when Tom Quong Kee, (age 74) a Chinese laundryman living in Mina, was awakened up by the sound of someone knocking on the back door of the little cabin where he lived. Kee, a member of the Bing Kong Tong Gang, made his way to the door clad in nothing but pajamas and a jacket, holding a candle as his only source of light. When he opened the door, he found two Chinese men at his door, one of the men shot and killed the elderly man. The senseless killing in the town of Mina was an act of Tong gang warfare that had been spreading from the Chinese-American communities of California and had now trickled down into neighboring Nevada. These feuds started when a member of the Hop Sing Tong stole a Chinese slave girl who had belonged to the Suey Sing Tong gang. To avenge the injustice – the Suey Sing council allied with the Bing Kong Tong gang and declared war on the Hop Sings. On the morning of Aug. 28, 1921, a Chinese vegetable peddler went looking for Kee. Peering through the windows of Kee’s cabin, the peddler saw the old laundryman on the floor. The peddler notified Mina Justice of Peace L.E. Cornelius, who turned the case over to Mineral County Sheriff Deputy W.J. Hammill.

Deputy Hammill examined the body and the scene and traced two sets of footprints from Kee’s cabin to a spot where an automobile had been parked and some empty beer bottles had been left behind. Unbeknownst to the two men who had shot Kee, Deputy Hammill had observed the strangers at the Palace Café in Mina over a week earlier. They had been asking for work in the area. The deputy had been told that the two men were neither unemployed nor innocent, and instead were tong members sent to kill Kee. Deputy Hammill contacted Reno Police Chief John M. Kirkley to be on the lookout for a car bearing two Chinese male suspects. Taken into custody would be 29-year-old Gee Jon and 19-year-old Hughie Sing. Both were slight in stature and not physically intimidating. China-born Jon stood 5 foot, 5 ¼ inches and weighed 129 pounds. Sing, born in Carson City, measured only 5 foot, 2 ½ inches tall and tipped the scale at only 105 pounds. Kee had difficulty understanding and speaking English but Sing, could read, speak and write both English and Chinese, having attended grammar school in Carson City. Sing had only been a member of the Hop Sing Tong for two months prior to being enlisted to help Jon. After their arrest, both Jon and Sing were interrogated by the Reno police. Sing was advised that anything he said could be used against him in court. Hoping to be set free, he confessed to his role in the crime of killing Kee in Mina and implicated Jon. Both were taken back to Mina where they were held without bail until their preliminary hearing was held on Sept. 8, 1921. W.H. Chang, an attorney from San Francisco and most likely a Hop Sing Tong member would represent Jon and Sing in court. Sing withdrew his confession given to the Reno police and both waived the right to make a statement at the hearing. Their attorney entered pleas of “not guilty” for each man. The trial of Kee and Sing would be held in the Mineral County Courthouse in Hawthorne from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3, 1921 before the Seventh Judicial District Court. Both men denied being members of the Hop Sing Tong gang, shooting Kee or even going to Mina with intentions to kill the old laundryman. Their defense was they had “been to Tonopah where they had applied for work at a restaurant.” Sing explained that his confession to the Reno police was in belief that he would be freed immediately.

After testimony of witnesses and law enforcement, the court wasn’t convinced. It was brought to the attention of the court that Sing had previously lived with Kee in Mina for two years. Sing’s knowledge of Kee, the town of Mina and his ability to speak English made him the best person to guide Jon to Kee. Both men were found guilty of the first-degree murder of Kee. District Judge J. Emmett Walsh handed down death sentences in 1922. A law had been passed in 1921 by the 30th session of the Nevada State Legislature and signed by Governor Emmett D. Boyle that all criminals sentenced to death were to be executed by means of lethal gas. Jon and Sing were the first to be affected by the passing of this new law. It was thought that gas was a more humane way to end the life of those convicted to death.

Under the custody of Sheriff Frederick B. Balzar, Jon and Sing were taken to the Nevada State Prison in Carson City where they were incarcerated until their sentence was to be carried out. Sing had confidence in his attorney, but also was prepared for the worse stating, “I don’t think there is hope, unless maybe the Supreme Court does something. Our lawyer said he’d file something in the Supreme Court within thirty days, but if the court doesn’t act I guess we’ll have to die.” A stay of execution for the two men, who had been ordered to be executed between April 16-22, 1922, was granted. A long legal battle would begin. In January of 1923, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that lethal gas execution was neither cruel nor unusual punishment. Mineral County District Attorney Jay H. White called the murder of Kee: “Purely a clean-cut premeditated murder without any extenuating circumstances. The crime was one of the most atrocious and cold-blooded in the history of the state. After reviewing all evidence, it was determined that Sing, 19, was only an accessory to the murder and his sentence was commuted to life in prison. Sing was put to work in the Nevada State Prison laundry and would later become a cook and “house boy” in the home of the warden. He was described as a model prisoner. Jon was left to face death alone and to be gassed to death for the murder of Kee in 1921 with the use of hydrocyanic gas (HCN). The morning of Gee’s execution would be cloudy, humid and cold, only 49°F. Jon had fasted for ten days prior and ate his last meal of ham, eggs, toast and coffee. At 9:35 a.m. two guards escorted him forty yards from his cell to the gas chamber. He was strapped into the execution chair where he began to weep. At 9:40 a.m. four pounds of HCN acid was introduced into the chamber.

Despite Judge Walsh’s repeated objections, Sing was paroled in 1938 and moved to California. He died six months later; his death was described as “accidental”. The victim, Tom Quong Kee, an elderly laundryman, was buried in the Mina Cemetery shortly after his death in August of 1921.

References

Wikipedia

Mineral County Independent News

Carson City Daily Appeal

Stage Coach Routes

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 20:50:45 GMT

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Stagecoach Routes in Mineral County

Stagecoaches were the first organized public transit. Stagecoaches were primarily, but not exclusively, privately owned and operated by individuals, partnerships and companies. Owners arranged routes and partnered with innkeepers to manage horses and drivers. In the Western part of the United States the Butterfield Stages were one of the biggest but did not go through Mineral County. It went primarily across the Southwest from Missouri to San Francisco. It went just north of the Mexican border, mostly avoid high sierra passes in the winter time. In smaller communities you could ride a stage to a larger city and connect with a larger stage line. Wells Fargo was a very big stage line. Wells Fargo was a bank that financed the gold rush. Of course, in those days they took cash and gold bars from bank to bank or to mines for their payroll. Naturally, they would be a high target for robbery. Wells Fargo was prepared for that. They had a driver or reins man and a man riding what was called shotgun. He rode with shotgun in hand and ready to shoot at anyone who would attempt to rob the stage. That is where the term riding shotgun came from. It was common for a stage to travel as much as 60 miles in a day. Most stages stopped every 20 miles and often less to give horses a break or exchange them for another horse. There were usually 4 horses or mules to pull the stage the two in the front were called, leaders and the two in the back were called wheelers. But sometimes more were added depending on the load. It was only about two years that the same horse was used and then sold off for other purposes . The road was a route everyone used, whether it was a stage, horseback, walking, wagons or mule team. The roads were maintained by the toll house near that area and every few miles they collected a fee. Often the seats were sold to passengers and there were contracts for mail. In Mineral County Burkhams Stage company delivered mail, passengers and supplies via stage. Later in time when cars were invented, they used what they called auto stages. Every few miles there would be a place on the road to stay the night, refresh your horses get something to eat and of course toll houses. These places were small communities and thrived until the railroad took its place. We have a map at the museum that we give out for free of old stage routes in the local area

References:

Sue Silvers book Mineral County vol.3

Wellsfargo.com (stagecoaches)

Wikipedia-Butterfield Stage Coach Lines

Cecil the Sea Serpent

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 21:01:13 GMT

Cecil the Sea Serpent

The Walker Lake Sea Serpent is an old Native American Legend handed down for generations before the arrival of white men. The story goes, someone walked up on the beach near the west side of Walker Lake and saw a large monster laying on the bank and he shot arrows into the animal but was not easy to kill. He claimed he wounded it and later to find that there were bones on the beach which he believed to be the monster. At another time some white men claimed to see the monster too and that they shot at it and it was at least 56 feet long. But no one seem to actually have the skeleton. Apparently, they left it there. The white men said it was too large and smelled bad. Maybe it was an unnamed species of reptile. In 1883 the Walker Lake Bulletin Newspaper printed an article August 1st of 1883 about people camping at the lake and waking up to two sea monsters fighting. Everyone described it differently. There was a university professor from Standford University named David Star Jordan thought that it could be an Ichthyosaur and wanted to capture it and study it and send it the Smithsonian. Many people believed that there was something in that lake. The Native Americans would not actually go out in boats or in the water because of it. In 1915 there was a disturbance in the water which sent waves crashing everywhere, many people believed it was the serpent, others said it was an earthquake. There was a hermit at the lake asked the county commissioners how much they would pay for the head of the reptile. When the highway was being built in the 1920’s there were many sightings from people passing by. It was thought that the serpent had a cave under the cliffs and he was mostly in that area. It was said by many people at one time there was an underground spring in the area of the cliffs and a body that disappeared in Walker Lake turned up in Pyramid Lake. There has been many sightings of it over the years but none in recent years. Many stories have been told over the years. The owner of the Capital Saloon, Charlie Kimball claimed to have to bones of the Sea Monster on display above his bar. At that time the sea serpent was also called Sara by the white people.

The Walker Lake Sea Serpent was originally called Tawaga named from the Native Americans. In 1949 there was a cartoon created called Beany and Cecil. The cartoon looked a lot like how Cecil the float looks today. The Serpent was nicknamed Cecil and it stuck. Today he is referred to as Cecil the Sea Serpent.

In 1964, to celebrate Nevada’s 100th birthday Cecil was constructed at the Hawthorne Ammunition Depot and floated on Walker Lake as part of the Armed Force Day Celebration. The Walker River Native American Tribe danced in full regalia and the serpent sailed around to a point at the lake with smoke coming out of his nostrils and throat with lights and fireworks in the background. Originally, it was supposed to be a one-time deal, but everyone protested and insisted that we do it again. In 1966 he went on the lake again, he caught on fire from a near fireworks display. And it was then decided that he should not be on the lake again and wheels were put on him after that. He appears every year in the local Armed Forces Day Parade as a float and he has appeared at other Nevada celebrations in parades as well. In 1990 Cecil was renovated which included redesigning of the trailers, restoring the mechanical devices that produce smoke from his nostrils and was repainted and was given a general facelift.

Although, there has not been any recent sightings, today he is still very much a part of our culture here in Hawthorne Nevada. He recently has been moved to a storage facility at the airport to help preserve him. And currently, some of the Mineral County Museum’s Collections of Cecil is at the Nevada Museum of Art as part of the Deep Time Sea Dragons of Nevada Display.

Resources:

The book Walker River Paiutes- Tribal History

Harold Fullers Stories from Goldfield Radio

The Times newspaper November 1978 three-part article from Denaya Pucket

Files at the Mineral County Museum

Marietta Shooting

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 21:56:18 GMT

Marietta Shootout

According to some experts gun battles in the old west were rare. Maybe that is why they are remembered so well. In the old west guns were a common thing to have and there was a lack of law enforcement and many young men drinking alcohol in saloons. Mineral County had at least two or three. One of them was in Marietta and it involved a lot of people. Looking around Marietta right now it would be hard to imagine even a community there. But on November 12, 1879 there was a big shoot out involving several people. Tom Mclaughlin and John Brophy were the main characters. Brophy ran a butcher shop and Mclaughlin was a regular customer. Their wives had a quarrel and the men got involved. Each man had family and friends on their sides. Approximately, eight men were involved. One of Brophy’s men opened fire and then it was on. After a few minutes, four men were dead including John Brophy. And Mclaughlin wounded. Several months later, some of Brophy’s family opened a restaurant in Belleville (not far away) Mclaughlin went to Belleville on business and was in the Saloon next to the restaurant. Mclaughlin was acquitted at court in self-defense, which of course angered the Brophy’s. To avenge Brophy’s death, one of the Brophy family members saw Mclaughlin, and then shot and killed Mclaughlin as he was mounting his horse.

References- Candelaria and Its Neighbors by Hugh Shamberger

True Fissure (Newspaper) July 17, 1880

Milton Sharp

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 21:28:40 GMT

Milton Sharp

Stagecoach robberies were common in the old west. Well Fargo sent most of there valuables through stage and so did mining companies. Train or stagecoach was the usual transportation of funds. Mining was very hard work. So many decided to make money the easy way and rob stagecoaches and trains.

Most highway men were mean and ruthless. However, there were a few men who though that being mean was unnecessary. Black Bart was known for his politeness. He dressed well and would say please and thank you to people particularly the ladies and he was known to leave poetry behind as well. Mineral County had its own Black Bart, Milton Sharp. It would be easy to get them confused, since they did similar things, such as being polite. Milton Sharp adopted Black Bart’s style. Now Black Bart was about 17 years older than Milton Sharp. Black Bart was born Charles E. Boles and was born in England and served in the Civil War. After the war he went to California and did most of his looting in Redwood Valley. He was eventually caught and served time in San Quentin.

Milton Sharp was born in Missouri and lived in California but more in the Bodie area. He was known to rob stages in Candelaria, Aurora and any place where the stage route went, mostly a canyon called Dalzell. It was common for him and his partner to rob stages that had a Wells Fargo cash box or mining payroll on board. Sharp was smart, and he did his homework. He mostly looked for low risk high pay before he attempted to rob the stage Sharp teamed up with a man named Frank Dow( who was killed during one of their robberies). It was said that maybe he adopted the Black Bart image because of his partners demeanor, or he just saw it as unnecessary. He was well dressed, good looking and polite and did not want to hurt anyone. He was quite business like he just wanted the money sometimes even returning jewelry to some of the ladies on the coach. At one point he was arrested and jailed in Aurora. However, he escaped with a 15-pound ball and chain on his leg. He was loose for several months, then he turned himself in, in Candelaria because he was tired of hiding out and being cold and hungry. He was returned to Aurora and was charged with 5 counts of robbery and was sentence to 20 years in Carson City Penitentiary. He served as a model prisoner only to escape from prison for four years and once again apprehended in Red Bluff California and he was returned to prison. He was pardoned a year later and lived as a law biding citizen for the rest of his life. He is buried in Auburn California.

It was said he did not recover all his riches and there was still buried treasure out there somewhere. Later in time Gus and Will Hess went on a treasure hunt and did find some of his buried loot along the stagecoach route. However, he did live off of something after his prison release. And probably did not tell anyone where he hid any of it.

Resources:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/milton-sharp-loot/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Bart_(outlaw)

Book from Mineral County Library- Wells Fargo Detective: James B Hume

Book from Mineral County Library-Outlaw Tales of Nevada-Charles L Convis

Museum Policies

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 19:43:09 GMT

Museum Policies

Mineral County Museum And Collection Policies

Mission Statement : The Mineral County Museum was established to:

1. Discover, procure and preserve whatever may relate to the natural, civil, political, cultural or literary history of , firstly, Mineral County Nevada and secondly, the state of Nevada and establish and maintain collections and displays for such artifacts:

2. Promote public interest in the history and cultural heritage of Mineral County and the state of Nevada and enlist public support in participation in the collection and preservation of artifacts are related thereto:

3. Acquire, hold, use and operate equipment and /or facilities incidental to the operation and maintenance of a public museum and to do any and all other acts as by the code of Mineral County and laws of the state of Nevada are made and provided for.

It is the purpose of the museum to provide services free of charge to all individuals and groups: to be a source of information and enrichment to the community and be aware of opportunities for better service to the county and the public.

Collection Donation Policy -

1. Must be approved by Museum staff 1 ^st .

2. Must be artifacts that are directly related to Hawthorne or locations in Mineral County.

3. We DO NOT take personal photos. (Unless directly related to Hawthorne or Mineral County).

4. Must be put on display not in storage, unless related to a rotating display.

5. We do not pick up donations they must be delivered to the museum

Deaccession Policy: 1.

Deaccessioning and disposal of collections, by sale, exchange, or other means require particularly rigorous examination and should be pursued with great prudence. There are circumstances in which the deaccessioning of collections is justified; however, such deaccessioning must be governed by the museum’s written policy rather than by exigencies of the moment. The museum’s policy must conform to the requirements of Mineral County policy on deaccessioning and disposal. No collection item may be considered for deaccessioning without the recommendation of the director to the board of county commissioners with whom the final decision must rest. The work is no longer consistent with the mission or collecting goals of the museum. The board of trustees or governing body of the museum must exercise great care in revising a museum’s mission or reformulating collecting goals.

Loans

We do accept loans:

1. A time limit should be established.

2. We are not responsible for condition of artifact once returned.

We do loan only:

1. With Directors approval.

2. Must fill out a loan form.

Ethical Behavior

1. No employee or volunteer can be put on any agenda to discuss Mineral County Museum business unless directed by the Museum Department head.

2 The Museum Staff will not actively pursue archeological dig site or ghost town and bring artifacts into the Museum.

2. Mineral County Museum will not accept any Human Remains (Including ashes)

Funds and fundraising activities:

All sales from gift shop are to go to the general fund.

Fundraising activities are limited to:

Raising funds for a direct purchase of a planned item. (such as a display case, not to be used for any operating expenses including supplies)

Volunteers:

1. Are to be supervised by Museum Staff. (Are not to be alone for a significantly large amounts of time)

2. Are not to restore projects. (must be trained professionally first)

Preservation:

1. Try to keep the temperature as close to 68 degrees as affordable. Like 72 in the summer and 60 in the winter.

2. Keep the doors shut as much as possible.

3. Keep lights off when not open or in use.

4. Avoid keeping artifacts in the backroom. If no choice cover them and keep it dark as much as possible

5. Dust and vacuum often.

Inventory:

Will be done by Director continually

Daly Gang

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 20:58:00 GMT

T The Daly Gang

Aurora, Nevada doesn’t look like much today. There are no buildings and you can barely find a pile of old boards. The graveyard is still in decent shape. However, Aurora has quite a past. It was originally thought to be in California but after a government survey it was determined that it was in Nevada. That itself was big deal. Still there was another incident in 1864 that was much more infamous. It was the murder of William Johnson by John Daly and his gang.

On February 2 ^nd , 1864 John Daly and three of his gang members, William Buckley, James Masterson, John McDowell killed William Johnson over killing a horse thief named Jimmy Sears. Apparently, Sears stole a horse from Johnson’s Station, in what is now Wellington, Nevada. Johnson sent his hired hand to recover the horse, which he did and ended up killing Sears. The hired hand turned himself in and was let go with no charges. This made Daly angry since Sears was one of his partners in crime, and he swore to get revenge.

Prior to February 2, John Daly already had a bad reputation from acts of violence that he had done in California. Daly and his gang were hired to protect the mine at $20.00 per day from claim jumpers. The Daly gang had members in prominent positions that were partners with him. He convinced people to hire one of his members (William Carder) as the town Marshal. For about two years there was reign of terror through the town. Evil elements entered politics. Good citizens were afraid to enter the town.

This is when things get complicated, Aurora was recently changed from Mono County California to Esmerelda County Nevada. The marshal of Aurora was William Carder and the Sheriff of now Esmeralda County was D. G. Francis. Daniel Pine replaced Carder and a Citizen Safety Committee formed right after the murder. 400 citizens volunteered to join the committee to assist the Sheriff with the situation. A coroner’s inquest was done by public officials. Once the interviews were done and found that they believed that John Daly and his gang were guilty, the Citizen Safety Committee took over until the hanging was done.

On February 9 ^th John Daly, William Buckley, James Masterson and John McDowell were hung till their deaths. They are buried outside the Aurora Cemetery in unmarked graves. Nevada Territory Governor Nye, US Marshall Wasson and Provost Marshal Van Bokkelen arrived and stayed three nights. The Governor ordered the Safety Committee to return weapons to the armory and end all activities of the Committee. And all were threatened to be thrown in Fort Churchill if any more vigilante activity continued. Once the governor left, the Committee continued to round up roughs, to the towns dismay.

For further reading I would suggest reading my Sources:

Book: The Last Days of the Daly Gang by Clifford Alpheus Shaw

Book: Mineral County Nevada Volume 1 and 4 by Sue Silver

Answer sheet for what is it activity

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:35:10 GMT

This is Answers to What it is game

What is it? Answer sheet

1. Mini spy camera

2. Hair Receiver ( to collect hair for various uses)

3. Roll Kleen Cleans typewriter keys ( the ones next to the ribbons)

4. Hot iron curler

5. Postmark stamp

6. Weaning calf collar

7. Notary stamp

8. Counter weights for measuring gold

9. Rodent traps

J. Holman Buck

Thu, 22 May 2025 19:11:52 GMT

Nevada's Fighting Editor

J. Holman Buck the fighting Editor of Mina

Joseph Holman Buck was born March 27 1866 at Fort Madison Iowa – Died May 23,1928 of Tuberculosis at the age of 62 in San Fernando California.

He was the editor of Western Nevada Minor Newspaper in Mina Nevada, Nevada Copper News, Fairplay Prospector , Rawhide Rustler and more.

He was known as the fighting Editor, so much so that he shot and killed Francis Burton at noon in Mina on December 10,1907. Burton pulled a gun on Buck with an attempt to assault Buck and Buck shot him with a cut off shot gun in the head and killed him instantly. It was all over an article that Buck published in the Rawhide Rustler. Burton was seeking revenge and made many threats to Buck. Buck turned himself in to the authorities. Burton was a lawyer who did more wrong than good. Buck went to trial and was exonerated but not easily. He generally was a well-liked man; however, he wrote articles about social and political ways that the mainstream did not always agree with. Which sometimes would get him in trouble. He had no problem roasting other newspapers or Politian’s. He supported more liberal views of that time, like women’s suffrage movement. He was most certainly opiniated and said so publicly.

He married Minnie Alzo Cowart against her fathers wishes. They had a daughter Lorena Amelia and sons named Evert and Joseph. Joseph had a twin sister that died at birth. Sadly, his wife died leaving him with three children to raise. At that time, it was uncommon for a man to raise children by himself. So, in 1903 he put his three children by themselves on a train to Kanas City to his sister with a note written stating that the children will be picked up by their aunt and please take care of them. Nine years later he introduced Lorena his daughter as his new assistant to the Western Nevada Minor Newspaper in Mina Nevada. She was newly relocated from Kanas City. Her brothers came shortly after and worked as prospectors in the area. Buck never remarried and was happy to have his children with him.

In contrast to his newspaper image, he was a very loving father and grandfather. Unfortunately, his oldest son Everett died in 1918 in the world war. However, his youngest son did survive the war and returned home and married and had a child.

J Holman Buck was responsible for bringing the military base to Hawthorne Nevada. He was the one that suggested it to officials and worked to support the idea. If he had not done that Hawthorne would not have had a military base.

References:

Sue Silver: Mineral County Nevada Volume 2

Western Nevada Newspaper January 27 1927

Mike Gallo

Wed, 21 May 2025 19:39:26 GMT

Hawthorne's Gangster

The Story of Mike Gallo:

Mike Gallo was an interesting man in the early days of Hawthorne. He was born in February 25, 1885 Fossano, Provincia di Cuneo, Piemonte, Italy as Michelo Gallo. In the old country his family grew grapes and made wine. Mike and his brother Giuseppe moved to the United States with the hopes of making it big. They both started in California They did whatever they could to get started. Mike worked as a bartender for a while. He was always looking for ways to make a quick dollar and he was a good salesman. He moved in with a lady and they set up a scam She would find a mark and would invite him back to her room and he would bust in and beat him up and take his money. It mostly would not get reported because they were often married and should not have been there in the first place. Then the two would split the money. This worked for a while, until they got caught. He went back to his brother Giuseppe and they decided not to grow or make wine but buy a second-hand truck and drove from winery to winery stocking up a supply of barrels , on which they stenciled Gallo in red . They rented an office in Oakland and hung a sign that said the Gallo Wine Company in 1906. Giuseppe and Mike married sisters, who were from a successful wine making family (The Bianco Family). Giuseppe married Asunta (Susie) Mike married the other daughter, Cecelia . Giuseppe and his wife had two sons named Ernest and Julio. ( Yep, that Ernest and Julio) and ten years later had another son named Joseph. Mike and his wife Cecelia had twin boys, Mario and Edward, however Edward died in childhood of pneumonia. Some time later they had a daughter named Gloria. At that time Mike had a Bunco scam going which involved as much as 40 people, he got caught and he gave evidence and it exposed lots of people including a few police officers that were on the payroll. Mike did five years in prison for this adventure. He considered it just part of doing business. Mike became one of the biggest bootleggers of his time. This was during prohibition. He paid numerous fines and paid off people and a small amount of jail time after he was released from prison. Mike was a flashy, storytelling back slapper and was known as a fixer. Even when he went to his birth place in Italy, he make a big show of it by bringing gifts and food to people. During this time his wife divorced him. He married a second wife named Irene and moved to Reno Nevada. Not long after that he bought the Nevada Club in Hawthorne which is where Joes Tavern is today. Mike had many friends and enemies. There are several documents in the Mineral County Museum with Mike Gallo’s name on them. Mostly he owed a lot of people money. Later he bought the Mineral Bar which is approximately where the El Capitan is today. In 1942 the Mineral Bar burned to the ground and several other buildings around it. Mike got busy right away and built the Gallo’s Inn which is where the El Capitan is today and facing F Street. It was a success. He decided to expand and bought more of the lots around it and built a hotel. In 1942 Mike was found guilty of and fined for receiving stolen building materials from the military base and violating rationing orders when he reconstructed his restaurant. Meantime he and his wife divorced. Gallo had built a tunnel between the hotel and the bar, café. In that tunnel his son Mario was stabbed. However, Mario did survive. Later he sold the Gallo’s Inn to the Ram Corporation. He married again, a lady named Vivian and they moved to Minnesota. They opened another restaurant there named Gallo’s Inn. His wife Vivian was 30 years younger than him. She left him for another man. She changed her mind and tried to come back, and, in a quarrel, he stabbed his wife in the back and again returning to prison. He was released later and moved near his son in Las Vegas and he died at the age of 91. He is buried in Bunker Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas. It has been said that he was very proud of his nephews, however they supposedly disowned him from the family, they were very protective of the family name.

References:

Harold Fuller Audio transcripts for the Radio Goldfield

Mineral County Independent News

Book Gallo Be Thy Name; Jerome Tuccille

Book Blood and Wine: Ellen Hawkes

New paragraph

Rattlesnake Dick

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 19:05:14 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

Criminal Rattlesnake Dick buried in an unmarked grave in Hawthorne Nevada

Rattlesnake Dick was the second criminal to use this name. The first was a Canadian Man named Richard Barter, he lived 1833-1859. He robbed mining camps in California. The second man to go by Rattlesnake Dick was John Richard Darling who lived from 1840-1883 in Nevada and deliberately adopted that name and chose a similar lifestyle. Nevada’s Rattlesnake Dick beat a man senseless and was sentenced to prison in 1866 for 14 years but only served 5. He was pardoned because he gave information about a prison break. Soon after, with two masked associates, Dick robbed a prominent lawyer and political figure near Virginia City. Shortly thereafter, he attempted to sell the victim back his watch, and was promptly arrested, convicted, and sentenced to a term of 10 years, of which he served eight. While in prison he had a fight with his associate, the same man who helped him rob the lawyer and killed him in so called self-defense, so he was not punished. He did go straight for a while and worked for the Carson Colorado Railroad which introduced him to Hawthorne. One night he went to a party of some sort and got into a squabble over a woman with a man named James Warren or Jimmy the Fresh ( which had which had questionable repute himself). Later he went to the Lakeview Hotel ( located then approximately where the car wash is now)and was drinking at the hotel bar until the wee hours of the morning. He ran into James Warren again. The two men started up their argument , which resulted in a gun fight right there in the hotel bar and Rattlesnake Dick ended up the on the front porch of the hotel with a gunshot to the head. James shot and killed Rattlesnake Dick. James Warren went to the Nevada State Prison and Rattlesnake Dick is buried in an unmarked grave in the Hawthorne Cemetery.

Bibliography:

Harold Fullers Goldfield Radio Show KTFN episode 78a.

Nevada Magazine March -April edition Nevada Outlaws

Mineral County Museum, Book Hawthorne Cemetery Historical Section researched by Sue Silver

Ferminia Sarrias

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 23:02:32 GMT

FE Ferminia Sarrias

March is Women’s History Month. It is an annual observance to highlight the contributions of women’s events in history. In this article we will focus the women who did something unusual in their time. Many women from the mid 1800’s till the turn of the century, came to the West in hoping to find work. Many just wanted to work in hotels as maids and ended up in prostitution. However, there were a lot that were brave to take on something that was not expected of them, such as propecting. There are so many to pick from it is sometimes hard to narrow down the choice. But for now, the focus will be on Ferminia Sarras, a prospector, the Copper Queen.

She was born in Nicaragua in July 1840 to an elite family. She came to the United States when she was 36 years old with four female children in tow. Without her husband Pablo Flores. She arrived in San Francisco and married a man name Julius Thomasson, a miner. From there she moved to Candelaria a very desolate dry mining town in Nevada( Esmerelda County, now Mineral County) without her husband. He seemed to play no further part in her life. Ferminia left her two youngest children in an orphanage, but only temporarily while she headed to the desert, she felt it would not be beneficial for her children to be in such a harsh environment. When Feminia turned forty-one she gave birth to her fifth child a boy named Joseph A. Marshall.

Ferminia prospecting was done mostly in the hills near Luning Nevada. Although she did try her luck in Virginia City, Silver Peak and a few other places. She usually went out alone, which was unheard of in that time. She not only survived, she thrived. However, she did have another side to her, she would go to San Francisco and buy herself fancy dresses, stay in a nice hotel and wine and dine herself until the money ran out then she would go back to work in the mines. She gave birth to seven children and married multiple times. She had many lovers in her lifetime and it is unclear who she was legally married to. Even on her deathbed, she insisted that her heirs continue working the mines. Which lasted up to three generations.

The town of Mina Nevada was believed to be named after her, but some say no, it was named after a railroad head’s daughter named Mina. Ferminia Sarrias is buried in Luning Nevada and you can visit her grave.

Most of this article’s information came from the book” A Mine of Her Own”, by Sally Zanjani. Chapter two has a nice biography on her.

William "Uncle Billy O'Hara

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 19:44:05 GMT

William "Uncle Billy O'Hara

February is African American History Month. Originally known as Negro History Week it was first celebrated in February 1926. The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation's bicentennial.

William“Uncle Billy”O’Hara

In the late 1860’s the boomtown of Aurora, Nevada, was on the decline and the neighboring mining camp named after W. S. Bodey teeter tottered on the edge of extinction. Peter Eshington and Louis Lockberg combed the Bodie Hills for what gold and silver they could find, continuing to work the Bunker Hill Mine, while African American William “Uncle Billy” O’Hara, left Aurora and hung on to the dream as a staunch Bodie supporter. Without Uncle Billy, and his financing, Eshington and Lockberg may not have stuck around long enough to hit the mother lode that caused the sleepy camp of Bodie to awaken.

O’Hara started his career on the Mississippi steam boats working as a cabin boy. For 25 years he worked on the river. During this time, he met William C. Ralston, the future President of the Bank of California. Ralston ran a cotton boat on the Mississippi with O’Hara. When gold fever hit Ralston, Billy followed him. At the Isthmus of Panama, they caught up with each other, eventually winding up in San Francisco.

The rush for gold at Hildreth's Diggings (Columbia) in the foothills of the western Sierras called to Billy. With his wife, Charlotte, by his side, he decided to try his hand at placer mining. The restaurant business turned out to be a better deal, and he left the mines to run the Jenny Lind Hotel until 1859. Billy and his wife lived in a ranch near the hotel. His wife was noted for taking care of the miners and others who became sick. In August,1859, the O'Hara's threw a grand party at their ranch in honor of the twenty fifth anniversary of the British government’s abolition of slavery in the West Indies Islands. Local newspapers reported on the party, which was well attended by the citizens of Columbia. The O'Hara's were well liked by everyone.

When Charlotte O’Hara died in 1862, Billy left Columbia for the eastern side of the Sierras and the booming town of Aurora, Nevada Territory. The lavish basement restaurant at the Merchant’s Exchange Hotel was Billy’s next venture, where he was well regarded as manager. For O'Hara, race wasn't an issue, but other African Americans were discriminated against. When another Aurora citizen of color witnessed the burning of the Durand Mill on Bodie Creek he was not allowed to give testimony and the arsonists were never prosecuted. "Uncle Billy", as he had become affectionately known, was so well liked, however, that he was able to host a large farewell party for himself before his move to the mining camp of Bodie in 1865.

The Empire Mine Gold and Silver Mining Company hired O’Hara to run their boarding house, which was probably the first of its kind in the Bodie Mining District. Even after the properties were abandoned in 1867, O’Hara stayed on as watchman. At some point Billy received title to the Bunker Hill Mine. When he couldn’t find a buyer for the mine, he turned it over to Peter Eshington and Louis Lockberg, with the agreement that they would pay him $8,000 when the mine began to pull out ore. Eshington and Lockberg worked the Bunker Hill at a loss until an accidental cave-in revealed a rich vein.

Perhaps because of his success with money in Bodie, Uncle Billy O’Hara wound up back in Aurora where he earned a reputation as a fair and favorite lender to those in need. At his death in 1880, Billy had accumulated $40,000. Because of his assistance and encouragement to anyone who tried, the Bodie newspapers declared him the "Foster Father of Bodie & Aurora."

Bibliography

Bodie 1859-1900
by Frank Wedertz
Community Printing & Publishing, 1969

Bodie Bonanza
by Warren Loose
Exposition Press Inc., 1971

Bodie's Gold
by Marguerite Sprague
University of Nevada Press, 2003

Bodie-The Mines Are Looking Well.
by Michael H. Piatt
North Bay Books, 2003

African American History Month

The Library of Congress

www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/about.html

Daily Alta California

Volume 32, Number 10969, 26 April 1880

via Veridan Newspaper Archive

Bodie Cemetery Where Uncle Billy is buried, Like Bodey, his grave is unmarked

Hawthorne Christmas

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 21:58:43 GMT

Christmas in Early Hawthorne

In 1883, just 2 years after the Carson and Colorado Railroad began operations and town lots were being offered for sale, Hawthorne became the county seat of Esmerelda County.

Still a very primitive town, stages were still running. The Grand Central Saloon, Mr. T. Bodkin’s boarding house and the O.F. Taylor Variety store were some of the businesses running advertisements in the local newspaper, the Walker Lake Bulletin.

It wasn’t until 1886 that the 2-room wood framed school house at 6th and C was built.

By this time, Christmas trees, a German tradition was common in most places in the world. In Hawthorne, the local Pinon Pine would usually find its place in Hawthorne homes. Decorations were simple and often were homemade and candles were utilized for illumination.

Since local options were limited, the railroad made it possible to travel to Carson City or even Virginia City if money was no object for gifts.

Like other rural towns in the U.S., Hawthorne Christmas was limited to what families could afford to buy or make.

Stage Coach Robbery

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 18:46:21 GMT

New title

This is a reprint from Nevada Magazine Summer 2022 Issue

The tale of one of the Wild West’s last stagecoach hold ups.

BY DAVE McCORMICK

The rough and tumble town of Rawhide—situated about one hour from present-day Fallon—was one of Nevada’s many short-lived mining towns. It was also the location of what is considered the last Wells Fargo strongbox stagecoach robbery.

On June 10, 1908, two shady characters entered the stagecoach office in Schurz and bought stagecoach tickets to Rawhide. Three days later, the two men—later identified as C. L. “Gunplay” Maxwell and William M. Walters—rented a small wagon at Pioneer Corral in Rawhide. The two headed back out of town and stopped at the stage line station between Rawhide and Schurz. After grabbing grub from the station, they left their wagon and trekked on foot until they arrived at the top of a knoll with an open view of the stagecoach route. Before long, a stagecoach appeared over the horizon. The would-be robbers came down from their perch and hid behind some boulders near a bend in the road, which caused stagecoaches to slow down.

As the stagecoach rounded the trail, Maxwell and Walters stepped out shouting, “Hands Up!” Walters had tied a bandana over the lower half of his face, while Maxwell wore a burlap bag over his head with eye holes cut out. At the reins of the stagecoach sat Tony Kano, who immediately obliged and pulled the coach to a stop. The stage was carrying mail, two passengers, and—most importantly to the outlaws—a Wells Fargo strongbox. Knowing what the robbers were after, when Kano was asked what was aboard, he simply said, “The Wells Fargo.” “Toss it down,” Walters said.

Kano accommodated and didn’t have to be told twice to “git moving.” The teamster snapped the whip and didn’t slow down until he reached Rawhide. Wells Fargo later reported the take was $1,210. This is considered the last strongbox robbery from the Wells Fargo Stagecoach Company.

The coach operated by Tony Kano was a Concord, the same one that is seen in all the old westerns. Kano sat on the right side and under his seat was a safe called the “the driver’s box” where the Wells Fargo strongbox was kept.

GATHER THE POSSE

As the stage roared into Rawhide surrounded by a cloud of dust, Kano barked that it had been held up. A posse was soon marshaled and dispatched with Captain Cox of the Nevada State Police at the lead. Some posse members were on horseback, others in roadsters and touring cars: an uncanny sight at a wild west stagecoach robbery. The day following the heist, a member of the posse named Sgt. Hunter arrived at the halfway station and spoke to the station manager. Hunter learned about the men driving a small wagon who had come to the station the morning of the holdup. The two had bought rations and feed for their horses, but because they claimed to be broke, the manager sold them the goods on credit. The men said they’d be prospecting nearby, so they left their wagon station and set out on foot. While Sgt. Hunter was at the station, Maxwell suddenly showed up. Maxwell appeared tense, and when he met Sgt. Hunter, he’d identified himself as Thomas Bliss, a deputy sheriff from Goldfield. Maxwell—pretending to be Bliss—told Hunter the prospecting story, though it must have seemed odd when the man who had been penniless the day before laid a 10-dollar gold piece on the counter to settle up his account. Sgt. Hunter sensed something was off and asked Maxwell to ride to Rawhide with him. With the information gathered from the Schurz stagecoach office and Stubler’s halfway station, Captain Cox ordered the men be arrested for the stagecoach holdup. Maxwell was detained while in Sg.t Hunter’s custody, and Walters was quickly located in Rawhide. The next morning, the pair was locked up in the Rawhide jail.

THE TRIAL

The evidence collected might not have been strong enough for a conviction, but after state police explored the robbery scene, they noticed several distinctive boot impressions. Walters’ boots were brought from the Rawhide jail, and Maxwell’s were salvaged from the Simonds store where he had just purchased a new pair. The sole leather on Walters’ boots was worn to shreds, leaving the nails exposed. This matched the nail-riddled footprints at the scene. Maxwell’s boot also had a unique characteristic: a V-shaped cutout on the heel. These prints were also found at the scene. With this evidence, Justice of the Peace H.F. Brede ordered them held for a grand jury. Bail was set at $1,500 apiece, and the two were confined to the Goldfield jail. On August 1, Walters attempted a jailbreak along with other cellmates. Maxwell was not part of the escape and later became a witness for the prosecution. At the grand jury, witness testimony linked Maxwell and Walters to the stage holdup. Ernest Eagon, a teenage passenger of the coach, positively identified Walters, claiming he had the same eyes as the bandana-wearing bandit. The Nevada State police also presented its evidence.

On Sept. 5, 1908, the Esmeralda County grand jury indicted Maxwell and Walters for the crime of robbery. With bail set at $5,000 apiece, it appeared the two robbers would remain in their cells until trial.

JUSTICE IN THE OLD WEST

Odd circumstances surround Maxwell. After the grand jury, his bail was posted anonymously, and the donor is still a mystery. In 1907, under the alias of Thomas Bliss, Maxwell he had actually served in Goldfield in the role of deputy sheriff and, during a murder trial that year, gave false testimony that benefitted an area mining company. Was the bail payment in September 1908 a sort of thank you from the mining company? The answer to that is lost to time. Regardless, Maxwell left the area and was never tried for the Rawhide Stage robbery. Walters, however, was convicted for the attempted jail break and served four years. Shortly before Walters was released, Captain J. P. Donnelley of the Nevada State Police wrote numerous letters to the district attorneys of Esmerelda and Mineral Counties, imploring them to bring Walters to trial for his part in the Rawhide stagecoach holdup.

Donnelley’s pleadings were for naught, and Walters became a free man that same year. Why Walters was never put on trial is unknown.

Maxwell would have been safer behind bars. In 1909 he was involved in an altercation in Price, Utah, that soon involved Deputy Sheriff Edward Black Johnson. Johnson and Maxwell had known each other previously and held no hospitality towards each other. On August 23, Johnson confronted Maxwell in the middle of the street. The heated words between the two men evolved into gunfire. Maxwell was shot dead.

New paragraph

A Socialist Misadventure in Goldfield Nevada

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 21:24:23 GMT

A Socialist Misadventure in Goldfield, Nevada

Prior to the creation of Mineral County, NV., it was part of Esmeralda County, NV.

Goldfield, NV. Is in present day Esmeralda County and was organized as a town in October 1903 near recently discovered gold deposits. The population of the town rose to between 15,000 and 18,000 during the boom of 1904-1905.

It was during this time period there was a series of strikes and a lockout which pitted gold miners and other laborers, represented by the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW ,aka ”Wobblies,”) against mine owners and businessmen. These events are significant because in Goldfield the IWW, up to that time gained its greatest degree of power in the labor market there.

In November 1906, the Goldfield Consolidated Mines Company was incorporated by owners George Wingfield and United States Senator George Nixon, which marked the beginning of monopoly control in Goldfield, and the start of an adversarial relationship between mine owners and the unions. A Chicago Record-Herald reporter wrote from Goldfield: "Socialism never had such a taste of the sweets of autocracy as it had in this southern Nevada mining camp, and it grew drunk with its power."

As part of their campaign against the AFL Carpenters' Union, the IWW threatened restaurants with union boycotts if they served meals to non-IWW carpenters. Most fell in line, but restaurateur Anton Silva continued to serve the AFL Carpenters, so the IWW declared a boycott against Silva, and began picketing his restaurant; business dropped drastically. When Silva confronted two pickets, Morrie Rockwood Preston and Joseph William Smith, in a threatening manner, Preston shot and killed Silva. Preston, a business agent of the IWW, pleaded self-defense, but a jury at the trial held at the Esmerelda county seat, Hawthorne, Nevada convicted him. The jury also convicted Smith, an officer of the union, for being an accomplice. The two received sentences of 25 years and 10 Preston and Smith were both members of the Industrial Workers of the World, mining company barons and business owners used the killing to discredit the burgeoning radical union movement in Goldfield. The trial has legal importance because Wingfield indirectly manipulated the jury and influenced public opinion. He paid $9,500 for the perjured testimony of two gunmen, "Diamondfield Jack" Davis and Thomas Bliss — alias "Gunplay" Maxwell — and a con artist, William Claiborne, according to a letter written by Diamondfield Jack to Gov. Tasker Oddie in 1913.

Smith was paroled in 1911 and died a pauper in Oakland in 1935. Preston was paroled in 1914 and tried in vain multiple times to win a pardon. He died in a workplace accident in Los Angeles in 1924. While in prison, Preston was nominated as a candidate for president of the United States in July 1908 by the Socialist Labor Party at its convention in New York City. Although a member of the SLP, Preston declined the nomination on the advice of his attorney, who was appealing his case to the Nevada Supreme Court. The petition for rehearing was denied.

Morrie Preston still is the only Nevadan ever nominated for U.S. president by a political party.

Governor Sparks asked President Theodore Roosevelt to send federal troops into Goldfield, writing that violence at Goldfield included "unlawful dynamiting of property, commission of felonies, threats against the lives of law-abiding citizens. US Army troops arrived from San Francisco on 7 December 1907. The mine owners immediately requested that the troops be assigned to guard the mines, but Colonel Reynolds, the commander of the Army troops, refused. He had been directed by his superiors to take orders only from Washington, not those of state or local officials, or mine owners. Reynolds been sent to put down an insurrection and had arrived to find a peaceful situation. As far as he was concerned, he and his men had no reason to be there.

This closed the uniquely Nevada socialist labor movement in Goldfield.

References:

Paul Frederick Brissenden, 1919, "The I.W.W., a study of American syndicalism," Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law, v.83, n.193.

Marion G. Scheitlin, "Goldfield under labor trust rule," reprinted in The Square Deal, March 1908, v.3 n.8 p.26

Sally Zanjani, Guy Louis Rocha,1986, Nevada Studies in History and Political Science No. 21 “The Ignoble Conspiracy”(Available at Mineral County Library)

Mark Twain penned his first article here.

Mon, 04 Nov 2024 22:23:44 GMT

Mark Twain

Samual Clemens | Mark Twain

Sam Clemens and his brother Orion traveled from St. Joseph, Missouri to stake some claims near Aurora. After working his claim for only about a week, Samuel wrote his brother to ask for writing materials. Soon, Sam began sending stories about a miner's life in Aurora under the pen name "Josh" to the editor of the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise

It didn't take long for Sam to be offered a job at the newspaper. His humorous articles about the Comstock's "flush times" were a hit throughout Nevada and California. It was here that he first began signing his work, Mark Twain . Five years later, after traveling throughout the gold country of Nevada and California, he wrote The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and his career was launched.

Come visit the museum in Hawthorne, NV, and emerge yourself in our colorful history.