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.