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Burksham's Auto Stage

  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

Mineral County High School

Cecil the Sea Serpent

By Kellie Zuniga • September 3, 2025
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

By Kellie Zuniga • August 4, 2025
Marietta Shootout

Milton Sharp

By Kellie Zuniga • July 2, 2025
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
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