In Focus Volume 12 No 1

In Focus Volume 12 No 1

A Journal of Archaeology, Essays, Fictions, Folklore, Natural History, Native American Culture, Nevada History, Old Photographs, and Poetry.

Churchill County Museum Association

Churchill County Museum Association

1998-1999

Russell Armstrong
Bunny Cushman Corkill
Gregory M. Gedney
John Joseph Hanifan
Frances Pacheco Hooper
James "Gib" Mackedon
Michon Maupin Mackedon
Karen McNary
Pam Nelson
Student Papers were written by Western Nevada Community College students during the first semester of the 1998-1999 academic year. The authors were students of Criminal Justice instructor Thomas D. Goodson.
Jane Pieplow

Copyright Churchill County Museum Association

Printed Journal, TIF, PDF

English

CHURCHILL COUNTY
IN FOCUS
A Journal of
ARCHAEOLOGY NATIVE AMERICAN
ESSAYS CULTURE
FICTION NEVADA HISTORY
FOLKLORE OLD PHOTOGRAPHS
NATURAL HISTORY POETRY
THE CHURCHILL COUNTY MUSEUM ASSOCIATION, FALLON, NEVADA
1998-1999
CHURCHILL COUNTY
MUSEUM ASSOCIATION, INC.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Mike Berney, Chairman
Bebe Mills, Vice Chairman
Pat Boden, Secretary
Myrl Nygren, Treasurer
Norine Arciniega, Trustee
Gus Forbus, Trustee
Virgil Getto, Trustee
Bernadette Francke, Trustee
John Hanifan, Trustee
Lynne Hartung, Trustee
Glen Perazzo, Trustee
Lynn Pearce, County Commissioner
EDITORIAL POLICY
IN FOCUS solicits articles or photographs of scholarly or popular interest dealing with the history and people of Churchill County and neighboring Nevada regions. Prospective contributors should send their work to the Editor, IN FOCUS, Churchill County Museum & Archives, 1050 South Maine, Fallon, NV 89406. Articles should be typed, double-spaced, and sent to the museum. If the article is available on a computer disk, please contact the museum for further instructions. Manuscripts and photographs for each annual publication must be received by March 1 for consideration for that year's journal.
Authors of articles accepted for publication will receive three complimentary copies of the Journal.
IN FOCUS is published annually by the Churchill County Museum Association, Inc., a non-profit Nevada corporation. A complimentary copy of IN FOCUS is sent to all members of the Museum Association. Membership dues are:
Jr. Member (21 and under) 15.00 Wagonmaster 50.00
Seniors (60+) 20.00 Pioneer/Business 75.00
Individual 25.00 Homesteader 100.00+
Family 30.00
Membership application and dues should be sent to the Director, Churchill County Museum & Archives, 1050 South Maine Street, Fallon, NV 89406. Copies of In Focus are also sold through the MUSEUM MERCANTILE shop, located in the Museum, by mail, and at several retail outlets.
Copyright Churchill County Museum Association, Inc., 1999. The Editors of IN FOCUS and the Churchill County Association disclaim any responsibility for statements, of fact or opinion, made by the contributors.
POSTMASTER: Return postage guaranteed. Send address changes to Churchill County IN FOCUS, 1050 South Maine Street, Fallon, NV 89406.
Cover Photograph: A Paiute woman cleans needles out of a hand-woven basket full of pine nuts before beginning the winnowing process. See Frances Hooper's story that begins on page 90. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
CHURCHILL COUNTY
IN FOCUS
ANNUAL JOURNAL OF THE CHURCHILL COUNTY MUSEUM ASSOCIATION
VOLUME #12 1998-1999 NUMBER #1
Contents
SOFT FOCUS
The Editors' Comments Michon Mackedon and Jane Pieplow 1
SHADOW CATCHER
Jonas Mauz: Photographer Pam Nelson 3
The Greenhead Duck Hunting Club James "Gib" Mackedon 10
Eagle Salt Works: Leete, Nevada, 1869 to 1916 ..... Russell P. Armstrong 21
Colors of the Lahontan Valley Karen McNary 29
PIONEER PORTRAITS
We Called Him "Grandpa" Bunny Corkill 39
A Tribute to Maurice Martin Hanifan John Joseph Hanifan 72
NATIVE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE
Indian Ways and Traditions Recalled Frances Hooper 90
STUDENT TERM PAPERS
Sheriff/Police/911 Justin Hawley, 101
Tony Hayden, Jason Roberts, Jon Rowe and Shawn Summers
SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough: Part II 118
Gregory M Gedney
CONTRIBUTORS 141
SOFT FOCUS
The Editors' Comments
Michon Mackedon
As I helped prepare this issue of In Focus, I found myself reflecting back to the 11 previous issues with the thought that the history of this valley has certainly been rich, colorful and varied. We have published stories on places in Churchill County, from Dixie Valley to Hazen; on local businesses, from the early soda works at Soda Lake to cantaloupe farming and bee keeping; and on area landmarks and their legends—Sand Mountain, Lahontan Dam, the Harmon School, the Lincoln Highway, Maine Street. We have featured a surprising number of local photographers, some of whom, like Peggy Wheat and Mary Freeman, are known far beyond the boundaries of our county. The list of the families whose "Pioneer Portraits" have filled our pages is becoming longer and longer as well. Their stories provide a fascinating, personal look at those who had the "right stuff' to weather our harsh, dry climate and alkaline soil—or survive the vagaries of gold strikes and business ventures.
In Volume 12, we add to this list of people, places, and events two warm accounts of immigrant families who traveled here, remained here and prospered—the Corkills and the Hanifans. Their stories speak of more than our own local history; they remind us of British property laws, difficult Atlantic crossings, and the mixed messages of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. (As an interesting coincidence, both Maurice Hanifan and Harry Corkill took their passage to America on the R. MS. Celtic.) We add to the stories about landmarks and legends, a look at Fallon's Greenhead Hunting Club, active since 1910, an overview of local law enforcement facilities and personnel, and an account of the Eagle Salt Works. Continuing our effort to present articles on Native American culture, we publish here Francis Hooper's memoir and Greg Gedney's "Scientific Perspective" on the early Humboldt Series Points found in the Stillwater Slough.
Over the years, museum staff members have always been strong contributors to In Focus and this year is no exception. Karen McNary provided the creative energy for our first four-color insert/poster; Bunny Corkill gathered family memories for her portrait of "Grandpa" Harry Corkill, and Pam Nelson researched and prepared the work of Jonas Mauz for our "Shadow Catcher"feature.
Enjoy!
1
2
Jane Pieplow
As you will see as you look through Volume 12 of In Focus, we have not yet run out of good subject matter nor capable authors! One ground-breaking feature of this year's publication is the addition of a four-color insert into Karen McNary's article. Karen has been Education Curator for the museum since April of 1995, and anyone who knows her well knows that she has an interest in the fiber arts including spinning, dyeing and weaving wool, flax, cotton and silk. The insert on page 29 of this issue is the result of Karen's curiosity about what dye colors the plants of the Lahontan Valley would yield. Her hard work in researching this article paid off as you will see from the article and color insert.
Another surprise is in store for our readers in regard to Karen's article. The small color insert in this book has also been reproduced as a 24" x 26" poster, suitable for framing. The posters are on sale in the Museum Mercantile for $15.00 each, plus $2.50 for shipping and handling if the poster must be mailed. Order your Colors of the Lahontan Valley poster today while supplies last. We would like to thank Harold Ludwick of Ludwicks Photography for photographing the original poster and DynaGraphic Printing in Reno for doing the printing.
A final "thank you" to all of the authors featured in this year's In Focus. We couldn't accomplish this ambitious project year after year without your help. As always, if you have an interest in writing about any aspect of Churchill County history, please contact me.
SHADOW CATCHER
One Fleeting Moment:
Jonas Mauz, Photographer
Pam Nelson
Photography is a medium with many uses. Its most significant role in our society has been to chronicle people and events. One of mankind's most astonishing and versatile discoveries, photography is an art form, an avenue of communication, a personal expression that compiles a visual record documenting the past and present. Photography is magical!
By the late nineteenth century, virtually every main street in America had at least one portrait photographer or portrait gallery. While portraiture may have been the main occupation for many of these men and women, they also found time and opportunity to compile an informal, pictorial record of the people, businesses, and activities of their hometowns. Images by the millions were created, but only a few have survived today. One such small town photographer was Fallon's Jonas Mauz.
Jonas Mauz was born in Germany on May 12, 1880. He immigrated to America and settled first in Chicago, Illinois. His move to Fallon, where he took up homesteading, was announced in the Churchill County Eagle on May 5, 1910. Five months later, Miss Josephine Zunzer, also of Chicago, arrived in Fallon and the two were wed on October 17. Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Mauz lived on their homestead in the Soda Lake District northwest of town, a neat dwelling with nice surroundings and a place in which to raise poultry. Jonas also had a photo studio in Fallon on Carson Street across from the Jones & McCall store. The J. Mauz Studio was open on Wednesdays, Satur-
days and Sundays.
Fallon was fortunate to have Mauz living in the area as he had an artistic nature and did splendid work. A display case in the Wightman building next to the Monsell & Mathews Grocery showed samples of the photographer's work.
Jonas Mauz documented
hundreds of Fallon and Churchill
County people, businesses and
3
4 Pam Nelson
events. Significant work by Jonas Mauz still survives in the photographs he took for the 1921 Churchill County High School yearbook The Lahontan, and in some of the photographs reproduced in this article.
Jonas and Josephine Mauz continued to live in the Lahontan area until about 1912 when they began a dual residence in San Francisco, California. Jonas accepted an impressive position with a photographic firm in the city doing special work as a lithographer. (See description of lithography below.)
At first, Josephine would accompany Jonas to San Francisco on some of his trips and then they would return to Fallon so he could devote time to his studio business. After moving his office to a rented concrete residence on Fairview Street, Mauz was pleased to advertise his new and improved portable skylight which enabled him to take first-class portraits in the studio or in a client's home.
As time passed, Jonas and Josephine Mauz spent more time working and
living in the Bay area, where they both were employed at the Schmidt Lithograph
Company. In 1921 the Fallon newspaper reported that J. Mauz had leased his ranch for two years to S. Revely. After this, the couple's visits were occasional. They came to look after their ranch and to visit with friends.
The 1949 city directory of San Francisco still shows a listing for Jonas and Josephine Mauz, but the years between 1949 and his death March 1, 1966, in Sunnyvale, California, have not been recorded. Josephine outlived her husband by nine years and died in February of 1975 at the age of 89.
What had Jonas Mauz been doing during those years? Did he and Josephine have any children? What happened to all of his photographs of Fallon and the Churchill County area? While some long-lost photos have come to light, many other significant images await discovery among the boxes of collectors and historians. Jonas Mauz, a pioneer photographer of Fallon, is just one of the many small town photographers who captured the past as just one fleeting moment in time.
Jonas Mauz, Photographer 5
The oil boom in the Stillwater area during the 1920s was captured on film by Mauz. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
The east side of Fallon 's Maine Street looking south. The Draper water fountain is visible at the far left of the photograph. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
6 Pam Nelson
Here is a closer view of the same side of Maine Street. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Mauz even had postcards printed with four views of Fallon. He either sold these to his customers or handed them out free to advertise his photo studio. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Jonas Mauz, Photographer 7
The Lahontan Valley Sugar Company processed beet sugar for national distribution. Many farmers eagerly converted some of their farmland over to sugar beet production. Unfortunately, each year the crop failed due to "curly top disease" which attacked the beets and made them worthless for processing. Mauz took this photograph of the company's processing plant on the southeast slope of Rattlesnake Hill, near today's Churchill County Cemetery. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Mauz stood downstream of the Lahontan Dam to take this photograph. The powerhouse is barely visible on the right. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
8 Pam Nelson
Mauz seems to have done quite a bit of work for the Churchill County School District. Here he snapped a group at the Teachers' Institute meeting in Fallon in 1911. Note the large hats on nearly every woman in the photograph. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Churchill County High School Women's Basketball Team of 1921. They had just won the state championship, playing teams from Carson City, Reno, Lovelock, Yerington and Winnemucca. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Jonas Mauz, Photographer 9
Churchill County High School shortly after it was completed in 1918. Cost of the new building was $75,000. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
The Churchill County High School Boys Basketball Team in 1921. Left to right back row: Coach Rev. K. H. Schaaf Davis, Spoon and Forsythe. Front row, Bussert, Oats, Weaver and Nelson. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
SHARP FOCUS
The Greenhead Hunting Club
James "Gib" Mackedon
"Get up. We're going to be late."
"Go back to bed; it's 2 am."
"But we gotta get goin'."
"We have plenty of time. Leave me be."
"But Da . . ."
"Get out of here or we're not going at all ! "
"#$%#"
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing, Dad You go back to sleep. I'll wake you in a while."
"Humph! "
(mumbling) "Gotta wait till you're old enough . . . can 't go till you 're older
• • • next year son, next year. Now it's finally next year and we're gonna sleep right through the whole damned thing! "
In some parts of the country this may be the opening scene to a son's first ball game, driving lesson, or some other time honored father-son event, but if you grew up in Churchill County, chances are it means only one thing: DUCK SEASON is opening.
My memories of those early times are still clear because I think a boy's mind is not cluttered with unimportant things like work and responsibility, which tend to cloud our senses more and more as we age That first hunt, despite my feelings of impatience and impending doom, went off without a hitch. We managed somehow to leave the house in plenty of time and drive the twelve or so miles from our house to our favorite hunting spot, the Greenhead Hunting Club. After waiting for about a half hour for the cars ahead of us to drive into the club, we finally reached the entrance and were let through by the caretakers at the gate. We arrived at our chosen 21 starting point well before shooting time. I jumped out of the truck and started assembling my gear for the walk ahead of me. I hurriedly slipped into my waders, put on my hunting coat, and filled it to the limit with shotgun shells. This was my first time out. I didn't want to run out of anything, especially shells. As I donned my gear the other, more experienced hunters in my party seemed to be quickly ready but way underdressed. "You'd better lose some of those clothes and
10
Greenhead Hunting Club 11
let me pack some of those shells for you," I remember someone saying, as shadowy figures disappeared into the darkness in front of me. "Don't worry about me . . . just go on . . . I'll catch up shortly."
Finally dressed, I grabbed my gun and set out to surpass the other hunters. Everything went great until, about 60 feet from the truck, the dry ground gave way to knee-deep water and waist-deep mud. Flustered, crying and wet to my ears, I was forced to call back a rescue party from the advancing hunters only to find that they, sensing my impending peril, had stood waiting for me only a few yards ahead. This once proud eleven year old was then reduced to being packed, dragged and pushed the next three hundred yards or so to a suitable hunting spot.
The next three hours turned out to be everything I had imagined it would be. The first shot fired set off a chain reaction of gunfire that lasted for over an hour. Ducks buzzed over our heads continuously: mallards, sprig, gadwall, teal, wid-geon—in numbers that seemed to me almost uncountable. I remember being coached, "Be careful, stay down, don't shoot until you have a good shot." That morning I managed to kill three ducks, less than I had hoped but more than I had expected after my first few hurried shots. After the morning hunt we headed for the clubhouse to "check in" our ducks and meet up with the rest of our party. The place was alive with people from all walks of life who, like us, had just finished their hunt. It was then that I realized that the Greenhead Hunting Club wasn't just a place to hunt ducks. It was hallowed ground, steeped with tradition, where bankers met gas station attendants on a windy day to enjoy perfection together—a club founded by the sportsmen of Churchill County and the surrounding areas to hunt game and to protect and enhance wildlife for themselves and future generations.
Duck hunters (left to right) Chris MacKenzie, Philip Snodgrass and author "Gib" Mackedon display their catch in their "Poacherville" cabin on the opening day of duck season in 1998. (Gib Mackedon photograph.)
12 James "Gib" Mackedon
The Greenhead Club's primary hunting area is located on Pasture Road where caretakers serve to oversee the operation of Carson Lake Pasture, a community pasture that is used by local cattlemen to graze their cattle. Although the club these days is only involved with the management of duck hunting, at its inception in the early 1900s it was involved with almost every aspect of fish and game management and preservation in Churchill County and western Nevada. It was formed at a time when game laws and regulations were just being formulated, and a few local sportsmen decided to get involved by forming a hunting club. The first documentation of the club's existence is the mention of a club banquet held in Fallon in 1910 at which I.H. Kent was the toastmaster. These banquets, more recently referred to as "smokers," have been held at various Fallon cafes, clubhouses, and bars without interruption since that time. Throughout the second decade of the century, the local newspapers are full of reports of hunting expeditions and banquets sponsored by the club, but it was not until 1925 that it was formally incorporated. The 1925 minutes refer to the incorporation of the Club as "momentous" and record the issuance of twelve shares of capital stock. The first permanent officers of the corporation, elected by ballot, were Ira L. Kent, President; C.W. Renfro, Vice-president; L.T. Kendrick, Secretary; and E.W. Blair, Treasurer.
Early on, the members of the club saw the need for preserving habitat and overseeing the introduction of new game species into Churchill County. The club was first to introduce pheasants and quail to the Churchill County environment and soon had built a reputation as one of the foremost conservation groups of the time. The 1926 minutes of the club reflect that members had asked Game Warden C.M. Way to communicate with "the middle western states regarding the purchase of Bob White quail" and the state of Washington regarding "the purchase of Hungarian partridges." The club's prominence and outstanding commitment to the overall well-being of game and fish throughout Nevada in the early decades of the century is best evidenced by a series of newspaper clippings from the times:
Churchill County Eagle, Oct. 7, 1916:
It should be remembered that the Greenhead Club regards as one of its greatest missions the preservation of wild game, as was demonstrated last winter when the members arranged for the feeding and preserving of the quail of this valley during the heavy snow. The Greenhead Club is composed of a jolly wholesouled crowd and when they get under way at their banquets there is something doing every minute . . .
Churchill County Eagle, Sept 24, 1919
When the Fallon Greenhead Club was organized eight years ago it had a humble beginning. Conceived in the minds of a few of the enthusiastic sports men of the community the club has grown from year to year until it now counts a membership of about
Greenhead Hunting Club 13
150 scattered largely over the western part of the state and many of the leading men in Nevada are among the membership of the Greenhead club. It is the present plan . . . to create interest in the organization until rosters count a thousand in western Nevada.
Churchill County Eagle, Dec. 31, 1920
This club is composed of practically every Fallon business man and counts within its membership as well most of the leading men of the state, all of whom take the utmost delight in making sallies in season into the tules of the sinks south, east, and north of this city where ample recompense always comes to the expert nimrod in the form of heavy bags of fowl.
The Fallon Standard, Sept.12, 1923
The work of the Greenhead Club of Fallon is known over the state. The members were the first to introduce pheasants and valley quail in western Nevada and through their protection they have become an established game bird. The members have at all times been foremost in the enforcement of game laws, have taken up the fight to keep open government lands for hunting and through their efforts have made friends with the farmers and others owning lands in this county.
It is possibly the only organization of its kind in the west that has worked for all of the hunters irrespective as to membership. That the club will carry on and continue its good work is one of the pleasing passages that can be recorded.
Although its earliest membership was composed of prominent businessmen, the club has always worked throughout Churchill County and western Nevada for the benefit of all sportsmen past and present. A majority of the work has been done by the membership itself. Aside from planting game birds, the club members worked as deputy game wardens and set reasonable season and bag limits in the county. (In the early part of this century counties were responsible for setting their own game seasons and laws.) A 1916 newspaper article relates that the club "voluntarily deferred the opening day of the hunting season from September 1 to September 15, at which time 13 cars will convoy to various hunting grounds. The cars will start from the front of the Mission Cigar Store at 2:30 Sunday morning." Members also were instrumental in the planting offish in the canals and lakes ofthis county and in neighboring streams. One newspaper story tells of a trip made by club members to Reese River Valley to plant trout in Cottonwood and San Juan creeks. These fish were brought by rail to Hazen, picked up by the members and hauled by car to their final destination. The trip took two sleepless days to accomplish due to the poor roads of the time and the less than cooperative weather. According to Ira
(Left to right): Hunters Charlie Howser, Tom Sanford and Charlie Cress show off their catch for the photographer c. 1930s. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
L. Kent, in 1925 the Greenhead Club had planted more the 60,000 fish in the mountain streams to the east of Fallon.
In those early years, along with being the leading conservation group of the time, the Greenhead Club took on a political and regulatory role. They immersed themselves in wildlife issues and took a stand on other issues keeping the interests of all sportsmen in mind. At that time, the club oversaw every sports activity in Churchill County from the setting of deer season to the planting of fish. Always conservative, the club supported reduced bag limits and two days a week fowl hunting, as opposed to seven days a week, during the Churchill County hunting seasons. They adamantly opposed the idea of centralized game management, which would take the county's control of its game and transfer it to the state. The club also took it upon itself to print up pamphlets of the game laws and distribute them to sportsmen, "compliments of the Greenhead Club." In 1925, the first year of incorporation, the club had the current game warden, C.M. Way, print and give away 1500 of these pamphlets to hunters.
The Greenhead Club was also instrumental in fielding opposition from the Federal Bureau of Reclamation on the subject of hunting on government lands within the county. The most notable of these "government lands" was the Carson
Greenhead Hunting Club 15
Lake Pasture. This pasture had historically been used by hunters and, by 1915, had become one of the more popular places in the county. A newspaper article of the day describes it as, "one of the most favored of haunts for waterfowl on this American continent." In 1919 the federal government, through the Secretary of the Interior, issued notice that hunting on the government lands in and around Carson Lake was to be prohibited. The government contended that "careless gunners have in times past occasioned considerable annual losses of stock as a result of promiscuous shooting. . ." The Greenhead Club members, hunters and businessmen alike, knew that with the closing of the pasture they would not only forfeit their favorite hunting spot but the town would also suffer from loss of revenue generated by out of town hunters. The club went to work on this matter immediately, attempting at first to use some of their influence to gain the ear of the reclamation office; they found little success.
Churchill County Eagle, Sept. 3, 1919
The hunting enthusiasts of Fallon, led by the active
members of the Greenhead Club, are working industriously on the project of opening the 14,000 acre community pasture, including the marginal Carson Lake lands to hunting . . . they have been spurned by negation of privilege by reclamation officials. The best fowl
hunting in the country is involved in the controversy and a petition is now in process of preparation asking for the restoration of the
hunting privilege, commencing with opening of the shooting season on the 15 of this month. The petition is being generally signed and is liberally backed by the business interests of Fallon . . . The hunters have signified their willingness to put forward an indemnifying bond
• • •
With the opening of the 1919 waterfowl season approaching, and all matters of petition or lease of the pasture falling on deaf ears within the reclamation offices, the stage was set for a rebellion.
Rival camps sprang up at the entrance to the pasture with the hunters on one side and project manager John F. Richardson on the other. The paper described the scene as "a stage that might be termed by the modern diplomat as a condition of armed neutrality." On the opening day of the duck hunting season the hunters rushed the gate and Richardson was forced to let them through, stating he "was impelled to this action by threat put forward by the hunters of this project that shooting would be indulged despite any action that might be by the reclamation authorities, the defiance resulting from a recent conference of local hunter opinion, favoring summary action when conciliatory efforts had failed." Though the hunters managed to gain access to the pasture they found that, either by accident or design, the roads had been flooded and they were forced to wade on foot over areas that normally were passable by car. Less than a month after this "showdown," Richardson received a letter from the reclamation offices authorizing hunting at the
16 James "Gib" Mackedon
community pasture and ending the battle. In 1926 the Greenhead took steps to prevent future battles over the hunting of the pasture by securing the first of several renewable leases. Soon after, however, in 1929, proposals were forwarded by the government to sell some of lands within the government pasture, leaving open the possibility of a "land grab" by monied sportsmen from out of state. The front page of the August 31, 1929 Fallon Eagle reported that at a meeting of the Greenhead Club, Captain H.A. Clarke made a motion to draw up "formal protests against any trading of government land." The club discussed their fear of a "shooting ground grab by coast millionaires who recently acquired land in the Pelican Island vicinity from Central Pacific." The club's protests, according to the newspaper, were forwarded to Senators Oddie and Pittman. They must have been heard, for the leases remained intact until 1978. Since then, an ongoing, less visible battle has been fought with the Bureau of Reclamation to keep the pasture open, a battle led, of course, by the present members of the Greenhead Club.
In 1928 members took steps toward assuring their legacy by offering memberships to the next generation. At the annual banquet that year, long time member I.H. Kent proclaimed, "I think the finest thing this club could do would be to take in all the young boys as members as soon as they are old enough to hunt. Some provision should be made whereby they could join at a nominal fee." Soon after this, it was decided by the membership that any son of a member, at the age of sixteen, be granted admission to the club. These younger members would provide the proper stock to keep the club alive long after the early regime had passed on.
The succeeding generation had its hands full. The 1930s brought both feast and famine to the Greenhead Club. Due to a bad drought in 1931 and 1932 the community pasture was all but dry, leaving duck hunters with plenty of spare time. Despite these odds the club survived, holding "blue rock" (clay pigeons) shoots in lieu of their annual duck shoots. The drought also affected the fishing in the valley, but the club was able to secure several shipments of bass from Walker Lake and plant them in the lakes at Stillwater and Old River district. The evidence of the success of these plantings did not become apparent until the late 1950s when Greenhead minutes attest to thriving fish in Stillwater. "It was not until 1957 that the realization of the planting of bass in 1930s became apparent. Then with the establishment of a boat landing (Milnie Landing) boats could be easily launched and many bass could be taken from Long Lake, Willow Lake and etc. . ." These drier years were also used by the club to construct several small levees at the Carson Lake Pasture, creating ponds which could be kept full when water was available. Winter bird feeding programs were also undertaken, despite the lack of shooting, so that when the water returned, so would the game.
The following decade brought with it many of the same ups and downs as the previous one. Although there was now water and ducks to be hunted, many club members were overseas aiding in the war effort. The Greenhead Club jumped in to do its part by waiving club dues to members in active service and purchasing war bonds. With many of its younger members gone, the club saw a drop in activities. The club did, however, make many improvements to the hunting areas at Carson
Greenhead Hunting Club 17
Lake, including the upgrading of roads and bridges. The club continued to plant the lakes and drain ditches around the area with bass and trout. Also, several new species of fish were planted on an experimental basis but none seemed to take hold. Club minutes show that a truck was purchased, in conjunction with the county, to aid in transporting fry to their new homes. Good will efforts continued as well. In 1946 the Green-head Club invited the boys from the orphans' home in Carson City to be guests of the club for a day of hunting.
Since the early 1950s, with the advent of centralized (state) game management, the club's role has shifted somewhat. The state Fish and Game Service now oversees the establishment of hunting seasons, the planting of fish and the introduction of new game species within the county, so, although club members may volunteer to assist in these activities, they no longer plan and oversee them. The focus of the club has turned to duck hunting and marsh preservation.
Now, as the 21st century approaches, the Greenhead Club has experienced some ninety years of service to wildlife, the community and the state. Many of its members are fourth or fifth generation sportsmen dedicated to preserving the club's heritage and traditions.
Although the club was founded with game preservation in mind, the members have historically been a rambunctious bunch who have indulged in some fun as well. Each year, the club sponsors a "shoot" and a banquet. The rituals surrounding both events date back to a least 1910 and include the formation of two rival teams for the "shoot," each captained by a member of the club. The rival teams score their game according to a point system established by the first members of the club. In 1916 game was scored as follows: honker (75); brant (50); canvasback and redhead (30); mallard and gadwall (20); sprig and widgeon (12); spoonbill and ruddy
(Left to right): Howard Young, Gary and Hammie Kent after a successful hunt c. 1944. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
18 James "Gib" Mackedon
(8); and teal (5). Points in 1998, though similar, have changed to reflect new game limits and the scarcity of some species. For example, brant (a species of goose) is no longer scored and rarely seen in the valley. After the points have been tallied, the losing team must host the winners at a banquet.
The October 7, 1916 Churchill County Eagle reported on one of these early shoots and banquets:
The Greenhead Club had great sport last Sunday at the various places around the lakes and marshes. Monday evening the annual banquet was given to the winners at the expense of the losers at the Grand Hotel, where hilarity reigned supreme for several hours . . . I.H. Kent, toastmaster, called upon the winners and losers to explain how it happened and accounts of many amusing incidents ensued.
In 1919, a newspaper reporter described a shoot in these colorful terms:
Down in the tules the victorious captain, Wm. Powell, led his men in the onslaught in contest with those under Captain Charles Cress. The fate of the balance hung throughout the day by a slender thread, and like all great events may have been changed by small effort.
The same article reported that the banquet "was conceded to have been one of the best menus that has been served the boys. The cocktail was just right; the salad and soup could not be improved while the roast duck was up to Delmonico's best."
The shoots and banquets over the years have provided bones of contention and material for roasts and tall tales. The 1923 Fallon Standard ran a detailed story of the Greenhead Club shoot, noting that:
The contests between the two teams selected by Tip Depp and Hy Shellard for the annual shoot on point came so close that it required a special committee to settle it, and it was only done after allowing the count of a spoonbill to swing the tide.
When Tip and Hy commenced to figure out the returns of the hunters it was found that a difference of only forty points stood between the two teams with Shellard in the lead. Tip insisted that Mr. Cline, who had a spooney and a redhead, and turned in his count but neglected to see that the tag was attached, should have his count. The committee decided that he had made the kill, was selected on Tip's side and that he had presented the two birds at the pool hall where the big count was on. This was corroborated by witnesses and the points were counted, thus putting the Depp team in the lead by twenty-two points . . It finally simmered down to the Depp side winning and thus sticking the loser to the price of the banquet.
Greenhead Hunting Club 19
In 1940, the club minutes tell several "smoker" stories.
The banquet was presided over by E.H. Hursh, president of
the club, who called upon MB. Johnson to explain why he did not bring in a score.
Johnson claimed that he was a better hunter in the kitchen
than in a duck blind and stood in well enough with the girls who were serving the banquet to get all the duck he needed
C.W. Renfro was called on to explain why he had not brought in his usual high score as in past hunts:
Charlie Cress has always been a rival of mine in these shoots and he played a dirty trick on me. I wanted to buy a duck call and he wouldn't sell me one, but told me that he always shot over decoys. So I got some decoys, but they were so shiny that the ducks all shied clear of them . . . Charlie Cress, in defending himself said, "The decoys were the same as I used The trouble is, I will have to give Renfro a course in squacking."
Teams and Scores for the 1940 "Smoker"
Captain Blair's Team
Ira Hamlin Kent 515
J.F. Dickerson 470
A.T. Caselton 410
C.H. Cress 350
Hugh Wilson 345
Frank Marsh 330
Ira L. Kent 325
Henry Behrman 300
J.H. Bible 295
R. J. Vannoy 250
E.W. Blair 190
Charles McKay 160
J.W. Parke 105
T.S. Olds 90
A.E. Hammond 60
E.H. Hursh 50
Charles Howser 50
F.O. Broili 00
Obie Harrell 00
M.B. Johnson 00
Total 4,650 Captain Powell 's Team
V. S. Baxter 520
Howard Young 445
R.J. Kolstrup 420
J.C. Coniff 405
Bud Powell 385
L.T. Kendrick 335
John J. DeVere 285
Allen Powell 260
C.W. Renfro 210
Irving Sanford 210
Alvin Mustard 180
John Redmond 180
Lee Johnson 155
Paul Laveaga 150
Fred Marsh 100
Nick Jesch 90
Art L. Downs 70
William Powell 50
Phil Hursh 00
J.A. Kline 00
Russell Trathen 00
M.B. Johnson 00
Total 4,450
20 James "Gib" Mackedon
To this day, at Greenhead banquets, the rib-poking and tall tales thrive. There is still a table reserved at every banquet for the old-timers. As one passes on, another takes his place as the legacy of the club lives on. And, to this day, if you drive out Pasture Road, you'll see a small clubhouse on the south side of the road and a row of cabins and trailers on the north, called "poacherville," where hunters reside during the duck hunting season. The roads are now better, clothes much warmer, and travel through the marsh much easier with modern boats etc., but on a windy day in November you can still find the hunters of today walking in stride with the ghosts of yesterday.
A duck hunter's paradise—Poacherville cabins at the Greenhead Club. The irrigation canal and boat to the right of the fence are on private property. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Bibliography
The Fallon Eagle
The Fallon Standard
Minutes. Greenhead Hunting Club Inc. unpublished.
Eagle Salt Works:
Leete, Nevada,1869 to 1916
Russell P. Armstrong
Residence of B.F. Leete, Reno, Washoe County, Nevada. Illustration from Thompson & West, 1881.
Within Churchill County, there are two locations bearing the name Leete. The most commonly recognized by locals is Leeteville [Leetville] Junction, near Ragtown Station. That is the junction where the two Highways 50 come together: Highway 50 to Sacramento, via Carson City, and Highway 50A to Interstate-80, via Fernley. It was near that junction that the James and Esther Marie Leete [Leet](') family operated a ranch and way-station. According to Paher, "A farm community with a hotel and Post Office known as Leeteville was here for about a decade after 1895."(2)
There is a common misconception that the above location was somehow associated with the production of salt. That it was not. Another Leete, Benjamin, Franklin or "B.F." Leete did, some 25 years earlier—in 1869—develop a salt production works known by either of two names: Eagle Salt Works or, simply, Leete, Nevada.
B.F. Leete, the salt works' founder, was born in DeRuyter, New York on February 25, 1831. Educated as a civil engineer, he worked on such projects in his
21
22 Russell P. Armstrong
native New York, as the Niagara Branch of the New York Central Railroad, and the New York & Erie Railroad. In 1859, he was put in touch with Theodore D. Judah, the engineer responsible for surveying and laying out the Central Pacific Rail-road(3). Judah(4 was, in fact, responsible for conceiving the idea of a railroad from Sacramento, over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to serve such locations as Virginia City, and other points east.
Judah's brainchild would eventually become the Transcontinental Railroad, connecting in 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah with the Union Pacific Railroad, which ran west from Omaha, Nebraska.
The Act which made this all possible was the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. A requirement within that Act would eventually affect Leete in Churchill County, Nevada, in that the railroad's roadbed could not exceed an overall 2% grade.
While surveying the railroad route across Nevada's high desert, B.F. Leete noticed a salt flat near the California Emigrant Trail, not far from where the railroad would soon be constructed. Less than five miles away was an emigrant stop-off on the Truckee River Route of the California Trail, known as "Boiling Springs" or "Brady's Hot Springs." (5)
"The water is as hot as boiling water can be. A thick steam is constantly rolling from this boiler of nature. The water is a little brackish but answers very well for all purposes for man and beast when cooled." (A)
According to Myrick(7), Leete diverted and channeled the hot springs' water around to the previously untapped salt beds. This author has been able to bear this out during site visits on horseback. Periodically, remnants of a small ditch, appearing to follow the contour of the terrain, can still be found.
The salt fields were in steppes, descending into the playa. They were inter-connected with control gates to regulate the transfer of water. Interstate 80 lies at the base of the distant mountain range. (Russell P. Armstrong photograph.)
Eagle Salt Works: Leete, Nevada 23
Myrick states that "Water from the springs, containing a 30% salt solution, was led to flow into a series of open air 'vats' covering some seven acres of ground." (8 For those who may have had the good fortune of visiting Southeast Asia, they would find those vats more analogous to rice paddies, rectangular in shape, a shallow berm running around its perimeter to hold in the water, and connected end-to-end as so many steppes. Those ponds descend the moderate slope, a good part of the way out across the playa.
It appears as though Leete may have used groundwater from wells, in addition to the diverted surface water from the hot springs. There are several wells up-slope from the settling ponds. They are hand-dug, approximately 6'x 6' square, with 2" thick plank reinforcement or shoring on their sides. This author has noted that the water elevation in the wells is highly variable and appears to be dependent upon climatological conditions. Infrequent visits by this author, over a lengthy period of time, show water levels in the wells to vary from "zero" to a few feet in depth.
Much as the rice paddies of Southeast Asia, the Eagle Salt Works' "vats" are bermed on all sides, rectangular shaped and interconnecting. (Russell P. Armstrong photograph.)
The salt vats or ponds themselves were designed such that when one filled with water, it would channel or "spill" over into the next pond. There are boards or take-outs, at their ends, so as to allow for the control and release of the water.
There is a built-up roadway running the length of the playa adjacent to the ponds. In all probability, it had been an elevated light-gauge railroad bed, since wood ties can still be found at or near the roadbed. The sun, wind, alkali, and periodic soakings have taken their toll on these aged artifacts, by delaminating
24 Russell P. Armstrong
It would appear that the rusting out of this old wheelbarrow was probably caused by the very commodity that it once hauled some 100 years ago. (Russell P. Armstrong photograph.)
their layers of wood. This salt works roadbed ends in the chaparral, only a few hundred yards from Interstate-80.
There are ruins of structures located in this same chaparral. It would have been at this location that the Central Pacific Railroad commenced in 1871, taking on its cargo of salt for shipment to markets. The primary market was the Comstock's mining operation at Virginia City.
The Eagle Salt Works was capable of producing as much as ten tons of salt per day. During its six year peak, from 1879-1884, it produced 334,000 tons of salt.
The 2% grade requirement from the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, and the CPRR's desire not to have to pull the "White Plains Hill" Grade(9) any longer, caused the roadbed to be moved. Commencing at Wadsworth, it was realigned then re-routed to Hazen, where on flatter ground, it once again headed out across the 40-Mile Desert, making a stop at Massey Slough to take on water, en route. This relocation of the tracks would have effectively isolated Leete from the railroad, his only source of transportation for a cargo of such bulk.
B.F. Leete negotiated both an agreement and a mortgage with the CPRR, in 1902. Those negotiations provided that the CPRR would:
1. construct a partial bed from a siding known as "Luva," a few miles east of Fernley, northerly to connect with the now abandoned road bed (See map on page 28).
2. leave in place alternating railroad ties.
3. Relay standard-gauge, lightweight rails over the ties.
Eagle Salt Works: Leete, Nevada 25
4. modify by 1903, some 14.5 miles of track, now known as
"The Eagle Works Railroad" once again connecting the Eagle
Salt Works to the main rail line.
Leete promised a $23,535 mortgage to the CPRR, putting the new rail line
and his salt works up as collateral. He also pledged to repay the mortgage at the rate of $4,000 per year. In an attempt to put those costs in today's perspective, an ounce of gold will be used. A $20.00 gold piece (nominally) contained an ounce of gold, setting the price of gold then at $20.00 per ounce. Although it fluctuates, assume today's market price for an ounce of gold to be $460.00. The comparative value then, is 23:1 (460/20). Leete's mortgage of $23,535 becomes a multiple of 23, or $541,305. His comparative annual payment becomes $4,000 x 23 = $92,000, an extremely hefty obligation, when your only commodity with which to pay is salt!
Production at the Eagle Salt Works declined after its 1879-1884 peak. Simultaneously, the demand for salt at the Comstock declined, commensurate with the Comstock's decline in production. Finally, other, more pure salt deposits were discovered in a Southern California desert. It was of table quality, which Eagle Salt Works' production was not.
In 1910, the Railroad foreclosed on both the Eagle Salt Railroad and the Eagle Salt Works. Corporate railroads excel at what they do best—run railroads. They do not excel at operating salt mines! The operation continued to wane from a combination of inattention to business by CPRR and a decreased demand for this particular grade of salt. Eagle Salt Works and Railroad were shut down in 1916 and the tracks were taken up for the last time.
The hand-dug wells are some 6'x 6'. Their water depths will vary from season to season, and with changing climactic conditions. (Russell P. Armstrong photograph.)
26 Russell P. Armstrong
B.F. Leete. Illustration from Thompson & West, 1881.
B.F. Leete had moved his family to Reno in 1871.(10) "His residence, a view of which is given in this work, indicates taste and a love of beauty without a desire for ostentatious display."(11) It is not known whether or not he brought his family from New York to Reno, or from Leete to Reno. When he relocated his family, the Eagle Salt Works would only have been in operation for two years and would not enter its peak period for another eight years 1879.
Having located at least some of the dump site at Leete, this author can attest that it is not the norm for the era. Broken bits of glass and china are of higher quality than those found in disposal sites in mining camps of the same period. This would indicate that a higher standard of living was probably enjoyed by those here than by others in other camps. Whether this good life was partaken of
Salt production still occurs when nature supplies the water. Note the short posts which once held a wood flume for water delivery. (Russell P. Armstrong photograph.)
Eagle Salt Works: Leete, Nevada 27
by Leete and his family, or by Leete and his associates without his family cannot be determined.
Benjamin Franklin Leete died at his home in Reno, Nevada on January 4, 1927, some seven weeks short of his 96th birthday. He died seventeen years after the CPRR foreclosed on his railroad and salt works at Leete and some 68 years after having come to Nevada Territory.
Notes
1. The name of the "Ragtown" Leetes, Canadian natives, was often seen as Leet, either because of
misspelling or the fact that their son Oswald's daughter, Fallon resident, Ann Leet Eason, chose to
drop the final "e" from the family name. Interview with Betty Dunstan, sister of Ann Leet Eason.
2. Paher, Stanley W.; Nevada Ghost Towns & Mining Camps, Nevada Publications; 1984; p.89.
3. The Central Pacific was the forerunner to the Southern Pacific, which in 1997, merged with its old competitor, the Union Pacific Railroad.
4. Not being a man of means, Judah took his idea to a group who would become known as "The Big Four": Huntington, Crocker, Stanford, and Hopkins.
5. Brady's Hot Springs can be reached today by taking 1-80 east from Fernley to the "Nightingale" off-ramp. Brady's Hot Springs, now dry because of the numerous geothermal test wells, lies up the slope, behind the dehydrated food processing plant. There is a metal, railroad track historical marker marking it.
6. Hickman, Richard 0., 1852. Quoted in Harold Curran; Fearful Crossing 1982; Nevada Publications; page 145.
7. Myrick, David F.; Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California, Volume I; 1952; p. 51.
8. Ibid.
9. This is the same "long pull" that truckers experience today on 1-80, heading east out of Fernley. It doesn't peak until beyond Brady's Hot Springs.
ci) O be be P-1 cll cip 00 ci) N
NOTES: During 1868 the Central Pacific built from Reno eastward across Nevada. From Reno to Wadsworth the track was on the north side of the Truckee River, crossed the river at Wadsworth and continued over White Plains Hill (through Leete) to Brown.
In 1902 a new route was built via Hazen and Huxley to Brown. Though a few miles longer, it avoided the grade over White Plains Hill, which latter trackage (from Brown's Jct. to Brown) was abandoned. For a time all trains operated through Wadsworth via Brown's Jct. to New Junction on the Hazen Line. Beginning in 1904, through trains were operated via Derby, Gilpin and Fernley, while local trains continued to use the old main through Olinghouse Jct. and Wadsworth to New Jct. When the line from Wadsworth to New Jct. was abandoned in 1905-06, stub trains from Derby continued to serve Wadsworth.
Construction of the Fernley & Lassen Ry. (from Fernley through Wadsworth to Wendel) in 1912-13 enabled trains again to be routed through Wadsworth until the Derby-Wadsworth segment of the old main was abandoned in 1913.
Today (1960) U. S. Highway 40 utilizes those sections of the old Central Pacific roadbed from Derby to Wadsworth and from near Desert to beyond Leete.
_ •.__ Map by Myrick. Today's RR bed generally is the lowest line depicted (Thisbe to Gilpin, Fernley, Luva, and Hazen. Note that Derby and Derby Dam are not the same location. Derby was a railroad siding and small community.
The Colors of the Lahontan Valley
Karen McNary
What are the colors of the Lahontan Valley? Do you think about the green and purple of alfalfa in bloom, the crystal blue of a spring sky, the grey green of sage or the bright yellows and the golden yellow colors of sunflowers and autumn cottonwoods? Greens, yellows, grays, blues, purples and browns with a splash of red from Indian paintbrush are the colors painters and photographers see. However, few of the women who settled in Churchill County were painters or photographers. Many, though, used their favorite valley hues to prepare the cloth and clothing used by their families.
Throughout history people have longed to clothe themselves in the colors they see around them, the bright blue of a summer sky, the muted red of Indian paintbrush or the bright yellow of sunflowers. Today we still want these bright colors, and if we can't find what we want we may trot down to the local store for a package of dye. Once home we throw it, and the item we want that color, into the washing machine and, in no time, we have a rich blue or muted red or bright yellow garment. But what did they do when this area was settled? Washing machines and neat little packages of dye weren't available. Were, then, the only colors available the muted, dull, faded colors we see in photos and samples of old cloth? Unequivocally no! The fabric samples that remain today are of cloth that had been around for over 100 years, material that had been washed time and again, and exposed to light. It's faded!
Although chemical dyes were developed in the 1860s (the first in 1856) like most inventions it was 30 years before they were heavily used and readily available. Early women settlers in Churchill County who prepared their own cloth would probably have brought their blue and reds with them, but they would have looked around and wondered: Will sunflowers give me that bright yellow? What will give me the orange of an old brick? Was that "ladies bedstraw" I saw growing where we last camped? I wonder if Grandmama will send me some woad seeds from England? I wonder what colors the local plants will give? Well there are a lot of yellows, browns and burnt oranges, but what else can we find?
Taking the plants of Churchill County as our palette we have set up a dye chart of colors that might have been used by those who settled in the Lahontan Valley. Our plant samples were taken from wild-growing plants, many of which are considered weeds. Many of these plants are not natives. Some were acciden-
29
Colors of the Lahontan Valley
A plant dye source chart
Plants were collected by Karen McNary, Education Curator at the Churchill County Museum, from around the Lahontan Valley and samples were carefully dried in a plant press. Other specimens were used to dye 5 gram skeins of hand-spun wool. Different mordants, (known as mineral salts) -- in this case iron, tin and copper -were used for each dye bath and the results were carefully recorded. The best of Karen's samples were used in the hand-woven sampler featured in the center of this poster. They are identified by name and sample number. This number corresponds to the numbers in Karen's article. A 22 3/4" x 21", full-color version of this poster (suitable for framing) can be purchased in the Churchill County Museum's Mercantile Store for $15.
Published by the Churchill County Museum copyright 1999
1050 S. Maine Street • Fallon NV 89406 (775) 423-3677 phone • (775) 423-3662 fax
30 Karen McNary
tal imports such as Russian Thistle; others are garden escapees that have proliferated to become nuisances.
All of the samples have been prepared using 5 gms of white wool and local well water in a one pot method. Well water was chosen over distilled water because it would have probably been the water used in the 1800s. Although many mordants (the mineral salt that allows the dye chemical from the plant to bond with the fiber) were used in the 1800s we have chosen to use only four: alum, iron, copper and tin. They were chosen because they were the most common and the safest of the many mordants used. Alum is considered to produce the purest color, iron "saddens," or grays the color whereas tin brightens it. Copper often gives a greenish or bluish tinge to the final color.
The one pot method was chosen for this study because it is the simplest and because most plants will give some color using it. However, it is not necessarily the best method for obtaining the purest or strongest colors from all plants. There are many ways of preparing a dye pot and several ways of mordanting the fiber to be dyed. Also differing ratios of plant matter to fiber should be used dependent upon the plant type, everywhere from 0.5:1 ratio to a 4 or 5:1 ratio. Add to this the different parts of the plant, the different soil types, the fact that some dyes are substantive (don't require mordants) and others require specialized baths (such as stale urine) or long steeping to release the color it is a wonder that we have dyes at all. It also was not possible within the time limits of this study to test for light and wash fastness.
The following process for a one pot method was used with all the samples: 10 gms fresh or 5 gms of dried, chopped plant material and 3 cups of water were placed in a jar. The jars (four or eight) were then placed in a large pot acting as a double boiler and simmered for one hour. Meanwhile the skeins of yarn (each 5 gms in weight and approximately 20 yards long) were placed into a container of water containing a small amount of detergent and allowed to soak. After simmering for one hour the plant matter was strained out and the mordants (one per jar) were added to the liquid. When the mordant was dissolved the well-wetted yarn was added and the jars were simmered for another hour.
The following mordants were required: 1.46 gms of alum (potassium aluminum sulfate, KAKSO4)2 12H20) + 0.3 gms of Cream of Tartar; 0.08 gms of iron (ferrous sulfate, FeSO4) + 0.3 gms of Cream of Tartar; 0.16 gms of copper (cupric sulfate, CuSO4) and 0.16 gms of tin (stannous chloride, SnC12) + 0.3 gms of Cream of Tartar. To weigh out amounts of less than a gram requires a laboratory scale which was not available; therefore copper wire was substituted for the copper sulfate and a piece of iron for the ferrous sulfate. The woman of the 1800s would have used a copper or iron kettle. The amount of tin and Cream of Tartar were estimated. A small excess of mordant does not affect the color but it does damage the wool; a number of the samples became harsh and stiff to the touch after dyeing.
After the wool skein had simmered in the dye liqueur for one hour it was cooled and then rinsed in well water. After the initial rinsing, one yard of each skein was rinsed in an ammonia solution of 1 part ammonia to 4 parts water and one yard was rinsed in an acid solution of 1 part vinegar to 1 part water. This after-rinsing was
Colors of the Lahontan Valley 31
done to test for a pH sensitive color shift. Just as some plants will produce flowers of one color when planted in an acid soil and flowers of another color in an alkali soil, some plant dyes will shift color when given an after rinse in an acid or alkali solution.
Although 44 samples have been tested only the following 21 samples were used to create the dye chart. These were the samples that, in general, gave the most spectacular or unusual colors. Because of the limited amount of yarn, two extra plant samples were used in the center medallion of the weaving on the color insert.
Dye results
The following tables are set up so that any plant or color can easily be looked up. The common name of the plant is listed with the scientific name in parentheses. This is followed by the sample number, when it was collected, the date it was tested and if the sample was tested dry or fresh. The next line lists the part of the plant tested and any notes on the testing. This is followed by a chart listing the mordant, the color obtained from that mordant, and the two afterbaths—acid and akali—that test for a color change caused by a pH shift. The symbol • under the acid or alkali afterbath column indicates that there was no visible change caused by the pH shift. Any change will be indicated by listing the color obtained.
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Tamarisk (Tamarix gallica) #2 9/15/97 Dried 2/25/98
Only the foliage and flowers were tested.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Soft pale yellow • Bright yellow
TIN Light yellow • •
COPPER Yellow beige Pale cream •
IRON Beautiful dark grey • Brown
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) #3 9/15/97 Dried 2/25/98
The flowers and seedheads were the part tested. (See sample #31.)
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Soft yellow • •
TIN Brilliant yellowish orange • •
COPPER Pale yellow • •
IRON Soft grey-green • •
32 Karen McNary
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa) #4 9/15/97 Dried 2/26/98
The flowerheads and leaves were tested with the alum and tin mordants. The iron and copper mordants were used on the lower stems and roots.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Very pale cream • •
TIN Yellow • •
COPPER Beige • •
IRON Lovely light silvery grey • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Sour Dock (Rumex venosus) #7 9/15/97 Dried 3/7/98
The seedheads and leaves were the parts tested although the root is more commonly used.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Soft golden beige • •
TIN Gold • •
COPPER Light terra-cotta • •
IRON Dark greyed brown • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Licorice Root (Glycerrhiza spp.) #8 9/15/97 Dried 3/7/98
The whole plant including the roots were chopped for testing and the yarn was left to cool
overnight in the dye bath.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Light gold tan • •
TIN Bright golden yellow • •
COPPER Rich tan • •
IRON Dark olive • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Green (Chrysothamnus #15 9/15/97 Dried 3/9/98
Rabbitbush viscidiflorus)
This small herbaceous plant which resembles the common Rabbitbush gives beautiful colors.
The flowerheads and some of the stem ends were the parts sampled.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Bright clear yellow • •
TIN Bright yellowed orange • •
COPPER Pale yellow with a Cream •
touch of green
IRON Beautiful, rich, dark Khaki •
khaki green
Colors of the Lahontan Valley 33
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Tumbleweed/ (Salsola kali) #16 9/15/97 Dried 9/20/98
Russian Thistle
This imported plant has spread to become a pest. The whole plant was chopped fine for testing.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Pale olive green • •
TIN Dull, light yellow • •
COPPER Pale, dull olive green • •
IRON Light olive green with • •
bluish overtones
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Club fruited (Camissonia claviformis #20 6/14/98 Fresh 6/15/98
Evening Primrose var. Purpurascens)
The whole plant including roots was tested. The plant material was simmered 1 hour, removed from the heat then the mordants and yarn added and left to cool overnight. The next morning it was simmered for 1 hour, then allowed to cool all day.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Dull, pale yellow/beige • •
TIN Bright lemon yellow • •
COPPER Beige • •
IRON Soft, silvery grey • Browned
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Shadescale (Atriplex confertifolia) #23 6/14/98 Fresh 6/7/98
The whole plant was tested.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Pale yellow • •
TIN Bright, golden yellow • •
COPPER Cream • •
IRON Dull, tan olive • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Palmer's (Penstemonpalmeri) #26 6/14/98 Fresh 6/15/98
Penstemon
The flowering heads and their stems of this purple flowered member of the figwort
were tested. This sample was dyed as in sample #20, above.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Pale, dull yellow • •
TIN Light, bright yellow • •
COPPER Yellowish beige • •
IRON Greenish tan • •
34 Karen McNary
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
No common name (Chaetadelpha wheeleri) #27 6/14/98 Fresh 6/17/98
The whole above ground portion of this member of the Chicory tribe was tested. It is a lovely
mounded plant covered with small, white five-petaled flowers.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Pale, greenish yellow • •
TIN Bright, greenish yellow • •
COPPER Pale, greenish yellow • •
(less saturated than alum)
IRON Deep, greenish brown • Brown
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) #28 6/14/98 Dried 6/22/98
The male plant of this species was used. This bush had small, long leaves and green catkins,
which, along with some stems were the parts tested.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Pale avocado • •
TIN Dull gold • •
COPPER Greenish cream • •
IRON Tinfoil grey • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Sage (Artimesia arbuscula) #30 6/14/98 Dried 6/26/98
The softer portions of the above ground part of this plant were tested. The yarn was left to cool in the dye liqueur overnight. It gave off a lovely sage smell while cooking.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Dull, saturated yellow • •
TIN Strong, yellow gold • •
COPPER Dull, greenish yellow lightened darkened
IRON Dark, khaki green • Browned
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Cotton Horsebush (Tetradymia tetrameres) #31 6/14/98 Dried 6/27/98
All above ground parts of this soft, grey green, feathery looking plant with a piney, citrus smell and small hooked cones were tested. This plant was identified as a Cotton Horsebush with insect galls. The dye bath gave off a delightful piney-citrus smell. The yarn was let cool in dye overnight. (See sample #3.)
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Pale yellow • •
TIN Very bright yellow gold • •
COPPER Yellowish tan • •
IRON Light olive or khaki green • •
Colors of the Lahontan Valley 35
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Tule (Scirpus acutus) #33 6/14/98 Dried 6/22/98
The dried seed heads and stems were the parts tested.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Yellowish cream • •
TIN Bright lemon yellow • •
COPPER Light, terra-cotta • •
IRON Light, olive green • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Puncture vine (Tribulus terrestris) #35 6/21/98 Fresh 6/22/98
The above-ground portion of the plant—stems and leaves—was the part tested.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Light yellow • •
TIN Bright, lemon yellow • •
COPPER Soft, pinkish tan • •
IRON Light, greenish grey • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Cottonwood (Populus fremontii) #36 8/23/98 Fresh 8/23/98
Just the leaves of this tree were used for the test. The yarn was left to cool in the dye bath overnight.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Lemon yellow • •
TIN Lemon yellow but more • •
intense than from alum
COPPER Pale, yellowish green • •
IRON Dull, dark green • Browned
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Wild Sunflower (Helianthella uniflora) #37 8/23/98 Fresh 8/23/98
The whole flower head including the seeds was tested. Sunflowers give yellows and a clearer color would have been obtained if only the petal of the flowers had been used. The yarn was left to cool in the dye liqueur overnight.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Dull, pale yellow • •
TIN Strong, golden yellow • •
COPPER Yellowish tan • •
IRON Greyed green • •
3 6 Karen McNary
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) #38 8/24/98 Fresh 8/24/98
Flowerheads, leaves and stems, essentially all the above ground plant, were tested. The greater percentage of the plant material in the test was flowerheads. There was a chemical reaction with the tin mordant that turned that dye bath cloudy.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Pale yellow with green • •
TIN Bright, golden yellow • •
COPPER Pale yellowish green • •
IRON Light, greenish brown • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Western Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) #39 8/24/98 Fresh 8/24/98
The leaves of this common tree were the part tested.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Golden tan (an old gold) • •
TIN Light, dull lemon yellow • •
COPPER Yellow beige • •
IRON Light, green-grey brown • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Asparagus Fern (Asparagus spp.) #42 9/19/98 Fresh 9/19/98
The feathery leaves and stems were the part tested. The yarn was left to cool in the dye bath
overnight.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Light, bright yellow • •
TIN Bright, lemon yellow • •
COPPER Dull, pale yellow • •
IRON Dark olive green • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) #43 9/19/98 Fresh 9/19/98
Three parts of this small tree were tested separately. The fresh leaves and some stems were tested on the day collected and the yarn left to cool overnight in the dye liqueur.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Pale yellow • •
TIN Light yellow-to-green • •
COPPER Tan • •
IRON Purple-grey • •
Colors of the Lahontan Valley 37
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia)
The fruit (olives) were run through a blender and tested on 9/20/98.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Pale pinkish beige • •
TIN Deep cream with pink • •
COPPER Pink with brown overtones* •
IRON Med. grey with lavender • •
The last portion of this tree, also tested on 9/20/98, was the red barked stems. The yarn on this sample was left to cool overnight in the dye liqueur.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Light, creamy beige • •
TIN Very, pale yellow • •
COPPER Light, pink tan • •
IRON Soft, medium grey • •
Common Scientific Sample Date How Tested
Name Name No. Collected Date Tested
Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium) #44 9/20/98 Fresh 9/20/98
The leaves and burrs of this large plant were the parts tested. The yarn was left overnight in the dye bath to cool.
MORDANT COLOR OBTAINED ACID ALKALI
ALUM Bright, lemon yellow • •
TIN Bright, lemon yellow • •
COPPER Pale gold • •
IRON Light, khaki green • •
Acknowledgements
A debt of gratitude is owed to Sonja Johnson for her help in the collecting and identification of the samples; also to Jay Davison at the Nevada Cooperative Extension Office for identifying the plants we had marked "unknown." A special thanks to the superb Navajo weavers whose poster of Native Navajo Dye Sources provided the inspiration and format for this project.
3 8 Karen McNary
Bibliography
Elias, Thomas S. The Complete Trees of North America—Field Guide and Natural History. New York: Van Nosttand Reinhold Co. 1980.
Grae, Ida. Nature's Colors Dyes from Plants. New York: Macmillian Publishing Co., 1974. Dyes From Nature, Plants & Gardens, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record: Vol. 46, No.2, Summer 1990, Handbook #124. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Inc. 1990.
Lanner, Ronald M. Trees of the Great Basin—A Natural History. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1984.
Mozingo, Hugh N. Shrubs of the Great Basin—A Natural History. Reno: Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press, 1987.
Munz, Philip A., David D. Keck. A California Flora. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1963.
Spellenberg, Richard. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers —Western Region. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1979.
Taylor, Ronald J. Sagebrush Country—A Wildflower Sanctuary. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Co., 1996.
Venning, Frank D. A Guide to Field Identification—Wildflowers ofNorth America. Racine, WI: Golden Press. 1984.
PIONEER PORTRAITS And We Called Him "Grandpa"
Bunny Corkin
Corkill Family Tree
James Corkill [1823-? Margaret Clague [1821-?] William Henry Ward [? - ?]
Ann Elizabeth Kennish [1827-1911]
Edward Thomas Corkill [1862-1904]
Uncle Harry Ward
Bessie Ward "The Missus"[1868-1950]
Edward Marshall Corkill [1888-1961]
Bessie Corkill [1889-1979] (Walter Moore)
James Henry Corkill [1892-1975] (Demard, Alice)
Thomas Oscar Corkill [1894-1978] (Vena Marke)
Torn and Vena's children:
Lois Anita [1930-
Lauretta
May [1933- ]
Richard Thomas [1936-1985]
Roger Owen [1941-
Minnie Corkill [1897-1923] (Jack Powers)
Harry "Grandpa" Corkill [1899-1991] (Laura Ellen Marke)
Harry and Laura's children:
Gaylan [1931- ]
Bill [1935- ]
Harry Ward [1938-
Daisy
Corkill [1902- ] (McKinley "Kinney" Powers) William Corkill [1904-1975] (Madeline Ensslin)
40 Bunny Corkill
Physically, he never grew to be very large, but to those of us who loved this little Manxman, he was a giant, and we called him "Grandpa." Once mesmerized by his haunting, grey-banded eyes, you could never forget him. This is the story of the Corkill family, with its joys and sorrows, as he told it to me:
The Isle of Man
Harry Corkill, Sr. ("Grandpa") was born about 8:40 p.m. on Saturday the
18th day of February, 1899, in Ballasloe, Maughold, Isle of Man, to Bessie Ward Corkill [1868-1950], whom he referred to his entire life as "The Missus," and her blacksmith and Methodist circuit preacher—husband, Edward Thomas Corkill [18621904].
Bessie, a woman of small stature and fiery tenacious spirit, was the daugh-
ter of William Henry Ward, an English grocer, and Ann Elizabeth Kennish [18271911] . Edward Thomas, six feet in height and of medium build, was the son of Margaret Clague and James Corkill, also a blacksmith, whom his grand-children referred to as "Da" (pronounced "Day").
The Isle of Man is located in the Irish Sea, roughly equidistant from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland . . . and a long way from Fallon, Nevada. It is not part of the United Kingdom and is a self-governing Crown Possession. The government of the Isle of Man is considered to be the second oldest parliament in the world.
The Isle was first conquered by the Vikings in 800 who reigned there for over 400 years. It was sold by the King of Norway to the King of Scots in 1266. Later it was seized by Edward I of England and controlled by English Noblemen until 1609 when the Crown took it over.
From the top of Snafell, Man's highest
Edward Thomas and Bessie Ward "The Missus" Corkill. Isle of Man, circa 1887. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 41
mountain at 2,036 feet, you can see all of the surrounding countries. The island is 32 miles long by 13 miles wide and contains 221 square miles. It is about 1/22 the size of Churchill County with its 4,883 square miles area!
While Edward Thomas was alive, the Corkills owned a house which had belonged to "Da," a blacksmith shop and a stable in Ballasloe. Their home was built of rock with 10" thick walls. The two story house had four rooms upstairs and four rooms downstairs with a fireplace in each room. Due to the lack of wood on the Isle, there was only coal for burning in the fireplaces so the house always felt clammy and looked sooty.
The family's diet consisted mainly of fish. During the summer months there was an abundance of fresh fish, but the winter menu depended upon salted cod and herring. In anticipation of the long cold winters, supplies were "put in." The Corkills would purchase a "maze of herring," which consisted of 500 herring layered in a barrel—fish, salt, fish, salt. For the "smart and thrifty shopper," who wisely procured a "maze" there was a free bonus . . . 25 more herring! Meals featuring beef or poultry and fresh fruit and vegetables were seldom even dreamed about, much less enjoyed.
After a few years the family moved to a farm and grist mill named Corony, owned by the maternal Ward family. Later there was a move to Ballacrink and finally back to Ballasloe. During these years "The Missus" often mentioned to friends that her family was "flourishing," and all was well. However, this prosperity was to be short lived. Rough times fell upon the family following her husband Edward's death on October 16, 1904.
Eighty years later, Harry Sr. was asked where his father was buried. "Walk through the gates at Maughold Church, turn left and he is in the first row." Obviously when you are five years old and you see your beloved father's remains lowered into the ground, there is an image etched upon your young mind that you never lose!
During the seventeen years that Bessie was married to Edward, she bore him twelve children. Now, she found herself the sole support of the eight living children. Fortunately, Bessie's sister, Ann Ward Kermode, had married a fairly wealthy gentleman who owned a diamond mine in South Africa. Each month Ann sent Bessie "one pound," the equivalent of $20.00, to help support the children . . . the very means for their survival.
Before the two eldest sons, Edward and James, immigrated to North America, they had taken over the operation of another blacksmith shop at Dreemscary and were able to earn sufficient money to insure that the younger siblings had enough to eat each evening before retiring to bed.
Shortly, Bessie married Louis Kneale and she gave birth to her thirteenth child whose failure to survive was construed by "Grandpa" to be a blessing! He and his siblings believed there were already enough children in the family. Young Harry intensely disliked his step-father Kneale, so at the age of ten he was sent to live with his uncle, Harry Ward, who owned a prospering grocery store at #8
42 Bunny Corkill
Drumgold Street in Douglas, the Isle's capital city. Here one of the lad's jobs was to blend tea . . . mixing black and green tea with other flavors.
Uncle Harry Ward had a miserable wife named Bella, who was a stern taskmaster and as "Grandpa" glibly recalled, ". . . worked my butt off"! Bella invested her husband's money in beautiful silver, crystal, china and linens . . . luxuries foreign to the Corkills. On occasion "The Missus" would come to Douglas on the electric train, buy groceries at her brother's store, and bring current news of the other children.
In his religious views, Uncle Harry Ward was a non-conformist Methodist. He and his friend William Caley were indefatigable in their efforts to build a new church. On March 4, 1910, their efforts were rewarded with the opening of a new chapel at Cardle in Maughold. "Grandpa" received an award certificate for having had perfect attendance at Wednesday night prayer meetings and Sunday school. Possibly this early rigid religious training accounted for his theological leanings in later life. After "Grandpa" came to America he remained in contact with his Uncle and he sadly reminisced that following Bella's death, two of her nieces came from Ramsey on the pretext of taking care of old Harry. They "took care" of him . . . they took all of his possessions . . . leaving him to die penniless!
The constant damp atmosphere of the Isle of Man contributed to many respiratory ailments among its citizenry. "Grandpa" remembered his maternal grandmother, Ann Elizabeth Kennish Ward. During her declining years, an invalid, blind and suffering from chronic asthma, she lived with a spinster daughter, Emma. He
Uncle Harry Ward stands in the doorway of his grocery store at #8 Drumgold Street, Douglas, Isle of Man. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 43
Miss Skillicorn taught Harry in elementary school. He can be seen in the back row, fourth from left. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
recalled sitting on Ann's bed visiting with her, surrounded by the putrid odor from the smoke of her smoldering medicine, supposedly a remedy for asthma.
Harry's mother, "The Missus," sent her second eldest daughter, Minnie [1897-1923], to live with Aunt Emma to help with the care of elderly Ann. Minnie was truly a slave in that household and upon the grandmother's death at the age of 84 in 1911, Minnie's name was omitted from Ann's will. Bessie was forever bitter that her mother had not remembered Minnie with some acknowledgment for all of the torturous tasks she had performed and for all of the devotion she had extended the old lady.
"Grandpa" attended local schools through the eighth grade where the emphasis was on mathematics. He learned to count using 10s, 100s and 1000s and always had the ability to do math in his head faster than most people could do it on paper. He never forgot the "canings" or floggings unfairly perpetrated upon him by the Headmaster. It is unclear as to whether or not any of his siblings had the opportunity to receive the equivalent of a high school education.
The New World
"Grandpa's" two eldest brothers, Edward Marshall and James Henry, left the Isle and sailed to America in 1910, in search of a better life. They first settled in Waukegan, Illinois, where they both practiced their blacksmithing skills, shoeing horses eight hours a day.
As soon as he had a stake, Edward Marshall [1888-1961], migrated on to California. Not finding his "pot-of-gold," he "smithyed" throughout the Northwest
44 Bunny Corkill
until he reached Crossfield, Alberta, Canada, where he carved out a prosperous wheat farm for himself from the Canadian prairie. While pitting himself against the formidable elements of this new frontier, he dreamed of soon having a home and family. Miserly Edward saved his money until he had enough to send back to Maughold to ensure the safe and comfortable passage of his boyhood sweetheart, Maude Lowery, to Canada. Anxiously anticipating her arrival, he was understandably devastated when the word arrived that Maude had kept the money and married another man! Edward, a devout Methodist and henceforth confirmed bachelor, "washed his hands of women" and devoted his life to blacksmithing, his farming enterprise and reading the Bible. Using his talents and knowledge, he was able to invent a plow which brought him considerable fame throughout the northern wheat country. Edward Marshall passed away in Calgary, close by the home he had chosen nearly 50 years before.
For more than three generations the Corkill men had been blacksmiths. James Henry [1892-1975] was an artist with metal and creativity overflowed from within him. In 1914 he made the decision to leave Illinois and move to Bishop, California, where he could be near his sister Bessie Moore. In Bishop he worked for a Mr. Collett as a horseshoer, but he soon sought additional independence and moved on to Oceanside, California, where he and a Mr. Murphy started their own horseshoeing business. Unfortunately, this was at about the same time gas-powered vehicles appeared on the streets, displacing horses. James easily adapted to progress and for forty-five of the sixty years he worked in the trade, he owned an extremely successful ornamental iron works in Escondido.
While James' professional life was very successful, his personal life was less than perfect. His first wife was a red-headed woman named Demard. Though they had no children of their own, they adopted and raised Demard's nephew, Brooks Lewis. Following the family vocation, Brooks took employment as a welder on pipelines in Saudia Arabia. When he found out that he was not James' birth son, he estranged himself from the family. James would later marry a lady named Alice.
After he retired, James lived for several years in Carlsbad, California. At the time of his 1975 death at nearby Oceanside, California, his creations adorned the yards of movie stars and many of southern California's finest mansions.
During the first part of the 20th century, Inyo and Kern Counties in California became the destination of many Manx people who were leaving their homeland in search of a better life. At this time, no one could have had the foresight to anticipate the dramatic impact that Kern County would have upon the entire Corkill family over the next several generations.
About 1910, Walter Moore [1890-1948] of Maughold, had followed his dreams to the Bakersfield area. Bessie Corkill [1889-1977], the second child and oldest daughter of "The Missus," anxiously awaited each day's mail as she was expecting a letter from her beau Walter, with money for her passage to America. With its arrival, she promptly departed from the Isle and in 1911 married Walter and settled in Bishop where they were residing when the rest of her family arrived. The
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 45
Moores became the parents of three daughters, Rosalene, Laurene and Vera. Bessie lived out her life in California and passed away in Bakersfield.
Coming To America
With her family on the move, "The Missus" decided in 1913 that the time had come for her and Louis Kneale to remove the remaining five children, Tom, Minnie, Harry, Daisy and William from their stagnated existence and head for the United States. At this time the U.S. Government required that each immigrant have $600.00 cash with him or he would not be allowed to enter the country. This policy rather contradicted the much quoted poem written in 1883 by Emma Lazarus which is inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty :
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
The little "Missus" was not too concerned about the monetary demands because she had $4,200 sewed into the hem of her skirt for safe keeping on the day that the seven family members boarded the ship at Liverpool, England, for their journey to the "new world." During the nine years after Edward's death, she had accumulated this money through her austerity and some inheritance from her mother and from an uncle who had come to America earlier. In keeping with her frugality, the actual cost for each participant in this venture from the Isle of Man to Bishop, California, would be $125.50 for a total expenditure of $878.50. The remaining $3,321.50 would stay undisturbed in her skirt lining for "a nest egg." She would require the three eldest children, Tom, Minnie and Harry, to repay her their alloted share of the trip.
Back row: Harry, Tom and Minnie. Front row: Bill and Daisy: the five youngest Corkill children just prior to coming to America. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
46 Bunny Corkin
On October 3, 1913, after nearly 2 weeks spent crossing the North Atlantic Ocean, the White Star Lines R.M.S. Celtic entered New York Harbor. The family was confronted by a myriad of emotions: joy and relief that the ocean trip had ended; apprehension about the future; and awe at the sight of the Statue of Liberty—the symbolic shrine to freedom and opportunity—as she welcomed the Corkills to America! "Grandpa" was fourteen years old and from here on, his life would be what he, himself, made it!
After the R.M.S. Celtic was anchored, the passengers were put on barges and ferried to Ellis Island. Along with the other thousands of new arrivals, the family trooped off the barge, up the quay and into the main building for processing.
They were received onto the ground floor baggage room where they deposited their worldly possessions. All of their suitcases had to be opened and Bessie was much less than pleased when she was required to show the inside of her skirt and her "stash" to an inspector. An official opened one trunk and, discovering how filthy Tom's hob-nailed boots were, with a gesture of disgust, waved the family on through.
"Grandpa" vividly remembered climbing the high stairs of the Great Hall, where the medical exam began. Doctors were waiting at the top of the steps, watching immigrants as they climbed. Was the immigrant breathing hard? Was he limping? Did he have any type of physical deformity that would hinder him from finding a job? When the immigrant reached the top of the stairs, he would walk in a circle in front of the doctor. The doctor would examine the immigrant's hair and face. The inspector also was looking for any type of contagious disease, whether it be curable or incurable. If the inspector suspected that the person had a medical problem, he would take him out of line and mark his clothing with a piece of chalk—an "L" for lameness, an "H" for suspected heart disease, and an "E" for eye problems. These folks then entered the Great Hall where they would remain until they could be taken upstairs for a full examination. Public Health Inspectors were not known for their gentleness. A case in point: Inspectors tested immigrant's eyes using their fingers and button hooks.
Having passed their medical inspection, the Corkills were told to sit on wooden benches in the Great Hall until it was their turn to visit the legal inspector who was seated under a huge new 48 star flag [New Mexico and Arizona having been granted statehood in 1912]. Legal inspectors had in front of them the ships' manifest sheets—lists of all the passengers who had arrived that day. Each immigrant wore a manifest tag on his clothing with two numbers on it. The tag indicated to the inspector the page and the line on the manifest sheet on which this immigrant's name appeared. In addition to his name the sheet contained answers to questions he had presumably been asked in Europe before he was sold his steamship ticket.
The inspector re-asked the approximately 30 questions in about 2 minutes. The questions went something like this: "What is your name?" "Where were you born?" "Where are you coming from and where are you going?" "Do you have any relatives here?" "Where do they live?" "Who paid for your passage?" "Do you
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 47
have any money—let me see?" "Do you have any skills?" "Are you an anarchist?" "Do you have a criminal record?"
Unlike many folks who were severely interrogated, the Corkill family members were asked very few questions. If they had answered any of the questions improperly, they would have been taken out of line, had an "SI" chalked on their clothes and been detained until they could appear before the Board of Special Inquiry!
Their stay on Ellis Island only lasted a few hours but during that time, "Grandpa" saw some families sent back to their homeland because of sickness. Other families were split up, and names were changed, shortened or strangely translated. But, no one was happier to have survived the "Island of Tears" than the Corkills.
Leaving Ellis Island they were ferried across the New York Bay and boarded a train for a ride to Chicago. They were met at the Chicago station by brother James Henry, who having not yet made his trek to California, treated the family to hot cups of coffee. The hot coffee was such a treat as they had no means for cooking or heating meals. Although there were seats on this train, the railroad company only provided water for the passengers, so each time the train stopped along the way, a member of the family had to get off and purchase the food needed for that meal or day. Following a few minutes of visiting with their brother, they were on their way again. James gave the train porter a generous tip and asked him to watch over his family on their ten day sojourn across America. This same railroad car would be "home" all the way from New York City to Hazen, Nevada, where they were scheduled to change trains.
One by one the weary and musty travelers disembarked from the stuffy railroad car . . . it had been over a week since anyone had been given the opportunity to
An early day "taxi" awaits the arrival of a train at the Hazen, Nevada, depot. A snow-covered Black Butte suggests a cold ride ahead for the passenger and driver. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
48 Bunny Corkin
bathe. A family member spotted a Churchill County Eagle newspaper, dated Saturday, October 11, 1913, folded upon a bench. The headlines told that C.J. Heisey, manager of the George Wingfield enterprises had just returned from California with the good news that he had purchased 245 head of dairy stock; there was talk of a bond issue being passed in the amount of $50,000 for the improvement of Churchill County roads; news of the sugar beet contest sponsored by the Truckee-Carson Fair Association, and an announcement that the Temple Theatre was presenting The Louise Johnson Company vaudeville act and orchestra!
Turning to the editorial page the Corkills learned that alfalfa was the major crop in Nevada. The word alfalfa means "best fodder" and the plant had originated in Arabia where they claimed to have the best horses in the world. At this time the travelers did not realize that Churchill County's agricultural industry would have great impact upon their family in the decades to follow.
In the shadow of Hazen's Black Butte the clan soon boarded a different train for the trip south to Mina, Nevada, where they spent the tenth night. During the darkness of the next morning, the family embarked upon the narrow gauge train headed for Laws, California, about four miles from Bishop. Upon reaching the summit of Montgomery Pass the children were jubilant at the sight of snow. In a moment of compassion, the conductor agreed to stop the train so that these "newcomers" could jump out and play in and taste snow for the first time in their lives. They were also enthralled with the pinyon trees and pinenuts. Needless to say, repeated attempts to get the pitch off of their hands and clothing kept them occupied as the trip continued!
California
From Laws they were driven into Bishop in an old car-stage covered by a canvas top. The stage driver's name was "Chicken" Smith. Arriving in Bishop, the family was re-united with sister Bessie Moore and they settled down to establishing their lives in the "Promised Land" . . . the date . . . October 13, 1913!
"The Missus" hated the bleakness of the desert at first because it was so dissimilar to the Isle. She vowed that she would only spend two years there in that god-forsaken country, but she soon came to love the tranquility of the desert. At the time she left the Isle of Man she rented out the family house, just in case she ever wanted to return. Once she felt at home in her new surroundings she made a return trip to the Isle and sold the property. According to English tradition, the eldest child is supposed to inherit the family real estate. When word reached Edward in Canada that she had disposed of the holdings, denying him of his inheritance, he and his mother had a terrible falling out, adding to his distrust of women.
Meanwhile "Grandpa" [who I shall now also refer to as Harry] went to work at various ranches around Bishop for the paltry sum of $10.00 per month. At age fourteen, he would have preferred to have continued his education, but now he was on his own. His first steady job at Danny Kermode's paid $13.00 per month. For this wage he was required to milk fifteen cows morning and night by hand, as well as spend the intervening hours at other labors.
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 49
Needing transportation, Harry decided to buy a horse. He heard of a little bay mare, named Annie Laurie, who belonged to Scotsman Bill Durwood. Bill's asking price for the mare was $50.00, but he would willingly accept a $20.00 down payment, with the remaining $30.00 to be paid off in monthly installments. Owning only a tie rope, Harry proudly took possession of his prize and returned to Kermode's with the dream of someday being able to afford a bridle and saddle. But for now, his debts were mounting: he still owed on the $125.50 due "The Missus" for his passage and delivery to Bishop . . . which had precedence over all other expenditures . . . and the $30.00 due Durwood. His $13.00 per month income was being stretched to the breaking point!
Several years elapsed and by the time he ended his employment at Kermode's, he had paid off his mother, he now owned Annie Laurie, and he was the proud owner of a saddle. In fact, Annie Laurie had won more money running in races than her initial cost and had presented her master with several foals.
By then, World War I was in progress. Before Harry had time to break Annie's colts, he signed up for the military draft. Believing that he would have to go into the army, he sold the horses to an uncle of Wilfred Cline, former well-known Fallon resident. Fortunately, Armistice Day [November 11, 1918] was declared one week before Harry's name was to come up in the draft.
With this imminent obligation behind him, he went to work for a Mr. McIntosh. Almost immediately he fell victim to the infamous "1918 Flu." There was no hospital in Bishop, so the ill were taken to the high school gymnasium which had been outfitted with rows of iron cots. Drifting in and out of consciousness, and too ill to be truly concerned, Harry nevertheless realized that there were many people around him dying. He felt like he was in a terrible nightmare but could not awaken. The doctor in charge wanted $10.00 up front before he would examine a patient.
During this illness Harry was attended by a nurse that he referred to as ". . a good old scout," who insisted that he was supposed to be drinking milk as part of the treatment. "If you don't drink your milk, you will die!" she reasoned. Believing that if he did drink the milk he really would die, his response was, "Call the undertaker!" He did not drink his milk and he lived to tell about it! His final bill came to $215.00, which was exactly one-half of his accumulated wealth.
Upon his release from the gymnasium, he was required to wear a mask over his face as he re-entered society. All of the stores in Bishop were closed due to the epidemic. He managed to get to the Red Front Coffee Shop where he was able to contact his brother-in-law, Walter Moore, who took him back to the Moore home in Bishop to recover.
Shortly after arriving in Bishop, Harry applied for his citizenship papers but was informed that there was a two year waiting period before one could apply for the final papers. During these years he studied for the impending exam and when the exciting day for the test came, he arranged for George Watterson, a fellow Manxman, to drive him into town. At the courthouse he was greeted by a huge surprise . . . he was informed that he was already a citizen! It seems that during the spring of 1916 his step-father, Louis Kneale, had become a citizen in Indepen-
50 Bunny Corkill
dence, Inyo County, California. His citizenry automatically made his wife, "The Missus," and all of her children under the age of eighteen citizens! While pleased that he was now a citizen, Harry was always kind of sad that he had not been able to "show off' his knowledge. In the years to come, he would serve on three Federal Grand Juries and on more than one occasion, his knowledge of the constitution amazed the members of the court. He was very proud to be an American!
At this same time, Tom Corkill, Harry's older brother, whom Harry called "Feller," had been away in France serving in World War I with the United States Army. Upon Tom's return to Bishop he was employed in farming on the Watterson sub-division and the Shipley family ranch. Harry and Tom next purchased a 40
Harry Corkill. (Churchill County Museum & acre farm in Owens Valley. This small
Archives Photograph Collection.) farming community received its wa-
ter supply from the Owens River, which was fed by the snow pack on the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
This venture, however, would be short lived because Owens Valley's precious water supply would soon be removed. "Grandpa" lived through the trauma of seeing the water supply to his farming community dry up, but he never forgot that history can and does repeat itself! Decades later, Harry would become adamant that his heirs learn by the mistakes of these California farmers. Repeatedly he insisted that his family members appreciate their water and learn about its value, because he said his children would see the day when the populated areas of Nevada would usurp the water from Lahontan Valley, too. He told the following story many times to impress upon the next generations that they must stand up and fight for their survival!
Two hundred and thirty eight miles south of Owens Valley, the city of Los Angeles was growing at an unimaginable rate. The L.A. city fathers struck upon the plan to tap the water sources of Owens Valley. The story of how they acquired the water is one of deceit and unscrupulous means. A land syndicate in the San Fernando Valley originally planted the idea of bringing the water
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 51
to the arid south. The Los Angeles Water Department bought the idea and came up with a scheme by which the water could be taken with little opposition from the farmers. Representatives of the water department secretly purchased an immense amount of Owens Valley land, thus becoming the largest single landowner in the valley. This completed, the city council of Los Angeles authorized a bond issue of $25 million for the construction of an aqueduct and storage facilities. The people of Los Angeles were deceived into believing that this project was critical to their continued water supply, and voted the bond issue in. Construction of the aqueduct was begun in 1907 and completed in 1913. All of this took place without any consideration of the drastic effects this would have on the farms which depended on the water for their existence
The ironic part of this story is that most of the 288 million gallons of water which were brought by the aqueduct from the Owens Valley, actually ended up, not in Los Angeles, but in a reservoir in the northern end of the San Fernando Valley. It was carried by ditches throughout the valley to water land that just happened to be owned by the same land syndicate which had originally pushed for this project. They had purchased over 100,000 acres of unimproved land years earlier at $5, $10, and $15 per acre and were able to sell the same land for as high as $1,000 per acre, now that these lands could be irrigated. The syndicate raked in profits estimated at between $50 and $100 million dollars.
While Harry admitted that Owens Valley's water was originally taken under false pretenses, he believed that the farmers were fairly paid for their water at that time. Most of the farmers had been so "cash poor" that with this great influx of money into the valley, many people used extremely poor judgment in handling their finances and were soon broke. It was only after land and water values jumped significantly in later years that the farmers began regretting the sale of their water.
He advised that although the circumstances of the taking of the water of the Owens Valley differ from the factors involved in the present day water fight in Lahontan Valley, the similarities of the farming areas involved and the knowledge that a green, producing valley much like ours was allowed to become a wasteland, is a grim warning!
In 1924 having sold their 40 acres for $12,000 and in need of a new profession, Harry immediately went to work as a laborer at the Pine Creek Tungsten Mine. At its peak Pine Creek was the largest tungsten mine in the world. Here he would embark upon a career which would last for two and one half years. The work at this very high altitude "mine-in-the-sky" was difficult, and the ore had to be sent down the steep mile and one-half trail by mule pack trains to waiting wagons. The ore was then loaded on a narrow gauge railroad and shipped south for processing. His most trusted co-workers were mules.
52 Bunny Corkill
Mining was putting cash into "Grandpa's" pocket, but he began to long to work with the soil and for the life of a farmer again. His first choice of an area in which to establish a farm was Douglas County, Nevada, but the Carson Valley had been settled by clannish German families who were hesitant to allow folks of other nationalities to move into their "Garden of Eden." His second choice was Smith Valley and Yerington, but that valley was being settled by Italian families and if one's name did not end with a vowel, the welcome mat was not out! Harry remembered his trip through Lahontan Valley a decade before and began thinking about a return trip.
Harry Corkill (right) rests after a hard days work at the Pine Creek Tungsten Mine in California. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
One evening, while lounging about the mine bunkhouse, Harry and his buddy Mike Duffy heard of a Farmer's Picnic that was going to held in Bishop on June 27, 1925, and they decided to attend. At the picnic, special guests were Fallon, residents I.H. Kent, L. C. Taylor, L. T. Kendrick and I. E. Hall. They were personally carrying an invitation from the Churchill County Chamber of Commerce to the people of Owen's Valley, inviting them to make new homes in the Lahontan Valley. Liking what they heard, Harry and Mike decided to drive to Fallon and investigate.
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 53
Leaving Bishop early in the morning in a Model T Ford, they drove all day, reaching Hawthorne, Nevada, just in time to spend the night. The next day they ventured on to Schurz, where their friend, Charlie List, "the Dutchman," had a job. They rested up in Schurz that night before heading on into Fallon. In those days, a dirt road skirted around the south edge of Lahontan Valley instead of the straight asphalted bed now known as Highway 95 South. Traffic had to go over obstinate rocks and through deep sand by way of Hooten Wells. The trip took an entire day, because they were stuck in the sand so much of the time, and every few miles a flat tire had to be changed. By the third evening they had reached their destination. It had taken 3 days to cover approximately 200 miles.
Three dressed up bachelors, Tom and Harry Corkill and Clarence Shipley, ready their Model T Ford for a trip to Nevada. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
"Grandpa" called the Model T a "contemptible beast." And although the vehicle was a frustrating device, he considered it a "usable beast." Because of its unique Ruckstell transmission, a person could jack up a back wheel and, while the truck stood on "three feet," the rear axle and 4th wheel rim would serve as a winch . . . theoretically, it could dig itself out of the sand! Several months later when Harry and Mike Duffy returned to Bishop, they put the Model T on a railroad car to send it home!
Putting Down Roots in Fallon
Upon their arrival in Fallon, Harry and Mike rented a small house on the corner of Maine and Virginia Streets. From this location they began travelling about the Valley in the company of "a real estate shark." Harry, now about age 28, had had enough farming expertise that he was able to identify good soil from bad and fortunately did not fall into an "alkali trap."
54 Bunny Corkill
South of Fallon, along the old Lincoln Highway, the Bassett and Goebel place [1975 Berney Road now owned by Ernst] with its 120 acres was on the market for an asking price of $6,000. On about March 12, 1927, Harry purchased a 30 acre plot of this ranch, which appeared to have good soil and had been recently leveled, for $100 per acre [$3,000 cash] through Hall and Forbes real estate. His partners, Mike Duffy and Charlie List, co-owned another 10 acres.
The Bassett and Goebel place dated back to 1909, when Elmer Elsworth Bassett [1861-1932], a bachelor mining engineer, and George William Goebel [1848-1918], an accountant-merchant, with his wife Margaret Frances Goebel [18511928], came to Lahontan Valley and took up a 200 acre homestead.
The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) was in the process of leveling the farmland in the Beach District area of the Newlands Project, and after they finished leveling the Bassett and Goebel place, the BOR presented the owners with an assessment bill. Unfortunately, the leveling charges were so much higher than expected, the owners were forced into bankruptcy. With land in their area worth only $100 per acre and assement bills so high, many of their neighbors were also forced out of farming. This project would prove to be just one in a series of bureaucratic blunders that the BOR would perpetrate upon Lahontan Valley farmers.
Goebel died in 1918, leaving his partner and widow insolvent. Pete Erb, married in 1927 to Mary Grace Thomas, a grand-niece of Mrs. Goebel, had leased the farm and so he was agreeable to putting up Harry's hay crop during the summer of 1927.
With the farm legally his, Harry opened a bank account in a Fallon bank with a $500 deposit and he and Duffy headed back to Bishop and to their employment at the Pine Creek tungsten mine. Harry worked the entire summer of 1927 at the Watterson-owned mine and accumulated $700-$800. The Watterson family was all powerful in the Bishop area, owning land, mines, banks, etc. However, they were not as honest as they were powerful! They declared bankruptcy and closed the banks, so Harry, among others, lost all of his money. The Inyo Register, August 18, 1927 stated, "Wilfred W. Watterson, president of the Inyo County Bank and Mark Q. Watterson, its cashier, 'owners of the Valley's wrecked banks,' were charged with 43 counts of felony, including embezzlement, concealment of funds . . ." The March 29, 1928 headline proclaimed "The Wattersons are in San Quentin." "Grandpa" said he should have deposited all of his cash in Fallon!
Harry, with his money gone, and in the company of his friend Mike Duffy, returned to Fallon. The first thing they needed to do was build a bridge across the drain ditch so that they could have access to their farm. Cohorts Duffy and List built a cabin for the bachelors while Harry devoted his energies to constructing a barn, a milk house and a garage. When Harry went into Fallon to purchase wood to build doors for the garage, the lumberman sold him some beautiful, white, ready-made doors with dozens of small window panes for less than wholesale. It seems that another patron had had these custom-order doors made but, upon their delivery, was unable to pay for them. These unique doors adorned the garage until it was torn down nearly 40 years later.
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 55
Harry became very good friends with Warren Ernst, who lived on a neighboring farm. One day during the Prohibition era, the two of them brewed themselves a batch of beer. They put the liquid in bottles and put them under the house to age. Something went terribly wrong! The bottles exploded, spewing out their contents, and it took a very long time to "air out" the house!
Back in Bishop, elder brother Tom had spent all of his money on an unsuccessful courtship. So, during the winter of 1927, blue and impoverished, he came to Nevada to visit Harry. Soon Tom leased the remaining Bassett and Goebel farm. By now Harry was the proud owner of 11 cows, so a partnership that was to last for years, was established between the two brothers, and the dairy expanded.
A January 12, 1929, newspaper article announced that the Corkill Brothers were painting their home and milk houses.
A couple of miles closer to Fallon, Louis Alphonso Beckstead, who had been the proprietor of historically significant Vaughan Station/Beckstead Store since 1912, had retired from the mercantile business and, being in need of cash, wished to sell his farm for $16,000. Tom and Harry rented 215 acres in 1929. After much consideration and financial negotiating, Harry managed to trade in his smaller farm to Beckstead and, assuming a $10,000 debt burden, he and Tom became the owners of the larger property in 1930. They would soon move on to a new Lahontan Valley venture!
"The Missus" And California
Relatives Revisited
Shortly after Bessie Corkill Kneale, "The Missus," received her citizenship and got settled in Bishop, she decided that her husband, Louis Kneale was excess baggage and she divorced him. Her daughter Bessie Moore was moving further south, so "The Missus" bought the Moore home outside of Bishop for $900. She soon became extremely ill and the attending doctor prescribed many different medicines. Her doctor decided to take her down to Big Pine for additional attention. Believing that she needed an operation, Harry and Tom drove from Fallon to visit her. Harry decided to bring his mother back to Fallon to prevent the Doctor from "butchering on her." However, Bessie was too ill to travel so Harry hired a neighbor, Mrs. Kewley, sister of Mrs. Shuey of Fallon, to watch over her. While under her care, Mrs. Kewley converted "The Missus" to the Christian Science religion.
Bessie Ward Corkill Kneale Westover. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
56 Bunny Corkill
The basic teachings of Christian Science state: 1. God is in everything and is everything. 2. God is good and all that is good is Mind. 3. Because God is Mind (or Spirit), everything that is not Spirit does not exist. Matter is not Spirit, so it does not exist. 4. Therefore, material things such as disease, sin, death, and evil do not exist. Only that which is good exists. These "mind over matter" teachings brought "The Missus" great strength and comfort. Mrs. Kewley soon broke up all of the medicine bottles in the house and very shortly Bessie regained her health.
Along the way, Bessie was introduced to Charles Westover, a congenial and pleasant man who was a beekeeper by profession. They married, sold the Moore home, and moved on to Weldon, California, on the south branch of the Kern River. Here they purchased a 360 acre sagebrush-covered homestead which would serve as home base for their honeybee operation.
Charles moved his beehives throughout southern California to patches of purple sage and on to orange groves where the bees visited the blossoms and gathered sweet honey. The Westovers spent the winter months peddling their honey around the state. Bessie was at last extremely happy and content. She had become an increasingly devout Christian Scientist and soon converted Charles over to the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy. Each morning they stopped their labors at 10:00 in order to read and study their "Scientist" lessons.
Charles passed away in Bakersfield during September 1937, from cancer. During her remaining years, Bessie chose to travel from town to town visiting her children. She never tired of the boiled salted cod, which came in a neat little wooden box and had been the staple of her early diet. She insisted on cooking it while a guest in her childrens' homes. Her grandchildren still speak of the foul smell emanating from the kitchen!
During her last years, she developed cancer, but refused to acknowledge the disease. When she was taken by "a spell," Mr. Frank Scholz, a Scientist practitioner, [father of former Churchill County Assessor Paul Scholz] would come and privately visit with her, and momentarily she would rise from the bed and continue on. Bessie truly lived her faith!
On 11 April 1950, "The Missus" went to her heavenly reward and is buried in the Rose Hill Section, Greenlawn Memorial Park, Bakersfield, California, an ocean and a continent away from the Isle of Man, her homeland.
Corkill Siblings Revisited
Since their arrival in America, the three younger siblings, Minnie, Daisy and William had grown into adulthood. Minnie and Daisy were introduced to brothers John 0. "Jack" and McKinley "Kinney" Powers. They were the sons of James Henry Powers, who had come to the South Fork Valley of California's Kern River in 1879.
After James had worked as a cowboy for W.W. Landers for almost a year, he went to work for Thomas H. Smith. On July 4, 1880, Jim married Smith's daughter, Henrietta, and they were soon settled on a homestead in the upper end of the Valley. Henrietta had been afflicted with infantile paralysis since her birth and
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 57
even though crippled, with the assistance of her mother Sophia Maria Smith, a mid-wife and first woman to live on the South Fork: bore Jim fourteen children in eighteen years—all single births. When Henrietta Powers died in 1898, some say she died in self-defense!
Two of the older Powers girls, ages fifteen and eighteen, helped raise the family until death took them in their early twenties. Diseases, such as diphtheria, made serious inroads in large families, and only five boys and three girls of the fourteen Powers children lived to maturity.
Late into her teens, Minnie Corkill [1897-1923] married "Jack" Powers, a well known cattleman and became the mother of two children, a son, Donald and a daughter, Mildred. Seeking relief from the intense July afternoon heat, Minnie and three of her lady friends went for a leisurely swim in the Kern River near Isabella. Minnie ventured too far out into the water and the current sucked her under. Jumping into the swirling whirlpool, her three friends were also nearly overcome in their unsuccessful attempt to save her. Minnie died on July 27, 1923, at age 25. Following a desperate struggle against the rushing waters, her brother-in-law, Kinney, was able to recover the body. She was buried in the Powers family plot in the Cottage Grove Cemetery near Isabella, California.
Minnie's widower, Jack Powers, continued in the livestock business running his cattle in the mountains at South Fork during the summer months and on the Mojave Desert throughout the winter. It is remembered that he enjoyed the company of a lady "camptender" at each location! He spent a goodly amount of energy keeping them separated.
Minnie's son Donald inherited the Corkill family talent for welding and during the late 1940s he and his father, Jack, owned a ranch near Likely, California. Donald ingeniously built his own welder and welded four large dump-rakes together. This piece of machinery allowed him to cross-fire rake the huge grass meadows very efficiently. After Powers sold this ranch, Donald went to Saudi Arabia for a number of years and worked as a professional welder.
On October 25, 1919, at age 17, Daisy [1902- ] married "Kinney" Powers [1896-1959]. Kinney attempted ranching near Bishop, Olancha, and on the Forsberg place in Fallon, plus several other careers before finally accepting a job with the California Highway Department. The joy of their lives was a young son named Harry who was born in 1921.
Daisy is a petite little lady with a lot of her mother's stubborn individualism. She, too, had become a follower of the Christian Science doctrine. On a January 1934 evening, the family went to a country dance and party. Little Harry began to complain of excruciating pain. Daisy tried to soothe his pain and fears with her religious beliefs, insisting that he was not really ill and she had the practitioner visit with him. But Harry was sick—very sick. That night he died from a burst appendix.
With the death of her son and the loss of a stillborn daughter in 1936, Daisy struggled through several years of great unhappiness before she gave up her Scientist religion. Today, nearly blind at age 97, she resides in a retirement home in Bakersfield, California.
58 Bunny Corkill
And finally, brother William [1904-1975] married Madeline Ensslin. They became the parents of four children, James, Mildred, Oscar and Shirley. For years their lives were characterized by instability as they nomadically followed the seasons working as fruit pickers up and down the West coast. They spent very little time in Fallon. Following their divorce, Madeline married James Miller and resided in Fallon for many years.
Corkills Meet The Markes
Tom was the "playboy" of the Fallon Corkills. He loved attending dances and became a very active member of the American Legion and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He soon met Vena Marke [1908-1991], whose family had moved to a homestead in Lahontan Valley in 1919. Vena had graduated from CCHS in 1927 where she had been a member of Fallon's state basketball championship team. Tom and Vena were married November 2, 1929, and set up housekeeping in the farm cabin, with Harry as their roommate.
Over the years Tom would participate in the building of the old rodeo/fairgrounds with the American Legion on the present WalMart site; act as chairman of the Consolidated-B school
board for a number of terms; be
active in 4-H and Farm Bureau programs; and pioneer the Grade-A dairy business. [n 1945 his love for dancing found him working as the dance "caller" at Fallon's Blue Moon Tavern. The dance card included Square Dances, Hop Waltz, Two Steps, Schottish, Polkas and Hill Billy Western!
He actively participated in farming, adding more acres to the ranch through
the purchase of the Inman Flour Mill farm. In the late 1950s his health began to fail and he was forced to sell off his property. He was famous for the vast amount of food he could consume at a single sitting, his card-playing skills and his ever present "tobacco chew" can.
Tom and Vena became the parents of Lois [Weigel], Lauretta [Davis], Richard and Roger.
Tom and Vena Marke Corkill. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 59
Laura Ellen Marke [1910- ], Vena's sister, after graduating from CCHS in 1928 as an outstanding student and athlete, gained employment at the Cover-ston' s Garage [126 E.Center Street] and then as a telephone operator with the Churchill County Telephone and Telegraph System. In November of 1929 she and Harry were invited to serve as honor attendants at their siblings' wedding. Laura had heard about Harry, who at the time was dating a neighborhood girl, but she had never met him. Their meeting at Tom and Vena's wedding would be the commencement of a romance and "a loving mutual admiration society" that would last for over 60 years.
With $200 borrowed from his stepfather Charles Westover, Harry and Laura were able to begin married life on November 22, 1930. Returning from their honeymoon, the newlyweds moved into the old Beckstead Store building with Tom and Vena. Harry would forever more lovingly refer to his life's helpmate Laura as "The Mother." As with all of their contemporaries, they began this new adventure in the depths of the Depression. Surviving these times gave them a special strength and wisdom that they would carry with them throughout their lives.
The newlyweds planted many trees around their yard. They took cottonwood cuttings from trees along the Carson River and obtained "wind break" trees from the extension service. Many buckets of water were hauled from the well to establish these trees. Nearly 70 years later some of these same trees still stand in tribute to the loving hands that cared for them.
Come spring, Harry moved a small three-room house from another piece of their property up to the yard. His manner of house moving was to use horses, a cable, a deadman stake and a homemade sled. He would hammer the stake into the hard ground and then with the horses and cable inch the sled with the house on it up about 50 feet to the stake. The stake would then have to be pulled out of the ground and reburied and the procedure repeated. It was a tedious job but it was imperative that the expanding family have its own home. The luxuries that they longed for
Harry and Laura Marke Corkill. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
60 Bunny Corkin
were indoor plumbing, running water and a dependable source of heat. Bathing and clothes washing had to be done out at the milk house where the water was heated over a wood fire.
A typical day's schedule began at about 4:30 AM when Harry would go to the barn to milk 20 to 30 cows by hand. The milk was then separated and the cream held in cans until Mr. Marker or Mr. Larsen could come with the Milk Producers Association's truck and deliver the cream to town. During the warm months, the cream cans were placed in water troughs filled with continuously running water to help keep them cool, as there was no refrigeration available. The remaining skim milk was fed to 50 or more sows. Later on, the Grade B milk was also sold for cheese and other uses.
Before the days of hay choppers and balers, the alfalfa hay was loosely piled in tall stacks. In order to get a section of the feed away from the stack the hay had to be cut with a hay knife and then hand pitched into a manger to feed the animals. This was another very time consuming job.
With the arrival of summer and the haying season, the horse teams had to be harnessed before the "crack of dawn" and, after the morning chores were completed, the daytime hours were spent out in the fields mowing, raking or stacking hay. In the late afternoon the cows had to be milked and animals fed once again. Days and nights were also spent irrigating the land so the crops would continue to grow. For additional income, Harry frequently helped neighbors with their haying, clearing land and chopping down trees.
Over the years Laura raised thousands of chickens and turkeys. She purchased her chicks from Minnie Blair's Atlasta Ranch. Many weeks she took 30 dozen eggs into Fallon and sold them to the I.H. Kent Co. Traditionally farm wives got to keep the money from their egg sales for special projects around the home.
Each summer she canned hundreds of pounds of fruits and vegetables for her growing family. They purchased the fresh fruit from around Lahontan Valley, with most of the apples coming from Kallenbach's on Testolin Road and peaches from the Mason's near Hazen.
Laura, a wonderful cook, fixed delicious meals which were appreciated by all, and her cakes and desserts were highly sought after at social functions. Today, her great-grandchildren still look forward to enjoying her delicious homemade bread.
Evenings were spent doing custom butchering of sheep, hogs and cattle; chopping wood for the wood stoves; and grubbing buckbrush and willows from virgin land along the old Carson River channel. Each spring huge gardens, covering several acres, were planted to potatoes, corn and winter squash to feed the growing families throughout the winter months. After being harvested, the vegetables were stored in piles of straw or in root cellars that had been dug into the side of a hill or into the ground.
The barter system became a popular means for survival during the Depression years. Throughout the winter months Harry would work for the Truckee Carson Irrigation District using his teams and Fresno scraper to clean ditches. TCID would in turn pay him wages and feed his horses, thus helping with the maintenance of the
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 61
animals since hay was selling for $9.00 to $11.00 per ton. The TCID could afford to feed the animals because they maintained 40 to 80 acres of land in the Beach District where they raised hay just for horse feed.
Bill, Harry's second son, recalls one year during WWII when meat was very scarce and Fallon's Dr. Harry Sawyer desired the staple. At least four of the seven Corkill children were brought into town one day and had their healthy tonsils removed in exchange for the beef.
During the depression years, the F.D.R. administration initiated some unprecedented agricultural programs. Harry could never understand the theory that he was paid by the government to raise pigs that were killed and their carcasses buried in nearby sandhills instead of the meat going to feed hungry people. He was paid $85.00 cash for the pigs, the most cash he had seen in years. This mind-set helped him to make the decision to become a life-long Republican.
Times were hard—very hard! Cash was "as scarce as hen's teeth" and Harry took chances with his health and life just to bring in a few extra dollars. For example, boar hogs were bringing one-half-of-one-cent per pound, while a stag pig [castrated boar] would bring one cent per pound. On one occasion Harry castrated a 600 pound boar so that he would be paid $9.00 instead of $6.00. Anyone who has ever made the mistake of attempting to wrestle a pig, knows that they are aerodynamically designed . . . not unlike a football! Thus you can comprehend that a 600 pound football with a slick, tough hide, four razor sharp hooves, two vicious tusks and a "manly" attitude was no small adversary for a 145-150 pound man. But he did it just to earn an additional $3.00!
During the ten years that the two families were co-existing on the Beckstead property, seven children were born into the Corkill clan. Tom and Vena contributed four and Harry and Laura became the parents of three sons, Gaylan, Bill and Harry Ward. Laura remembers saving money in a jar, so they would have enough money to pay for each baby. Boy babies cost $5.00 more than girl babies, because the doctor had to perform a small operation on them before they left the hospital! In June of 1935 the total hospital bill at Mrs. Moore's Hospital for the delivery of a son was $53.50.
With all these kids, there was never a dull moment around the yard. When Gaylan was two years old, men were drilling a well on the ranch. They had reached water at thirteen feet, pulled the auger out to set the casing and turned their attention away from the hole. Gaylan tumbled in, dropping to the bottom. Fortunately his mother saw him slip in and her screaming kept the men from dropping the casing. The men dug frantically and were able to retrieve the toddler. He had been wearing a little knit stocking cap which had come down over his face, allowing him to breathe and not inhale the falling mud.
As the years have passed and the seven children have grown to adulthood, the memories recounted provide wonderful entertainment. They tell of practical jokes the siblings and cousins played on each other while they all lived in the same yard, frightening experiences of kids with runaway horses and teams, as well as other events.
62 Bunny Corkill
The Corkill home on the Cochran ranch at 455 West Corkill Lane, Fallon. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Cochran Ranch
By the fall of 1941 Harry decided that it was time to gather up his possessions and family and move on. Their next stop was the 170 acre Cochran ranch located on present day West Corkill Lane, that belonged to the California Lands Inc., a financial institution that ended up owning hundreds of acres of Lahontan Valley farm land during the Depression years.
Gaylan and Bill had begun their schooling while living in the Con B District. When they moved west of the Schurz Highway, legally, they should have attended the rural Lone Tree school. Harry was required to go from door-to-door throughout the Lone Tree District asking his neighbors to sign a petition so that his boys could continue going to school in town. Many of his neighbors refused to sign, saying their taxes would go up and that the rural school had been good enough for their families, but in the end, his wish was granted. A few years later, many of these same neighbors asked for his support when they wanted to close the country school and send their children to Con B schools. For years the boys walked the .4 mile from their home to the Schurz Highway in order to catch the bus, which was certainly better than having to travel 2.1 miles to Lone Tree.
Once again, the family would start their farming enterprise from scratch. New fields had to be worked and cows had to be milked, but by now the older sons were getting big enough to be of assistance. Each afternoon after the boys returned from school, and before they had to begin chores, they were allowed to listen to their favorite radio program, Jack Armstrong, All American Boy, the boy who ate Wheaties Cereal!
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 63
"Hay stiffs" stand before the bunkhouse at the Cochran ranch.
(Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
During haying season, additional farm workers called "hay stiffs" were employed by the Corkills and other local farmers. Most of these men were itinerants, known as "railroad bums." Their work followed the California fruit picking seasons, interspersed with putting up alfalfa. They would pick cherries and early maturing fruit in California, then hop a freight train headed for Fallon's "Hobo Jungle," which was situated in a grove of cottonwood trees near Kent's Lumber Yard on North Maine Street at the end of the railroad spur. Following first crop, they would go back to California to pick plums and then return here to put up the second cutting of alfalfa.
These men slept out in the open and did their laundry and bathed in the local irrigation and drain ditches. Their normal clothing consisted of long wool underwear worn all year long and Levis that could stand up by themselves! Some of the larger ranches provided bunkhouses for the crews. Several times during the haying season, the bunkhouses had to be fumigated by burning yellow sulphur powder to rid the premises of bed bugs, brought in by the men and their bedrolls.
Lahontan Valley tradition required that the smaller farmers be through with haying before the huge Dodge Island Ranch crew got finished with their work and received their paychecks, because on "Dodge Ranch Pay Day" all of the hay crews from around the valley went into town for a good time and it was hard to re-assemble a crew!
World War II years presented additional challenges. Most necessities were rationed, but people in agriculture received some special breaks. While one needed stamps to purchase gasoline, it was easier for farmers to obtain gas if they could show they had food products that needed to be delivered to market. Many local farmers obtained their gas from Miles Robison and his South Side Service Station located on South Maine Street. Ranch wives or cooks who could prove they had
64 Bunny Corkill
large hay crews to cook for, also had an advantage when it came to the issuance of sugar.
Ernest Hursh, a prominent Fallon businessman, was in charge of issuing ration stamps. His secretary, a local young woman, was one of the original United States government "power brokers." She pretty much felt that "issuing" was her god-given right and acted as if the items she released came right out of her own skin. On one occasion, Harry needed new tires for his 1937 Ford Sedan, so that he could haul four butcher hogs to Reno in his little homemade stock trailer. When he approached the secretary about issuing him stamps to buy a new tire, she was very disinclined. So, Harry asked if he could visit with his friend, Ernie, about an insurance policy the family had with E.H. Hursh Insurance Company. When he returned from Ernie's office, he had stamps for four, not one, tires! The secretary was not very friendly over the outcome of that meeting!
Meat and eggs were so scarce during the war years that town people would buy any extra food the family had. One day a man came from Sparks, Nevada, and bought the 500 chickens Laura had in a pen among the trees. Although the chickens were of different sizes, he paid her $1.00 each. She used the $500 to put a new roof on the family home.
Hawthorne, Nevada, was booming during these years because both the ammunition depot and a U.S. Marine base were located there. Just at sunset one extremely hot summer evening a man from Hawthorne drove into the yard and said he wanted to buy all the chickens the family could spare. A deal was struck and the money paid. He opened the lid of his car trunk and the family began chopping the heads off of chickens, and throwing the carcasses into the trunk. As he pulled out of the yard to begin his 73 mile trip home, blood and more began pouring out from under the car. They never saw that man again!
The Corkills purchased their first milking machine in 1945 and in 1947 built a new concrete block Grade A dairy barn. Much of their successful milk production was achieved with help from the famous Oats Brothers Holstein breeding program. Harry worked diligently and was instrumental in helping to form a milk producers' association. During December 1952 he was elected president of the Newlands Dairymen. His goals included having butter produced here, milk bottled at the local Cann's Creamland Dairy, butterfat testing of milk, and initiating a policy of improved record keeping for use in the culling of cows to improve the dairy herds. His interest in the dairy business would continue until 1960 when he turned the farm over to his three sons and the newly formed Corkill Brothers Incorporated. His frustrations at attempting to organize the dozens of self-proclaimed "independent" suspicious farmers were many!
Harry greatly supported and assisted his three sons in their 4-H and Future Farmer of America activities. All of the boys held state offices and received acclaim for their outstanding accomplishments with these organizations. Harry was the proud recipient of an FFA Honorary Degree for his dedication.
Over the years "Grandpa" had bouts of poor health. He suffered from stomach problems and a worn-out little body earned by too many years of too much
And We Called Him "Grandpa" 65
hard work. After nearly losing his life during an attack of pancreatitis, with proper diet, medicine and loving attention from "the Mother," he was able to enjoy his last twenty "golden" years relatively carefree.
"Grandpa" loved words. He nicknamed nearly everyone he came in contact with: Toots, Babe, Plink, Bristle and the list went on and on. He had his own vocabulary with phrases such as "a Joe Spivits," which described any object whose proper name eluded him at the moment; all homemade and handy inventions made from junk found in the "bone pile" were called "Jules Goldbergs."
He was famous for his adages. Among many wonderful sayings, he claimed "1 boy is a good boy; 2 boys are half a boy and 3 boys are no boy at all!" He often referred to a quick motion as: "Fast as the salts through the upstairs maid!"
He is also credited with developing, naming and fostering a medical malady unique to Corkill men known as "STREAAACH" Its symptoms included a plugged up throat and the inability to breathe! Corkill males were affected by this horrendous condition each time the chicken house had to be cleaned or the lawn mowed. How "Grandpa" got this malady genetically engineered into his male heirs is still a mystery. Fortunately, Corkill women are immune to the disease!
From the horse and buggy days, "Grandpa" had a love-hate relationship with automobiles. As his financial situation improved, the one luxury that he allowed himself was several new cars. His last personal vehicle was a little red 1971 Ford pickup with an automatic transmission. Oftentimes when he drove into a yard and wanted to stop, he would just pop the gear shift into "P" without braking! Believe you me, that truck stopped!
With responsibility forced upon him at such an early age, Harry never really had the opportunity to learn how to play. But as he mellowed he enjoyed card games, especially bridge and 500. "Scrabble," news commentary television programs, "coffee breaks," and his family, especially his grandchildren, brought him great joy.
His children offered him the opportunity to take a vacation/nostalgia trip back to the Isle of Man and his reply was, "If I wanted to be there, I would have never left!"
Harry Corkill left this world on August 28, 1991, at the age of 92. February 12, 1999, would have been his 100th birthday. Happy Birthday, "Grandpa." You were wonderful; thanks for the memories!
66 Bunny Corkill
Historic Corkill Properties
After the alkali dust, stirred up by Lahontan Valley's first wave of immigrants, settled, the trails and roads that had been imprinted upon the landscape were soon utilized by miners, teamsters and early day residents. These routes often paralleled rivers so that travellers could obtain feed and water for their animals and themselves.
Soon entrepreneurs realized that there was money to be made in establishing sites every few miles along these roads where food, water and lodging could be obtained by both man and beast. In order to provide these services a number of "stations" were established. Some were as basic as a well, a crude shelter and corrals, while others provided many of the comforts of home, including a barn, meals, gambling and female companionship.
And so it was with the Austin-Belleville Road which traversed the southern third of Lahontan Valley, near the Carson River. The road was primarily used to bring supplies from California, Virginia City and Wadsworth to the mines and ranches of eastern Churchill County. On return trips freighters often transported ore and products back to civilization.
Teamsters used from eight to twenty horses and/or mules to pull their wagons, depending on the weight of their load and the type of terrain that had to be covered. Teamsters with large freight wagons only made twelve to fifteen miles a day. Many teamsters carried the water and feed that they would need for the trip on one of their extra wagons.
During an average three week trip to and from the mining camps not only was the driving of the animals hard work but the harnessing and unharnessing of the teams twice a day was a job in itself. By nightfall both men and stock were weary and were glad to find a camping place.
Teamsters gather outside Vaughan Station. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Historic Corkill Properties 67
Vaughan Station
One of the most unique of these camping places in Lahontan Valley was established in 1884 by Tennessee native, Roger C. Vaughan. Vaughan had moved West following a stint with the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Records confirm that he participated in every major battle in the South. Vaughan's Station [present day 425 East Corkill Lane] served the St. Clair area in innumerable ways. From the beginning he was assessed for owning a pool table. His "Lone Tree Store" stocked everything: "Fine Lawns and Ginghams [fabrics], Boots, Stetson Hats, and Garden Seeds." His hall was the gathering spot for locals who came to see family shows such as "Great Godfrey" or to dance. In 1905 a grand ball was held, with music furnished by Reed and Lindsay's Orchestra. Folks who didn't dance could look forward to a free oyster dinner! The proceeds were to be used to defray the expenses of the newly-established Smart District school.
In 1906 the area was officially platted to become Island City and there was soon talk of George Cirac and his partners building a commodious hotel in the new city. A post office was applied for and there were dreams that it would become the county's largest metropolis, bypassing the then dying Stillwater and infant Fallon. Many years later, each of the lots had to be legally re-recorded back to farmland as the city never materialized!
By 1907 business was booming at Vaughan's Station and he reported that during the month of September he sold 91 tons of alfalfa to visiting teamsters.
In January of 1908 the Churchill County Commissioners decided to extend the telephone line to the store, so it also became a communications center. Over the years, at election time, the Commissioners appointed election officials, and the store became the neighborhood polling place.
Life at the station was normally serious and busy, but the September 23, 1909, Churchill County Eagle reported the sudden death of Vaughan's pet cat, Ginger.
The poor thing died of an unsatisfied appetite and owing
to the nature of the disease, the funeral was held the same day, during the time of which the store was closed and draped in black. Interment took place behind the store with Tom Clopath as undertaker, R.D.Cushman as pallbearer and R.O. Post conducting the service.
After 27 years, Vaughan sold his mercantile business to Louis Alphonso [1872-1942] and Carrie A. Roelke [? - 1947] Beckstead.
Roger Vaughan next opened a general merchandise store at Fairview. On September 7, 1911, a disastrous fire, Fairview's first, destroyed the store, the post office and three dwellings. After recovering from burns received during the fire, Vaughan moved on to Wonder where he leased a saloon from Alfred Jacques. With old age approaching, in 1914, Vaughan departed for his former home in Tennessee to spend the remainder of his days. However, before his death on August 7, 1916,
68 Bunny Corkill
he returned to Fallon. He is buried in the Fallon Cemetery where his weathered tombstone features the iron cross indicating veteran status.
Beckstead Store
The Becksteads had come to this state in 1907 and lived in many mining camps around central Nevada. In June 1911, they moved several buildings from Rawhide onto the store site. The "station" soon became known as the Beckstead Store.
During the years that the Becksteads owned the store they sold canned goods, Walter A. Wood Champion and Crown Mowers and Reapers, as well as clothes. While the couple maintained a policy that they would deliver to their patrons any purchases amounting to $5.00 or over within a radius of eight miles, they also became infamous for their stingy, miserly ways.
Teamsters who spent the night at Becksteads usually had an extra wagon carrying hay for their teams. After dark "Becky" would open the gate of his cow corral and let his cattle out for the evening to "graze" on the teamsters' hay. After enduring this stunt many times, a disgruntled teamster poured turpentine over his hay, and that night when the Beckstead cows began eating it, their mouths began to burn and they started running about the yard, bawling. "Becky" was irate over the situation but the teamsters had a good laugh at the expense of the free-loading bovines.
"Little," as Mrs. Beckstead was known, also had a few tricks of her own. Neighborhood kids recalled that when they went to buy penny candy, she would weigh the candy on a scale. If one piece of candy would push the weight a fraction over the desired amount, the chagrined customer would watch as "Little" took a piece off of the scale, bit it in half, kept half in her mouth and put the rest back on the scale, leaving the customer with a half-eaten piece of candy.
The Beckstead Store and outbuildings. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Historic Corkill Properties 69
Beckstead conveyed his contempt for his fellow man in this January 1920 newspaper advertisement:
Lost or Stolen
My Automobile crank
Finder will please return and get a free joy ride to Heaven
Otherwise a vacant chair awaits him below!
L.A. Beckstead
While some of his business practices were questionable, Louis Beckstead was admired for his beautiful singing voice, and he was invited to perform at many social events.
The Becksteads ran their business for nearly twenty years. After disposing of their store inventory and selling the ranching interests to Tom and Harry Corkill about 1930, they retired to the J.D. Austin home on North Broadway Street in Fallon.
Lee-Inman Flour Mill
A mile south of what would become Vaughan's Station, W.R. Lee and his sons Allen, Robert, Cassius, Schuyler and William erected a flour mill on the south branch of the Carson River in 1882.
The lumber for the mill was hauled by teams from Wadsworth. The mill was of the French burr type in which the grain was ground to flour by means of two large round stones.
Inman Four Mill. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
70 Bunny Corkill
In 1888 the mill was sold to Jim Wright and A.S. Dildine, who ran it until 1902 when it was purchased by Frank W. Inman. Inman, who was married to W.R. Lee's daughter, Louisa, changed the burr method of grinding grain to the roller process. Roller ground flour was finer and there was less waste. He did, however, save one of the burr grinders for graham flour.
Inman installed a large water wheel, which was turned by the waters of the Carson River, to power his mill. Local children recalled the wonderful summertime hours spent swimming in the pool formed below the mill, but for Inman,
This flour sack was discovered by a homeowner when he began to remodel his older Fallon home. The sacks were used under wallpaper as wallpaper lining! (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
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relying on this water source made his business hours unpredictable. In the spring he had to wait for the ice to disappear so he could start the mill. He reported that he had often seen the ice fourteen inches thick and the river frozen solid to the bottom. Often times in the fall when the water was low Inman was unable to run his mill at all. When the river water did set the mill into motion, however, Inman was busy. A 1906 Fallon Standard article states:
Inman is busy grading wheat products. He states that plenty of Carson Sink wheat was to be had at the present time which was of unusually good quality and that he was paying $28 per ton for grain delivered at his mill. He said that the local demand was greater than his supply twice over. In point of bread making qualities, Carson Sink wheat is hard to beat, upon comparison with wheat he had obtained from Utah and Idaho.
In August 1908, F.W. Inman, proprietor of the flour mill, was quoted as saying that . . . "the farmers are raising better wheat this year than he has ever seen shipped into the county. The time will come when every pound of [Crescent] flour consumed in Churchill County will be produced right here on the Sink. The more we export and the less we import, the better it will be for the community."
By 1909 the Inman Flour Mill business moved into Fallon so that it could be near electricity, a more dependable power source. In 1913 Inman sold his right to 45 second feet of water for $7,500 to the U.S. Government when the Newlands Project was started. This flow was then diverted into the irrigation distribution system.
At this same time his 80 acre ranch was sold to L.A. Kaiser and Inman was given four years in which to dispose of his mill. No one is exactly sure what happened to the building, but the mill machinery found its way to the Nevada Socialist Colony east of Fallon. With the breaking up of this socialist enterprise, junk vultures bought it as waste and shipped it to ironworks on the coast.
This same property has gone through a long list of owners until, in 1959, it became a part of Corkill Brothers Incorporated.
A Tribute to Maurice Martin Hanifan
8/25/1891-7/18/1968
John Joseph Hanifan
HANIFAN FAMILY TREE
1. PATRICK HANIFIN of Tubbar married ELLEN BARRETT 24 February 1835 Children: Mary, MICHAEL, Catherine, Ellen, Patrick, Timothy, John
2. MICHAEL Born: 14 May 1841 married JOHANNA MARTIN in 1865 Children:
MARY Born: 15 October 1868 married JAMES ASHE of Kinard 1889
BRIDGET Born: (Date unknown) married M.L. SULLIVAN of Tubber
PATRICK Born: 1873 married ELIZA HICKSON
ELLEN Born: 1876 married MIKE MORIARTY
JOHN Born: 2 October 1878 married KATHERINE RAYEL lived in Nevada. (Katherine emigrated from County Kerry, Ireland, to Springfield, Mass. Married in Reno, moved to Fallon.)
JAMES Born: 15 January 1881 married BRIDGET GORMAN in Los Angeles, lived in Los Angeles and Fallon. (Bridget emigrated from County Claire, Ireland, to Los Angeles, California as an indentured servant [waitress])
KATHERINE Born:16 April 1883 married JOSEPH FLAHERTY
JOHANNA Born: 1885 married DENIS MURPHY in 1917 One child: Canon [priest, "Father"] Daniel Murphy
MICHAEL Born: 1887 married BRIDGET DOWLING Children: Dermot, Jo, Kay, Eileen
MAURICE Born 25 August 1891 married ELIZABETH DONNELLY lived in Fallon, Nevada
*In Ireland, the name Hanifan is still spelled using "fin." Maurice and two of his brothers changed the ending of their name to read "fan." As the family has grown, there have been other changes in the spelling of their surname.
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Maurice Martin Hanifan 73
Maurice Martin Hanifan was the youngest of ten children, the 5th son of Michael and Johanna Martin Hanifan. He was born on August 25, 1891, in Tubbar, a very small village of three or four cottages, in County Kerry, Ireland. Several generations of Hanifans were born there dating back to Great-Great Grandfather, Big John Griffin, who owned 50 acres in Tubbar. Big John Griffin's ownership of this land in Tubbar predates 1790 as records indicate John Griffin's daughter Mary, was married that year to James Ashe.
Another small village named Lispole was within walking distance of Tubbar. Lispole was a center for several villages and was the location of a primary school. This is where Maurice Martin completed the Ardmore National School, equivalent to the 8th grade. Dingle, the county seat, was the nearest town or trade center and the farmers hauled their produce there by pony and trap. In Dingle they sold their produce and they purchased the few additional provisions needed for their sustenance.
Farmland was never divided into smaller parcels or sold. It was always handed down to the eldest son. This tradition would have a traumatic effect on my father, Maurice. A synopsis of the four older brothers then is necessary.
When my Grandfather, Michael, died in about 1901, Patrick, the eldest son who had been born in 1873, became the owner. With the inheritance came the responsibility of having to care for his mother, Johanna, for her lifetime, and caring for the other family members until they were considered adults. John J. [born 1878] left for America in 1899 and headed for Blue Canyon, California. James [1881] was studying for the priesthood, which he completed in Paris, France, but never took his final vows. Michael [1887] was in Trallee, the county seat of County Kerry, at a Christian Brothers Higher Education School. My father, Maurice, was about ten years of age and the sisters were of varying ages.
At age fourteen, Maurice had started attending the boarding house school in Trallee, taught by the Christian Brothers, when unexpectedly, his eldest brother, Patrick, died. Patrick and his wife, Eliza, by now had five children, the oldest being a boy only eight years old.
Maurice's mother, Johanna, was still living; however, she had no say in matters. The sister-in-law became the designated keeper of the farm until her oldest son became of legal age. That was the way of the inheritance law of that time and for many years thereafter.
My father was withdrawn from school. The family advised him that he was needed to work on the 50 acre farm in Tubbar. His sister-in-law, Eliza set down the ground rules. He was to be given room and board and a very small allowance. He resented Eliza and the arrangement.
With a deep love for his mother and the rest of his family, and denied of any other choices, Maurice took charge of operating the farm very successfully. My dad relayed to me his thoughts at that time, "In six years my nephew will be 14 and I shall have saved enough money to go to America. But, I was soon to discover that Eliza controls the money. There was no way to save but I can not run out on my mother and the little children. Six years and I'm gone. I'll get there somehow."
74 John J. Hanifan
Having worked the farm for a few months shy of six years, Maurice advised Eliza that he was going to America. She laughed at him, mocking his dream. "You couldn't buy the train ticket from Dingle to Queenstown, much less America!" she said. From that comment he knew there would be no compensation for his six years of work. He took his few sheep to Dingle and sold them. Eliza and his mother asked him to reconsider and change his mind. His brother, Michael, now a teacher, wished him well and made him promise that he would come back some day. Maurice sadly recalled the old Irish axiom, "Once gone, they never come back."
My father knew that he could not make passage, but he planned to take the outbound train. "I'll leave with my head high. Who knows what I have in my pocket?" he said.
Eliza caught him one more time. She said that if he left for Queenstown he'd be back in a few days. "That's fine," she said, "but don't expect the allowance to be the same after all you have put us through."
Dad's thoughts continued, "Once at Queenstown, I' 11 get on a boat somehow. Maybe I'll indenture. Australia is strong on indentures for good farm hands; America has some too . . . I am a powerful man, I might work on the ship," he silently thought, but knew better.
"I packed my few duds; sure, I could have stuffed them in my pockets. My mother was watching and crying and begging me not to go, saying that things would get better. Morning came and I was out the gate."
Without saying goodbye to anyone he struck out at sunrise. When he reached the gate his mother, who never got up at this hour, called for him to come back.
He thought she had one last plea and this would give him the opportunity to hug her, as he loved her very much. Then he'd be on his way and leave on the train, like he could afford it. Instead, his mother pushed a pouch into his pocket, hugged him and said, "God be with you." He knew the pouch contained money. "To this day," he told me, "I don't know where she came up with it." He also knew "It's America now and on to the West where I have a brother working in the gold mines of Nevada, Montana and California. I'll save enough money to buy a farm of my own."
It felt like a lot of money, coins and bills, and it frightened him. When he got to Queenstown, he took out only what he needed for passage and bought a money belt. He found the opportunity to cinch it under his "long john" underwear which doubled as pajamas, and kept it secured there the entire journey.
He kept to himself. There was the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, questions, pushing and shouting, and guarding the money belt like life itself. Grand Central Station and the need to buy a ticket, required him to pull out enough money and a little extra. He was on his way from New York to Reno. It was 1911 and he was about to begin a new way of life.
Dad sought lodging near the Reno depot. Once in his room the money belt came off and he counted it; there were three hundred dollars. He took a bath, changed clothes, and was refreshed. He went to bed and slept soundly for the first time since he left Ireland.
Maurice Martin Hanifan 75
Maurice Hanifan's immigration photograph. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Early the next morning, Dad was on the street and was going to have breakfast. He left the money belt and pouch in the room. He rushed back to the room only to find that the belt, pouch and money were gone. The clerks and managers were of no help. The housekeeper that made up the room and bed did not shed any light on the subject. The desk clerk asked Dad if he planned on staying the night, and if so, to pay up. He checked out of the room.
Maurice was downstairs again and on the streets of Reno with one dime in his pocket. The sign on the window touted "BEER 5 cents a Glass." "I was starting my second beer and was startled by a hand on my shoulder. A ruddy complexioned big man belonged to that hand. 'Do you have a problem?' I asked him. He responded that his name was Casey and he was looking for a good hand for his cattle ranch, but couldn't pay much. A place to stay, three meals a day and $30.00 a month."
As my dad recounted this story I heard the name Casey. My ears went up. Was it the Fallon Caseys? John Casey? Mike? Ed? "No, I'm older than them and he was older than me. I was only twenty," my dad said. "Were they related?" I pursued. "They could have been; I don't know." "Was he Irish?" I continued. "A' course; Why else would he hire me on the spot?" "Was it a good job?" He answered, "It was. You worked long and hard; were fed good; could draw on your pay if you wanted. I let mine build so that I could find my brother John and have something in my pocket."
76 John J. Hanifan
"How was the cabin ?" I asked. "Cabin, there was no cabin. A good bedroll and tarp. The stars were the roof. I stayed there through the winter and then came to Fallon to see John, who was homesteading." "Where was the Casey ranch?" "Twas out in Washoe Valley and a long walk to town. Shuren, it's all changed now. I probably couldn't even find it."
"Shuren, it was all down hill after that," my father told me. But wait, there were some real chuckholes in the road. My father's lifetime dream and his goal was to own a piece of land, have a home, marry and raise a family . . . an impossible dream for him in Ireland, so he set about to accomplish this in his newly adopted country.
He soon went to work in the gold mines of Nevada which included Fairview, Wonder, Seven Troughs, Goldfield, Rawhide and other mines whose names have disappeared from memory. When work ended at one mine, he'd hop a freight wagon to an operating mine. But his heart was in the soil and he attributes that to saving him from the fate of most miners who did not have a dream: alcoholism, silicosis also known as miner's consumption, poor personal hygiene and depression all took their toll. His love for the soil and his refusal to work in the most dusty areas where pay was premium, cost him a job once in awhile, so he would move on. But, these decisions saved his good health.
From early spring to the end of the growing season Maurice worked on ranches and farms throughout Northern Nevada. Occasionally he worked through the winter. There was no shelter on some ranches, and it was difficult to keep warm and healthy during the winter months. He described for me that snow covered his bedroll many a time. Therefore, he'd usually go to the mines where shelter was provided and work was in the warmth of the underground.
First he purchased a homestead from Samuel Hammond in Island District at the south end of Lahontan Valley. The place had 40 acres. This transaction took place on April 11, 1917. There were no improvements on the land, so he put in ditches and some fields. Still, he was unable to make a liveable wage on this property. Maurice's brother, John J. Hanifan, had a place next door, so Dad sold his land to John on March 11, 1920, and on that same day, Dad purchased 40 acres from Louis and Clara Feldman in the St. Clair District. The location of the Feldman farm was at the south end of Pflum Lane, due west of the present Pflum farm.
My question to Dad was, "Why did it take you so long to make this step into agriculture?" His reasons satisfied me that this was no small step and it was a wonder that he ever made it. Most of his co-workers never got there.
Let's go into his response as I recall it. "Few in the mining camps had goals or dreams. They lived from paycheck to paycheck. Gambling and drinking took all of their money. Some of those married were as bad as those that were not. I saved almost every penny. I never gambled and would have but an occasional drink in the bars, usually on Sunday after Mass, when they had Mass. I usually had a bottle of whiskey in my cabin in case a friend came over or sometimes for medicine. I took side jobs as well and did many haircuts to earn extra.
Maurice Martin Hanifan 77
Some of the "Fallon Irish" in 1920. Back row left to right: Pat McDonald, Maurice Hanifan, John Hanifan and Mick Sullivan holding a baby. Front row: John Hogan, Dan Kinney and Jim Hanifan. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
There was always a collection being taken up for some purpose. The collections were primarily for funerals and money for widows and children to leave camp. The plague hit the workers heavily and there were many cases of miner's consumption. Shootings were also a common occurrence. I contributed to all the collections. Most of my co-workers, the 'Black Guard' miners wanted to contribute but they were always broke. Their money was spent before they got it, so they would borrow from me and they seldom paid me back. Sure you have to bury the dead and take care of those in need. It's the Christian thing to do. I'd do the same thing now." However, Maurice's self-imposed generosity had a negative effect upon his savings account.
One summer when mining was in a slump, farming was also experiencing a bad time. Cattle were dying all over the place from an unknown cause. Ranchers were trying to salvage the hides that had a good value. Maurice went to skinning the diseased carcasses. While working at the Grimes Ranch, southeast of Fallon, he cut himself and became so very ill that at one point the doctor did not expect him to recover. The doctor diagnosed his illness as anthrax. Obviously, the cattle had been dying from the malignant infectious anthrax disease.
78 John J. Hanifan
"If it wasn't for the care given me by your Aunt Katherine [Rayel] and Uncle John 'Jack' (Dad's brother and sister-in-law), surely, I would have died." Maurice stayed with Kate and Jack and their four children for several months. It was a year before he felt well again, and his savings were depleted.
Next, Maurice established a dairy farm, built a little shack and began irrigating the few acres that he had worked up with a team of horses, Fresno scraper and tailboard. He needed cash for development of his property, so he went back to work in the mines on occasion.
Meanwhile, his next door neighbors to the west, brothers Ben and Fred Pflum, were working hard to develop their farm. A fenced road was needed from the farmlands to what is now St. Clair Road . . . about one-half mile of fence.
There were deeded easements on every section line. The easement would cross land owned by Thomas Vestal. A deal was struck with Vestal and an indenture made on April 12, 1920, spelling out the conditions, but the type of posts to be installed was not addressed. At this time, Dad's brother Jim Hanifan, who had graduated from the seminary but did not take the priesthood vows, had arrived in Fallon and was living with him.
On April 10, 1922, the Pflums and Hanifans were working at building the fence; the project was very near completion when Tom Vestal arrived upon the scene and objected to their building a fence without checking with him first. His greatest objection was the use of posts of poor quality. The argument that ensued was between the Hanifan brothers and Vestal. I have heard stories both ways. My Uncle Jim was a much
Churchill County Eagle
Saturday, April 15, 1922 1:7
Farmer Shot By Neighbor In a quarrel over a fence, Hannifan (sic) is seriously wounded by Vestal He used a 30-30 rifle.
Made Great Gaping Wound in Thigh: Hannifan in Hospital and Vestal out on $1000 bond; Gave Himself up to Sheriff
An unfortunate shooting affray occurred last Monday a few miles southwest of town, when a quarrel over the putting up of a fence along the land of Thos. Vestal led to his shooting Morris Hannifan (sic) in the leg with a 30-30 rifle.
Vestal came to Fallon and gave himself up to the Sheriff. Hannifan was brought to the Fallon General Hospital and his wound dressed by Dr. Dempsey who states that the wound was caused by a 3030 soft-nosed rifle bullet, which entered the inner side of the right thigh and came out of the back of the leg, exposing the large muscles for two inches. It took two square yards of gauze to fill the wound, and that Hannifan is still in critical condition and will probably always be lame to a greater or less extent.
According to the story of those who seem to be familiar with the incident, a county road had been secured through Vestal's land so some of the neighbor's could have an outlet to the main road; the agreement was that Hannifan and Pflum Brothers were to put up a fence and the two Hannifan brothers and the two Pflum brothers were engaged in the work. Vestal insisted that red
continued on next page . . .
Maurice Martin Hanifan 79
bigger man, about 6'4" and more inclined to verbal confrontation than Maurice. Tom Vestal went to his cabin and emerged with a rifle in his hand. Dad went over to him. From Dad's perspective, he was some distance away when Vestal opened fire repeatedly, four or five times, a round striking Maurice on the right leg. Vestal returned to his cabin. The other three men who were some distance away went to Dad's rescue.
Ben Pflum, whose son Tom still lives on the property today, 76 years later, and who recalls the incident, telephoned for help. William Rogers and his son Harold soon arrived with transportation. These neighbors did their best to stop the bleeding and dress the wound.
In Fallon, Maurice was first treated by Dr. Dempsey. Due to the extent of the wound, Dempsey indicated that amputation would probably be necessary. Maurice refused to allow this to happen and he made the decision to somehow get admitted to the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco for treatment because he believed, "A one-legged
man in the West is no man at all!"
While Maurice was at the University of California hospital recuperating,
one dear friend made the long trip from Fallon on the train to visit him. Firmin Bruner, who would become one of the area's historical authorities, told me of his visit to my dad on several occasions. Dad was forever grateful; however, strangely, he never mentioned the visit until I asked. This attitude applied to the entire incident; I felt he wanted to put it behind him.
In time the wound healed, but due to poor circulation, any scratch or sand-bur prick on the right leg had a tendency to get infected, especially in the lower calf area. In later years, I dressed the sores for him when this happened.
There has been a debate over the exact area of the initial wound. We believe the major wound was in the thigh, though over time the calf seemed to suffer. Rumors in St. Clair District credit Tom Vestal with saying, "If I shot a little higher, he would not have any of those damn kids."
During the following years, on several occasions it was necessary for him to be re-admitted to the University of California Hospital for treatments to clear up infections. I remember two occasions very well. This additional care was without
Vestal Shooting, continued . . .
wood or cedar posts should be used while cottonwood posts were being set. Vestal protested and finally went out with a rifle. Morris Hannifan happened to be a couple of hundred yards nearer Vestal's house than the other men. The wind was blowing a heavy gale and just what conversation took place, no one but the two men knows. It is said that Vestal fired the shot when within but a few steps of Hannifan. Vestal claims that Hannifan was after him with a shovel and that the shot was fired in self-defense.
A charge of assault with intent to kill was made against Vestal and his bond was fixed at $1000, which he gave and was released. His examination was deferred, however, awaiting developments in Hannifan' s condition. The examination of Vestal has been set for Monday. Judge E.E. Winters has been retained to defend Vestal.
[Newspaper accounts of the Vestal trials follow at the end of this story.]
Maurice Martin Hanifan 81
pression years were terrible, most folks unable to buy or sell anything, I wondered how the period affected our family. Dad said, "Once the farm was paid for, I never again went in debt. I didn't notice a depression at all, but many I knew suffered because they were in debt. There was nothing that I or the neighbors could do for them. Not one of the neighbors lost anything. We traded work for money, working on the TCID canals for taxes and water and bartering. Someone did something for you and you gave him some farm produce. I had money in the bank and lost that but I didn't need it; I'd had tougher times!"
Growing Up Years — John J. Hanifan
During October 1957, Dad asked me to come back to Fallon and run the farm for him. At this time, I was single, had finished college and my U.S. Army active duty obligation and had spent a year working in Reno, a town that I hated living in. So, the decision to return home was an easy one. Over the next couple of years, living at home again, I had a wonderful opportunity to get to know my parents in an adult to adult relationship. It also gave me time to ask them many questions about their lives, memories which I now recall.
The War Years: The Irish Revolutionary War 1916-1918.
I asked, "How about the Irish Revolution? Surely they were organizing way before the Easter Uprising on Sunday 23, April 1916. Were you involved?"
His reply, as I recall, was, "All the Irish were involved, of course. We didn't have the means to pay the taxes. I saw the British tax collectors take away the neighbors' cows for taxes. They came in and just drove them off. We were not a free country like here. Your cousin, Thomas Ashe, great-great-grandson of Big John Griffin, who lived down the road from us, was heavily involved. I thought they were crazy. You can't fight guns and cannons with ax handles and picks. I thought it would be slaughter if it ever came to war. I didn't really expect a war. I was gone while it was still a bunch of talk at the pubs and side roads. Suren, I was right. It would have been slaughter were it not for the United States."
World War I: 1914-1918
World War I came at the time that Dad should have been a prime candidate for serving in the military (1914-1918). When asked why he didn't join, his response, as I can best recall, was, "Why should I have become cannon fodder for Johnny Bull [England] This was one of the few times I heard him speak negatively of Great Britain. He had no love for the Britons, but wanted that part of his life behind him.
"Then, America didn't get into the War until later. I received a registration notice and by the time that they got around to drafting men my age, I was doing farm work around the valley as well as working on my brother's and my places, so they just never called me."
82 John J. Hanifan
World War II
My dad, Kevin, (my oldest brother,) and I were milking cows . . . the old fashioned way . . . by hand, when we heard our Mom running to the barn. "Maurice, Maurice!" she screamed. "What is it?" he responded calmly, as he continued milking.
"The Japs attacked Pearl Harbor and sank all the American ships!" "My God!" He jumped up, spilled the milk, left his stool under the cow and they both hurried to the house to listen to the radio. Kevin and I, with help from our sister Joan, finished the chores. Dad felt his freedom was in jeopardy for the third time in his life. I was 8 years old and frightened and that is the way I remember December 7, 1941. Dad followed World War II every step on the road to its eventual victorious conclusion. I sensed a quiet admiration for the nation he was taught to hate, as our great country and England fought side by side for freedom. The prejudices instilled in Dad, I believe, he left at the water's edge, as he never spoke of intolerance towards religions, creeds, races or nations.
Korean Police Action and Later
Dad was passively silent when this war came to our nation. He mentioned something to Kevin, his eldest son, about registering and preparing for the draft. But, on October 10, 1949, just past his 20th year, and before Kevin's records were to come before the draft board, he died unexpectedly. This was a devastating blow
The Fallon Eagle -- Saturday, October 15, 1949, 1:7
Kevin Hanifan Funeral Service This Morning.
Well-Known Youth Dies in S.F. Hospital. Lived in St. Clair
Funeral Services were held this morning at St. Patrick's Church for Michael Kevin
Hanifan, aged twenty years, who passed away Monday [October 10, 1949] at the Southern Pa-
cific Hospital in San Francisco where he had been a patient for less than one day.
He became ill Friday just after taking over the office of telegrapher at the Southern Pacific depot at Hazen and entered the local hospital for treatment. On Sunday he left with his mother Mrs. Maurice Hanifan for the coast where he entered the hospital for treatment.
Recitation of the Rosary took place at the Kaiser funeral chapel last night and the requiem mass was sung this morning at ten o'clock. The Rev. Francis Mikula officiated and music was by Mrs. Helen Hanifan, organist, and Mrs. Ray Kilian and Joe Conlan, soloists. Pallbearers were Galen [Gaylan] Corkill, Mickey Melendy, Jim Wood, Louis Venturacci, Pete Solaegui and Fred Facha. Burial took place in the local cemetery.
Born here June 14, 1929, he had just passed his twentieth birthday. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Hanifan, he was the oldest of six children. He grew up on the Hanifan ranch in St. Clair district where he attended school. He was an outstanding student at Churchill County High School where he graduated in 1947. Member of Block F Society he had been prominent in athletics during his four year term and had made an excellent record in the FFA. In his senior year he was awarded a scholarship which was forfeited when he decided to take up telegraphy with the railroad. He worked at Parran, Wells, Elko, Susanville and had recently been transferred to Hazen.
Besides his parents, he is survived by two sisters, Jean and Joan, students at the university, three brothers John, Maurice and Philip Hanifan, two uncles, J.J. Hanifan of Fallon and James Hanifan of Los Angeles.
Maurice Martin Hanifan 83
to my parents. My dad had difficulty adjusting to the reality. He lost his appetite and lost about 50 pounds. "Why should I be living and my son gone?" he repeated to me on several occasions. "Then, again, who would take care of the family, if I had died instead?" From that moment forward his interest in the farm and things in general returned, including his appetite and weight.
Kevin's death was due to a combination of errors but was basically caused by adhesions from a ruptured appendix operation that had been performed one year earlier.
Critically ill, he had been admitted to Churchill County's new hospital. Then the decision was made to check him out of this hospital and get him to San Francisco and competent care. I drove him and Mother to the Hazen depot and they departed for California on the train. He died a few hours after being admitted to a San Francisco hospital.
Later, I went through R.O.T.C.; Maurice, Jr. was drafted and Philip went through R.O.T.C. The three of us served in the U.S. Army. I am certain Dad was pleased that we stepped up to the plate and did our part without question.
His little grandson and my son, Michael Kevin Hanifan, whose hair he cut, as Dad never gave up barbering, would one day graduate from West Point. Dad never lived to see that day, one that he would have enjoyed immensely. Michael is presently a Major in the Nevada Army National Guard.
Prohibition
My questions on prohibition gave me a new slant on the subject matter. When asked how prohibition affected him, Dad's response was, "Shuren be goren, you couldn't go see a neighbor, borrow something, sell something in town without wasting the day. If you went to the neighbors they would say, "Come, let's go to the cellar/basement." By the time you got out, there was nothing you could do, even if you wanted to. If you didn't have a drink, they'd think you were with the revenuers. When selling calves, hogs, chickens, or something, you'd find yourself in the basement. The same with buying something. It was all right, but we were glad when it ended." My dad never made alcohol. He just didn't know how, and, as I said before, he drank very little.
Our neighbors who either brewed alcohol or had a stash were Fred Facha, Domingo Defilippi, Jim McGoldrick, the Bullos, Basses, Shorts and Taggerts.
Other Family Memories
All rural Fallon youth had similar experiences. For example, the boys rode horses bareback, tried buckarooing, hunted, trapped, milked cows by hand, and did chores. Dairy animals, chickens, hogs, turkeys and sheep were on most farms, including ours.
Girls activities were little different except that 4-H was big in Fallon, teaching them to sew, can and cook. Lena Hauke Berry, Churchill County Extension Agent, was a most dedicated educator for both the girls and adult homemakers. 4H leader, Eleanor Pflum, Tom's mother, taught my sisters and all of the other
84 John J. Hanifan
neighborhood girls how to sew.
The work horse was the invaluable tool of the farmer. Some vivid memories of horses and my dad come to my mind. One of our work horses named Dick was injured and a local veterinarian, named Dr. Grant Woodward, put a clamp on the injury. "Don't lose the clamp, or I will have to charge you for it!" was Dr. Woodward's instruction.
When it was about to fall off, my dad took a long cotton rope and tied Dick to a post. He took a stick and tried to loosen the clamp. This activity spooked the horse. A rotten post and long rope then came into play. The post broke and the horse was off at a gallop. The rope made a half-hitch around Dad's leg.
Away went Dad! One quarter mile later, the horse stopped as the rope choked off his breathing. My brother Kevin and sisters Joan and Jean and I were witnesses to the event. I was about 5 years old. We ran for Mother who was in the cellar, about 200 yards away, cleaning eggs. She ran to the field and Dad was walking to the house.
The doctor, probably Dr. Sawyer, was called to come out to the house. He dressed the serious abrasions and taped Dad's broken ribs. As I recall, Dad tore the tape off soon after it was applied.
On the corner of Drumm Lane and Schurz Highway the Kinney family lived on an 80 acre farm. Mr. and Mrs. Kinney had also come to this valley from Ireland.
A few years later the Kinney Brothers, Nick, Dan and Jack, were helping us with the haying season. In the stack yard, two horses were hooked to the wagon. My dad was to drive the next wagon load forward to be unloaded by a Jackson Fork and derrick. When climbing the front ladder, it snapped. Dad and ladder fell on the wagon tongue between the two horses and a runaway was in progress. The wagon overturned, horses and harness went everywhere. Once again, as an eye witness, I figured that was the end of Dad. He came stumbling out of a cloud of dust and
Elizabeth and Maurice Hanifan celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in 1968. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Maurice Martin Hanifan 85
looked like he was rolled in flour. "I meant to fix that stanchion." he said. "Now we
will have to fix a lot more."
With thoughts on retirement, in 1951 my folks built a new home in Fallon,
located at 660 West Williams Avenue. When it came time to relocate, Dad decided he was not ready to retire from farming and move, so they rented the house until 1964 when they finally decided to leave the farm. Mother was very happy living in town, because she was now close enough to the Catholic Church to be able to attend Mass every day.
They lived out their remaining years in this home, both passing away at the
age of 76.
Maurice Martin Hanifan never returned to Ireland after his marriage. He
would say to me, "Why should I go back. Ireland did nothing for me. When I left in 1911, the Hanifans were all in a huff! After I married your Mother, Elizabeth, and left in 1928, the Donnelly's were all in a huff. Suren I don't blame them, but I'll stay here. America has done it all for me!"
My dad never again heard from his Aunt Eliza or any of the five children. At the time the inheritance laws and Eliza's actions finalized Dad's decision to leave the family farm, she didn't know what a favor she was doing for him and for us. Recently when my wife Starlene and I visited Ireland with my brother Maurice and his wife, Georgia, we heard of the whereabouts of Eliza's children, who are now in their late 70s or 80s, but our paths never crossed. Perhaps someday one of the American Hanifans will meet one of her descendants.
Thanks, Dad. You and
Mother had it a little rough, but
your children, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be forever grateful.
Maurice Hanifan stands in the yard amid his grandchildren's toys in 1966. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
86 John J. Hanifan
Notes
1. John J. Hanifan was a farmer in Churchill County for 40 years, from 1910 to 1951. He and his Irish wife, Katherine Rayel, who had been married in Reno on April 17, 1909, became the parents of the four Hannifan children: John R., Eileen, Martin and Grace [Hanks]. Note that John J.'s children chose to spell their surname with an additional "n". Son, Martin, [at age 84 in 1998], recalls that the surname was changed at the suggestion of his sister Eileen when she was attending college in San Rafael as a Dominican novice. The other siblings followed! All of the children graduated from Churchill County High School. The mother, Katherine, lived until 1958.
John R. Hannifan, the eldest child, was born on April 27, 1910. He served as Churchill County Clerk and Treasurer and as Secretary of the Truckee Carson Irrigation District for over 30 years. Sadly, he died during 1962 from an illness related to a disease of the brain.
John was married to Laurada May Jarvis [June 19, 1916 - December 4, 1993]. She was a local teacher for some 22 years. They became the parents of four children: Eileen [Montgomery], Elizabeth Anne [Creswell], John J., and Kerry.
Eileen Hannifan, became a Dominican nun and was instrumental in the building of the Santa Catalina School, where she was principal for many years.
Martin Hannifan, lived on the Wildes District family homestead until 1935 when he attended the Mackay School of Mines, UNR. He chose a career as a mining engineer with Anaconda Copper Company. He was General Manager of Western Operations at the time of his retirement to Tucson, Arizona.
Martin and his brother John were two of the four Fallon young men who are credited with discovering Hidden Cave.
He and his wife are the parents of five children.
Grace Hannifan Hanks, graduated from the San Rafael Dominican College. Her husband, Bert Hanks was White Pine County Assessor for more than 30 years and worked as a real estate broker.
Their children are Margaret (deceased), Bill, Katherine, and Carolyn.
2. James Hanifan was chosen to attend the Seminary in Paris when he was a young man in Ireland. These priesthood students were considered very privileged, since they did not have to survive in the "outside" world. After James graduated from the Seminary, he chose not to become a priest. Knowing that public sentiment would not allow him to return to Ireland, he came to America to join his brothers in Fallon. While in Ireland, he had been a star rugby player.
He settled on Fallon farms on two different occasions. On May 29, 1923, he purchased a half interest in Maurice's farm on Pflum Lane. After Maurice married and bought the property back, James moved to Los Angeles. A September 19, 1936 Fallon newspaper headlines state that "E.R. Temple sold his 40 acre ranch to James Hanifan." The farm was located at the intersection of St. Clair Road and Sheckler Road.
When James married at age 52, he chose as his bride Bridget Gorman, an indentured servant from Ireland who had served her commitment. In 1936 she and their small son, Jimmy, moved to Lahontan Valley with James. A second son, Steven soon joined the family. They farmed here until 1942 when they sold the farm and moved back to Los Angeles.
Jim Hanifan was born in 1933 and began his formal education at the Cottage Schools in Fallon through the fourth grade. Upon his return to California he became an All-American prep football player in Los Angeles. The recipient of a full scholarship, he was
Maurice Martin Hanifan 87
recruited to play for the Cal Bears at Berkeley, where he led the nation in pass receptions his senior year. He did not make the NFL as a player but wound up playing in the Canadian Football League. From here he went into coaching high school and college ball.
His athletic career led him to become the Head Coach of the St. Louis Cardinals for seven years; the offensive coach for the Washington Red Skins during their championship years and he is presently employed as an offensive coach with the St. Louis Rams.
Married to Mary Anna, they are the parents of two children.
Steven Hanifan, now retired, spent his career as a leader in the Teamsters Union in Los Angeles. He and his wife Elaine raised three children.
3. Maurice Martin and Elizabeth Donnelly Hanifan children:
Born 1929: Michael Kevin Hanifan, a Southern Pacific Railroad Telegrapher, died October 10, 1949.
Born 1930: Joan P. Hanifan Miramon, retired after 25 years as a teacher. Four children. Lives in Covina, California.
Born 1931: Bridget Jean Hanifan Farley Selmi, has been the owner-operator of Nevada Sea Food for 20 years and has worked there for 45 years. Now semi-retired she has homes in Reno, Nv and Scottsdale, Az.
Born 1933: John Joseph Hanifan, retired after 33 years from Kennametal and over 20 years of service to Churchill County with five years at Churchill County Telephone System; 2 years on the mosquito abatement board and served fourteen years as County Commissioner. He served over 10 years in the Army National Guard and Reserve. He and his wife Starlene [Wood], a registered nurse, are the parents of four children: Michael, Kieran [Kalt], Jack, and Cindy [Rowe].
Born 1935: Maurice Brendan Hanifan, spent 2 years in active duty with the U.S. Army. In civilian life, he served 12 years with Churchill County; 4 years on the hospital board and 8 years on the school board. Now in retirement, he was the owner-operator of two Fallon area trailer parks and a meatshop business. He and his wife, Georgia [Stuart] are the parents of four children: Catherine Hanifan, Kenneth Hanifan, Brenda [Reynolds], and Lisa [Solinski].
Born 1943: Philip Colin Hanifan completed his Doctorate in electrical engineering and works as a manager of Engineering and Product Development for Bentley Corporation for the past 32 years. He lives in Gardnerville, Nevada, with his wife Carol. He is the father of five children: David, Mark, Robbie, Bryan and Noel.
88 John J. Hanifan
VESTAL TRIAL
Churchill County Eagle - Saturday June 12, 1922
Vestal Case to be Heard on July 10
"The assault and battery case of the State vs. Thomas Vestal will be heard
in the district court beginning July 10."
Fallon Standard - Wednesday July 12, 1922
Vestal Case Goes To Jury This Morning
"District Court was convened by Judge Hart on Monday morning and the case of the State vs. Thomas J. Vestal was called for trial. Attorney E.E.Winters represented the defendant. District Attorney G.J. Kenny was in charge of the case in the interest of the state. The jury selected are T.J. Reese, Geo. E. Burton, W.A. Paul, Fred Kim, G.W. Coverston, S.R. Downs, J.B. Gasper, A. Groff, A.E. Hammond, A. Maul, Frank Hammond, W.H. Williams.
Thos. J. Vestal, it appears, on April 10 had an argument with Maurice Hanifan over the quality of fence post which Hanifan was placing on Vestal's land. An argument ensued and Vestal in what he claims an act of self-defense shot Hanifan in the leg just above the ankle. The case was heard in the justice court and Vestal was remanded to the District Court on two charges, the first being that of assault with intent to kill and second assault with a deadly weapon with intent to do great bodily injury.
The case went to the jury at 11:45 this morning."
Churchill County Eagle - Saturday July 15, 1922
Jury in Vestal Case Fails to Agree
Stand Six To Six And Judge Holds Defendant For Future Trial
"The district court has been busy this week with the trial of James T. Vestal, on a charge of shooting and wounding Morris Hannifan [sic] some time ago, the difficulty growing out of a fencing of a roadway along the Vestal ranch.
Judge Hart convened court Monday and a jury was secured. District Attorney Kenny represented the state and Judge Winters appeared for the defendant. The judge adjourned court until Wednesday morning when the case was given to the jury, which deliberated from 11 o'clock until 10 o'clock that night when it was stated that they could not reach a verdict, the jury standing six for conviction and six for acquittal.
The court reprimanded the jury for its failure to recognize the seriousness of such conduct, saying that it was almost inconceivable and was to be regretted that such a thing could take place in this civilized day right here in Churchill county without a jury finding the defendant guilty of some crime.
Evidently Judge Hart does not believe in the shotgun method of settling disputes, advocated and practiced by the radicals in some countries today, indicating that so long as he has anything to say about it, such practices would not be encouraged or tolerated, and ordered that the defendant be not discharged because of the failure of the jury to agree upon a conviction, but held Vestal for future trial.
Maurice Martin Hanifan 89
VESTAL TRIAL, continued . . .
The offense in this case was committed on the 10th of last April [1921], as previously stated in these columns, over the building of a fence along a county road that had been opened along the Vestal farm. Hannifan and his neighbors were putting up the fence and Vestal objected to the kind of posts that were being put in. During the dispute Hannifan had a shovel and Vestal a rifle, and from the testimony it appears that when the two were only a few paces apart. Vestal fired the shot that took effect in Hannifan's thigh.
Two charges were placed against Vestal, one for assault with intent to kill, and a second for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to do great bodily injury. Vestal was released on bond and is still at liberty under the same bond pending further action."
Churchill County Eagle - Saturday December 23, 1922
The Second Vestal Trial This Week
"The second trial of Tom Vestal on a charge of assault with intent to kill in
the shooting and wounding of Hanifan has been going on in the district court this week, Judge Callahan of Winnemucca presiding.
The following jury was secured: J.E. McLain, Bert Combs, John Birgyan,
J.C. Coniff, C.K. Harvey, E.D. Frazzini, J.L. Wood, Wiley Vaughn, J.C. Shepard, O.T. Bosquit, Tip Depp, Ed Venturacci.
District Attorney G.J. Kenny conducted the prosecution and Judge E.E. Winters represented the defendant, as in the former trial, in which the jury disagreed. Seven witnesses were examined for the state and five for the defense. The trial continued through Wednesday and Thursday.
The case being argued when the Eagle went to press."
Churchill County Eagle - Saturday December 30, 1922
VESTAL GETS SENTENCE OF ONE TO TWO YEARS
Found Guilty of Charge of Assault on Morris Hannifan [sic] Last April
"A sentence of one to two years was imposed Friday of last week upon Thomas Vestal, Fallon rancher, by Judge Callahan of Winnemucca after he was found guilty of 'assault with a deadly weapon with intent to do bodily harm.' He will be confined to prison on January 1, according to present records.
This is Vestal's second trial, the first being before Judge Hart soon after the offense was committed last April when the jury was said to have stood six to six for and against conviction. Following the later hearing the jury debated from 5 until 11:30pm o'clock Thursday before bringing in the verdict of guilty.
Vestal's victim was Morris Hannifan, Fallon rancher. He was working on a line fence it was said when Vestal approached him with a high caliber gun. In the ensuing quarrel a charge from the gun at close range entered Hannifan's thigh with the result he was rendered a cripple.
The following men served on the jury, J.E. McLain, Bert Combs, John Birgyan, J.C.Coniff, C.K. Harvey, E.D. Frazzini, J.L Wood, Wiley Vaughn, J.C. Shepard, O.T. Bosquit, Tip Depp, Ed Venturacci. District Attorney G.J. Kenny consisted of the prosecution and Judge E. Winters represented the defendant in the formal trial."
NATIVE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE
Indian Ways and Traditions Recalled
Frances Hooper
My name is Florence Frances Pacheco Hooper. I am a Paiute and a member of the Fallon Pai-Sho Tribe. I was born in Tonopah, Nevada, January 2, 1934, to Rosaris and Iowa "Iwy" Allen Pacheco, the fourth of five children. My father was a silver miner and following his death, my mother, a traditional Paiute, moved us back to our homeland on the Stillwater Indian Reservation where my grandparents, Topsy Steve Allen and Charley Allen, had also lived.
Before I was five years old, my mother determined that she was unable to take care of us children, so we were separated and placed in foster homes. My younger brother, Thomas Pacheco and I were placed in the home of Mary and Ida Dalton of Stillwater.
I attended 1st through 3rd grades at the Cottage Schools on East Stillwater Avenue in Fallon and the 4th through 12th grades at Stewart Indian School outside of Carson City, Nevada.
My husband, Ernest Hooper, is a Shoshone Indian and a member of the Yomba Shoshone Tribe. The Yomba Shoshone Reservation is located 40 miles south of Austin, Nevada. Yomba means wild carrots which were only one of the many kinds of roots that were eaten by the Shoshone people, who historically lived in mountain areas.
Ernest, who is now 69 years of age, also attended Stewart Indian School. Later he attended Churchill County High School for the 9th and 10th grades and returned to Stewart Indian School where he graduated with the class of 1949. We met again in 1955 and in 1956 he asked me to marry him.
In 1960 Ernest decided he wanted to become a minister in order to help American Indians. We moved to Hot Springs, South Dakota, for five years and from there we traveled throughout thirty two states with our four children, Kenneth, David, Rebecca and Bryan.
In 1965 we moved back to Churchill County to the now Pai-Shoshone Indian Reservation, and we have made our home here ever since. Ernie practices his ministry and is employed as a heavy equipment operator. I am a housewife and help Ernie wherever I can, by playing hymns on the piano for church services and traveling with him to different towns where we are needed.
90
Indian Ways and Traditions 91
Ernie Hooper holds the microphone for Frances as she explains the old ways of the Paiute people to a group of Elderhostel participants from the museum in 1997. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
I have acquired hobbies, knitting, crocheting and doing Indian bead work, which I love best. I also started collecting Indian artifacts for myself.
One day Vivian Hicks, who is a member of the library staff at West End Elementary School, asked me if I would speak of our Toi-Ticutta people [In the Paiute language the "T" is pronounced like a "D"] before one of the classes there. My granddaughter Jaimee was in this class.
I consented and enjoyed talking about our Paiute ancestors. For the past eight years I have also visited Northside School, Churchill County High School and some other schools. For the past three years we have participated in the Native American Day at the Laura Mills Park and have been invited to speak before Museum sponsored Elderhostel guests.
92 Frances Hooper
My clan of Indians, the Paiutes, who reside in the Stillwater area of western Nevada, are called Toi-Ticutta which means Cattail-eaters. There are very few original Toi-Ticutta left as other people moved here to Stillwater under the Land Allotment Act of 1906. Thus the reservation became the Pai-Sho Tribes.
In 1917 a colony just outside of Fallon was established for Indians living in and around the town of Fallon.
An Indian Day School was opened here in Stillwater in 1908. This Day School was established to teach Indian children trades that would help them in the future. Learning trades proved useful later on when the students obtained work with the non-Indian farmers.
It was a great hardship on the Indians when they were confined within the reservation boundaries because before that they had been nomadic hunters and seed gatherers.
Coyote Legend
Legends are stories which gifted Indian men and women relate to their children on wintery evenings and through the deary days of the rainy season, and especially around the fire after a meal of rabbit soup. Many of their legends assume to explain the origin of things and the mysteries of existing phenomena. Other legends tell of the creation of the world, of man, sun, moon and stars, of the whale killer and other animals, especially the coyote who found a place in Indian history for his cunning activities. Indian tribes across the region showed great respect for Coyote even as they portrayed him as a source of misfortune; Coyote brings news of death even today. Coyote also enriched their brief lives by stealing fire for them and pilfering pine nuts from the first pine nut grove. He disseminated people far and wide and I shall tell you how . . .
Coyote was going to get people from up north. Mrs. Coyote went with him. Together they put all the people in one great big water jug. The jug was big at the bottom and small at the top; that is the shape of water jugs.
As Mr. Coyote and Mrs. Coyote were coming down South they could hear all kinds of noises coming from the jug.
Coyote was curious and wanted to lift the stopper and peek inside. Mrs. Coyote scolded him and said he would have to wait until the right time, then and only THEN, he could peek inside.
When they stopped to rest on their long journey Coyote was curious. When Mrs. Coyote wasn't looking, Mr. Coyote sneaked over to the jug and took the lid off so he could peek inside. Just then Mrs. Coyote said it was time to go. Coyote, afraid of being caught, jumped back and forgot to put the lid on.
As they started off again the Indians inside noticed that the lid was off. All of them wanted to escape because they didn't know where they were going.
Unknown to Coyote the Indians started getting out. The tall skinny ones got out first. They were the Indians that settled in the Northeastern part of the United States. Different types of Indians were scrambling out and heading in different directions.
Indian Ways and Traditions 93
When Mr. and Mrs. Coyote reached Nevada and looked in the water jug, there were only a few Indians left. They were too short to reach the opening and too fat to fit through the hole up top.
These were the Paiutes, Shoshones and Washoes that settled here around the Great Basin.
Great Basin Dwellers
Moo adza kappu, meaning long, long ago before the white man came and crossed their lands, Indians of the Great Basin or western ranges made the most of its varied terrain. Being the driest domain in North America, as the name implies, the basin forms a vast sink enclosed within higher ground and it has no outlet to the sea. Its few rivers and streams empty into the lakes and marshes. That, along with the region's wooded mountaintops, has done much to sustain life in an otherwise inhospitable environment.
The Basin dwellers ultimately had to adapt to severely arid conditions. They did so by remaining highly mobile, trekking up and down the ridges and back and forth across the lowlands from marshes to fields of wild grain and other seasonal foraging stops. They hunted antelope and mountain goats but were less likely to feast on large animals than on jackrabbits, field mice and insects. Grasshoppers were a delicacy.
Survival for the Indians depended on dispersing into small groups, often single families called clans. Every five square miles of the hospitable parts of the Basin was able to support a family.
The early Basin dwellers were not without assets or devices, for ancient artifacts have been found in our areas around Fallon and in the Lovelock Cave.
The local people ate roots, and seeds of the tule and used the plant fibers to fashion ropes, shoes, garments, baskets and duck decoys. They also left behind bows and arrows, bones of fish, and large stones that were too heavy to carry. Homes were made of tules, sagebrush, a plant named greasewood, and common willow.
Most all of the Indians spoke a language all their own but the Paiutes and Shoshones had a similar language. For example:
English Paiute Shoshone
eat tuka duka
come kema gema
sit katuu gaduu
One Great Basin Indian group spoke a completely different tongue. They are the Washoe Indians from the Lake Tahoe area, who belonged to the same Hokan language family as the Pomo and other coastal groups.
After the arrival of horses, however, distinctions between Shoshones and other groups grew sharper. The Shoshones were sometimes called "Diggers" after
94 Frances Hooper
A duck decoy made in the old style. A duck was caught, killed and carefully skinned. A tule reed decoy was fashioned to support the feathers in a natural way. The duck skin was stretched over the tule reed decoy and was ready to be floated in the marsh to draw in other birds during a hunt. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
the pointed sticks they used to dig wild edible roots from the earth, a technique shared by many peoples of the western ranges. The Indian tribes were, in fact, highly resourceful, both in their careful exploitations of wild growth for eating and remedies used in their healing ceremonies for the sick.
They used ingenious hunting methods like the grasshopper drive, which forced insects spread over several acres into one small pit to be crushed and dried for future consumption.
The annual pursuit of sustenance began during "hungry days" of early spring. In the Great Basin the seeds, dried fish and meat that had been stored away were often used up long before spring. Pine nuts were one of the main sources of sustenance for all of the tribes. Spring brought the gathering of wild lettuce and cattail roots, the gathering of duck eggs, migrating fowl and spawning fish.
The hunters pursued waterfowl in a way unique to that season. When the young birds, too immature to fly, and the adults were temporarily grounded because they were molting, the Indians made rafts from bunches of tule and herded the flightless waterfowl ashore. Women cleaned the birds as quickly as the men gathered them in. Feathers were used for pillows, cushions and decorations.
Among the Washoes, young men and women left their parents and from amid the Sierra foothills, climbed from sea level up 6,000 feet to Lake Tahoe. In April the water in the lake was still very cold and snow covered the shore. Wrapped
Indian Ways and Traditions 95
in rabbitskin blankets, the youngsters caught white fish with harpoons. By June the whole tribe was there waiting for the spawning trout. According to their tradition, Washoe men would learn in their dreams when the fish were ready to appear and would alert other members of the tribe. While they waited, the Washoes danced and sang and delighted in hearing the instructive tales told by the tribal elders.
The Great Basin Indians defined themselves in terms of their family relationships. Outside the family context there was often little in the way of social hierarchy to distinguish one person from another. One family had high honors by the amount of food it gave away.
To be sure, certain individuals within such tightly knit groups were recognized as having special gifts for healing, perhaps, or for communicating with the spirit of animals. They often served as advisors or ritual leaders when bands came together in the winter or at seasonal foraging stops. But such groups had little need for Chiefs or Councils to direct their daily affairs. Captains and Talkers were names later used for titles.
Gifted Shamans (medicine men) across the regions harvested scores of plants for the treatment of various ailments; gathering Canadian violet for lung trouble; wild geraniums for ulcers; snowberries for the pains of childbirth; and mint for heart problems.
The feast gatherings were a good time for youngsters to fall in love and a good social time for all. Elders met in council and it was a special time for the people to give thanks to the Great Creator for the abundance of food and life.
The Washoes, Paiutes, and Shoshones had similiar customs, such as the round dance, special feasts, rituals and food. But most of all, they shared the will to survive.
Each tribe had their own areas. By 1870 Shoshones were distinguished by those areas and settled in their way of life, mostly near the mountain areas. The Northern Shoshone were called Doo Wee, or the Black Knife Shoshone, referring to the black obsidian used in making arrowheads and points. Likewise, the Southern Shoshone were called Doh Sah Wee meaning White Knife. Some Shoshones lived in tipis, while others lived in grass huts and sagebrush wickiups.
The Washoe, meaning one person, and Wa-she-shew, meaning all the people, lived around the edges of the Great Basin. They kept to themselves and were well noted for their nut gathering ability. Captain Jim served as their advocate. He and a Mr. Bender went to Washington to confer with President Benjamin Harrison [term 1889-1893], to speak for pinyon pine nut allotments and were granted three areas: ti ehh - Wel mel; el le - Haing;pah wel uu - Carson Valley. Captain Jim died in 1911. The Wa-she-shew [Washoe] were well noted for their rituals of pine nut gathering and for Dat-So-La-Lee, the great basket weaver who was a member of this tribe.
96 Frances Hooper
The Paiutes also had their own given names for their areas; the areas were named after foods the people ate:
Toi-Ticutta for cattail eaters living here in our area.
Cuyui-Ticutta for those who ate the cui-ui fish around Pyramid Lake.
Agai-Ticutta for Walker River Paiutes who ate the cutthroat trout.
Other surrounding areas were also named after an animal or insect: Piaggi-Ticutta Large, yellow-striped caterpillars—Bishop, California area Gidu-Ticutta Rock chucks—Northern California Paiute Ku-Zabbi-Ticutta Fly Larvae—Lee Vining—Mono Lake, California area Pe-ton a g waitta meaning Southern Paiute
Other strange tribes are called Anda Vitch by the Shoshones and Wa-Wuhh by the Paiutes.
The interior of the Pacific Northwest was one of the last parts of North America to be discovered by white men. The coming of the settlers was inevitable. The Chiefs, Captains and Talkers encouraged the Indians to be at peace. There were a few uprisings among the Indians but they were only for the purpose of stealing horses and wives. They were not a warlike people and hid from their enemies.
Their first view of the settlers was as follows: They came pulling strange wagons with funny looking animals following behind. The men had hair all over their faces and once in a while, it looked like smoke was coming out from it. When they sat in their council they would poke something into this fur, such as cigars or food utensils. The women they observed looked like they would break in two.
Indians had no general name for the white man, and their reference names were to personal appearance, clothes, actions and to merchandise they traded. The white skin was the most obvious; the name most commonly used to date is Tybo. Shoshone say in their language Mozo [hairy mouths], Dybo [hairy white man] and Dybo-Dang Wua [white man]. In Paiute Moosuee means whisker, Muvi means nose and NaNa means man.
The tribes adapted to the coming of the settlers, learned the skills of farming and worked for new settlers in exchange for food and clothing. Indian women adopted the dress of the white women settlers with full skirts or cloth shawls, and wore brightly colored head scarfs. The men wore denim jeans with the cuffs turned up and black hats with decorations of beaded bands and feathers. Their dress-up shirts were of brightly colored satin.
The names of most Toi Ticutta were given to them by the farmers they worked for. For example, my grandfather's name was To hu qui pah, translated into English it means "hit the spit." His given white name was Natchez Steve. Other family names included Breckenridge, Williams, Cushman, Allen, Smith, etc.
Indian Ways and Traditions 97
I was privileged to live with foster parents, Mary and Ida Dalton, who held on to traditions; they wore the traditional clothes associated with that time of year. Mary wove lovely baskets and some of her work is on display at the museum.
We slept under rabbitskin blankets and I saw how they were made. It took the skins of about 90 rabbits to make a double bed sized blanket.
We ate traditional foods such as ground squirrels we called koob [kuub]. They were my favorite Indian food. Our family started out before the heat of the day and with our buckets and sacks, hunted for the ground squirrels along the alfalfa fields.
We youngsters would draw the water from the irrigation ditches with our buckets, and while we poured the water down the squirrel's hole in the ground, our aunt, Mary Dalton would have her hands ready to catch the koob when it poked its head out for air. After she pulled it out of the hole, she then twisted its head, breaking its neck, and threw it aside to die. Fifteen to twenty squirrels or koob made a good feast. Once we thought we caught a koob but we had caught a bull snake instead. We kids screamed and ran home!
We ate the tule roots from which our Paiute people obtained their name the Toi Ticutta. We ate rock chuck we called kee tuu and jackrabbits we called ku muu.
Today traditions vary. The kee tuu [rock chucks] that are eaten are hunted in the spring. The Shoshone call this same animal yahaa! We no longer have the koob [ground squirrels] here in Lahontan Valley. They were exterminated years ago. Some people still eat the jackrabbit, but in moderation because of contamination. Deer meat is still the prized meat and the hides are still preserved for making gloves and moccasins
Wild onions called by duss by the Shoshone, patuzz by the Paiutes and posh -tii by the Washoe, will be ready to eat with the coming of spring. Fried bread or as we call it, grease bread, is a favorite.
The pine nuts, our delicacy, we pick in the fall. They can be stored in the freezer or in a flour sack for later use. These nuts have to be picked off of the tree. Our people are encouraged not to pick the nuts up off of the ground because of possible Hantavirus contamination. Traditionally the pine nuts are ground and cooked into a soup. A wooden stick is used to stir the soup.
Other beautiful handcrafts are made today and sold at celebrations called Pow-Wows. There are still craftsmen who weave baskets. The cone-shaped pine nut gathering baskets are called tuva kon-noh by the Paiutes and ka ku dutts by the Shoshone. The Paiute call their winnowing baskets yata and the Shoshone refer to them as yundu. Water jugs were woven in an oval shape and covered with pine pitch. The most beautiful basket still used today is what we call the cradleboard. They are made from willows which are gathered, scraped and split for weaving. The Shoshone call cradleboards kohhh-noh; the Paiutes call them hoob beh.
Many common plants were used for medicine, with over 200 different roots and plant leaves used to treat ailments. A tea made from Toza root is still used today to treat arthritis, colds and flu. Sagebrush was made into teas and was also used in healing ceremonies. Sagebrush limbs were used in building lodging.
98 Frances Hooper
The aged hands of a Paiute woman clean needles out of a hand-woven basket full of pine nuts before beginning the winnowing process. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
The stems of rabbitbrush were simmered and the liquid provides relief from coughs and when rubbed into the scalp stimulates freer breathing. The stems from rabbitbrush can be used for a hair brush. The rabbitbrush plant also tells us when the pine nuts are ready to harvest because in the fall the brush turns a beautiful orange color, which signifies that fall is here.
Another good tasting tea used for ailments of the kidneys and cramps is called Indian tea or Morman tea. The Shoshone call it du dun dee and the Paiutes call it tsoo duu pi.
Today we still pick wild berries and buck berries for making gravy and jam. Early day people picked seeds of all kinds, especially Indian ricegrass. They ate birds, ducks, tundra swan, siya [coots], and gathered the eggs of these birds. They ate insects such as locust and caterpillars.
When large game was taken, every part of the animal was utilized. Tallow was used in lights; brains were used to tan hides; horns were used as utensils as well as for chipping arrowheads and spears; bladders were used as containers; bones were made into tools; tendons were used for bow strings; sinew was used as thread for sewing; and hoofs were used for rattles and ornaments and medicine men used them in sacred ceremonies along with eagle feathers.
Indian Ways and Traditions 99
Nothing was wasted. The Indians learned to utilize everything, including bird feathers. Food hoarding was forbidden, and the handicapped members of the tribe were not ignored; in fact, they were well cared for and some served as teachers.
The Indians were musical and made drums from animal skins. Songs were sung at sacred healing ceremonies and before a hunt and war, as well as at seasonal celebrations.
Indians love to play games and have many various kinds of contests. A game still played today is the Hand Game. The players normally wear bulky clothes so that the twelves sticks can be hidden within a player's hand and behind a layer of clothing. Among the sticks that are used for guessing, there are two "bone" sticks, one plain and one wrapped with a black rag or marked with black paint. Two teams of people sit on the ground facing each other with six game sticks on each side and money in between. Two logs are placed before each team on the ground. The team taking a turn sings hand game songs, hitting the logs like a drum. They continue singing until their turn ends and one team possesses all the gamesticks. This team is the winner! When the people learned about real money, they played games all night until dawn.
Another traditional ladies' game called Wee-sheh uses a winnowing basket and thirteen sticks, with one side plain and one side painted red. The participants sit in a circle on the ground and pass around the basket with each player
Mary Walker Foster took this photograph of Paiute people gambling sometime in the 1950s. This group seems to be playing the Hand Game, as the group on the left are hitting the log with their sticks. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
100 Frances Hooper
taking one turn and then passing the basket on to next player. The lady flips the basket up, tossing the sticks on the basket up in the air, as she would pinenuts. If five red sticks turn up, she is a winner. With each win, a mound of dirt is made in front of the player. The first lady to get three dirt mounds wins the game.
I am proud to be a member of the Toi Ticutta, the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribes. We have enjoyed working with the Indian people of our tribes and I always look forward to meeting new people who come to our town of Fallon. To the Churchill County Museum I say thank you for displaying the Indian exhibits of the Toi Ticuttas of the Stillwater community.
A Paiute baby peers at the photographer from her cradleboard This photograph was taken near Stillwater in the early 1900s. The diamond pattern on the top portion of the cradleboard indicates that the child is a girl. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
STUDENT TERM PAPERS
History of Law Enforcement
in Churchill County
Rowe, Summers, Hayden, Hawley and Roberts
[Editors note: When students from Tom Goodson's Western Nevada Community College class on criminal justice came flocking to the museum wanting information on the history of law enforcement in Fallon and Churchill County, In Focus committee members saw an article in the making. The five students listed above gave us permission to publish their group effort on law enforcement history in our area.]
Churchill County Sheriffs Office
Jon Rowe
The Churchill County Sheriffs Office was the first law enforcement body established in Churchill County. Much has been recorded about the history of the Sheriffs Office, and available county records contain information dating back to the inception of the state.
On October 30, 1864, Nevada entered the union as the 36th state. In 1861, Churchill County had become one of the first official counties. On April 4th of that same year, Walter L. Gates was appointed as the first sheriff. Gates served for a brief period, and on September 7, 1864, James G. Hughes took his place as the first elected sheriff.
Between the years 1864 and 1922 there was a term limit of two years; consequently when the term expired for Hughes, the election of 1866 brought two new candidates, Thomas H. Ellison and E.L. Coldron. They campaigned against one another; however both were elected to office, having each received 110 votes. Thus, it has been speculated that they shared the position, though only for a short time. Coldron died in June of 1867; the cause was not documented.
In 1868 J.C. Scott was elected to the office, but for unspecified reasons was unable to qualify for the position. This left the office of sheriff vacant for the years 1868 through 1870.
The following men held office from 1870-1898:
1870 - Byron Sherman 1876 - James P. Brown
1872 - Samuel Truman 1878 - J.B. Ferguson
1874 - Samuel Truman 1880 - John T. Walker
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102 Rowe, Summers, Hayden, Hawley and Roberts
1882 - F.A. Austin 1884 - B.F. Cope 1886 - John P. Brown 1888 - John Higgins 1890 - John Higgins 1892 - John Higgins
1894 - J.A. Danielson
1896 - F.L. Small
1898 - William H. Williams
The end of the nineteenth century brought the election of Robert Shirley. He served for four and one-half terms. Shirley and his family, which included a wife and many children, lived in a small residence that stood west of the Sheriff's Office and jail facility on Williams Avenue on the spot where the Churchill County Telephone Company building now stands. To the locals of that time the residence was known as the "Shirley House." In 1909 Shirley committed suicide. (See page 116.)
Although this early photograph is damaged, the viewer can still clearly see, left to right, Sheriif Shirley's house, the jail and the courthouse. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
Following Shirley's death, Lee Wightman was then appointed to the position. John Charles "Jack" Coniff filled the office next, serving from 1910 through 1916.
In 1916 Mark Wildes became Sheriff. Wildes was the first and only sheriff killed in the line of duty. He was shot and killed by a young man by the name of
Law Enforcement in Churchill County 103
Paul Walters. According to historical references, the incidents leading up to the murder of Wildes were as follows:
During World War I, a group of socialists who opposed the War, moved to Nevada City, which was an exclusive socialist community. The town was located at the present Guazzini Ranch on Austin Highway. In May of 1917, a month after the United States entered the War, a man by the name of J.H. Walters and his family moved to Nevada City. In order to reside in the small city, they relinquished all of the their worldly possessions to the socialist group. He and his family worked diligently running the local Hotel and Commissary, while the oldest of the children, Paul, worked as a farm hand.
When the Selective Service Act of 1917 took effect, Paul Walters was drafted, but he refused to go. The case did not come to the at-
tention of the County until nine months later. In May of 1918, Sheriff Wildes went to arrest Walters as a draft evader. When he received word that Wildes was coming
for him, he quickly left and went to Camp Jessup, near Lovelock. When Sheriff
Wildes heard that Walters had fled, he and another member of the community, Fred Venth, initiated a search for the missing Walters. Venth was familiar with the
surrounding areas, so he was utilized to locate Walters. When the men arrived in Jessup, they found the camp deserted; for that reason they went on to Lovelock for the night.
While Wildes and Venth were in Lovelock, they learned that an individual by the name of J.C. Temple was aiding Walters by letting him stay at his cabin in
Jessup. Hearing this, they returned to Jessup the very next day. As they drove up
the canyon they looked for Temple, who presumably gathered his mail at a certain time every day. They soon spotted him and Walters walking down the canyon.
Venth hailed the men and introduced himself as a miner. Sheriff Wildes then iden-
tified himself and told Walters that he was there to pick him up for draft evasion. Walters abruptly produced a revolver and shot Wildes several times. Sheriff Wildes
bravely stayed on his feet and made an attempt to pull his pistol out of his holster, but it became stuck in his coat. Walters then fled up the canyon with the sheriff
Sheriff Mark Wildes. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
104 Rowe, Summers, Hayden, Hawley and Roberts
returning fire unsuccessfully. Venth took Wildes back to Lovelock for medical attention, and he remained alive for five days. Sadly on May 22, 1918, Sheriff Mark Wildes passed away. As soon as the news of Sheriff Wildes' death was heard, several posses were formed and dispatched from the Lovelock and Fallon areas.
Amazingly enough, Walters managed to elude the posse for a few days. Then on May 24, 1918, just as the sun set, a horse-mounted group spotted a person with the description of Paul Walters in the Salt River area northwest of Parran. One of the trackers, Skinny Pascal, saw the image take aim at another posse member with what seemed to be a .30/.30 rifle. Pascal instinctively shot, only once, striking the man in the back of the head and killing him instantly. Sheriff Mark Wildes was buried two days later in Fallon, Nevada. J.G. Temple was arrested and charged with aiding Paul Walters, but the charges were soon dismissed.
Because of the untimely death of Mark Wildes, C.M. Way was appointed to the position of Sheriff. After serving his term, he was defeated in the election of 1920 by James Smith. In return, Smith was defeated, himself, in the election of 1922 by J.B. Crane. In 1922, a new term limit was voted in. If elected, the sheriff was now able to serve a term of four, rather than two, years.
The following list reflects the individuals elected to office between 1926 and 1982:
1926 - Jim Smith 1958 - George Wilkins
1930 - Jim Smith 1962 - George Wilkins
1934 - Jim Smith 1966 - Larry Fister
1938 - Ralph J. Vannoy 1970 - Larry Fister
1942 - Ralph J. Vannoy 1974 - Dave Banovich, Sr.
1946 - Ralph J. Vannoy 1978 - Dave Banovich, Sr.
1950 - Bill Stewart 1982 - Dave Banovich, Sr. 1954 - George Wilkins
In 1985, Dave Banovich stepped down and William (Bill) L. Lawry was appointed as the next sheriff. Lawry has held the office longer than any other Sheriff to date. In his 1998 bid for re-election he defeated Rick Banovich, a son of former sheriff, Dave Banovich, Sr.
Sheriff Department records created before 1960 are not as complete as they are required to be today. Since the 1970s documentation has been more thorough, and records state that the Sheriff's Office has consisted of an average of less than ten people, including the Sheriff. As time has passed and with apparent growth of Churchill County, the Sheriff's Office has grown considerably to meet the needs of the community.
Currently the Sheriff's Office is composed of 44 employees which include: the sheriff, the under sheriff, two captains, nine sergeants, five corporals, nine patrol deputies, ten detention deputies and five dispatchers.
On average, the Sheriff's Office will respond to approximately 7,000 calls per year and will book approximately 2,100 individuals into the county's jail facility annually. (Based on statistics provided for 1996-1997.)
Law Enforcement in Churchill County 105
Churchill County Jail History
Shawn Summers
The first jail in Churchill County might have been located at Buckland Station, east of Fort Churchill as this was the location of the county seat in November of 1861. The records do not indicate the actual presence of a jail, but small crude structures were usually erected near the county seat to house the few inmates that may have been arrested.
In February of 1864 the county seat was once again moved, this time to the LaPlata mining district located in the Mountain Wells area. Again records do not specifically indicate that a jail was built.
In October of 1867 the county seat was moved to the Stillwater area. Records do indicate that a jail of sorts—a crude small area, hand dug and made out of rocks —was built at Stillwater. The January 5, 1869, Churchill County Commissioner meeting minutes state, ". . . it is ordered that notices will be posted that proposals will be received for building a house over the jail suitable for a courthouse."
County business was originally conducted from a rented house, but later an offical courthouse was built. This building also served as a social center for Stillwater residents. After the county seat was moved into Fallon, the building was razed and its lumber used to build a Stillwater ranch home.
The original Fallon jail was a small, long ago forgotten calaboose. When the county seat was moved into town in 1903, the big old metal tanks that had been used as jail cells in Stillwater were hauled into town on George "Budd" Williams' freight wagons, buried, and the new courthouse built over them. It is remembered that these tanks only had one door in them, so there was very little chance that an inmate could escape. In later years, the tanks were used by county officials for storage.
The first large jail was built next to the new courthouse in 1906 and was in use until 1973. The building was constructed by Orchard and Callaway contractors and is approximately 30 feet by 75 feet wide. The rock used in the construction was gathered from a quarry in the local area, probably near Rattlesnake Hill. The cost of the new jail was approximately $5000. The jail was built without bars on the windows but they had to be added in 1907 to increase the security of the building. To save on the county budget, the bars from the previous jail were moved into the new building at a cost of $75 for they were believed to be sturdy enough to house the inmates.
The jail facility was built with three lower rooms and one upper storage area. As you enter the west side door, the first office on the right served as the sheriff's office. It is approximately 15 feet by 15 feet in size and housed the sheriff, sheriff's secretary, dispatcher and a large two-door safe that housed the weapons and evidence. As the years passed it also housed a small crime/evidence table with a microscope and collection equipment.
l06 Rowe, Summers, Hayden, Hawley and Roberts
The door on the left side of the hall takes you to a large steel door which was the only entrance to the main male jail section. The steel door is still hanging on the frame to this day.
Continuing down the hall you enter a smaller room where the women and juveniles were housed. It was a very small area with several bunk beds and a steel door that was used to contain them. One window was located on the south wall.
The stairs lead up to a small office that was used to hold supplies and also served as an area where the deputies manufactured their ammunition. All the powder, brass and presses were located on a bench and the deputies would reload any ammunition they might need.
Sheriff Robert Shirley was in charge of the new facility when it opened. His house was right next to the jail on the site where the phone company building now stands.
Above left: the recreation area for prisoners in the 1907 jail. Directly above: Sheriff George Wilkin and Ruth Taylor Walker in the Sheriff's office of the old jail in the late 1950s. (Churchill County Museum & Archives, Albert A. Alcorn Photograph Collection.)
Law Enforcement in Churchill County 107
Complaints were soon made to the sheriff about the lack of security in the jail. In 1907 new cells were added to the jail at a cost of approximately $6000, increasing the security by tenfold.
Lt. McMullin, a retired veteran deputy from the Sheriff's Office, explained that the new cells were, in fact, an entire brig (military jail) from an old Spanish-American War era battleship that was being retired from the fleet. The cells were removed from the ship, transported to Fallon and installed by Pauly Jail Building Company of St. Louis. The interior cage in the main room was approximately 20 feet wide by 30 feet long with a steel floor and ceiling. Rows of cells were located on either side of the room and consisted of simple bunk beds. One of the cells was converted into a rest room where a toilet and claw foot bathtub were housed. The hot water was only turned on during the winter months. Since the old ship brig was located in the middle of the room it allowed a small walkway around the exterior; enough room was left on top so that inmates could actually sit there and look out the windows. The inmates were allowed one hour a day to leave the main metal jail and walk around the pod to get some exercise.
Lt. McMullin recalled the story that one of the inmates was doing a year straight in jail. Every day when he was let out for his hour he would crawl up on top of the metal room and stare out the window. He did this every day for months at a time, day in and day out. One day the inmate pushed a large chunk of rock out and it nearly landed on the undersheriff who was walking by. The inmate had been working on the mortar around the rocks in hopes of making an escape. All he got was several months added to his sentence and the loss of his exercise privilege.
Meals were served twice daily and were donated to the jail by local merchants who volunteered them on a rotating basis. According to Lt. McMullin the jail conditions were pretty poor and the inmates complained about them daily.
The old jail building was given to Churchill County Search and Rescue to use as their meeting building in 1974. The old cage-like cell block was cut out with torches and removed from the building. I contacted several of the older members of the Search and Rescue group but none could remember where the jail section was taken. One of the old cell doors is located on a wagon in the back storage yard at the museum and will soon be returned to the jail building. The old window bars can still be seen on the building as you pass by.
The new Law Enforcement Complex was opened in 1975 at a cost of approximately $800,000, of which a portion was obtained by a loan from the local telephone company.
The facility contained a new jail and housed both the justice and district courts. The new jail was similar to the old in that it housed inmates in two-man cells with security as a predominant factor. The cells are what architects refer to as a "can plan" building. They are prefabricated and modular steel cells and walkways that were placed into the new building and joined together. The entire jail section is steel and separate from the main building. All cells have either keyed, mechanical or electrical sliding doors.
108 Rowe, Summers, Hayden, Hawley and Roberts
The new jail was designed to hold 52 inmates, which was a huge jump in capacity from the old jail. A juvenile and female section was also incorporated into the plans. A two bed infirmary cell was built to house contagious inmates and was frequently used instead to house the more aggressive and violent offenders.
A then state-of-the-art security cell was installed incorporating dense rubber walls. The cell is approximately five feet wide by six feet deep with a flushing drain in the floor. A camera is recessed into the ceiling and the steel door is reinforced and also covered with dense rubber. The cell is used to house inmates that come in on the fight and has been the scene of many a brawl. Inmates housed in this small cell are able to relieve themselves in the drain. Inmates stay there until they decide they want to cooperate and are then moved to the general jail population.
The facility enjoyed a fairly low inmate population into the 1980's. A dispatcher and one deputy were all that was needed in the early years to keep the jail running smoothly. At night a deputy from street patrol would swing by and walk through the jail every several hours to ensure that all the inmates were still in the facility. A small kitchen with an oven was used to heat TV dinners and chicken pot pies for the inmates.
In 1987 the housing of juveniles was stopped and that section of the jail was remodeled to house sentenced inmates known as trusties. The trusties are inmates that have been sentenced to jail time and are considered nonviolent. They are allowed to work in the community doing odd jobs.
The 90s saw a dramatic rise in the number of inmates incarcerated within the facility, and the jail was soon considered outdated and too small. The kitchen could no longer heat enough dinners, so a contract was awarded in 1992 to the community hospital to prepare all the meals. Meals are picked up three times a day at the hospital and brought back to the jail for consumption. An increase in manpower for supervising the inmates was also needed and additional deputies were hired to work in the jail. The policy slowly changed and now all new hires are required to work in the jail for a set time before they can rotate out into patrol division. Currently two deputies work each shift with more added on district court days and high load days, i.e. New Years Eve, Graduation, etc.
The current inmate population fluctuates between 55 and 85 inmates and during some weeks inmates can be seen sleeping in hallways and on floors. In 1995 plastic "boats" were purchased to keep inmates from sleeping directly on the floor. These boats are lightweight beds that hold a small mattress and conform to current goverment mandates which stipulate that sleeping on the floor is unconstitutional.
Debate during the 1998 sheriff's race campaign brought up the fact that the jail will need to be replaced very soon with a larger facility to house the ever increasing number of inmates. A bond will have to be obtained and the citizens of Fallon will have to vote on the new facility.
Law Enforcement in Churchill County 109
Dispatch History
Shawn Summers
In the early years in Churchill County call boxes with lights were placed throughout town and were used to notify the officer/deputy of an emergency. When an emergency call was received in the dispatch office the dispatcher would activate the light and wait until the officer picked up the phone. It was entirely possible for ten to fifteen minutes to elapse before the deputy would answer, depending on his location. This officer would then obtain the nature and location of the call and head to the emergency.
According to Sheriff Bill Lawry, a 37 year veteran with the Fire/Sheriff s Department, the typical response time for an ambulance to reach a county resident was "at least 20 to 30 minutes." Sheriff Lawry went on to say that in the early years a person in need of an ambulance would have to call the operator and advise them of the location and nature of the injury. The operator would then call the Fallon Police Department and pass on all pertinent information concerning the accident or injury.
The dispatcher would then locate the ambulance roster, a list of 10-12 people who had volunteered their time with the Fire Department. The dispatcher would call each person on the list until two were found to respond. The two individuals would drive to the fire house, where the ambulance was stored, and continue on to the scene. If the injury was incurred during the evening hours and was caused by a criminal act or involved an automobile accident, the on-call duty deputy would have to be notified at his/her residence. During the early years the Sheriff's office was only open until 4:00 p.m. with an on-call deputy assigned to cover the evening shift.
Sheriff Lawry states, "In 1962 or '63 we received two-way patrol radios for each unit which significantly reduced our response time to an emergency." He went on to say that the ambulances were still being dispatched to the scene the old fashioned way, by calling each person on the list. "We were at least able to get a deputy on scene faster to control the situation and render first aid."
In 1978 the Sheriff's Office received the first 911-emergency system for the county. No longer would emergency calls for fire and ambulance crews be routed through the police department. The system consisted of four dedicated 911 lines and a paging system. According to dispatch Sgt. Traci Ricks, "The dedicated 911 lines were a major breakthrough in speeding up our receipt of information." The telephone operator was cut out of the circle. "The calls would come directly to us; we could get all the information we needed and dispatch the required units to the scene." The new paging system allowed fire and ambulance crews to be notified of an emergency 24-hours a day with the touch of a button. Sheriff Lawry adds, "The pagers really cut down our notification time; seconds after a call came we could be en route." The only real drawback to the system occurred when a caller was unable to communicate or was disconnected from the line. Sgt. Ricks states, "The system didn't display an address or telephone number." She relates
110 Rowe, Summers, Hayden, Hawley and Roberts
that if the line was broken or the caller was unable to talk, then the dispatcher would have to call the phone company and get the call traced. That could take anywhere from 10-15 minutes, "which is an extremely agonizing time in an emergency."
The problem ceased in 1993 when the system was once again updated. This time the caller's phone number was displayed on a small screen located on the dispatcher's control panel. Sgt. Ricks explained, "If we had a hang up or were unable to hear the conversation we could reference the address in a reverse phone index updated by the phone company daily. This was still time consuming but much quicker than the old method." The new system paid for itself on two separate occasions as dispatchers received calls in which the person was unable to give any information. Dispatch officers quickly referenced the number to the correct address and were able to get medical personnel on scene in time to save lives.
The system also received another 911 line and a 911 cellular line. "This increase really assisted us during the larger accidents or emergencies when we would get a large volume of people calling in on the same incident," comments Sgt. Ricks. The cellular 911 allowed motorists the opportunity to call for assistance without using the operator and, in turn, speed up that portion of the response time. 911 cellular calls do not display a number on the screen so it is still essential that all pertinent information be received.
In 1995 the Sheriff's Office purchased a "man down" system from Cimarron Technologies in California. This system is incorporated into all hand-held radios the deputies carry on their duty belts. Whenever a radio is tilted past a 45 degree angle an audible alarm is sounded at dispatch and the corresponding deputy's badge number is displayed on the console. Hence the name "man down." After the alarm is sounded the dispatcher will immediately radio the deputy to see if he/she is in trouble and at the same time notify other units in the area to respond to the last known location.
"This is really a lifesaver and it offers a certain amount of extra protection to our deputies since they work in single person units," states Sheriff Lawry.
In 1996, the new 911 Enhanced System which meets or exceeds that of larger counties around the state was installed. The Motorola system is claimed to be the solution for the 90s in allowing dispatchers to communicate with field personnel. Sgt. Ricks explains how the enhanced 911 system works:
Anytime we receive a 911 call from within the county, the telephone number, name of the caller (the name displayed is the person responsible for the telephone account), and the address from which the call is made is displayed on the computer screen. We can immediately radio out assistance from the information displayed while speaking with the reporting party. If we lose the connection or are unable to communicate with the caller, its not a big problem. The information on the screen will remain displayed until one of us deletes it.
Law Enforcement in Churchill County 111
The console system is hooked up to an emergency power generator for reliable operation during power outages. The system is also specifically designed to withstand electrical spikes from storms and is capable of automatically resetting itself after a temporary power drop.
Sheriff Lawry describes how the new system has aided the community and
the Sheriff's Office:
The new 911 Enhanced System is state-of-the-art and
designed to respond units to the scene within seconds of receiving
the initial call for help. It's a win-win situation for everyone in-
volved. The residents receive the very best response time available
because of our continual improvements in the 911 operations area.
It makes our jobs easier because we can communicate with local
and outside agencies and be updated about changes on scene while
we're en route.
As a testament to the new system the Sheriff's Office 1996 Annual Report shows that the 911 dispatch center received 5,299 emergency calls. The Churchill County Dispatch is tasked with dispatching all emergency units in Fallon and the county including Sheriff's Department, Ambulance, Fire Department, Tribal Police, Department of Wildlife and Search and Rescue. All dispatchers are required to undergo an intensive twelve week training program and pass an annual state certification test to ensure the highest possible standards for the public.
Dispatcher Audra Bunker points out how the Enhanced 911 System was used in a fairly recent incident:
In July 1997, a Ford crew cab truck with six occupants drove off of the Austin Highway, two miles east of Harmon Junction, jumping the canal and striking into the opposite embankment. The call was received into dispatch at 2:0.5 p.m. The duty dispatcher immediately notified patrol and dispatched an ambulance and fire rescue truck to the scene. The patrol unit arrived on scene at 2:12 p.m. and radioed dispatch with an update on the situation. The deputy on scene requested that a second ambulance be placed en route and that Washoe Care Flight be activated to respond. The dispatchers handled an enormous volume of calls on that incident and were responsible for noting numerous agencies of the situation: Washoe Medical Center Trauma, Care Flight, NAS, Fallon hospital and ambulance, fire department, and Churchill County Hospital Emergency Department. The radio traffic alone was staggering with a myriad of units requesting directions, calling en route and giving updates.
112 Rowe, Summers, Hayden, Hawley and Roberts
The 911 system was given an incredible workout on that incident and came through with flying colors. All of the 911 lines including the cellular were used during the incident to receive incoming intelligence concerning the wreck from citizens, according to Dispatcher Bunker.
Each time the dispatch center has been updated, precious seconds have been shaved off of the response time of arriving units. These improvements in the dispatch arena have led to a considerable savings in the response time of emergency services to the scene. Being on the scene of an accident within minutes directly impacts patient care and results in more lives saved each year.
Fallon City Police
Tony Hayden
The policing of Fallon as a city began with the appointment by Mayor J.C. Jones of M.E. Sanford to the office of then city marshall in January of 1909.
Francis Maine "Manie" Sanford was the son of James and Nancy Sanford, a family who was one of the first to settle in the Stillwater area.
Manie Sanford was a farmer and cattleman for most of his life and was said to be fluent in the Paiute language. It is possible that this fluency was the reason Mayor Jones appointed him Fallon's first Chief Marshall.
Sanford was chief from January 1909 through June of 1917. In that time he was responsible for keeping the peace in this small town, which was not as big a task as it is today given that the town was as yet undeveloped.
James M. Smitten was the successor to Manie Sanford in June of 1917. Smitten was chief marshall until May of 1923 and, like Sanford, a rancher by trade, was a long time resident of the county.
There were four chiefs during the next twelve years. The following is a list of these men:
Marshall John Burnham 05-12-23 thru 05-01-24
Marshall R.E. Lee 05-05-24 thru 06-01-31
Marshall J.W. Vannoy 06-02-31 thru 06-02-31
Marshall C.E. Stewart 07-22-31 thru 05-20-35
In May of 1935 Walter Dexter was appointed chief Dexter was not a native of Nevada but had come here in 1916. In 1918 he established residence in Fallon, where he was cattle feeding supervisor for the Western Meat Company.
Dexter built a reputation for being an honest and trustworthy man, which may have been a factor in his appointment to office.
During his time as chief there was only one police car, and shift change was held in front of Dexter's home on Stillwater Avenue when another policeman would pick Dexter up to affect his relief
Dexter was a man who employed the watchman style of community policing as evidenced by ledgers of arrest in the city hall police archives. He was concerned mostly with maintaining the order and well-being of the citizens in his charge
Law Enforcement in Churchill County 113
rather than enforcement of every ordinance, however insignificant. Dexter was chief until his death in October of 1943. He is the only chief to die while in office.
Following Dexter's death in October 1943, Gus Arnie was named chief pending approval of city council, which he quickly received. Arnie was an efficient and energetic officer and these traits went into the office with him.
Arnie took over at a time of unusual activity due to an influx of workers for the Navy airport project. Seeing this small boom as something that needed to be dealt with, he asked for and received permission to hire three more officers. With this addition to the force, the streets of Fallon had two men patrolling at all times.
George Wood was next to be appointed chief. Another area native, Wood served as chief from May 1947 through February 1953 before moving on to the Sheriff's office and finally retiring from the Nevada Highway Patrol.
The following reflects the men who were chief from May 1953 through February 1979:
Chief Edward "Bill" Gibbs 05-17-53 thru 05-16-55
Chief Peter C. Lugaski 05-17-55 thru 03-31-60
Chief Donald Mills 04-04-60 thru 02-04-79
Danny Woods took over as chief in July 1979. During his ten years as chief the task of policing grew increasingly difficult, given the city's growth during those years.
Fallon Police Officers in 1947: (from left, back row) Bill Bucquoy, Larry Fister, newly-appointed Police Chief George Wood, Louis Buhrmeister and Charles Boyd. Front row, Harold Bellinger. (Churchill County Museum & Archives Photograph Collection.)
114 Rowe, Summers, Hayden, Hawley and Roberts
Fallon's population grew 63% in the time Woods was in office, and with this growth, came the point in time when the chief was not just a city department head but also a target for slander and scandal.
Danny Woods left his position as chief to Dale Carr in October of 1989. Carr held the position from October 1989 through October 1991. A retired Navy ordinance man, Carr began working in law enforcement with the sheriff's department. He later moved to the city police and held the position of chief for two years before retiring in 1991.
He would return to the position as interim chief after the abrupt departure of his successor Louis Fetherolf in January of 1995. Don Phipps is the current chief, having held the position since August of 1995.
In my research I have found that a large percentage of the men who served as chief were either long-time residents, trusted businessmen or both and I believe that this must remain constant. You can not be expected to police a community of this size, or any size, without a stake in that community.
Chiefs make policy as they are directed to by their superiors and the communities they serve. And in a town of this size, I think it would be a mistake to turn away from community policing practices.
Nevada Highway Patrol
Justin Hawley
The Nevada Highway Patrol was formed in 1949, and originally consisted of two troopers. The primary patrol area for the Churchill District NHP was, and continues to be, the Fallon/Austin area.
In the 1950s Lyle Boyer and Dave Banovich, Sr. made up the two man patrol force.
During the 1980s the NHP would gain additional support with the addition of a third trooper and find themselves being led by a "new generation" of troopers. Lynn Boyer, Rick Banovich and Dan Ward would lead the Churchill County NHP into the 1990s during which time the staff would increase to five troopers.
Heading the NHP's district of Churchill County is Sgt. Michael Paszek. The current troopers in Churchill County are Tom Ames, Bob Archey, Michael Matheson, Dennis Sugg and Bob Wright. With two troopers in the Austin area, Jim Farmer Jr. and Jim Steele, the district of Churchill County has a total of seven patrolling troopers.
The main vehicle of the Churchill district is the Ford Crown Victoria. Other patrol vehicles include the Chevrolet Tahoe, Caprice and Camaro.
In 1997 there was a total of 320 traffic incidents responded to by the Nevada Highway Patrol's District of Churchill County.
Law Enforcement in Churchill County 1 1 5
Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribal Police
Jason Roberts
The work of Indian police has always been challenging. The Indian police carry with them a long and distinguished tradition that provides the inspiration to meet the challenges they face. It extends not merely to the creation of the reservation system, but back into the unrecorded history of the Native American societies before the white man.
The first known establishment of a federally-sponsored Indian police dates back to 1869. In 1944 Nevada enacted a law under which the state assumed civil and criminal jurisdiction over all "Indian country" within its borders. However, it provided that within ninety days after July 1, 1955, the county commissioners of any county could petition the governor to exclude the "Indian country" in that county from the operation of the act. Eight of the sixteen counties involved chose to continue federal jurisdiction over Indian lands. The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone reservation, which is located twelve miles northeast of Fallon, is still under federal jurisdiction today and the Tribal Police Department is headed by Brian Hicks.
As outlined in 25 U.S.C. chapter 30, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) branch of criminal investigations has investigative responsibilities for crimes committed on, or involving, the reservation. This includes major federal crimes and state crimes assimilated into federal statutes under title 18 U.S.C. 1153, including, but not limited to murder, manslaughter, child sex abuse, kidnapping, rape, assault, arson, burglary, counterfeiting, embezzlement,and organized criminal enterprises affecting gaming and gambling operations, or involved in the production, sale or distribution of illegal narcotics within the reservation.
In the pre-reservation days, the failure of the "tribal police" to carry out its duty to the society would have meant the failure of the hunt and the prospect of starvation. Today, the strength and health of Native American communities is no less dependent on the maintenance of safety and justice by Indian judges and law enforcement personnel.
Law Enforcement in Churchill County 117
Fallon, Nevada, Dec. 30, 1908
Mr. G.W. Likes and Brothers:
You will be surprised, no doubt, when you read this note. I regret the step that I am about to take, but I have made up my mind to end my troubles and sleep in peace. Drinking, gambling and some of my good friends have led me to my final destruction. Any request as to my body—I leave it to be disposed of as our fraternal order sees fit. My dues have been paid to the first of the year, A.D. 1909. May God bless you. Yours, etc,
Robert Shirley
For some time it had been known that Sheriff Shirley was in trouble over financial matters, and that he had been gambling heavily. While it is acknowledged there is a shortage in his account, the amount is not known. The amount due for licenses issued to him, as per auditor's report of January 1, 1909, is $405.25. There was due from him to the Sand Springs Mining Company about $300 for a team which he had sold. But these amounts are insignificant, for Bob Shirley could have gone out and raised them in half an hour any day.
While he had evidently contemplated the awful end for several days, he put it off until the very day and hour when he should have filed his new bond with the county commissioners. As far as we have heard, he did not ask anyone to go on his bond.
Bob Shirley was a great, good-hearted man, kind in his nature and affectionate in his family. He had hosts of friends through-out the county, and it is to be regretted that none of these were able to come in touch with his deeper nature at this time, when, to him, his troubles, seemed greater than he could bear.
Robert Shirley was born in Amador county, California, and was 55 years of age last August. He was married on July 4th, 1885, at Reno, Nevada, to Miss Laura Gregg, who survives him. To this union eleven children were born. They are: Mrs. Eli Hardy, Charley, Nora, Archie, Abie, Linnie, Merritt, Isla Louise, Perry, Dorothy, and Jerome Gardner. The ages of seven of these range between nine months and thirteen years. For the past eighteen years the family has resided in Churchill county. Robert Shirley had served as sheriff of the county for three successive terms, and was reelected last fall and should have entered upon his fourth term the day of his death.
The body was taken to his home, where it was guarded constantly by two Knights of Pythias until 2 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, when it was escorted to the Methodist church. The funeral was conducted by Alpine Lodge No. 24, K.of P., of which the deceased was a member. Rev. J.F. Price preached the sermon and the remains were escorted to the cemetery by the Knights and the Eagles, the deceased having formerly been a member of the latter order. The K. of P. burial service was conducted at the grave. A beautiful floral piece was given by Alpine Lodge.
The bereaved family have the deepest sympathy of a host of friends in their hours of sorrow and affliction.
SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough:
Archaeological Enigmas Explored
Greg M. Gedney
Throughout the Great Basin and Central Nevada in particular, archaeologists come across a projectile point style generally known as the Humboldt Concave Base series (Aiken 1970, Davis and Rusco 1987, Elston 1988, Hattori 1982, Jennings 1986, Layton and Thomas 1979, Raven 1988, Roust and Clewlow 1968, Thomas 1983, 1985). These biface projectile points are willow-leaf shaped, of various lengths, thicknesses and widths with differing basal-notch depths and end Hairs (Thomas 1985). Almost all projectile point types of the Great Basin are temporally assigned and placed in relative context to today (Baumhoffand Byrne 1958, Bettinger, O'Connell and Thomas 1991, Clewlow 1967, Flenniken and Wilke 1989, Hester and Bennyhoff 1986, O'Connell 1967, O'Connell and Inoway 1994, Thomas 1981). There are six primary and one sub-series of projectile point types identified as occurring in the Carson Desert and Stillwater Marshes of Churchill County, Nevada (Elston, Katzer and Currey 1988, Raven 1990: 105, Kelly 1983b. Gedney 1994, Bertaud and Gedney 1995). These differing styles are Northern Side-Notch, Humboldt Series, Gatecliff, Elko, Rosegate, Desert Side-Notch and Carson Points. The Humboldt series, however, is considered by many to be unassignable (O'Connell and Inoway 1994:9, Raven 1995:115, Elston, Raven and Baldrica 1992:30).
There are several good reasons for this. First, the style was in use for over 5,000 years (Thomas 1981:17-18, 1983, 1985, Jennings 1985, Drews 1988, Elston 1988, O'Connell 1971). It's a little hard to assign any relative placement to a projectile point that might have been deposited in a site anytime during this time span. Second, there are few datable sites in Central and Western Nevada that contain Humboldt points and '4C (Carbon 14) datable material. One such site is Hidden Cave located within the Grimes Point Archaeology Area, ten miles east of Fallon, Nevada (Roust and Grosscup 1952, Thomas 1985). Another problem is that Humboldt points have few distinctive attributes to measure. Whereas all other projectile point styles have differing shoulder notch angles that consistently separate one style from another, Humboldt points have only a single notch at the base of the point.
Humboldt points account for almost 50% of the diagnostic artifact assemblage recorded in my 20 years of study along the Stillwater Slough. The artifact class occurs in about 60% of the 500+ sites recorded that contained diagnostic artifacts. This is both unfortunate and unusual because with rare exceptions (Layton 1970,
118
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 119
1972) other regional archaeological Humboldt assemblages do not mirror this pattern (Raven 1990b: 116, Carter and Zeanah 1995:263). For this reason the following paper is written detailing my efforts to understand the temporal significance of the Humboldt form in the Carson Desert. These studies add to a greater understanding of habitat and occupational areas outside of Hidden Cave and along the Stillwater Slough.
In the spring of 1998 I conducted a detailed study to test a proposed Humboldt point seriation sequence across a contiguous area. A seriation is a statistical method used by archaeologists to separate out artifact classes which appear to be the same by finding minor differences based on detailed measurements. The complete details of the methods and areas used are beyond the scope of this paper. However, the overall scope of the study area is large enough to enable a researcher to look at Humboldt points across areas of influence. This is different from the strict statistical view that a single site or sample of sites or areas allows. For example, in my study data sets are compared between areas of habitation (temporary sites where cooking, heating, tool manufacturing and maintenance were conducted) and hunting areas. By comparing the data sets between the two areas in this way, distinctions in spatial relationships have been found that would otherwise have been overlooked.
One of the most significant findings of my study is that data collected from the Hunting Ground sites suggests a linear stratigraphy exists among my proposed Humboldt styles. For example, proposed older type points occur in clusters in areas different from proposed newer ones. In a cave, older points would be located in deeper levels, newer ones in shallower levels. The difference between caves and the open desert is in the distance between artifacts across the desert floor, not in the depth below the surface. Furthermore, spatial relationships between Gatecliff, Elko and Rosegate projectile point occurrences and the proposed Humboldt styles were also found. The reason there are distance differences between the various Humboldt point styles is hinted at by the existence of an ancient lake that borders the Hunting Grounds. This is proven by geomorphic clues such as hanging stream-beds and dry pond beds with wave-cut dune faces. In addition I located many old river channels, some of which are visible only from the air. The age of this ancient lake is addressed at the end of this paper.
The existing archaeological record suggests the Humboldt projectile point series transition time periods are in conjunction with other more recognizable point styles (Jennings 1957, 1988, Thomas 1981, 1983, 1985, Hattori 1982). If so, then one method of testing a temporal seriation of the Humboldt point is to see if the seriated group mirrors the record of co-occurring temporal artifact classes; e.g., similar cumulative percentages as Rosegate, Elko and Gatecliff artifact classes. This theory is tested along the Stillwater Slough. The results appear in this paper.
Two methods of artifact separation exist concerning the Humboldt point. In the first, the widest portion of the artifact is at the base along with a single deep set basal notch. Artifacts that exhibit this trait are called Humboldt Basal-Notch points (Hester and Heizer 1973:2, Bettinger 1978, Thomas 1985). The second method places
120 Greg M. Gedney
the widest portion of the point at about one third the way along the lateral axis as measured from the base with a shallower basal notch, heavier weight and greater thickness (Thomas 1981, 1985). Even with these methods almost 40% of the Humboldt points recovered from Hidden Cave had statistically different attributes and fall into a category called Residual Humboldt (Thomas 1985:201-203). This pattern repeats itself throughout the Great Basin.
Two new projectile point data sets are presented in this paper. Data Set One comes from habitation sites along a 16 kilometer stretch of the Stillwater Slough. The second set came from a unique dried marsh area bordering the slough and used by occupants as a hunting ground. The two study areas presented here account for a total of 25 out of 54 square kilometers surveyed, mapped and recorded since 1977. A total of 203 projectile points were identified, 101 of them Humboldt form. Not all projectile points recorded during this study are presented in this paper.
The first part of this paper offers a brief summary of the study area, research directions being investigated here, and a summary of the Humboldt form projectile point. The second section addresses the methods used in a seriation of Humboldt form points into five statistically separate styles. Each style is referenced to 14C dates in Hidden Cave and Gatecliff Shelter. In the last section this separation of the Humboldt projectile point is tested against the archaeological record I have recorded with very interesting results.
A Brief History Of The Humboldt Form Biface In The Great Basin
Studies in Oregon have shown that Gatecliff (Pinto), Humboldt and Large-Notch forms, while once assigned to the 5000 to 7000 B.P. time range, are in fact earlier and may actually occur as early as 8000 to 9000 B.P (Willig 1988:450). The Dietz site in south-central Oregon is comprised of numerous open-air surface sites situated along the old shorelines of an ancient lake. Through an elaborate study, the elevation of old shoreline sites was used to separate Great Basin Stemmed from Fluted forms (Willig 1988:461-479).
The study establishes the relationship between early Western Clovis and Western Pluvial Lakes Tradition (WPLT) forms. The former occupied sites at an elevation above the old high waterline, the latter at lower elevations. Willig places the WPLT in these sites between 10800 and 7000 B.P. He also convincingly argues the introduction of Northern Side-Notched, Gatecliff (Pinto) and Humboldt forms during the mid to late WPLT, between 7000 and 9000 B.P. (Willig 1988:450).
In southeastern Oregon, Humboldt forms appear in the earliest levels of Dirty Shame Rockshelter. Dates in this Rockshelter fall between 7500 and 8500 B.P. (Hanes 1988:361-369). In Hogup Cave (Aikens 1970:table 4) at the north end of the Great Salt Lake Desert and in Danger Cave located on the western shores of ancient Lake Bonneville, Humboldt and Black Rock Concave Base forms appear around 7800 B.P. (Jennings 1957:105, 106; Aikens 1970:48).
In Western and Central Nevada, the Humboldt form arrived later. At Silent Snake Springs in Humboldt County, Nevada, Humboldt forms in '4C datable strata begin around 6100 B.P. (Layton and Thomas 1979:262). Signs of early occupancy
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 121
(charcoal from fire hearths) and Humboldt forms in Hidden Cave and Gatecliff Shelter begin around 5400 B.P. (Thomas 1983:table 40, 1985).
Open surface sites in the Carson and Humboldt Sinks have yielded Humboldt Concave Base A, Humboldt Concave Base B and Humboldt Basal-Notched points. (Heizer and Clewlow 1968, Kelly 1983b, Plates S. and T, Livingston 1986, Raven 1990 fig. 61, 62, Drews 1988 fig. 52). Early collections from the Humboldt site Nv-Ch-15 by Heizer (1968) and Newhall and Harrington (1924) amassed over 150 of the Humboldt forms. In most of these sites the Humboldt projectile point form continued to be used through 1300 B.P. (Thomas 1983 fig. 66 table 40, 1985, Jennings 1986 fig. 3, O'Connell and Inoway 1994 appendix tables 3, 4, 5).
A review of existing projectile point data establishes that Humboldt forms found along the Stillwater Slough have been called by different names: Humboldt Series, Parowan, Humboldt Basal-Notched, Humboldt Concave Base A and B, and Triple-T Concave Base and Lanceolate-type Cascade points. (Heizer and Clewlow 1968, Hester and Heizer 1973:2, Thomas 1981, 1985, Jennings 1986). T. N. Layton (1970.247254) defines six alternate Humboldt forms which he argues are more representative of climatic changes than are the size-dependent Concave A and B designations. My research conducted along the Stillwater Slough supports this possibility.
This paper uses Thomas' descriptions (1981, 1985) as the default types where possible. I have identified two additional types of Humboldt form points from the data recorded along the Stillwater Slough. The first I call the Humboldt Narrow Base and the other I call the Humboldt Lanceolate as defined later in this paper.
Northern Side-Notched (NSN) points generally are assigned earlier origins than other recognized point forms (Jennings 1986, O'Connell 1971, O'Connell and Inoway 1994). In the Carson Desert they possibly date back over 7000 years. Western Pluvial Lake Tradition points, which pre-date NSN, are found at elevations several hundred feet above the Stillwater Slough (Zeanah 1995:253-264). They are not addressed in this paper.
Stillwater Slough Study Area Orientation
The following sections are intended to orient the reader to the physical area that is the Southern Stillwater Slough. As referenced earlier, Hidden Cave is located in the Grimes Point Archaeological Area. The Stillwater Slough flows north from Grimes Point to the Stillwater Marshes about 28 kilometers total distance. This report addresses the archaeology found along the first 14 kilometers. The Hunting Grounds addressed here figure prominently in this paper because of the spatial relationship found between point styles located on the old marsh bed and between areas of lennette dunes and the Stillwater Slough. Habitation sites are sites which were used for extended periods of time. They are identified by the use of milling stones, burned bits of bone, flakes of rocks and other debris deposited during repeated visits.
The complete data set available from studies of open-air sites along the Stillwater Slough involves over 500 individual sites. In addition, there are burials, hundreds of milling station hearths, thousands of fire-cracked rock pieces and thousands of
122 Greg M. Gedney
mano and metate fragments. Dozens of specialized lithic reduction quarries and lithic tool stone collection areas border the study area. Many details of these sites are not addressed in this paper.
Habitation Sites
Aerial photographs provided by James West, Archaeologist for the Bureau of Rec-
lamation, were used to generate maps indi-
cating the paths of ancient river channels. These channels originate from the west and
intersect the Stillwater Slough at various points along a 10 kilometer stretch. These ancient channels flow through pond beds and marsh habitats that dried up long ago.
Stream channels that drained these "Pond-bed sites" left hanging sloughs, the bottoms of which are almost 2 meters above the original undisturbed level of the Stillwater Slough. The hanging sloughs are visual reminders that the Stillwater Slough has had time to dig almost six feet further into the desert floor since water last flowed from the Pond-bed sites.
Temporal artifacts such as projectile points, beads and core types are used here to establish areas of influence. Platform cores, biface blades and by-products (i.e., biface thinning flakes) were used during Gatecliff/Humboldt, declining during Elko and absent during Rosegate. Bipolar cores and the debris made from them are limited to the Rosegate period (Kelly 1988a). In my study, the Stillwater Slough has been divided into nine individual study areas. Field work from 1989 through 1997 focused on these specific areas and the artifact assemblages in them. Each area is essentially a habitation Locus containing from 3 to 60 Loci as listed. Beads are very helpful in establishing a temporal time period for sites where pot
Illustrations of Stillwater Slough bead types drawn to scale. All shell beads are formed from complete or partial Olivella shells, which were traded from coastal sources. lillustration by Greg Gedney.
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 123
hunters have removed all the projectile points. The previous table helps to identify various bead types found in the Carson Desert and the age associated with them (Pendleton 1985, Hughes and Bennyhoff 1973, Bennyhoff and Hughes 1987, Bennyhoff and Heizer 1958). Area One This area is the largest of the habitation group areas, encompassing over 6 square kilometers. The area has been heavily collected by pot hunters. There are 5 principal Loci within this area. All have Gatecliff, Humboldt and Elko points. Two other Loci contain no diagnostic projectile points but do contain type Ala beads. This area includes all drainages from, and the high shoreline of, Carson Lake. Along the shoreline lie deposits of broken clam shell fragments and fire-cracked rock. Several significant shell middens exist in the dunes south of this study area. Significant undisturbed hearths have been recorded in various site settings. The area contains all diagnostic projectile point types; however, all sites have been disturbed. Isolate Humboldt Lanceolate points dominate the assemblage and only 2 Basal-Notch varieties were located. In April 1998, a very rare, heavily-weathered fluted Humboldt point was located. No other example of this type of point has been recorded in the Carson Desert. Bead types found are Ala and A lb. Area Two The first of 3 stream channels intercepting the slough from the west occur here. Concentrations of sites exist along both water courses. Sites contain Humboldt, Gatecliff and Elko projectile points. Bead types recorded are F3a and G2a. Core types are mixed but platform types predominate. Large biface fragments and reduction flakes are present. Small fragments of incised bone have been observed in a few sites. Most sites contain burned bone fragments.
Area Three The second channel from the west intercepts the slough at this point. Sites are scattered along the margins of old pond and marsh habitats. Projectile points from all occupational phases are represented. No beads were found. Core types are mixed but platform type predominates. Bipolar cores occur only in small lithic clusters located in the dunes.
Area Four The third channel intercepts the slough at this point. There are only three scattered sites without diagnostic artifacts or beads. Bipolar core types predominate.
Area Five This area contains 12 moist sodic bottoms, remnants of the ancient ponds that once stood here. The entire Locus contains at least 10 burials and a dozen significant Loci. Projectile points from all time periods are present. Bipolar Loci occurs with heavy lithic concentrations; platform cores occur throughout and in dune
Drawing of rare Fluted Obsidian Humboldt Point from Area One shown drawn to scale. Artifact exhibits fluting on both faces from the base to a point one-third the way along the lateral axis. This artifact is similar to Basal-Notch artifact 83605 except that artifact has fluting on one face. Both artifacts occur at the high water line described in this report. Illustration by Greg Gedney.
124 Greg M. Gedney
areas between the bipolar clusters. Several large, complete biface blades and numerous biface fragments and reduction flakes have been recorded. Bead types recorded are Ala and Alb. The projectile point assemblage is dominated by Humboldt Small Base, Humboldt Series and Rosegate with lesser representation from Humboldt Basal-Notched, Gatecliff and Elko.
Area Six This entire Locus is a series of overlapping Loci covering an entire square kilometer. The entire Locus contains burials, 15 significant Loci, projectile points that span all time periods, heavy Locus of bipolar cores and platform cores throughout. Large biface blades and blade fragments were recorded. Bead types recorded are Ala and Alb. The projectile point assemblage is dominated by Small Base Humboldt and Humboldt Series points with lesser representation from Gatecliff and Elko series points.
Area Seven Area seven contains the confluence of the New River and Stillwater Sloughs. The area contains three principal Loci, including the original starting point of this study in 1976 (Gedney 1994, Bertaud J. and Gedney 1995). Platform cores predominate. Projectile points representing all time periods are present and include Late Prehistoric Carson Points. Bead types are limited to Ala.
Area Eight This area is located in a Locus that contains a significant old river channel feature. This old channel served as the northern outlet from the pond bed sites and the marsh habitats of areas four and five. Two primary sites lie in this region but both have been picked over by pot hunters. Fortunately, beads are small and difficult to see. I observed and recorded several of them, including a few of the oldest in the data set. Bead types F3a and C3 were recorded in 2 separate locations. The older F3a beads were found in direct site association. The C3 beads were found several hundred meters apart in the area between the two site locations.
Area Nine This area is located at the point where water entered the pond bed sites and marsh habitats for areas four and five. Five diffused surface sites were recorded. No diagnostic projectile points were located. Bead types Ala and G2a were recorded in site settings.
Hunting Ground Location
The Hunting Grounds is an area approximately 8 square kilometers in size. The bed of an ancient marsh extends through the center. To the east, the site borders dunes 2-3 meters tall running northeast-southwest. The dunes continue south about 4 kilometers until they wrap around the southern end of an old lake bed. The dunes extend northeast again to form a rough "U" in the desert floor. The dry playa is about 1.5 kilometers across, open to the north, and about 3 kilometers long. The lower north end terminates at the Stillwater Slough. Hanging streambeds which once discharged from the marsh intercept the slough.
One streambed intercepts where the slough has made a 2 meter deep cut into the valley floor. The streambed hangs about 1.5 meters above the slough and overlies a band of as yet unidentified volcanic ash. The ash is exposed along the length of the slough bank cut and offers future possibilities for dating.
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 125
In 1980, I located the first of several large Gatecliff points in the middle of this dry playa. Why would large points appear in the wide open playa miles from habitation sites? The possibility of a lake was suggested in 1989 when I located a large "nob" type fishing net weight buried on the shoulders of a small dune about 1 meter above the playa bottom. This artifact is very similar to one found along the north shores of Pyramid Lake. (Tuohy 1988, fig 3). From 1990 to present this area has received special attention in my studies.
The data bases for the Hunting Grounds study area were recorded over a 15 year span. Tight spatial control was maintained throughout the mapping and recording process using an existing centrally-located Bench Marker. In 1992, the master map was changed to Universal Transverse Meridian (UTM) format and the entire 56 square kilometer study area is controlled by the established UTM designations as shown on common topographic maps. The maximum depth of this marsh is about 1.5 meters, the width is over 1500 meters and the length is 3800 meters. A water depth of 1 meter and less is sufficient to support a marsh habitat (Thompson and Raymond 1988). Water depths of 1 meter or greater support fish species such as Tui Chub, mammals such as muskrats and numerous avian species (Raymond and Parks, 1989: figure 4). For example, recent analysis of faunal remains from 26ch17/30 near Grimes Point found cultural features with muskrat comprising 83% of the bone remains.
Separation of the Humboldt Point Into Time Sensitive Segments
Table 2: NSN = Northern Side-Notched, HL = Humboldt Lanceolate, HS = Humboldt Series, HSB = Humboldt Small Base, HNB = Humboldt Narrow Base, HBN = Humboldt Basal-Notch.
126 Greg M. Gedney
Observation: Upon reviewing illustrated Humboldt artifacts from Gatecliff and Hidden Caves, I recognized familiar patterns in the 2 sets of projectile points. Specifically, artifacts recovered in the upper levels of both sites had similar attributes to the Humboldt Basal-Notch form as defined by Thomas. Also, Humboldt points recovered from strata levels dating between 3500 and 4500 B.P. tend to be smaller versions of the larger Humboldt Series points that were recovered in deeper, older contexts. Influenced by my study of the point type within open site settings, I recognized that patterns in the basal margins, basal width, notch depth and lateral length/base width repeated themselves in the two cave collections. I thought it might be possible to use these attributes and attempt a serration. If so, it might be possible to assign temporal sequencing for the seriated points based on Type Point correlations with associated '4C dates found in Gatecliff Shelter and Hidden Cave.
Type Points
Referencing the illustrations found in figure 83 of Thomas' (1983), Gatecliff Shelter, and Figures 61, 63 and 64 of Thomas' (1985), Hidden Cave, two observations become clear. About half the Humboldt Series points can be distinguished by their measurable attributes as recognized by the Monitor Valley typology (Thomas 1981: 11-13). In the case of the Humboldt Basal-Notched biface addressed by Thomas during this work in Hidden Cave (Thomas 1985: 196), the rest cannot. Humboldt Basal-Notched and Humboldt Series readily separate based on simple measurements of the medial width to base position, depth of the notch and weight. Unfortunately, bifaces that fall outside these two styles reside in archaeological limbo. Two additional observations can be drawn from the existing data:
I. Points in the uppermost levels of both sites share a common feature. The basal notch is especially deep and the widest portion of the biface is at the base, in effect forming a triangle. This feature is very consistent between the sets.
II. Except for small Humboldt-looking points, projectile points in the lowest levels type as Humboldt Series. It is important to note that the remaining out-of-key types (40%) identified by Thomas as Residual Humboldt co-occur in deeper deposits with the Humboldt Series.
If you think about it, these observations serve to form a rough separation of time. '4C dates matched with morphological changes in the Humboldt points suggest Humboldt points separate
Three typical obsidian Humboldt Basal-Notch points. Artifact 83605 has a single flute along the ventral face. Drawn to scale by Greg Gedney.
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 127
into three distinct time periods. The Humboldt Basal-Notched represent Mid to Late Elko, Small Humboldt Series represent the Gatecliff through Elko periods and the early Archaic usage is represented by the Humboldt Series and Humboldt Lancoeolate points. Humboldt Basal-Notched points have been dated at other sites. One Basal-Notch point was recovered from South Fork Shelter by Heizer, Baumhoff and Clewlow (1968) with an associated Radiocarbon date of 3320 ±200 B.P. However, the term Basal-Notch is not applied today as it was in 1968. In Hidden Cave, Basal-Notched points are found primarily in Stratum II with dates that bracket approximately 2000-2950 B.P.
Humboldt Basal-Notched
Typical legend: Bold type in the descriptions indicates the primary determining attribute used in separation of the artifact classes.
La/Lt = max.axial Length/max. Length, Lt/Wm = max. Length/max. Width, Wb/ Wm = Basal Width/max. Width, Lm/Lt = Length-prox. to Wm, Wgt. = Weight in Grams. BIR = basal indentation ratio.
Thomas (1985:196) has defined this point category as Wgt. >3.0gr., length >30.0mm, thickness >4.0mm, Wb/Wm > 0.95, Wb/Wm X=< 10% with a BIR X = 0.91. The type is essentially triangular in shape, widest at the bottom with a pronounced basal notch usually produced with small pressure flakes on both faces. This type description works fairly well along the Stillwater Slough. However, the point type tends to be smaller and lighter. (BIR-La/Lt = 0.89, Lt/Wm = 2.45, Wb/ Wm = 0.98, Lm/Lt = 0.22, Wgt. 1.4gr.) a common finding in the Carson Desert and Stillwater Marshes (Elston and Raven 1988, Raven 1990, Bertaud and Gedney 1995). Distribution of the point type in Hidden Cave was confined to Strata I and II. In Gatecliff Shelter, these artifacts were found bracketed between '4C dates of 2945
B.P. and 2020 B.P. (±90) (Thomas 1983:table 2). The data suggests the point type co-occurred with the Elko, Late-Elko series points.
Humboldt Narrow Based
This category is created to track a particular type found along the Stillwater Slough. Similar forms are represented at Gatecliff Shelter in Horizons 9/10 (Thomas 1983: fig.22); dates bracket between 3340 B.P. and 4100 B.P. ±60. The type appears in the Falcon Hills Sites, specifically in Shinners Cache "C" with associated '4C dates of 4030 B.P. (Hattori
Humboldt Narrow Base Points. Note the serrated edges of artifact 941024. Artifacts 83607 and 97514 are made from locally obtained chert, 941024 is made from gray streaked obsidian. Drawn to scale by Greg Gedney.
128 Greg M. Gedney
1982: fig.44). In the Shelter the artifacts are broad-leafed Lanceolate shaped, but with noticeably small (tiny) basal notches (Thomas 983: fig. 83e,J). In Shinners Cache "C" the points more closely resemble the Stillwater Slough types in that they are long and slender, almost needle-like in form. This form of basal notching is not observed in any other Horizon at Gatecliff Shelter. It was observed on only two artifacts in Hidden Cave; one was deep down in Strata IX/X (5365 B.P. ±). The other was recorded at the surface level, effectively un-datable (Thomas 1985: fig. 63e,83a). I recognized the form of basal notching used as also occurring in artifacts recorded from along the slough. However, Humboldt points along the slough are not wide, but rather long and needle-like.
I have assigned the following mean attributes for the point type based on the representative data found along the Stillwater Slough, as shown in table 2. (La/Lt = 0.95, Lt/Wm, 3.61, Wb/Wm = 0.87, Lm/Lt = 0.21, Wgt. 1.35gr.). The narrow base and needle-like form exhibited by this point type is rare among Humboldt points from the slough and 'type' collections, and for that reason it is tracked separately. The bracketed 14C dates for Horizons 9/10 are contemporaneous with the Elko period. The existing data suggests this unique form should be present in association with Gatecliff and Elko artifacts.
Humboldt Small Base
Small lightweight Humboldt-like points are not recognized by the Monitor Valley typology. Nevertheless they exist along the Stillwater Slough and are found in Horizon 12 at Gatecliff Shelter and in stratum IV and IX/X in Hidden Cave. Sample size at Gatecliff Shelter and Hidden Cave is small; however, when viewed in context with the archaeological data presented here the style argues for separate temporal distinction. Data presented here suggests the type occurs pre to late Gatecliff.
Humboldt Concave Base A and B forms are essentially the same except for their size (Hattori 1982:130). Studies are lacking which address the reasons behind these variables or whether these variables mean anything other than user choice. Using the archaeological data contained herein, differences in regional usage suggest that the two forms were not used together and are separate. Distinctions between areas of influence suggest that the larger Humboldt Series points pre-date the Small Based. Along the Stillwater Slough, the Humboldt Small Based points are about one third to one half of the size of Thomas' Monitor Valley definitions of the Humboldt Series point (defined below). From the data available at Gatecliff Shelter (Thomas 1983: table 2), I observed that the smaller point type seemed to cluster in Horizons 11 and 12 with 14C dates
Humboldt Small Base Points, all are made from obsidian. Drawn to scale by Greg Gedney.
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 129
that bracket between 4140 B.P. to 5250 B.P. (±120). In Hidden Cave, the type is in Strata IX/X, 4000 B.P.± and 5360 B.P.± (Thomas 1985 fig.64). For the purposes of this paper this type of Humboldt point is treated separately from the Humboldt Basal-Notched and Humboldt Series points. Associated 14C dates suggest the time frame of the point may be contemporaneous with the Gatecliff and possibly early Elko periods. If so, there should be correlations between this artifact occurrence and Gatecliff/Elko sites and hunting activities along the slough. Except for its lighter weight, the attributes for the Small Based point are as defined for the Humboldt Series. Mean attributes for the data set are La/Lt = 0.92, Lt/Wm = 2.39, Wb/Wm = 0.812, Lm/Lt = 0.409, Wgt. 1.08gr.
Humboldt Series
As defined by Thomas (1981:25-26, 1985:200), the Humboldt Series points
differ from the Humboldt Basal-Notched in their higher maximum width position
and lower basal width/maximum width ratio. Typically the widest portion along
the lateral axis is about a third of the way up the point (MWP X = 3 5%). As
described by Thomas (1985:200), "Humboldt Series points are lanceolate with
excurvate margins and contracting shallow concave bases often with basal margins slightly flared forming small sharp ears. The bases are more shallow than the Humboldt Basal-Notched (BIR X = 0.94)." In Gatecliff Shelter, the point type appears in Horizon 14 and at Hidden Cave, the style was located on the surface (undatable), Strata III/IV and IX/X. The bracketed '4C dates of Horizon 14 are 4850 B.P. to 5480 B.P. (±80). It is note-
worthy that the Humboldt Se-
ries points appear to fall out of use at Hidden Cave and Gatecliff Shelter around
4800 B.P. However, the small Humboldt points addressed above started at similar
times and continued for an additional 800 years. Additional Radiocarbon dates in
association with Humboldt Series points are 3750 B.P. in Kramer Cave and 4030
±85 B.P. at Shinners Site C (Hattori 1982:130). Mean attributes for the data set are
La/Lt = 0.92, Lt/Wm = 2.80, Wb/Wm = 0.841, Lm/Lt = 0.334, Wgt. 1.76gr.
Humboldt Lanceolate/Convex Base
Willow-leaf Lanceolate forms were found in Hogup and Danger Caves in strata with 4C dates that bracket 6500 to 8000 B.P. (Aikens 1970:table 4, Jennings 1957:105,106). These point styles pre-date all other Humboldt forms. At Dirty Shame Rockshelter in extreme southeastern Oregon, similar points are located in
Humboldt Series Points. All are made from obsidian. The artifacts are 75% heavier than the Small Based. Drawn to scale by Greg Gedney.
130 Greg M. Gedney
Humboldt Lanceolate Points. 891105 and 86119 are made from obsidian, 931010 is made from basalt and all have contracting stems. The level of workmanship on 891105 is excellent. 86119 exhibits marks of reuse and resharpening, common for artifacts located in the Hunting Ground area. Drawn to scale by Greg Gedney.
strata with '4C dates between 7800 and 8500 B.P. (Hanes 1988:361-163). This type is not present in either Hidden Cave or Gatecliff Shelter. It is however, present along the Stillwater Slough and around Grimes Point. Several empirical judgments lead me to believe this is a separate style, older than Gatecliff and may be transitory between Great Basin Stemmed Points and the Humboldt Series.
What the Data Tells Us
I have recorded 203 typed projectile points from the study area. Because of space constraints, details on point types other than Humboldt forms cannot be detailed here. References to the overall project data base are used in general terms when addressing the archaeology of the region. The archaeology of the Stillwater Slough region is unique in the fact that 48% of the collection is composed of Humboldt points. The data supports a connection between habitation site users and the hunting ground users in that the percentages of the two assemblages are almost identical. Archaeological data supports a marsh reduction to the lowest levels of the lake bed during the Elko period.
From June 1976 through April 1998, 101 Humboldt forms were recorded along the Stillwater Slough. The data was used to separate the study area collection into five styles. All points were measured, recorded and illustrated in the field. Many remain in place. Many more, however, have been picked up over the years by pot hunters or trampled into the desert floor by cattle. For the Hunting Ground area, Humboldt forms dominate in all sections. What few surface sites occur in the Hunting Ground area are always scattered and diffuse, exhibiting characteristic effects of having been pluvially disturbed similar to sites in the Stillwater Marsh during the flooding in 1983-1986.
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 131
A substantial volume of literature has been dedicated to the subject of seriation and its implications on the archaeological record. (Baumhoffand Byrne 1958, Bettinger 1978, Bettinger, O'Connell and Thomas 1991, Elston 1988, Fagen 1988, Flenniken and Wilke 1989, Hester and Heizer 1973, Layton and Thomas 1979, O'Connell 1967, 1975, O'Connell and Inoway 1994, Raven 1990, Thomas 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985). The seriation presented here does not depend upon artifact size (e.g. big or small), although that attribute is helful in separating Small Based from Humboldt Series. Instead it relies on ratio attributes derived from the artifact's base position related to length, depth of notch and base size in relation to length. This method better defines divisions in the previous Humboldt Concave Base A and B designations. (Hiezer 1973, Jennings 1986).
Data on seriated Humboldt points between the two principal study sets indicates several interesting differences. The biggest discrepancy between sets is the ratio difference in Humboldt Series to Humboldt Small Based points. In the Hunting Ground area, the Humboldt Series points outnumber the Small Based series by a ratio of 19:6. However, in the habitation sites the ratio is completely reversed Humboldt Small Based outnumber the Humboldt Series by a ratio of 20:7. This data statistically supports what field observation had detected years ago: Humboldt Small Based points dominate the "Humboldt" assemblage along the slough. Humboldt Series and Humboldt Lanceolate points dominate the assemblage in the Hunting Grounds.
Humboldt Lanceolate points do not appear in habitation sites along the slough. However, they occur in 55% of the hunting ground sections and in areas around Grimes Point. Interestingly, the points occur at the eastern and southern margins of the Hunting Grounds. This is the high water line of the ancient lake. (See map at end of this article.) Humboldt Series and Humboldt Lanceolate points account for 65% of the Hunting Ground assemblage.
Humboldt Basal-Notch points occurred in 33% of the habitation site areas and 55% of the Hunting Ground sections. Interestingly, the distribution of the Humboldt Basal-Notch points from the habitation site areas cluster in the central and southern regions. The artifacts occur in the western margins of the Hunting Ground area but not in the marsh bed or eastern margins.
Humboldt Narrow Based points in the habitation site areas outnumber Narrow Based points in the Hunting Ground sections by 6:1. The artifacts are associated with habitation sites and not the Hunting Ground sites. This suggests the style was not in use with Humboldt Series or Lanceolate points or it would be found in the Hunting Ground area. The data suggests a usage more contemporaneous with the Humboldt Small Base points.
Humboldt Series points occur across the entire marsh. It is interesting to note that Gatecliff/Pinto points are the only other artifact class also found across the entire marsh bed. In the habitation sites, Humboldt Series points comprise only 11% of the Humboldt form artifact assemblage. In the marsh, the form comprises 44% of the entire collection. The data suggests the form was in use when the marsh was at its maximum.
132 Greg M. Gedney
In many respects, the total number of Humboldt points reported here is not large—only 101. However, it should be noted that this Humboldt point data base is larger than Hidden Cave, Gatecliff Shelter, Silent Snake Springs and the Raven and Elston collections from 1988-1990 combined.
What Does it all Mean?
Data collected from Hidden Cave and Gatecliff Shelter added to our knowledge of how far back in time Humboldt points occur. The data presented here goes beyond the stratigraphic knowledge gained from those sites, and places the Humboldt point into the actual areas of usage. Rock shelters and caves offered areas of congregation and shelter to the earliest inhabitants of the Carson Desert. However, the expansive marsh land offered the best possibilities for something to eat (Tuohy 1969, 1989, Tuohy and Napton 1986, Raven 1988, 1990, Zeanah et. al. 1995). Changing distribution patterns between projectile point styles as measured against a shrinking resource, the marsh, offers the best example of what I term "areas of influence." Viewed one way, caves and rock shelters are static; they collect artifacts brought into them and abandoned or lost. The marsh and its environs however, are dynamic, changing. Archaeologists have long acknowledged open-air surface sites to be the dominant archaeological record available for study in the Carson Desert (Grosscup 1956, 1960, Heizer and Kreiger 1956, Heizer and Clewlow 1968, Loud and Harrington 1929, Thomas 1985). The data presented here suggests open-air archaeology may offer some answers to questions that caves and rock shelters have not been able to answer.
Caves offer the comfort of stratification but areas of influence can show shifts in habitat on a linear scale. In the example of the Stillwater Slough, the area of influence under archaeological stratification is 56 square kilometers or about 16,000 acres. Site and artifact records were compiled for twenty years before this serration was applied. During this twenty-year span, no new significant data addressing the Humboldt point phenomenon has surfaced. The archaeological record I have uncovered along the Stillwater Slough is an interesting addition to a sparse record.
Threats to the Archaeological Record
In the classic sense the entire Southern Stillwater Slough study area is really one large site or Loci; it just happens to have over 500 Locus within it. It also is the last remaining section of undisturbed water course in the Carson Desert. The first 10 kilometers of the Stillwater Slough have been federally protected land since 1903. This has protected the sites from encroaching development but not from the ravages of cattle or pot hunters. I first started taking field notes in October 1976. Cattle were present but I never noticed damage to sites because of them. During the 1980s this changed. The wet years of 1983-1986 softened the ground and cattle, in effect, turned into "Bovine Bombers." The problem has persisted through the late 1990s. Unfortunately, up to 90% of the sites close to the slough have been dam-
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 133
aged. Fortunately, the Hunting Ground area is remote, without grasses to attract the cattle and the damage is less. The problems are greatest in March, April and early May when the ground is wet. If grazing were curtailed until after the ground hardens in May it would greatly reduce the damage.
This paper has established the existence of a utilized marsh at the Hunting Ground site location. Coincidentally or not, the location of the Hunting Ground site falls exactly on the 3915' elevation of Morrison's third Fallon Lake (Morrison 1964). Another possibility is that persistent lakes formed in the Carson Sink during the Early or Early Late Holocene causing marshes to form farther upstream. (Elston, Raven and Baldrica 1992:15). One of the most famous of Churchill County's archaeological sites is the Humboldt Lake bed site near Lovelock. This site rested on the margins of a lake where the Humboldt River drained into the Humboldt Sink. With the advent of computer-aided graphics we now know that a second equally large site occurred at the southern end of the Carson Desert where the Stillwater Slough drained into the Carson Sink. (See map on delta sites on page 135.) The elevations of these two sites are nearly identical. The significance of this find helps to explain why Hidden Cave was utilized so extensively during the Gatecliff period, about 4300 to 3800 years ago.
After considering the data presented here, I want to return for a moment to the "knobbed-type" fishing weight reported at the beginning of this paper. The artifact was found eroding out the shoulders of a large dune at the very edge of the playa. This dune is in fact the last of several dunes that formed islands extending into a standing body of water. The artifact occurred at 1.1 meters above the playa and had been buried. The bed of the Stillwater Slough is located about 2 kilometers north of this point at an elevation about 2.5 meters below the bed of the marsh playa. Stream-beds that drain the marsh bed into the slough were left hanging about 1.5 meters above the current slough bed. This means that at the time the two streams were joined, a standing body of water 1.5 meters deep would have reached from the slough to the dune containing the fishing weight and beyond. The high water mark of this marsh/lake occurs 2 kilometers further along the southern end of the hunting ground. Humboldt Series and Humboldt Lanceolate points dominate all projectile point assemblages at the high water margins. The only other place Humboldt Lanceolate points were recorded is along the high water margin of Carson Lake.
Conclusion
The data presented here supports the contention that Humboldt points have sub-groups. These sub-groups represent specific time periods contemporaneous and probably transitory with Pre-Gatecliff, Gatecliff and Elko occupations. This conclusion is supported by the establishment of a linear stratigraphy across separate areas of influence along the Stillwater Slough and across a broad, dry marsh bed. Humboldt points appear to fall out of use during the Rosegate Period.
134 Greg M. Gedney
Hunting grounds map with ancient Carson Lake shore shown in relation to artifact and site locations as mapped in the field At least five ancient lakes filled the Carson Sink and this shoreline represents the third one. Note the small island near the center of the map which contains the net weight. Today, this island is nothing more than a dune several meters high on the valley floor.
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 135
Ancient Stillwater Slough Delta sites around the inlet to an ancient Carson Sink lake. Note the spit of land which juts out into the lake. The lakeshore shown exiting the map on the left lines up with the lakeshore exiting the right of the hunting grounds map for a complete view of the two areas.
136 Greg M. Gedney
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to thank the many people who have assisted and given guidance since 1992. Especially helpful were Dr. James West, Dr. David Hurst Thomas, Dr. Robert Kelly, Dr. Robert Elston and Dr. David Zeanah. I would also like to thank Jon Bolton for his help in preparing the maps and the staff at the Churchill County Museum for their continued support.
We shall not cease from exploring
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
Footnotes
Aikens, C. Melvin
1970 Hogup Cave. University of Utah Anthropological Papers, 93. Salt Lake City. Bard, J.C., C.I. Busby, and J.M. Findley
1981 A Cultural Resources Overview of the Carson and Humboldt Sinks, Nevada. Bureau
of Land Management. Cultural Resources Series 2. Reno.
Bertaud J. and Greg Gedney
1995 Carson Points along the Stillwater Slough: An Archaeological Enigma. In In Focus Annual Journal of the Churchill County Museum Association 8(1):pp. 117-124. Baumhoff, Martin A. and J.S. Byrne
1958 Desert Side-Notched Points as a Time Marker in California. University of California
Archaeological Reports, no. 48, pp. 32-65.
Bennyhoff, J.A., and R.F. Heizer
1958 Cross-Dating Great Basin Sites by California Shell Beads. University of California
Anthropological Survey Reports 43:60-92. Berkeley.
Bennyhoff, J.A., and R.F. Hughes
1987 Shell Bead and Ornament Exchange Between California and the Western Great Basin. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 64(2). New York.
Bettinger, R.L.
1978 Humboldt Basal-Notched Bifaces as time markers in the Western Great Basin.
Tebiwa 10:1-7.
Bettinger, R.L., J.F. O'Connell, and D.H. Thomas
1991 Projectile Points as Time Markers in the Great Basin. American Anthropologist
93(1):166-172.
Carter A.J. and David W. Zeanah
1995 Sample Units and Their Contents. In An Optimal Foraging Model of Hunter-Gatherer Land Use in the Carson Desert. Edited by D.W. Zeanah. Sean Intermountain Research, Silver City, Nevada for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Dept. of the Navy.
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 137
Clewlow, C. William Jr.
1967 Time and Space Relations of Some Great Basin Projectile Point Types. University of California Archaeological Survey Reports. 70: 141-150
1968 Projectile Points from Lovelock Cave. University of California Archaeological
Survey Reports, no. 71, pp. 89-101.
Davis, Jonathan 0., and Mary K. Rusco
1987 The Old Humboldt Site - 26Pe670. In Studies in Archaeology, Geology and Paleontology at Rye Patch Reservoir, Pershing County, Nevada, ed. Rusco, Mary K. and Jonathan 0. Davis pp. 41-73. Nevada State Museum Anthropological Papers Number 20. Carson City.
Drews, M.P.
1988 Projectile Points In Preliminary Investigations in Stillwater Marsh : Human Prehistory and Geoarchaeology vol. 1, edited by C.Raven and R.G, Elston. pp. Intermountain Research, Silver City, Nevada.
Elston, R.G.
1986 Prehistory of the Western Area. In Great Basin, ed. W.L. d'Azevedo, pp 135-148. Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 11 W.G. Sturtevant, general editor. Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
1988 Flaked Stone Tools. In Preliminary Investigations in Stillwater Marsh: Human Prehistory and Geoarchaeology, ed. C. Raven and R.G. Elston, pp. 155-183. USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, Cultural Resource Series Number 1.
Elston, R.G., K.L. Katzer, and D.R. Currey
1988 Chronological Summary. In Preliminary Investigations in Stillwater Marsh: Past Present, and Future Archaeological Research in the Carson Desert, ed. C. Raven and R.G. Elston, pp. 367-378. Intermountian Research, Silver City, Nevada. USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, Cultural Resource Series Number 1. Portland.
Elston, R.G., C. Raven and A. M. Baldrica
1992 Prehistoric Wetland Adaptations in the Carson Desert and Humboldt Sink: An Element of the Nevada State historic Preservation Plan. Funded by Historic Preservation Funds from the National Park Service. Cooperative Agreement CA 800098004.
Fagen, John L.
1988 Clovis and Western Pluvial Lakes Tradition Lithic Technologies at the Dietz Site in South-Central Oregon. In Early Human Occupation in far Western North America: The Clovis-Archaic Interface, ed. Judith A. Willig, C. Melvin Aikens, and John L. Fagan, pp. 389-416. Nevada State Museum Anthropological Papers Number 21. Carson City.
Flenniken, J. J., and Philip J. Wilke
1989 Typology, Technology, and Chronology of Great Basin Dart Points. American
Anthropologist. 91:149-158
Fowler, Catherine S.
1992 In the Shadow of Fox Peak: An Ethnography of the Cattail-Eater Northern Paiute People of Stillwater Marsh. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge. Cultural Resource Series No. 5 U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Gedney, Gregory M.
1994 Carson Points Along the Stillwater Slough: A Study of the Carson Point Occurrence in the Carson Desert and Stillwater Marshes of Churchill County, Nevada. Southern Stillwater Slough Archaeological Research Project. Draft Report.
Grosscup, G.L.
1956 The Culture History of Lovelock Cave, Nevada. University of California Archaeological Survey Reports 52: 1-72.
138 Greg M. Gedney
1960 The Culture History of Lovelock Cave, Nevada. University of California Archaeological Survey Reports, no. 52
1974 Northern Paiute Archaeology. Paiute Indians, vol. 4. Garland Publishing, Inc.,
New York. pp. 1-37
Hattori, E.M.
1982 The Archaeology of Falcon Hill, Winnemucca Lake, Washoe County, Nevada.
Nevada State Museum Anthropological Papers, No. 18.
Heizer, R.F. and A.D. Krieger
1956 The Archaeology of Humboldt Cave, Churchill County, Nevada. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 47. Berkeley. Heizer, C.F. and .C.W. Clewlow Jr.
1968 Projectile Points From Site Nv-ch-15, Churchill County, Nevada. University of
California Archaeological Survey Reports. 71. Pp. 1-58
Hester, T.R. and Robert F. Hiezer
1973 Review and Discussion of Great Basin Projectile Points: Forms and Chronology.
University California Archaeological Research Facility.
Hughes, R.E. and J.A. Bennyhoff
1986 Early Trade. In Great Basin, ed. W.L. d'Azevedo, pp. 238-255. Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 11, W.C. Sturtvant, general editor. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Jennings, J.D.
1957 Danger Cave. University of Utah Anthropological Papers 27. Salt Lake City. Kelly, R.L.
1983a Hunter-Gather Mobility Strategies. Journal of Anthropological Research 39: 277306.
1983b An examination of Amateur Collections From the Carson Sink, Nevada. Bureau of Land Management Technical Report No. 10.
1985 Present Environment and History. In The Archaeology of Hidden Cave, Nevada. Edited by D.H.Thomas, pp. 34-46. American Museum of Natural History, Anthropological Papers, No. 61, Part 1. New York.
1988a The Three Sides of a Biface. American Antiquity, 53(4): 717-734
1988b Hunter-Gather Land Use and Regional Geomorphology: Implications For Archaeo-
logical Survey. American Archaeology 7(1): 49-57.
Layton, Thomas N.
1970 High Rock Archaeology. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of
Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge.
Layton, Thomas N. and David H. Thomas
1979 The Archaeology of Silent Snake Springs, Humboldt County, Nevada. American Museum of Natural History Anthropological Papers, vol. 55 part 3, pp. 249-270. Livingston, S.
1986 The Archaeology of the Humboldt Lakebed Site. Journal of California and Great
Basin Anthropology. 8(1): 99-115
Loud, L.L. and Mark R. Harrington
1929 Lovelock Cave. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and
Ethnology 25. Berkeley.
Morrison, R.B.
1964 Lake Lahontan: Geology of Southern Carson Desert, Nevada. US. Geological
Survey Professional Paper 401. Washington, D.C.
O'Connell, J.F.
1967 Elko Eared/Elko Corner-Notched Projectile Points as Time Markers in the Great Basin. University Of California Archaeological Survey Reports. 70:129-140.
1975 The Prehistory of Surprise Valley. Ballena Press Anthropological Papers No.4. Ramona, California.
Humboldt Points Along the Stillwater Slough 139
O'Connell, J.F., and C.M. Inoway
1994 Surprise Valley Projectile Points and Their Chronological Implications. Journal
of California and Great Basin Anthropology.
Pendleton, L.A.
1985 Material Culture: Artifacts of Shell. In The Archaeology of Hidden Cave, Nevada.
by D.H.Thomas, pp. 226-237. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 58(2). New York.
Pendleton, L.A., A. McLane, and D.H. Thomas
1982 Cultural Resources Overview, Carson City District, Western Central Nevada.
Bureau of Land Management Cultural Resource Series 5. Reno.
Raven, C.
1988. Preliminary Investigations in Stillwater Marsh, Human Prehistory and Geoarch-aeology, ed. C. Raven and R.G. Elston, pp. Intermountian Research, Silver City, Nevada. USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, Cultural Resource Series Number 1. Portland.
Raven, C.
1990a Islands in the Sink: Archaeological Patterns at the Margin of the Carson Sink. Intermountian Research Silver City, Nevada.
1990b Prehistoric Human Geography in the Carson Desert, Part 2: Archaeological Field Tests of Model Predictions. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, Cultural Resource Series 4.
Raven, C. and R.G. Elston
1989 Prehistoric Human Geography in the Carson Desert Part 1: A Predictive Model of Land-Use in the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area Intermountain Research Silver City, Nevada.
Raymond, A.W. and V.M. Parks
1989 Surface Archaeology of Stillwater Marsh, Churchill County, Nevada. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
1990 Archaeology Sites Exposed By Recent Flooding of Stillwater Marsh Carson Desert, Churchill County, Nevada. In Wetland Adaptations in the Great Basin. Museum of the Peoples and Cultures; Occasional paper no. 1 Brigham Young University, Provo. Rusco, M.K., and J.O.Davis
1987 Studies in Archaeology, Geology and Paleontology of Rye Patch Reservoir, Pershing
County, Nevada. Nevada State Museum, Carson City.
Roust, Norman L. and C. William Clewlow, Jr.
1968 Projectile Points From Hidden Cave (NV-ch-16) Churchill County Nevada. University of California Archaeological Survey Reports, no. 71, pp 103-115. Thomas, D.H.
1979 Archaeology. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
1981 How to Classify the Projectile Points from Monitor Valley, Nevada. In Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 3:7-43.
1983 The Archaeology of Monitor Valley 2: Gatecliff Shelter, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 59(1). New York.
1985 The Archaeology of Hidden Cave, Anthropological Papers of the American of
Natural History 61(1). New York.
Tuohy, D.R.
1969 The Test Excavation of Hanging Rock Cave, Churchill County, Nevada. Part 2 of " Miscellaneous Papers on Nevada Archaeology," edited by Doris L. Randall and Donald R. Tuohy, Nevada State Museum Anthropological Papers No. 14, pp. 26-67. Carson City, Nevada.
1986 Duck Decoys From Lovelock Cave, Nevada Dated by C-14 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry," American Antiquity, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp 813-816.
CONTRIBUTORS
Russell Armstrong is a native of Nebraska. The former Marine Captain holds among his decorations, the Navy Cross and Purple Heart. He and his wife Connie own the Bench-Mark Ranch on Swingle Bench. Along with his fervent interest in history, he is an enthusiastic horseman and combines the two in order to accomplish and compile his historical research.
Bunny Cushman Corkill is a member of a seven generation Lahontan Valley family. She is the Research Curator at the Churchill County Museum.
Gregory M. Gedney, a native Nevadan, became interested in archaeology at the age of nine, while living with his grandparents in Fallon. Since then he has spent over twenty years researching archaeology along the Stillwater Slough. He received an Associates Degree from the Phoenix Institute of Technology in Arizona and currently lives in Denver, Colorado, where he is an associate at MKK Consulting Engineers.
John Joseph Hanifan is a Fallon native. Retired, he enjoys traveling and fishing with his grandchildren. He is currently a member of the Churchill County Museum Board of Trustees and is involved with the Museum's Oral History Project.
Frances Pacheco Hooper is a member of the Fallon Pai-Sho Tribe. She and her husband, Ernest, generously share their knowledge of the Paiute and Shoshone "old ways" and their collections of Native American artifacts with others.
James "Gib" Mackedon is a Fallon native, businessman, a volunteer fireman, Little League coach and avid duck hunter.
Michon Maupin Mackedon is an English instructor at Western Nevada Community College where she was honored in 1996 and 1999 as Instructor of the Year. She holds a B.A. degree in history and a Masters Degree in English, both from the University of Nevada. She continues to work on her book dealing with the nuclear age in Nevada. She is Co-Editor of In Focus.
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Karen McNary presently serves as the Education Curator at the Churchill County Museum. She has established the museum's first docent program and her monthly "Trip into the Past" activity days for children are very well received. Karen has a B.A. in Art and Ecology with a focus in the fiber arts. She has furthered her studies through workshops in dyeing. Her article this year has allowed Karen to combine her interests in art and ecology into one subject—natural dyes.
Pam Nelson is Photography Curator at the Churchill County Museum. She spent three years at the Nevada State Museum interning with the exhibit and registrar departments and currently interns at the Nevada Historical Society in her spare time. After working for the Churchill County School District for ten years, she has returned to the museum field and on May 16, 1999, received a B.A. degree from the University of Nevada, in museum studies and library science.
Student Papers were written by Western Nevada Community College students during the first semester of the 1998-1999 academic year. The authors were students of Criminal Justice instructor Thomas D. Goodson.
Jane Pieplow has been the Director/Curator of the Churchill County Museum since November of 1992. In addition to her museum duties, she also enjoys arranging music for and performing with her Fallon friends who make up Harmony Five. They have just released their second collection of songs, which includes poems by Fallon's cowboy poet Stan Lehman, entitled Harmony Five and Friends. Jane is co-editor and the mastermind behind the production of In Focus.
CHURCHILL COUNTY
MUSEUM & ARCHIVES
1050 South Maine Street
Fallon, NV 89406
Phone (775) 423-3677
Fax (775) 423-3662
e-mail: ccmuseum@phonewave.net
Web site: ccmuseum.org
MUSEUM STAFF
Jane Pieplow, Director/Curator
Bunny Corkill, Research Curator
Shery Hayes-Zorn, Registrar
Karen McNary, Curator of Education
Pam Nelson, Photograph Curator
Paulie Alles, Hostess
Cindy Loper, Hostess
Georgine Scheuermann, Hostess
Bob Walker, Host
Brad Sumner, Museum Assistant
IN FOCUS STAFF
Michon Mackedon, Co-Editor
Jane Pieplow, Co-Editor
Pam Nelson, Photo Curator
Bunny Corkill, Research Curator
PRODUCTION CREDITS 1998-1999 ISSUE
Production Photography: Janet Schmidt, Karen Corkill
Typesetting: Laser Printer and PageMaker software
Production: Braun-Brumfield, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan
FOUNDED IN 1967, the Churchill County Museum Association seeks to advance the study and preservation of local history. The Association does this through special programs, exhibits in the Churchill County Museum & Archives, which opened in 1968, and this publication, Churchill County In Focus. The Association is also active in the collection and preservation of historic photographs and it collects manuscripts, maps, artifacts and books, making its collections available for research. The Museum is the repository for both the City of Fallon and Churchill County government records.