About 10 miles southeast of Fallon, Nevada on US Highway 50, there is a place known as the Grimes Point Archaeological Area. Over the last 10,000-21,000 years, the level of ancient Lake Lahontan fluctuated widely due to natural climate changes. At times, the water was so high, it formed a fresh water lake that extended from Honey Lake in California to Lake Bonneville in Utah. … [Read more...]
Johntown, the first ghost town in Nevada
Most Nevadans know where the principal towns and cities of the Comstock are located. We locals and most tourists know about Virginia City, Gold Hill and Silver City. What many people do not know is that the Comstock mining district included many other nearby towns that contributed greatly to the history of the fabulous Comstock Lode. These include Dayton, which was the “Gateway … [Read more...]
Carson City Mint’s coin press No. 1
Through the efforts of Carson City pioneer Abraham Curry, the United States Congress authorized construction of a branch of the United States Mint in Carson City, Nevada, on March 3, 1863. For various reasons, construction and completion of the facility took another six years before the first coins of Comstock silver and gold could be struck. Manufactured by Morgan and Orr … [Read more...]
Nevada History: Mark Twain comments on Dayton’s Petrified Forest
My Great Grandfather, Pietro Cassinelli, an Italian emigrant, arrived in Dayton, Nevada in the late 1880s after working his way across America as a cowboy. Within a few years, he and his cousin, Bert, acquired a ranch along the Carson River. There, he and his wife Theresa, raised a family of 12 children, one of whom was my Grandfather, Pete. When I was a boy working on … [Read more...]
Pony Bob Haslam and the Pony Express
Much has been written about the Pony Express and the place it has occupied in the History of the American West. Many of the stories written about the Pony Express were romanticized fictional accounts. One true story about the Pony Express that is well documented is the exciting adventures of of Pony Bob Haslam. Born in England in 1840, Robert Haslam came to the United States … [Read more...]
The great Winnemucca bank robbery of 1900
History records that on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 1900, the First National Bank of Winnemucca at the northwest corner of Fourth Street and Bridge Street in Winnemucca, Nevada. was held up by three unmasked men. The estimated amount taken in the holdup was $32,640.00. Most of this was in the form of gold coin. One of the robbers held a gun on part owner and cashier at the bank, … [Read more...]
Comstock Barbed Wire
A compulsion to collect things is a well known human trait. For centuries, people have collected practically anything that interests them. This could be obvious things such as stamps and coins, or it could be the hundreds of varieties of beer cans, arrowheads, antique bottles or samples of antique barbed wire. I must admit that at different times in my own ancient history, I … [Read more...]
Prehistoric Global Warming
Now that winter has set in, I want to discuss global warming and climate change in general, and in a way that you have likely never seen or heard about before. It seems that this topic is a priority in the world of politicians and the news media who seem to be obsessed about what may happen to us if the climate continues to change in a way that adversely affects our … [Read more...]