Cool Native American Baskets

Lighting up the Neon Desert

Reuel Gridley’s Famous Sack of Flour

Recently, my daughter had to write a report on how Reno got its name. She’d heard two versions of the story; one was that Reno was named after the guy who didn’t show up in time to rescue Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn, and the other was that the city was named after a Civil War hero.

So, I told her we’d check out the Nevada Historical Society, located at the north end of the University of Nevada, Reno campus, to see if we could find anything about Mr. Reno.

We wandered into the Historic Society and discovered it’s actually a combination research library and small Nevada history museum. My daughter was immediately attracted to the society’s large display of prehistoric Native American artifacts, including rows of handmade Paiute, Washo, and Shoshone Indian baskets and cradleboards.

Many of the baskets are the work of a legendary Washo artist, Dat-so-la-lee, who, in the 19th century, created dozens of magnificent grass baskets with intricate weaves and designs. Because of their quality, some Dat-so-la-lee baskets have been valued at tens of thousands of dollars.

Impressed by all the stuff on display, we continued to explore. We found a replica of a Native American grass dwelling as well as exhibits describing Nevada’s mining history.

My daughter found a number of vintage gambling devices that didn’t look like anything she’d ever seen before—strange, mechanical card devices, wooden slot machines, and a big wheel with pictures of dice.

In one corner, we found a couple of antique bicycles with wooden wheels and handle-grips and the most uncomfortable-looking wooden seats.

I told her the story about one thing I recognized, which was an old, stained sack of flour sitting in a display case. The 50-pound sack was originally owned by Austin, Nevada shop owner Reuel Gridley, who, in 1864, lost an election bet and had to carry it through the town.

Following his walk, he auctioned the sack with the proceeds donated to the Sanitary Fund (precursor to the Red Cross). The sack was resold several times that day, generating some $5,000 for charity. Gridley was later asked to repeat the auction in other Western towns and eventually raised nearly a quarter-of-a-million dollars for the Sanitary Fund.

Other displays included a large neon sign from an old Reno bar (”The Phone Booth”) as well as maps, photos and paintings depicting early Nevada, vintage clothing, and beautiful leather saddles and boots.

Oh, and we discovered that Reno is named by the Central Pacific Railroad in honor of General Jesse L. Reno, a Union officer killed in the battle of South Mountain, Maryland in 1862.—Richard Moreno

The locomotive, the Inyo, was also known as “Brass Betsy” because of its shiny brass accessories.

Visitors can explore the interior of the Inyo, which was built in 1875.

The Joe Douglass may be the smallest locomotive you’ll ever see, but it was actually used by a mining company.

The brass bell and dome on the locomotive named Inyo shine brightly. The giant drive wheels on either side of the engine look new. In fact, the Inyo probably never looked this good back in the 1870s, when it was pulling loads to Virginia City.

The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City is truly one of the state’s historic treasures. Railroad fans find it offers everything from magnificently restored engines to a well-stocked gift shop.

And it’s a great place to visit when the weather gets a little dicey—like it’s been lately!

While the museum is devoted to the history of all of Nevada’s railroads—and over the years, there have been about 60 in the state—its primary focus is the Virginia & Truckee Railroad.

The bulk of the museum’s collection of more than 60 locomotives and cars are pieces from the former V & T Railroad. The stock was purchased by the state of Nevada in the 1970s from Paramount Studios. The movie company had acquired the pieces in 1937, when the V & T was experiencing financial difficulties and sold most of its equipment.

Today, when you wander the museum grounds, you’ll be able to see original locomotives and cars, most of it marvelously restored, that helps to tell the state’s rich railroad history.

For instance, inside the brightly-lit main museum building the first engine you encounter is the Inyo, a wood-burning Baldwin locomotive that was built in 1875.

The Inyo was used on the V & T line for more than 50 years. After it was sold to Paramount, it appeared in numerous movies including “Union Pacific” in 1938 and “The Virginian” in 1946. Its last star turn was in 1965, when it was used on the “Wild, Wild West” TV show.

Adjacent to the Inyo is V & T Caboose No. 9, which was built in 1873. Originally a 22-passenger train car, the No. 9 was rebuilt into a 60-passenger coach in 1891, and later used as a crew car. Like the Inyo, it was sold to Paramount and appeared in several films and TV shows.

Another popular piece in the museum’s collection is the Joe Douglass, a narrow guage locomotive built in 1882, and used on the Dayton, Sutro & Carson Valley Short Line Railroad.

The Joe Douglass may be one of the smallest engines you’ll ever see. This mini-locomotive, which seems to be half of the size of a standard engine, was used to shuttle cars of ore between the mills that once operated along the Carson River.

The museum also has a fine exhibit on the role of the Chinese in constructing western railroads. Be sure to check out the reconstructed Chinese Joss House, which served as a community center and place of worship.

The museum grounds offer a couple of other treats including restored Wabuska Depot as well as a typical railroad worker’s cottage, and a reproduction of a square, bat-and-board style water tower, a type that was used in the 19th century.

Visitors shouldn’t overlook the museum gift shop, which has a large selection of railroad books, videos, posters, shirts, and other rail-theme gift items. Admission to the railroad museum is $4 for adults and free for children under 18.

The Nevada State Railroad Museum is located at 1280 South Carson Street in Carson City. It is open daily 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, call 775-687-6953.—-Richard Moreno

Virginia City’s Historic Fourth Ward School

With its elegant Victorian-era architecture, Virginia City’s Fourth Ward School almost seems too fancy to have been a schoolhouse. Built in 1876, during the peak of the Comstock era, the Fourth Ward School remains one of Virginia City’s civic treasures.

Construction of the school, built in the French-influenced Second Empire architectural style, cost more than $50,000, with some estimates placing it as high as $100,000.

Befitting a successful mining town, the Fourth Ward School was big–it could accommodate more than 1,000 students in 16 classrooms. Housed on its four floors were both a grammar school and a high school.

The structure also boasted many modern conveniences–at least they were modern for the times–such as a central heating system, water piped to every floor, drinking fountains and indoor “Philadelphia-style,” patented, spring-loaded, self-flushing toilets.

Virginia City’s declining fortunes along with the school’s age and construction of a newer school building resulted in the Fourth Ward School closing in 1936.

For the next three decades, the magnificent structure stood empty, its fate uncertain. Starting in the 1960s, however, the community rallied around efforts to save the old school.

The building was finally rehabilitated in the 1980s. It reopened in 1986 as a museum devoted to the school’s rich past and to telling the history of the Comstock region.

Today, a visit to the Fourth Ward School is a chance to glimpse the glorious history of 19th century Virginia City. During our recent visit, we found that several of the old classrooms have been renovated as exhibit halls filled with historic artifacts telling the story of the school and the city.

For instance, one room on the first floor of the school is filled with dozens of historic photographs of past Virginia City school children. The photos feature classes from the late 19th century as well as the mid-20th century.

In an adjacent room is the exhibit, “A Comstock Lesson,” which offers an overview history of the Comstock region including information about the initial discovery of silver, the Bank of California’s control of the Comstock mines, the story of Sutro Tunnel, the history of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, and other aspects of Virginia City’s rich history.

Another room contains reminders of the school’s glory days such as desks and old chalkboards. The school’s basement houses restroom facilities and the old janitor’s storage area, which is filled with an assortment of old doors and other paraphernalia.

While the building boasts a modern elevator, walking to the second floor is a special treat because you can trudge up the worn wooden steps used by so many generations of Virginia City students and almost feel their presence.

The Fourth Ward School is located at 537 C Street at the south end of Virginia City (the Gold Hill side). The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from May to October. A donation is recommended. For more information call 775-847-0975.—Richard Moreno

First Reno Arch, now located on Lake Street.

Recently, I was updating “The Nevada Trivia Book,” which I wrote, and uncovered some interesting Reno-related information that I thought I’d share.

See how much of this you know!

Q: What Baseball Hall-of-Fame member was married to the daughter of Nevada’s lone Congressman in 1914?

A: Walter “Big Train” Johnson was the ballplayer. Johnson, who pitched for the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927 and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, married Hazel Lee Roberts, daughter of Congressman Edwin Ewing Roberts of Reno, on June 24, 1914.

Q: What former Miss Nevada starred in a popular 1960s TV show set on a deserted island with a group of castaways?

A: The actress was Dawn Wells, who played “Mary Ann” on the show “Gilligan’s Island.” Wells, born in Reno on October 18, 1938, was Miss Nevada in 1959.

Q: How many Reno arches have been erected over Virginia Street in Reno?

A: Three. The first was constructed in 1926 to celebrate completion of the transcontinental highways, the Lincoln and Victory (and modified in the 1930s to incorporate the city’s slogan). It was replaced in 1963 and, again, in 1987. Origins of the slogan vary but most historians believe it was adopted in the 1920s as part of a chamber of commerce promotion.

Q: Where in Nevada were the first Levi jeans invented?

A: The first pair of Levis were sewn in Reno in 1870 by tailor Jacob W. Davis. The pants were made for a gigantic-size woodcutter–he had a 56-inch waist!–who kept bursting out of his other clothing. Davis used a durable, white cotton canvas called No. 7 Duck, and added rivets to hold the pocket corners and seams. Davis’ invention was an immediate success. To meet the demand, in 1872, he became partners with Levi Strauss, a San Francisco materials supplier. Noticing that white cloth was difficult to keep clean, Strauss changed the material to a blue, woven cotton twill from France called “serge de Nimes,” which was later shortened to “denim.”

Q: What was the name of the first legal gambling casino licensed in Reno?
A: The first legal casino in Reno was a joint called the Owl Club at 142 Commercial Row, which was granted a gambling permit on March 26, 1931.

Q: True or False: Reno, Nevada, is west of Los Angeles, California?

A: True: If you look at a map, Reno is actually slightly west of Los Angeles because of the shape of California’s coastline.

Q: What current member of Britain’s House of Lords was born in Reno, Nevada?

A: The Nevada-born Lord is Garret Wellesley, the “Earl Cowley,” with courtesy titles that include Baron Cowley of Somerset and Viscount Dangan. Wellesley’s father, Christian Arthur Wellesley, moved to Nevada in the 1930s to obtain a divorce (not available at the time in England). The senior Lord Wellesley enjoyed Northern Nevada and, after obtaining his divorce, built an 18th century-style English estate at the south end of Washoe Valley. He remarried to a Reno woman, Mary Elsie May, and they had two children, both born in Reno, Garret and a younger brother, Tim. In the mid-1970s, Garret Wellesley, then living in San Francisco, inherited his father’s title, which included the family seat in Britain’s House of Lords, and relocated to England.—Richard Moreno

Wandering around Bowers Mansion in Washoe Valley

Checking out the historic displays in the old Root Cellar.

The graves of the Bowers family.

Despite her reputation as a fortune-teller in the late 19th century, even Eilley Orrum Bowers could not have predicted her long-lasting fame.

Bowers is perhaps best known today as one-half of the namesake couple who built Bowers Mansion in Washoe Valley–the big stone structure on the western side of the valley that you can see from U.S. 395.

Eilley Bowers was born Allison Orrum in Scotland in 1826 (her nickname was Eilley). At the age of 15, she married a Mormon missionary and traveled to the United States. The couple first settled in Illinois, then moved to Salt Lake City.

Following the Mormon custom of her day, her husband, Stephen Hunter, took several wives after they had settled in Utah. Eilley, however, did not enjoy the polygamous lifestyle and soon divorced Hunter. In 1853, she married Alexander Cowan.

The two moved to the Carson Valley where they purchased 300 acres in Washoe Valley. In 1857, Cowan, who was also Mormon, returned to Salt Lake City during troubles between the church and the U.S. government.

Eilley chose to divorce Cowan rather than return to Utah and moved to Johntown, a mining camp below Virginia City, where she opened a boardinghouse.

During this time, she acquired a handful of mining claims from boarders unable to pay their debts and met a Comstock miner, Lemuel “Sandy” Bowers, who would become her third husband.

The two combined their mining holdings and, as luck would have it, ended up owning one of the Comstock’s earliest major silver strikes. Within a short time, the Bowers were among Nevada’s first mining millionaires.

Deciding to spend their seemingly limitless wealth, in 1864, the Bowers’ began building a huge stone mansion on Eilley’s acreage in Washoe Valley. While the home was under construction, they traveled to Europe to purchase furnishings.

When it was completed, the mansion was one of the most magnificent homes in the state and the Bowers were willing party hosts. During the next four years, they indulged themselves on the finest clothing, furniture, and collectibles.

In 1868, however, Sandy Bowers suddenly died of silicosis at the age of 35. By then, the original mine had become tapped out and he had invested much of their money in unprofitable mining ventures.

After the estate was finally settled, Eilley found herself penniless. Despite her best efforts to hold on to the magnificent mansion, she was unable to keep it. Her misfortune continued when, in 1874, her adopted daughter, Persia, died at the age of 12.

Since her days in Salt Lake City, Eilley had been intrigued by the occult. Apparently during that time she acquired a crystal ball for fortune telling and had prognosticated for friends.

In 1875, following her many financial and personal setbacks, Eilley set up shop in Virginia City as the “Washoe Seeress.” Despite skeptics, she practiced her arcane arts for nearly a decade, until the decline of the Comstock.

In the 1880s, she moved to San Francisco, where she worked in various jobs, including–as she had so many years before–operating a small boardinghouse. In 1898, she was placed in a rest home in Oakland, where she died in 1903 at the age of 77.

The story of Bowers Mansion almost parallels Eilley’s life. In the early 1870s, Eilley Bowers substantially renovated the mansion when she attempted to convert it into a resort and added a third story. Unable to pay the workmen, the floor was never properly finished. Additionally, the cupola and trademark balconies around the upper floor and the original roof were removed during Eilley’s remodeling.

Following its sale in 1876 to settle Eilley’s debts, the mansion passed through the hands of several owners and became increasingly decrepit over the years. In 1903, Henry Rider purchased the property and operated it as a resort for locals. In 1946, Rider sold it to the Reno Civic Club and Washoe County for use as a park.

In the 1960s, Washoe County voters approved a bond that financed restoration of the house to its original state. The result is a beautiful, 19th century residence that provides a glimpse into the lives of early Comstock millionaires.

While tours of the mansion are only offered from Memorial Day to Labor Day and on weekends in April, May, September, and October, the site is worth a visit at any time of the year. During our recent visit, we wandered around the outside of the mansion, admiring the workmanship, and visited the former Bowers Root Cellar, now a visitors center that is open all year. Inside, it contains a number of historic exhibits about Washoe Valley and the Bowers.

Additionally, we discovered a quarter-mile walk uphill from the mansion to the graves of Sandy, Eilley, and Persia Bowers. Perhaps because of all the sadness in their lives, it seemed somehow appropriate that the graves of all three have marvelous, sweeping views of the surrounding Washoe Valley.

Adjacent to the mansion is some 40 acres of parkland that includes plenty of lawn, a geothermal-heated swimming pool, picnic tables, and volleyball courts.

Bowers Mansion is located about eight miles north of Carson City via U.S. 395 and State Route 429 (the Washoe Valley frontage road). For more information about the mansion, call 775-849-0201.–Richard Moreno

This past weekend, I took my in-laws to Tallac Historic Site in South Lake Tahoe (it’s located 3 miles North of the Y on highway 89). Yes, the physical adventure was toned down for Adventure Girl, but it was still a very enjoyable and educational excursion.

Tallac Historic Site is where California’s early rich and famous built their elaborate summer estates in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. There are three estates on this property, including the Pople, Baldwin and Valhalla estates.

It was a cool, but sunny day, and the Lake looked amazing in all of her blue glory. Here are a few shots I took of Lake Tahoe.

We did a 1.5 hour tour of the Pope estate, which was led by a very knowledgable volunteer. Here are some pictures of the Pope estate, which was the summer home for the Pope family in the early 1900s. By the way, summer homes back then were only used in July and August.

This is the Breezeway, which connects the kitchen with the main house. Back in the early 1900s, big houses had the kitchens separate from the main house so that a kitchen fire wouldn’t take out the entire house.

Inside the Pope estate, this is Mrs. Pope’s bedroom. The staff at Tallac Historic Site has gone through great pains to make sure the house was restored to its original and authentic glory. This room is a great example of their work.

This bench was right outside of the Pope estate. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be sitting on that bench right now instead of in front of a computer!