Greetings fom Western Places!
Back in January, I thought the Delamar book
would be done in March; in March, I thought it would
be available by mid-May, and here it is July, and I
finally have a book to ship out.
It’s a book to be proud of, a full history of
a fascinating place. The population of Nevada had
dropped to 40,000 in 1890, and there was talk of
returning Nevada to Territorial status – until Delamar
was discovered and people move back to repopulate
the state. Jeanne Howerton is the right person to write
this book, as it was relations of hers that discovered the
ore.
Next up will be Trevor Meade’s Kingston,
Nevada, a small but persistent town in Smoky Valley
in southern Lander County, still alive after 120 years.
It has the interesting the story of the feud between the
Summit and the Bunker Hill Mining Districts. In 1864
there was a town on land claimed by both districts,
called Bunker Hill in one, and Mineral Point in the
other.
I get to Nevada once or twice a year to visit
friends, distribute books and do field research. I will
be down in early August this year. My field research
will include a visit to Kingston, then I want to follow
the Wadswoth-Columbus Freight Road route from Salt
Wells (near Fallon) to Columbus. I want to check out
the last four miles into Columbus, as it went SW from
Redlich Summit, not following today’s highway.
My own next book will be on the Nevada borax
camps, mainly Columbus and Marietta, but also in-
cluding Rhodes Salt Marsh and the borax works at Fish
Lake. I would also like to get into McBride’s Spring,
NW of Montgomery Pass. There must be the remnants
of a stage station and a ranch, as it was on the Carson
City to Independence (Calif.) stage route. But there
seems to be a lack of roads, and getting there would
require a bigger expedition than I’m prepared to mount
at this time.
I mention all this because I don’t always have a
companion on these trips, and it would be nice to have
one. If you ever have a desire to see some hidden parts
of Nevada, feel free to contact me and see if there’s a
way we could meet up. If you can camp, you can stay
in some pretty interesting places; but it can be done
staying in motels in the few towns around, and I have a
few free places to stay and get showers. I’m told I give
a pretty good tour.
Alan Patera, Western Places
ahpatera@gmail.com