Paradise Valley, Nevada

The old mercantile is long closed.

This is the heart of downtown Paradise Valley on a typically quiet day.

North of Winnemucca, Nevada you can find paradise, Paradise Valley that is. With a name like that, there’s a lot to live up to. I haven’t spent enough time there to say yea or nay, but I do know it’s a very peaceful place. And that is definitely on my list of requirements for a paradise. It’s a sleepy, backwater hamlet that I suspect few outside of Nevada know about and I have a feeling the people who live there like it that way.

    Besides farming and ranching, its other claim to fame is that Edna Purviance (Purr VYE ance) was born there. Her name probably doesn’t ring a bell. That’s because you’d have to be a silent movie aficionado in order to recognize it. She appeared in 33 of Charlie Chapin’s productions, including the trail blazing “The Kid” that made Jackie Coogan a major child star and was the very first feature length film to combine comedy and drama.

A three-story hotel once stood on this site. All that

is left is its red water tower. That's the Santa Rosa

snowcapped mountain range in the background.

    Fifty-five years before Edna was born a lot had already happened in the valley. The founder of the community, a man by the name of W.M. Gregg was searching for a mining claim in the nearby Santa Rosa Mountains in the mid 1860s, but he changed his mind when he realized that all the land in the valley at the base of the mountains was rich, fertile soil. So he gave up on mining, traded in his shovel and bought a plow and went into the hay business. Others, however, made a number of mining strikes in them thar hills and they really helped Paradise City to become prosperous.

This architecture of this church 

fits perfectly with the surroundings.

    Paradise Valley wasn’t always so peaceful. Soon after Gregg founded Paradise City and the mines opened, trouble with the local Indians began.  There were several bands in the area made up of Paiute, Shosone and Bannock. They tried to stop the white man from plowing up the land they considered to be theirs and to bring to an end the contamination of streams by the mining operations. It was never a full fledge war, but there were some pretty bad skirmishes. The military presence at newly established Fort Winfield Scott, located near the valley, quickly ended any further threats. With the threat of attacks gone farmers, ranchers and miners could continue their work without fear.

    After extracting close to $3,000,000 in silver, the mines petered out and the town’s population took a nosedive. It quietly went to sleep and Paradise City never really regained its former prosperity. The old saloon closed its doors, as did most of the other businesses. Paradise City was on the verge of becoming a ghost town, but the valley would soon come alive again, but this time with cattle ranching and farming. Somewhere along the way it acquired a slight change in its name, adopting the name of the valley.

This is Nevada's famous Micca House. 

    There’s a story that has circulated for years concerning a lost mine. It’s sometimes hard to tell fact from fiction, but nevertheless this is what supposedly happened in the Santa Rosa Mountains at a peak called Buckskin. It seems two Idaho prospectors were poking around and somewhere on the southern slopes, near a small spring, they came across an outcrop of “curious strange-looking” ore. The two were not impressed by what they found, but just to be on the safe side they had an ore sample assayed. And sure enough the ore was exceedingly rich. The prospectors raced back to where they thought they had found the ore. They searched and searched, but never found that small spring. So is the rich strike still up there? Who knows, could be?

The old weathered barn is photographed as often asthe Micca House. It just hasn't 

been published as often.

    It’s difficult to establish the exact date when the Micca House first opened its doors. It was built in stages beginning with an adobe section in 1871. Over the years the building was added onto. It then housed shops, small businesses, apartments, a restaurant, a barbershop and a saloon. I guess you could say it was probably Nevada’s first mall. In 1910 the flexible building contained the offices of the Justice of the Peace, two physicians and the CCC. I’ve heard the building’s name pronounced two ways, so I’m not sure whether it’s MY-cuh, or MIC-cuh. The Micca Saloon closed long ago. however it continues to be a popular subject and I can see why. Its image appears in many Nevada oriented ads and magazines.

    Apparently the residents don’t care to be referred to as a living ghost town, even though there are some wonderful abandoned buildings from the time when mining was the order of business. Those mines were replaced with fat cows grazing on rich grass, alongside acres planted in alfalfa. There’s even a grape vineyard. The residents would argue that Paradise Valley is very much alive and that the only ghosts might be found over in the Micca House.

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Fly Geyser

Fly Geyser is a rainbow of color: reds, greens, yellows and brown and an amazing sight to behold.

    It’s not all together a natural phenomenon. Seems it was created quite by accident in 1964.  Drillers were searching for geothermal energy and when they had finished exploring, they left the site and evidently they either didn't do a good enough job of capping the well, or they simply didn’t cap it at all. Dissolved minerals began rising up. The scalding hot water spews out of the geyser bringing with it calcium carbonate, which forms the visible portion. The brilliant colors come from thermophilic algae that thrive in the extreme heat. Over time the calcium carbonate has created a travertine mound with the peculiar shaped geyser sitting on top of it. It continues to grow several inches each year.

    The equally peculiar name comes from the Fly Ranch, upon which it sits. Unfortunately, the ranch is not open to the public, although the landowner has in the past allowed a few folks each year to come through his gate and photograph this truly marvelous geyser.

    But all that has recently changed. The Burning Man Project acquired the property and is in the preliminary stages of development. They hope to create an artistic and ecological community, founded on the Ten Principles of Burning Man. The organization states the following, “... this 4,000 acre site contains an abundance of natural resources and wonders that will serve as a world class ecological heritage site and living arts community.”

   

    I wondered how the geyser would look in black and white, so with the a little computer magic here’s the answer. Hmmmm?

    By the way, I’ve never seen Fly Geyser up close and personal, so I did what any enterprising blogger might do I pulled the photograph from the Internet. Before any of you get all hot and bothered because you think I might have violated copyright privileges, this photograph is in the public domain, so it’s free from all that legal stuff.

    Fly Geyser is located in northern Nevada on Fly Ranch, 21 miles north of Gerlach.

   

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Austin, Nevada, a lonely town on the loneliest road

On one memorable trip, I headed to Austin and instead of starting out in Fallon, I began in Battle Mountain, motoring south through the Reese River Valley, along State Route 305, another lonely Nevada byway. According to the web, the valley has only one person per square mile. I believe it; I didn’t see a single person, but there were quite a few cattle grazing among the sage. It’s a pleasant, peaceful 88-mile drive.

    If you like having the feeling of being alone in the world and still have a few people around you, then Austen is the place for you. It’s one of Nevada’s most isolated towns, but it’s still easy to find. One author put it this way, “'Like an Easter egg hidden on a billiard table, Austin is hard not to find. All motorists traversing U.S. Highway 50, the 'loneliest-road-in-America,' eventually have to drive down the 'main street' of Austin, whether they want to or not.'” 

    History tells us that Austin began in 1862 when Will Talcott’s pony express horse supposedly kicked over a rock laden with silver and gold.

The news got out and the rush was on. It became the biggest stampede since the Comstock Lode strike in 1859. In less than a year 10,000 people populated the Reese River Mining District and eventually Austin was in the heart of it. By the time the ore played out close to $50,000,000 worth of gold and silver had come out the mines.

    I’ve never been in Austin in June. Some day I want to go there to check the accuracy of an article I read on the town’s name. According to the author “there’s hardly a place in town that isn’t graced with yellow rose bushes and they undoubtedly come from Texas,” and Austin claims to be named after Austin, Texas. I put two and two together and came up with this possibility: “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” a song written in 1858 may have been the inspiration for all the roses. Perhaps one of the founding fathers was from Texas? Could be. I’ve tried to find out for sure, but I haven’t yet...still looking.

    Today, there are only 340 hardly souls living in Austin. The last time I was there a couple gas stations, three motels, four churches and a hardware store were still in business. The nearest supermarkets and shopping mall are over a hundred miles away, so if you live in Austin, you better be well organized, know how to take care of yourself, and like long drives.

   

There’s a story that has circulated for years about the Reese River. Seems back in the early days of Austin, a grand scheme was hatched which involved using the river to transport loads of ore from Austin north to the mills in Battle Mountain, which would take advantage of the fact that the river, unlike most rivers, flows south to north. So The Reese River Navigation Company (RRNC) was established and stock was sold to investors who had never seen the river, except for a line on a map. But it would have been impossible then as it is now to float anything larger then an inner tube down the Reese and even that would be problematic. For much of the year the river is a series of puddles connected together by land, so it turns out it was all a hoax. The story first appeared in Nevada newspapers in 1946. There’s no evidence that the RRNC ever existed or that stock was ever sold. People nevertheless believe the story, because it continues to be repeated. 

    I had breakfast at the International Cafe, not bad.

The building is part metal, part wood, which is typical of the architecture during those early mining days. They used whatever was available. The food may not be sensational, the service may not be the greatest, but the old building and it ambiance is well worth a visit.

    When I found out that there was a castle nearby, I immediately thought of knights and moats. Well, it turned out to be not like any castle I’d ever seen. This castle was patterned after one in Italy. Around 1896 a man named Anson P. Stokes built what became Stokes Castle. It’s basically a square three-story tower made of hand hewn granite stones, cemented together with rock wedging and clay mortar. Stokes was a mine developer, railroad magnate and a banker, probably a man with deep pockets. Stokes wanted a summer home with a view of the Reese River Valley.

The design had a kitchen and dining room on the first floor, a living room on the second floor, sleeping quarters on the third floor and a battlement terrace on the roof. Each floor had a fireplace and plate glass windows. The two top floors each had balconies. Stokes and his family abandoned their summer home after only spending a short time there. They sold all of their holdings and left, never to return. Stokes Castle never saw another owner. In 2003, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

    Austin's oldest church is also the oldest Catholic Church in Nevada. St. Augustine was constructed in 1868. Ringing the church bells, located in the 75-foot tower, calls for the bell ringer to go into the men’s restroom. That's where the rope is located. Odd but true.

    OK, so Austin isn’t what you call a destination, but nevertheless as long as you have to pass through it you might as well stop and have a look around. Besides you’ll probably be either out of gas or hungry by the time you get there. Never can tell what you might find.

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Wendover, A Town With a Split Personality

Ah Wendover, what an enchanting place-----not! It’s a remote watering hole on the border of Nevada and Utah at the edge of the great Bonneville Salt Flats. On the Nevada side (West Wendover) there’re mostly casinos and some commercial enterprises. On the Utah side there’re some run down houses mixed in with a couple nicer ones, some more commercial enterprises, funk, junk and rust, and a then there’s the very big ancient playa off to the east. There are perhaps three reasons to stop: get gas, have a bite to eat, or play a game of chance. But if you're like I am, you'll have a fourth reason; you're curious. I stopped and found some things that made the place interesting.

    #1 ... If you had been standing in that desert about 16,000 years ago, you’d have been 1,000 feet under water. How could that be? Well, over a 3,000,000-year period the

climate of North America went from wet to dry several times. Glaciers formed and then receded leaving behind pluvial lakes, great bodies of landlocked water that sit in natural basins. In the southwestern United State several of these prehistoric lakes were the result of the wet periods. One such lake was named Bonneville. It formed about 32,000 years ago and covered 19,800 square miles. Over time, as the climate changed to dry, Lake Bonneville slowly disappeared, leaving behinds salt. Today, the Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats are reminders of the ancient lake.

    #2 ... In 1907, a trio of men wanted to find out if they could drive an automobile across the salt flats. They succeeded and that opened the door. But it wasn’t until the mid 1920’s that a highway (US 40) was built across it. Much later the route was improved and it became Interstate 80. Back in 1924, entrepreneur William “Bill” Smith seized the moment and with $500 he had saved and a partner, built a gas station and garage to service all the travelers brave enough to the cross the salt flats. Smith hooked up a light bulb to the top of a flagpole. This beacon burned brightly 24/7 and as a result, Wendover became known as “the light in the desert.” He later added a café and a few bungalows. In 1931, they received one of the first gambling licenses issued in Nevada and so began the Wendover Hotel and Casino. All went well until Smith and his partner’s family had a falling out. They agreed to flip a silver dollar, winner take all. Bill Smith won. Years later the light bulb was replaced with a waving neon lit statue of the “World’s Tallest Cowboy,” Wendover Will. He has been welcoming travelers since 1952. He’s 63’ tall and includes 1,1184’ of neon tubing. Several years ago he was given a new home on the old highway into town. 

    #3 ... The Stealth Gallery located in the historic and fast deteriorating Wendover Air Force Base is one of the funkiest, if not the funkiest galleries in all of gallerydom. Picture a broken-down, single story military barracks hidden amongst similar ghostly buildings inside a compound marked by a chain-linked fence. The gallery is not easy to find because it hides behind the other abandoned barracks and it hides well. But after a couple false positives I found it and once I entered the door's lock combination (1,2 for any of you incline to wander there) I went inside. Nothing had changed from my last visit.  There were the same land use pictures and information and the same rather ugly pictures. I think the high water mark came when friend Richard Menzies had his show there. He brought a lot of class to the place. Unfortunately it's been downhill ever since.

    #4 ... Wendover Field, a WWII Air Force base is slowly decaying. But a small band of devoted enthusiasts are hard at work raising funds to restore portions. There's a very nice museum, which depicts the base's important contributions to the war effort. It became the largest Air Force base in the world. During WWII it provided training for B-17 and B-29 flight crews. Once they reached reasonable skill levels, they took off, and either flew to Germany to drop bombs on Hitler or off to Japan to do the same to Tojo. No less than the famous Enola Gay was based here. This is where the crew trained. Col Tibbets, its pilot, chose this spot because of the isolation. Big Boy and Fat Man (Atomic bombs) were tested out there in the great expansive desert. Kaboom! and a mushroom cloud!

    The air base is now a civilian airport with what amounts to an unusually long runway. It has been turned over to Wendover and was given a new name, Decker Field. Buildings have been leased for storage, but the hanger that housed the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that was used to drop the atomic bombs, remains much as it once was. A devoted group of people is in the process of restoring some of the old base as a lasting tribute to its historic value.

    Wendover is a town caught between two states, Nevada and Utah, but it’s not only the border that separates. West Wendover, Nevada is prosperous; Wendover, Utah is not. West Wendover has gambling; Wendover, Utah does not. The only place where they seem to come together is time; both are in the Mountain Time Zone. For years Utah and Nevada have endorsed the idea of only one Wendover. The plan called for the eastern part to be annexed into Nevada, but Wendover’s town council voted against it, so until such time as there is annexation, Wendover will remain a place with a split personality.

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Angel Lake

Angel Lake seems like it should be somewhere else, but nevertheless there it is, a lovely alpine mountain lake not far from Wells out in the high Nevada desert. I read about the lake in a tourist pamphlet I found in the Wells chamber of commerce. The pamphlet said it’s a popular recreational area. Well, it looked too good to pass up, so naturally I had to go see for myself. Wow, what a surprise! It sits at 8,378’ elevation tucked into the summit of the East Humboldt Range and is surrounded on three sides by granite cliffs, giving it the look of a Sierra lake. Greys Peak at 10,674’ and a group of pinnacles (Chimney Rock) form those cliffs. Geologically speaking, the lake is what they call a glacial tarn. I looked that up ... a tarn is simply a mountain lake that’s formed in a cirque, an amphitheater-like valley carved into a mountain slope by a glacier and then dammed up at one end by a moraine (pile of rocks).

    You can go there to camp. There’s a nice 26-site RV park, with hookups, near the lake, or you can dry camp at the campground at the lake. While there, you can fish, because it’s stocked annually with trout. Or you can hike. There’s a five-mile roundtrip trail that leads to another alpine lake. Or if those two choices don’t fit your desires, then you can go there to picnic. There are eleven sites at water’s edge. While there perhaps you’ll see the wildlife: bighorn sheep, mountain goats, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and birds of prey. If all else fails, then go there just because.

    The trip to the lake begins in Wells. The road is a twelve-mile scenic byway. It’s easy to find, only goes to one place, Angel Lake and it’s paved all the way. It’s like a Sierra road; closed with the first heavy snowfall and opened about mid-May. For those who don’t like heights, it might be a little intimidating because there’s no shoulder and no guardrails, and a whole lot of curves ... one false move and it’s bad news. You’ll want to go slowly anyway, because it will give you a chance to appreciate the flora on the way up. First there are the sagebrush fields in Clover Valley. If it’s early morning rolled down the windows and drink in the great aroma of moist sage, not too many smells are better than that. As you climb you move through pinon pine, and then mountain mahogany, quaking aspen and timber pine, all good stuff.

    On my last trip this past June, the mountain slopes were filled with yellow wildflowers. I couldn’t stop, no place to park. They looked to be dwarf sunflowers. When I arrived at the lake, I was stunned to find only a family of four there. It wasn’t the popular recreational area on this day. And that might be the case at recreational areas throughout the U.S. in this the age of budget sequestration. The campground was closed for the foreseeable future!

    At first I had a romantic notion that the lake was named because it was a piece of heaven. Well it is, but that’s not why. It was named in honor of Warren M. Angel who was an early rancher in the valley below. Angel Lake is the most picturesque of the Nevada Lakes and it’s one more piece of evidence that shatters the conventional thinking about Nevada. It’s not just a desert. 

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