Map and state seal from Nevada Secretary of State's Office.

A Brief State History

Nevada has always been a "go through" territory rather than a "go to" territory. Even today as one of the wealthiest states per capita in the nation, Nevada is highly transient. The Las Vegas metropolitan area sees 4000-6000 people a month moving in and in some months almost that many moving out. There are 245 ghost towns in Nevada, and almost as many tales of boom and bust for the surviving towns and cities.

 Goldfield, just outside of Tonopah boasted 25,000 residents in 1905. Today, you'd be hard pressed to find 25. Rhyolite had 8,000 residents in 1908, and not a soul today. There are many theories for the boom-bust cycles but mining is the primary reason. Historically, Nevada's mines are quite rich right off the bat, but almost as quickly run into problems, whether the price of the mineral bottoms out, water floods the mines, or the veins simply disappear. Towns were born, towns died. Fast.

Nevada is the seventh largest state in the US, 485 miles long and 315 miles wide. Nearly 86 percent of the land area of the state is controlled by the federal government divided between BLM lands, Park Service, Forest Service and the military. The Nevada Test Site, where the atomic bomb was first tested above ground, Nellis Air Force Base, Area 51, Hawthorne Naval Station (submarine training in Walker Lake) and ammunition depot, Fernley Naval Station (interesting considering Nevada is a long ways from the sea!) are the larger military installations with several smaller ones scattered about the state.

Perhaps because one state nickname is the sagebrush state, (the other is the Silver State) many people think NV is one big barren desert. We are home to the largest manmade lake in the country-Lake Mead. Nevada has 51 mountain peaks over 9,000 feet. Nevada means "snow-capped" in Spanish. The highest peak in the state is Boundary Peak (13,145 feet) in the Sierra-Nevadas on the CA-NV border south of Gardnerville. The western valleys are rich agricultural areas. The northeastern quadrant is ranching country. The entire state is mineral rich, with almost two-thirds of the nation's gold coming from Nevada. Other minerals of importance include silver, copper, zinc, brucite, magnesium, magnesite, manganese, tungsten, uranium, mercury, lead, non-metallics, oil, coal, iron.

The Great Basin Desert, a cold, high desert extends across much of the state. Great Basin national Park is the only National Park in the state. The southern quarter of the state lies within the Mohave Desert, the hottest, driest desert in the country, the same desert of Death Valley, which is only two hours west of Las Vegas. With an average rainfall of only four inches a year, it's even too dry for the famous Saguaro cactus to thrive here, but Joshua Trees thrive above 4,000 feet. The state population is approximately 2.5 million, with most of the population centered in the southern toe of Nevada in Clark County - the Las Vegas area.

Although trappers and early travelers traversed Nevada in the 1820's, John C. Fremont and Kit Carson were the first to actually chart the region (1843-1845). The Old Spanish Trail from Utah Territory to Southern California ran through Las Vegas in the southern toe. The first permanent settlement was a Mormon trading post established in present day Genoa in 1848. Settler began moving in at this time, although a majority moved through to California. Utah Territory, which included Nevada, was formed in 1850. As more people moved in, so did discontent by the non-Mormons being ruled by the Utah Mormon state. In 1859, the famous Comstock Lode was discovered in Virginia City. Within two years, Nevada reached the residents requirement to establish a territory on her own, and Congress did just that, creating Nevada Territory on March 2, 1861.

 Nevada probably didn't have a large enough population base to become a state but President Lincoln realized the anti-slavery state was an asset for the North and his political career. On October 31, 1864, Nevada received statehood. "The Battleborn State" motto is derived from this history.

Nevada entrepreneurs also successfully mined gold and silver from other people's pockets. Gambling was a well-known and much enjoyed source of entertainment. Faro, poker, dice games, craps and roulette were perennial favorites. Nevada finally outlawed gambling in 1909, some say because of the threat of being thrown out of the union. In 1931, gambling was once again legalized, with the first license going to female owner of the Northern in Las Vegas. Las Vegas and Reno have now become synonomous with gambling with the state's economy heavily dependant upon the revenues from the casinos.

nevoldwest.com 2003-2004 

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