Saturday, September 15, 2018

Day 79 of 117 on our “Go West, Young Man” Two Lane Adventure – Thursday 9/13/18


We departed Bordertown Casino & RV Resort, no richer, but no poorer either. I guess that is the goal, when you go to a casino … if you can’t win, don’t lose! I looked for a sign that welcomed us to Nevada, none found!

We got back on US 395 and took it to I-80, where we skirted around Reno, Nevada. Reno began as the preferred crossing point of the Truckee River, for travelers on their way to the California gold rush of the late 1840's. With the discovery of the Comstock Lode in the nearby Virginia City foothills in 1859, the river crossing became increasingly important for the growing trade in mining and agriculture. Reno was officially established in 1868, the same year that the transcontinental railroad, which paralleled the Truckee River, reached the town. In 1874, the University of Nevada was founded as a land-grant university, and in 1885, the primary campus was built on a rise of land overlooking Reno from the north. 

From its inception, the university was an integral component of the young town’s identity and contributed to Reno’s reputation as a cultural center. This was reflected in Reno’s nickname, “Biggest Little City in the World,” which arose as a result of the wide range of cosmopolitan amenities in a city of its relatively small size. In 1931, Nevada legalized gambling. Reno was a front runner in creating the model of destination hotel and casino gaming, a model which has been replicated throughout the world. The transcontinental Lincoln Highway, passed through the heart of downtown and many motor lodges sprang up on either side of the Virginia Street core to support booming post-war automobile tourism. For most of the 20th century, tourism and the gaming and entertainment industries formed the backbone of Reno’s economy.

We traveled 30-miles on I-80. It is an east-west interstate that runs over 400 miles across Nevada. It traverses mountains and valleys, thank God we only had to take it from Reno to Fernley. I know why I dislike Interstates, bump, bump, bump …. For 30-miles! We got off at exit 48 toward US 50.

We are entering Pony Express Territory, from April of 1860 to October of 1861, dozens of brave Pony Express riders delivered mail between Sacramento, California and St Joseph, Missouri. A distance of 2,000 miles, and it took Pony Express riders ten days, which was half the time the stagecoach required for the same journey. By keeping the east connected with the west, the Pony Express held the nation together. Young Pony Express riders charged across the country on the fastest horses available. Over two thousand miles of wilderness was crossed, including a section of high mountain desert in Nevada. Today, this stretch of Nevada has been designated “Pony Express Territory.” It is a 17-million acre museum, where visitors can experience nature, history, art and science. Undisturbed and one of a kind, their doors are always open in Pony Express Territory and there are no waiting lines. The Loneliest Road roughly parallels the Pony Express Trail, which goes from Silver Springs through Fallon and along the towns across Highway 50. Remnants of Pony Express Stations are visible for much of the way along the Loneliest Road. 

We followed Alternate US 50 E for just a little bit, we were soon getting onto US 50 E and entering Fallon, Nevada. Fallon was named after Mike Fallon, born in Ireland in 1849. Fallon was a Union Army drummer boy in one of John Fremont's units. In 1853, Fallon settled in Forestville, CA with his wife Eliza Bruner where they had four children. In about 1896, Fallon traded his land in Forestville for an alfalfa ranch in Stillwater near present day Fallon. His ranch home was located at a well-traveled crossroads to Stillwater and surrounding areas. This was the logical site for a post office and a small store and soon became the community we know today as Fallon. Fallon was a major agricultural region famous for its “Hearts O Gold” cantaloupes. Cantaloupe was shipped to all of the finest restaurants in the country. For 15 years, the Lahontan Valley is known as the "King of Cantaloupe." Hybrids developed in the Imperial Valley in California soon replaced the Heart of Gold and farmers turned back to growing alfalfa. Today, warm weather and altitude combine to produce high protein alfalfa that is exported to California and Japan.

In 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, one of four airfields built for our nation's air defense in the Nevada desert was constructed in Fallon. As the war in the Pacific escalated, the facility in Fallon was utilized as a Naval Auxiliary Air Station to train torpedo, attack and fighter pilots for action. The airfields at NAS Fallon were named for Nevada's only Congressional Medal of Honor winner, Bruce Avery Van Voorhis, who gave up his life in a mission against the Japanese.

Known throughout the Navy as the only facility in existence where an entire carrier air wing can conduct comprehensive training while integrating every element of the wing into realistic battle scenarios. Fallon enjoys more than 300 clear flying days per year and gets the most out of each of those days with its four bombing ranges, the electronic warfare range and all of its other excellent training facilities. The 14,000-foot runway remains the longest in the Navy, making Fallon a one-stop training facility unequaled throughout the service. We were lucky enough to see 2 of the jets take off, but they don’t stay visible long! Look close and you can see him!

In July 1986, Life magazine described Nevada’s US Highway 50 from Fernley to Ely as the “Loneliest Road in America.” Life said there were no attractions or points of interest along the 287-mile stretch of road and recommended that drivers have “survival skills” to travel the route. Highway 50 has its ups and downs, literally. The highway crosses nine mountain ranges, most over 10,000 feet. Highway 50 is wide and open, but also scenic and historic corridors. It retraces the route of the Pony Express and Overland Stagecoach trails and passes through some of the best-preserved 19th century mining towns in the state. It is seemingly untouched by man. Real emptiness begins soon after Fallon.

From Fallon, US 50 passes through extensive salt flats with areas of sand dunes for much of the next 50 miles east, until the approach of the Clan Alpine Mountains, the first of many north-aligned ranges between here and the Utah border.

 
Some travelers stopped on the loneliest road to write a message in rocks, along the edge of the salt flats! Charlie & I were not that bored yet, to do that! Not sure what we would write anyway! Here after the road passes through only three towns of any significance - Austin, Eureka and Ely, separated by 111, 70 and 77 miles respectively.

If you follow my blogs, you know how obsessed I am with road crossing signs! Well, we found another new one to add to the list … a Bull Crossing Sign. Yes, that is a bull, he has horns! I am thinking that it might be a bit more unique than the pea fowl or turtle crossing signs.

Sand Mountain dominates the Salt Wells Basin and is visible from Mt. Rose peak in the Carson Range 82 miles to the west. The dune is important to off highway vehicle enthusiasts, biologists, Native Americans, and geologists.  It was created by the windblown sand from the beaches of the prehistoric sea that once covered Nevada. The Sand Mountain blue butterfly is only found here where it is depends on the Kearney buckwheat plant. The dunes clearly marked the location of nearby Sand Springs, improved and mapped in 1859 as a potential emigrant stop by Army Lieutenant James H. Simpson. Sand Springs later served as the location of the Sand Springs Pony Express Station in 1860 and the terminus of the 1866 Fort Churchill and Sand Springs Toll Road.

We saw a B-17 Naval Range, in the middle of the loneliest road. The Fallon Range Training Complex encompasses over 234,124 acres of land area including the B-16, B-17, B-19, B-20, Dixie Valley, and Shoal Site training areas. Okay, so maybe the B-17 was just the number of the range … not what is flown on it! We saw small targets and it made us think of our brother-in-law Mike, he ran a military bombing range in New Jersey.

Alongside a stretch of the historic Lincoln highway, U.S. Route 50, dubbed the Loneliest Road in America, is an isolated Wild West-style saloon announced by a wooden sign that (accurately) describes its location as “in the middle of nowhere.” Founded in 1857 by James Simpson, the restaurant that stands today was once an active station and rest stop along the historic Pony Express Trail, serving horses and their riders alike. Due to its location between two gate-like cuts in the mountains—known as Eastgate and Westgate—this station became known as Middlegate Station. When the Pony Express ceased operations in October of 1861, Middlegate Station remained open, serving as a stage and freight stop for gold and silver mines. Ever since, it has survived as the only gas station for nearly 50 miles in both directions and a rare roadside eatery along the Lincoln Highway.

The one thing I wanted to see on this stretch of road was the “Shoe Tree.” You would think that with a whole lot of nothing on this road, I could spot a tree full of shoes! Nope, no such luck! My directions told us to drive east out of Fallon, along HWY 50. Tree is on the North side of the highway between Middlegate and Cold Springs. Well, there really are not that many trees …. This is the only one I found in that area! I did learn that on December 30, 2011, the shoe tree was cut down by vandals. However, by 2017 the locals have designated a tree nearby as the new shoe tree, and they say it is already decorated with an impressive number of shoes. Not that I can confirm that fact!

Rock Creek was an important stagecoach stop on the Overland Mail & Stage Company’s historic line along the Simpson route between Salt Lake City and Genoa, Nevada, which was operated by John Butterfield and later Wells, Fargo & Company.  Fresh horses, blacksmith services, and wagon-repair facilities were available here. The Pony Express constructed the Cold Springs station in 1860 on the sagebrush bench eastward across the highway. To the north are the ruins of a telegraph repeater and maintenance station which serviced this segment of the transcontinental line, which was completed between Sacramento and Omaha in 1861.  The line was abandoned in August 1869.  The coming of the transcontinental railroad and its parallel telegraph line along the Humboldt River to the north spelled the demise of both the telegraph line and the stage route here.

The rocks composing the walls of this stage station and freighter stop were in neat array and roofed with bundles of willow twigs in July 1861, when John Butterfield’s Overland Mail & Stage Company began traversing this Central Route between Salt Lake City and Genoa, Nevada. The spring on the hill was inadequate for both humans and horses.  However, Division Superintendent Thomas Plain’s support ranch, one mile to the west, kept this important team-watering and replacement-stop operating. Completion of the first transcontinental railroad spelled the eventual demise of the Overland Stage line.  Butterfield sold out to Wells, Fargo & Company in 1866, which suspended all operations on the Central Route in February 1869.  The company continued to operate their diverted equipment on other lines until the early 1870s.

The town of Austin was our original destination for the night, but the two campgrounds in the town were full. So onward we go! Austin, is another former mining town. Austin sprang into being after William Talcott discovered silver at this spot on May 2, 1862.  Talcott came from Jacobsville, a stage stop six miles to the west on the Reese River. He was hauling wood out of Pony Canyon, directly below, when he made the strike that set off the famous “Rush to Reese.” A town called Clifton flourished briefly in Pony Canyon but fast growing Austin soon took over and became the Lander County seat in 1863. Before the mines began to fail in the 1880s Austin was a substantial city of several thousand people.  From Austin, prospectors fanned out to open many other important mining camps in the Great Basin.

The Hickison Summit sits at an elevation of 6,594. The summit was named after rancher John Hickison because the road to his ranch passed over the summit.  About one mile northwest lies Hickison Summit, a natural pass between two low buttes. Passes and canyons were common Native American hunting locations for funneling and ambushing bighorn sheep and deer herds. Archaeological sites in the region reveal a dominance of bighorn bones and horn, reflecting the bighorn’s importance to Native Americans as food and raw material for tool production.  The bighorn lacked resistance to diseases introduced by domestic sheep in the nineteenth century, and this resulted in catastrophic bighorn population declines throughout the West. Prehistoric Native American petroglyphs, images and designs are carved into rock surfaces, and are interpreted along a short hiking trail. Archaeologists hypothesize that the meanings for these designs include ceremonial, female puberty markers; ritual hunting magic symbols; and rock art or simply graffiti.

We arrived in Eureka, only 77 more miles to go to reach Ely! Eureka is perhaps the best preserved example of a 19th century mining town in the state. There are beautifully restored historic buildings and authentic frontier cemeteries in Eureka. A story about Eureka, Charlie’s cousin Frank (who we will visit in Grand Junction CO), messaged me about him and Charlie doing some jobs in Eureka. Before I could read the message to Charlie, he said that he worked a couple surveying jobs in Eureka with Frank. Funny how our minds work and what triggers a memory!

The Eureka Opera House was built on the ashes of the Odd Fellows Hall, destroyed by the great main street fire of August 1879. The Opera House was used for the first time for the New Year’s Eve Costume Ball in 1880. The Opera House has always served as a gathering place for the people of Eureka. It has been the site of entertainment of all types as well as the annual Nob Hill Fire Company Masquerade Ball held every year from 1880 until well into the 1900's. The first silent movie was shown in 1915 and then in the 1920s the opera house was changed into the Eureka Theatre and talkie shows were presented. In 1923 the original oleo curtain on the stage was destroyed by fire and was then replaced with the curtain with advertisements from local businesses from 1924. The last movie was shown in 1958 and the building had fallen into disrepair. In 1990 Eureka County acquired the structure and began a three year restoration. The building received the 1994 National Preservation Honor Award after being reopened on October 5, 1993. Today the Eureka Opera House is a full service convention center and Cultural Arts Center. The building is used for conventions, meetings, and community functions as well as cultural presentations.

More ups and downs … into the valleys

and over another summit, or two or three ... eleven to be exact!

We arrived in Ely, Nevada … Our home for 2 nights! Ely is a historic copper mining town. It is also home to the Nevada Northern Railway Museum, one of the best preserved short line railroads in the county. I will share more about Ely with you tomorrow!

(9163) Traveling on the Loneliest Road we were well rewarded by the almost surrealistic intensity of the wild western landscape. We saw deep blue skies and jagged stone towering above the desert floor. The hypnotic rhythm of telephone poles marching in single file as a solemn procession beside the road. So far, the Loneliest Road in America, Highway 50 is really not so lonely, but one of the most beautiful and interesting Two Lane Roads we have driven in a while. We have more of it to travel when we leave Ely too!

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