Source: Atlas Obscura
Nevadans possess a unique sense of pride in the state they call home. Some have lived there for generations, while others are recent transplants (it’s one of the fastest growing states in the U.S.). Speak to any one of them and it will soon become clear that despite its size, the Silver State’s greatest champions are those who comprise its smaller, close-knit communities.
We wanted to hear about the Nevada history that you can’t find online or in books, so we turned to some of the folks behind the state’s most storied institutions, asking them to share with us local legends, personal anecdotes, and phenomenal experiences that left them thinking “only in Nevada…” Conversation is currency in these towns, and stories are more precious than souvenirs.
From Reno to Ely and from Tonapah to Elko, our sources shared stories that paint a colorful picture of a state known for its desert hues. Here are some of our favorites.
When we first got to Tonopah and I was in the lobby of the hotel, an old turquoise miner named Dean was talking to me and said, “I’ve never believed in ghosts until I sat in this lobby right at this bar. One of my best friends, an old miner, had gotten a room on the fifth floor and was coming down to me for drinks.” Dean’s friend came out of the elevator and looked stark white. He didn’t even speak to Dean at first; he went straight to the bar and ordered a whiskey.
Dean’s friend said, “I rode down the elevator with a woman. I was talking to her, and she was real as can be. But when I turned to hit an elevator button and turned back around, she was gone.
”I’ve been in that hotel alone, and when we first bought it, I would find pearls whenever I was cleaning up. And it was so weird, because I would always find them out of place. I’d find them in strange places, like beds, like someone had placed them there.
We had a wine tasting and we’d gotten an industrial vacuum and cleaned the whole place up. I was sure the whole place was clean. And when we opened the wine table, there was a pearl right there. —Nancy Cline, co-owner, Mizpah Hotel
Our nighttime skies are just absolutely amazing. I’m born and raised here. I see the Milky Way every night. I didn’t realize that that’s not the standard for everybody. They had an astronomy festival here one year. My youngest son had just finished a soccer game. I wanted to go the astronomy festival, and he was being grouchy because he was tired. I said, “We’ve been doing what you’ve wanted to do all day, so it’s my turn now.” He fell asleep in the car, and when we got there, the Milky Way was right over the top of our truck. He jumped out, and said, “Oh my God, mom, that is so cool.” And I said, “See, I told you!” Even for me, it was cool, and I see it all the time. —Meg Rhodes, Events Planning Specialist, White Pine County Tourism
Bonanza made Virginia City famous and people from all over Europe would come visit because of the show. I met all the Cartwrights from Bonanza. I sat on Lorne Greene’s lap when I was 11; I’m 58 now. Michael Landon parked in front of our house.—Connie Carlson, Owner, Silver Queen Hotel
We had a very well-known guy who used to come to Elko: it was Bing Crosby. And this was in his heyday of movie-making and singing. I don’t know how he became aware of northeastern Nevada or Elko county, but he had several working cattle ranches up here. This was mostly through the 1940s and early 1950s.
He would bring his family up here to spend the summer, and his three older boys were involved in 4H and that kind of stuff. When he was in Hollywood, Bing’s contract required him to wear a toupee, which makes me look differently at every picture I see of him now. He was very thin of hair, and when he was up here, he did not wear his toupee, and he was just regarded as anybody else. People didn’t fuss and fawn over him. They didn’t follow him around. There were no Bing groupies after him for autographs.
He was very Catholic, and there was a small Catholic church at that time, and he would just slip into the back row and would join in at church services and of course everyone recognized his voice.
Here’s another story: I run the kids’ programs for [the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering] and have for 16 years. The kids come in the week before, and we tour the exhibit– it’s a new exhibit every year. Then they get to stamp leather, and make a bookmark, then we have a show-and-tell of saddles and bridles and hot irons and stuff.
It’s a mix of kids, and right now this is primarily a mining community. So we had this one little boy, and they were describing some hand-stamped boots. They were supposed to tell us or write down what they saw in these boots. The top was blue with stars. And this little kid who could barely speak English, says: “I see a beautiful midnight blue sky with stars coming down from the heavens.” And I thought, “Oh! You are a poet and you don’t even know it!” He was just enthralled with all of it.
As I’ve said, we’re primarily a mining region (this is the…
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