Hawthorne, Nevada

Hawthorne, Nevada

Genealogy Connections: Hawthorne was home to Davis & Augustus (Golden), Benjamin, and Samuel H Rosenthal. Davis and Benjamin both owned and operated the Lakeview Hotel Judge & Assemblyman W. J. Henley and his family (Henrietta Kate Rosenthal (wife), Benjamin, Lloyd, Willey, Davis and my grandmother, Clara Belle Henley (McGee). Lloyd Henley drowned in Walker Lake at age 14. Both my brothers, Daniel C Barnett & David J Barnett, commuted from Yerington to Hawthorne to work at the Naval Ammunition Depot in the late 1960’s - early 1970’s. David Barnett opened a music store, The Music Corral, in Hawthorne in 2004.  It failed in six months.

Hawthorne is the name of the town site at the present terminus of the Carson and Colorado Railroad, on the east shore of Walker's Lake. Hawthorne is located about in the middle of Mineral County on U.S. Highway 95 just north of the present U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot.

Hawthorne Timeline

Early 1800's

Spanish Miners

The Legend of the Bells (Mineral County Museum, Hawthorne, Nevada)

Spanish Miners traveled through the area in the early 1800's. In a glass case in a small historical museum in Hawthorne, Nevada are artifacts that may have been intended for a Nevada Mission that seems not to have been realized. The Legend of the Bells tells of a missionary seeking a site on which to found a mission. He was attacked and the bells were lost. These Mission Bells were found buried in the ground about 15 miles southeast of Hawthorne and may, or may not, be the mission bells

1827

Jedediah Smith, first non-native explorer into Nevada, passed near Walker Lake in 1827 during his remarkable trip from west to east across the state.

Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831), the son of a Bainbridge, New York general store owner, was a hunter, trapper, fur trader, trailblazer, author, cartographer and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the American West Coast and the Southwest during the 19th century.  Nearly forgotten by historians almost a century after his death, Smith has been rediscovered as an American hero who was the first white man to travel overland from the Salt Lake frontier, the Colorado River, the Mojave Desert, and finally into California. Smith was the first United States citizen to explore and eastwardly cross the Sierra Nevada and the treacherous Great Basin. Smith also was the first American to travel up the California coast to reach the Oregon Country. Not only was he the first to do this, but he and Robert Stuart discovered the South Pass. This path became the main route used by pioneers to travel to the Oregon Country. Surviving three massacres and one bear mauling, Jedediah Smith's explorations and documented discoveries were highly significant in opening the American West to expansion by white settlers and cattlemen. In 1831, while searching for water off the Santa Fe Trail, Smith was mortally wounded by Commanche warriors.

1829

Peter Skene Ogden, another noted earlier explorer of the region now known as The Great Basin, was here in 1829, Peter Skene Ogden (alternately Skeene, Skein or Skeen), (baptised 12 February 1790 – September 27, 1854[1]) was a fur trader and a Canadian explorer of what is now British Columbia and the American West. During his many expeditions he explored parts of Oregon, Washington, Nevada, California, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and despite early confrontations with the Hudson' Bay Company during his time with the North West Company, later became a senior official in the operations of the HBC's Columbia Department, serving as first Chief Trader of Fort Simpson and similar posts.

1845

John C. Fremont led an expedition through the Walker Lake area in 1845 with his guides Kit Carson and Joseph Walker, for whom the Walker Lake was named.

John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813 – July 13, 1890) was an American military officer, explorer, and politician who became the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, when he led four expeditions into the American West, that era's penny press and admiring historians accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder.

Joseph R. Walker (December 13, 1798 — October 27, 1876) was a mountain man and experienced scout.  Walker was born in Roane County, Tennessee. Early in 1832 he joined Benjamin Bonneville's expedition from Fort Osage, Missouri.  Next spring, Bonneville sent a party of men under Joseph Walker to explore the Great Salt Lake and to find an overland route to California. Eventually the party discovered a route along the Humboldt River across present-day Nevada, ascending the Sierra Nevada, starting near present day Bridgeport and descending between the Tuolumne and Merced River drainage. Capt. Walker states they camped at Bull Creek above present day Coulterville. Walker's party finally descended to the Central Valley of California and on west as far as Monterey.   His return route across the southern Sierra was via Walker Pass, named after Walker by John Charles Fremont. The approach to the Sierra via the Carson River route later became known as the California Trail, the primary route for the emigrants to the gold fields during the California gold rush. Walker was likely the first white man to gaze upon Yosemite Valley.

(December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) — known as Kit Carson — was an American trailblazer and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to Spanish California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married into the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes. He was hired by John C. Fremont as a guide, and led 'the Pathfinder' through much of California, Oregon and the Great Basin area. He achieved national fame through Fremont's accounts of his expeditions and was featured as the hero of many dime novels.

1860-1861

Hawthorne is part of what was once known as Esmeralda in the Nevada Territory.  Actually you could say it were once part of Western Utah Territory, because gold was discovered at Aurora in 1860 one year before the Territory of Nevada was formed.

Most of Hawthorne’s written history starts in 1861, when the miners of all types began to arrive in Aurora looking to strike it rich. Aurora was such a rich area that both Nevada and California claimed it for their own. This lead to a great deal of confusion when Aurora was the County Seat of Mono County California and Esmeralda County Nevada Territory at the same time. But when the dust finally settled Aurora was found to be in Nevada and went on to be one of the wildest towns in the wild west.

1881

Mules, the Real Hawthorne Founders

Founded in 1881 as a division point on the Carson & Colorado Railroad, Hawthorne's site was selected by the mules used by the work crews to grade the right-of-way. Turned loose to forage for themselves in the winter, they found the most sheltered spot on the valley to protect themselves from the freezing wind. The humans had the wisdom to accept their critters' advice, and Hawthorne was established in this favored location in the valley.

Henry Marvin Yerington

(My relatives,The Rosenthals & Henley’s were contemporaries of Henry Yerington)

  

H.M. Yerington (16 May 1829, Virginia - 3 Sep 1910 Carson City, Nevada)  with wife, Susan, in right picture.

Henry Marvin Yerington was born in Canada in 1828 and came to Nevada in 1863. He was actively involved in mining, lumbering, railroads, and land development in Nevada and California until his death in 1910. He is reported to have been president of sixteen different companies at one time and actively involved in forty. Yerington was a leader in the Republican Party in Nevada and very influential in state politics. He is probably best known as the general superintendent and vice-president of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad and as a construction superintendent and president of the Carson and Colorado Railroad. The city of Yerington is named for Henry Marvin Yerington; prominent Nevada businessman and railroad builder. Their home was located at 512 North Division St. Carson City NV. Burial: Lone Mountain Cemetery , Carson City, Nevada

The townsite of Hawthorne was selected in 1880 by H.M. Yerington, the president of the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company. Named for a lumberman friend in Carson City, Hawthorne was located near the busy Esmeralda toll road running from Wadsworth to Candelaria, from which radiating roads ran to all of the surrounding mining areas. Thus, it was the perfect location to place a division and distribution point for Mr. Yerington's new railroad.

The location was adjacent to the important Knapp's Station and Ferry Landing on the busy Esmeralda toll road from Wadsworth to Candelaria. Radiating roads ran to all of the surrounding mining areas.

On April 14, 1881, the first train arrived, loaded with prospective buyers for the new town lots. As an interesting aside, the enterprising Mr. Yerington lent his name to another Nevada Town: Yerington, NV, an agricultural center located in Lyon County.

The Virginia Evening Chronicle of April 1, 1881 The new town of Hawthorne, on the line of the Carson and Colorado Railroad at Walker Lake, will, in the near future, give employment to a great many working men of all classes. The town at present consists of two tents and a clapboard shanty, but when the railroad begins to crawl out that way it will grow very rapidly. Hawthorne will doubtless be the county seat of Esmeralda County in a year or two, and as it will be at the Junction of the railroad and the Bodie wagon road, it is sure to be a prosperous place. The new wagon road to Bodie, which is owned by the same men who are building the Carson and Colorado Railroad, is as fine a grade as is to be found any place in the mountains. From Aurora to Bodie a new route has been taken, that, although two miles longer than the old one, is nearly an hour shorter in time. The old grade, which is still traveled by a few, is in places precipitous and dangerous. The new grade is so constructed that a railroad track could be laid down on it without much additional work. The railroad will not be built to Bodie, however. The people out there prefer to have the teams and teamsters. Esmeralda County for the past ten years has had a steady and healthy growth. Her present population is 3,220; assessed property valuation, $1,179,388; and total debt, $32,9l5.

News Clippings about Early Hawthorne

Nevada State Journal, 2 February 1881

Nevada State Journal, 6 March 1881

Nevada State Journal, 26 March 1881

Nevada State Journal, 13 April 1881

Nevada State Journal, 7 May 1881

Weekly Nevada State Journal, 24 December 1881

The Lake View Hotel (House)

From their youth Benjamin  & Samuel Rosenthal were connected with the hotel business, assisting his father & mother, Davis & Augusta Rosenthal,  in the conduct of the Lake View Hotel, of which Benjamin later became the proprietor. They had the faculty of making their guests feel at home, and did everything in thier power for their comfort. The hotel is fifty by ninety feet, two stories in height and contains twenty-five sleeping apartments. It is an excellent hotel for a town of the size of Hawthorne, and Mr. Rosenthal did a good business. He sets a good table, and his efforts to make his hostelry an attractive place of entertainment have resulted in winning him prosperity.

1883

In 1883, Hawthorne took the Esmeralda county seat from declining Aurora but later lost it to booming Goldfield. In 1911, it again became a county seat, this time for the new Mineral County.

Mineral County Courthouse in Hawthorne, Nevada (National Register #82003214)

I believe this picture of my grandfather William J Henley, judge, may have been taken in front of this courthouse, (front row 2nd from left)

Old County Courthouse

On July 1, 1883 the county seat of Esmeralda County moved from Aurora to Hawthorne. A courthouse was needed, so a contract to build it for $29125 was awarded. On August 16, 1883 construction began. Corruption and collusion between the contractor George W. Babcock, and political officials are revealed by a Grand Jury.  In 1883, Hawthorne took the Esmeralda county seat from declining Aurora but later lost it to booming Goldfield. Despite the wrongdoings, in February of 1884 the building was opened and continued as a county entity until May 1907, when the county seat moved to Goldfield. In 1911, it again became a county seat, this time for the new Mineral County.

1888

Nevada State Journal, 21 January 1888

Samuel H Rosenthal started a newspaper in Hawthorne in 1886-1888(??) before moving to Carson City to take a position in the state printing office in 1889.

1904

Mamie Frances Mingle

(1860, Port Huron, St. Clair County, Michigan - Mar. 4, 1948, Hawthorne, Mineral County, Nevada)

The story of Hawthorne is more the story of Mamie Frances Mingle, a native of Michigan who came to Nevada about 1904. She opened a boarding house in Goldfield then one in Diamondfield a year later and ultimately one in Aurora.

Jackson Lee "Diamondfield Jack" Davis (1864–1949) was pardoned for the 1896 Deep Creek Murders in Idaho and would later strike it rich in Nevada, where he established several mining towns, one named after his nickname "Diamondfield"

Diamondfield Jack in Nevada, circa 1904.

The Lucky Boy mine was discovered in 1908, five miles south of Hawthorne, and Mamie became the manager of the company boarding house and an important influence in the mine's early development. Weighing ninety pounds at the time and only 4 feet 10 inches tall, she acted as bouncer when boarding house miners get out of hand.

When Lucky Boy activity faded, Mamie refurbished her homestead near Walker Lake, raising chickens and selling poultry and eggs. Her favorite diversion was spending hours each Saturday fixing a chicken dinner for the children of Hawthorne, who were regaled by stories of mining camps and homespun advice. Mamie Mingle had known good and bad times in the heyday of the Nevada mining camps, had personified the indomitable spirit of the early pioneer women, and died peacefully at 88 in her home amid one of the largest industrial complexes in Nevada. Burial: Hawthorne Cemetery, Hawthorne, Mineral County, Nevada,Plot: Plot 8, row 3, grave 27

Nevada State Journal, 11 March 1948

1907

May 1907 was when the county seat moved to Goldfield (see post on Goldfield)

Nevada State Journal, 13 May 1905 My grandfather ill.

1911

On February 11, 1911, Esmeralda County was split and Mineral County was created. Again, it became the center of county business until 1973, when a modern facility replaced it.

1926

Established after an explosion destroyed the Lake Denmark, New Jersey ammunition plant in 1926 and hundreds of people were injured in nearby towns. A court of inquiry investigating the explosion recommended that a depot be established in a remote area within 1,000 miles of the west coast to serve the Pacific area. The destructive munition explosion in the east caused the military to select Hawthorne for a new munitions storage site. It was Governor Balzar, a former citizen of Hawthorne, who in 1928 turned the first shovel of dirt and dedicated the new munition depot, which was officially opened in 1930. To this day, the U.S. Army Ammunition Depot, the world's largest facility of its kind, is the focal point of economic survival in Hawthorne, employing some 600 of the town's 4900 or so total inhabitants and injecting over $22 million into the local economy annually.

1930’s-1950’s

Hawthorne Naval Ammunition Depot (date is unknown)

When approaching Hawthorne from the North on Highway 95, along beautiful Walker Lake, a major tourist destination, the first thing the traveler will notice is the myriad underground ammunition bunkers marching like soldiers across the valley in which Hawthorne sits.

Officer's Quarters ca late 1930's-early 1940's

Photo courtesy of Virginia Usnick

I went to school in Yerington with a George Ostrander. MNC Ostrander may have been his father or other relative.

Row upon row of storage buildings, which add up to more than two million square feet of space, make up the majority of the Hawthorne Army Ammunition Plant's 250 square miles of land, upon which NUWES' Detachment is a tenant. These particular buildings, which are maintained by NUWES, are framed by Nevada's Wassuc Mountains.

U.S. Navy archives This was the mine assembly building at the Navy Ammunition Depot (now Hawthorne Army Depot)

Mk 16 mines are also worked on in Mine Assembly Building 104-6

1960-1970

Hawthorne Army Depot Munitions Bunkers, Hawthorne, Nevada

1980’s

True to its name, Mineral County is rich in mineral resources. During the Nevada mining boom of the 1980's, historical gold and silver mining areas such as Candelaria, Aurora, Santa Fe, and Rawhide saw renewed activity. These workings were and continue to be a source of much-needed cash for this small Nevada town.

1991

At the beginning of the Gulf War in 1991, Hawthorne saw the huge 16-inch gun barrels stored at its ammunition depot resurrected for service on the World War II-era battleships patrolling the Persian Gulf.

The Hawthorne Army Depot is in Mineral County and occupies approximately 150,000 acres of semiarid land surrounding the Hawthorne community. Hawthorne Army Depot is a government-owned, contractor-operated military industrial installation.

Presently, Hawthorne is a central point for desert travelers and for the vacation, sporting, and recreational activities on nearby Walker Lake.

Walker Lake

Walker Lake is a familiar sight to travelers on Highway 95 between Reno and Las Vegas.  Its blue desert waters start on the east slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California, flow through farming communities at Bridgeport and Antelope Valley and then through Smith and Mason Valleys in Nevada. From Wabuska, the joined East and West Forks flow through the Walker River Paiute Reservation and then into Walker Lake, just north of Hawthorne, Nevada.  The best-kept secret of Walker Lake is that it is one of only six freshwater terminal lakes in the world. 

Aerial view of Walker Lake

Walker Lake, Nevada with sign in lower-right showing lake elevation in 1908.

Sportsmen's Beach, Walker Lake, Nevada

Walker Lake is famous for its Lathontan cutthroat trout fishery.  Recently, the original strain of lake cutthroats, believed to be extinct, was found surviving in a small creek in northeastern Nevada. These trout which grew to over 40 pounds were re-introduced to Walker Lake in hopes that they will regain their great size. Less well-known is its support of thousands of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds, including biannual visits of up to 1400 common loons. Walker Lake recreational uses are the mainstay of the economy of small rural Mineral County. 

Town of Hawthorne

Although a shadow of its former self, Hawthorne clings to life with the typical Nevada fervor, its residents always ready with a welcoming smile and intriguing stories for all who will stop and sit a spell.

The Unlit Pillar of Light Marker

 

If you've ever made the trek between Reno and Las Vegas, you've likely driven right by the front door. The El Capitan Hotel and Casino has proudly done business along Highway 95 in Hawthorne since the 1930's, with it's heyday coming during the area's boom in World War II when thousands of soldiers were either stationed here or tripped through the town on their way to defending our country.

1930’s

1950’s

But, like many famous locations in the Silver State, the El Cap has plenty of stories to tell. Some may be more folklore than others. One of the more unique features about the El Capitan in Hawthorne is something that you can't even see: it's underground. Legend says that, back in the 1940s, there was a tunnel that linked the El Capitan to the Monte Carlo across the street. It's been shut down for decades.

So what did they transport between the two casinos? How about booze and women.

Another story says the El Cap burned down in 1942 as a result of a brawl between some Marines and a group of locals. That tale says the El Cap was quickly rebuilt, and it's classic 1960s Nevada casino facade continues until this day. Despite the boom and bust that the hardy people of this tight knit community have gone through over the years, the El Cap has endured with them.

Walker River Paiute Tribe

While most people think of 1861 as the start of Hawthorne’s local history it is far from the being. What is now called Walker Lake, just outside of Hawthorne, Nevada, has long been the home of the "Agai Ducutta Numa" members of the Paiute tribe whose name means “Trout Eater People.”

Paiute family and wikiup in 1906.

Mineral County is also home to the Walker River Paiute Indian Reservation, which occupies over 200,000 acres and is located in the northwestern portion of Mineral County, spilling over to the north into Churchill County and to the west into Lyon County.

The reservation's land area is 529.970 square miles (1,372.616 km²) and a population of 853 persons was reported at the 2000 census. Schurz is the only town on the reservation. Weber Reservoir, an impoundment of the Walker River, is located upstream of Schurz and provides irrigation water for farms on the reservation. Most of the reservation is cattle range. The reservation belongs to the Walker River Paiute Tribe, a Northern Paiute tribe. Their Paiute name is Agai-Ticutta. The English translation means "Trout Eaters."

The Walker River Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in central Nevada in the United States. It is located along the Walker River between Yerington and Walker Lake. At the current lake level, the reservation has only a small frontage on Walker Lake. The bulk of the reservation (72.68%) is in Mineral County; however portions are in Lyon County (14.37%) and Churchill County(12.95%).

The reservation's land area is 529.970 square miles (1,372.616 km²) and a population of 853 persons was reported at the 2000 census. Schurz is the only town on the reservation. Weber Reservoir, an impoundment of the Walker River, is located upstream of Schurz and provides irrigation water for farms on the reservation. Most of the reservation is cattle range.

The reservation belongs to the Walker River Paiute Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute people. Their Paiute name is Agai-Ticutta. The English translation means "Trout Eaters."

Popular Paiute songs are associated with hand games, Round Dances, and doctor's curing. Variations on the Round, or Circle, Dance were traditionally the most common dance form and the oldest. The Northern Paiute Hump Dance represented one variation. In a Round Dance, the participants form a circle and dance around often in a clockwise direction to music made by a singer situated in the center. A Round Dance is commonly held three times a year, during the Spring fishing season, just before fall pine-nut harvest, and during the November rabbit drives. Such dances serve to periodically affirm social unity and focus participants on the particular subsistence tasks at hand.

In 1889 Wovoka, a Southern Paiute, founded the Ghost Dance religion. In a vision, he saw the earth reborn in a natural state and returned to the Indians and their ancestors, free from white man's control. Wovoka taught his followers that they could achieve this vision by dancing, chanting, and eliminating all traces of white influence from their lives. The Ghost Dance incorporated the earlier Round Dance elements, including the lack of a percussion accompaniment. Wovoka, creator of the Ghost Dance, is buried in Schurz.

Paiute Crafts & Jewelry

The Paiute People of the Great Basin are known for their basketry. Many of these Paiute Indian baskets served utilitarian purposes. Paiute Indian basketry forms include Paiute cradleboards, Paiute water jars,Paiute Burden Baskets, Paiute Basketry Canteens, Paiute Seed Jars, Paiute Beaded Baskets, Paiute Winnowing Trays, Paiute Ollas. Paiute Native American Indian Basket weavers known for their great skill include Carrie Bethel, and Lucy Tells.

    

     

   

Paiute necklace 1910

Schurz, Nevada

Walker River Reservation, Methodist Episcopal Church, Schurz, Nevada, June 21, 1920

 

Every year on the 3rd weekend of September is the Pinenut Festival at Schurz Nevada. Sponsored by the Walker River Paiute Tribe. This is a weekend of fun. They have a Festival and Indian rodeo and many other events over the weekend.

Shoe Tree

It's a dead tree with shoes thrown into it, yes, but the real story behind it is why the shoes are there:

When I was a boy there were a lot more branches and a boat-load more shoes. People have been throwing shoes in that tree since my dad was little and he's 53 now. The reason you are supposed to throw your shoes into that tree is kinda a rite of passage, or more bluntly put, you lost your virginity.  Located in between Schurz and Walker Lake Nevada  

Sources:

Nevada Division of Water Planning, http://www.state.nv.us

Mineral County Economic Development Partnership, P.O. Box 1635, Hawthorne, NV 89415 Submitted by Jerry Lorengo

The History of the State of Nevada, 1881 submitted by Cathy Danielson

Nevada State Journal