June 13, 2007

Nevada's Online State News Journal

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[From The History of Nevada, edited by Sam P. Davis, vol. I (1913), pp. 657-665]

Nevada History:

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CHAPTER XXIX.

THE NEVADA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

JUSTICE G. F. TALBOT, President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Carson City

DR. H. E. REID, Vice-President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reno

DR. A. E. HERSHISER, Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  Reno

JEANNE ELIZABETH WIER, Secretary and Curator . . . . . Reno

Senator H. H. CORYELL, Member at Large . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Wells

Senator A. 'W. HOLMES, Member at Large . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reno

The first attempt to preserve information concerning the early history of Nevada was made by the Society of Pacific Coast Pioneers in Virginia City in 1872. Much valuable work had been accomplished when, in 1875, the great fire on the Comstock destroyed the society building with all its contents. A new hall was soon erected and another collection made, but with the decline of the Comstock and the scattering of the pioneers, the society was after a time disbanded; its museum collection was donated to the State, and but little of this contribution remains intact at the present time. A similar organization obtained for a time at Austin and was known as the Reese River Pioneers.

Creation of the Nevada Historical Society.—Not until thirty-two years later was the interest in this historical work revived, and then on the basis of a State-wide organization. In 1904 the Nevada Historical Society came into being as a private organization. It enrolled among its charter members many of the most prominent men and women of the State, some of whom have since crossed the Great Divide. General E. D. Kelley was its first vice-president and its second president. Orvis Ring, Chauncey N. Noteware and Hannah K. Clapp were among the first to give support to the undertaking. Mr. R. L. Fulton was the first president and Mr. Clarence H. Mackay its first honorary member.

In 1907 by act of the legislature, signed by Governor Sparks, the society became a State institution with a small appropriation for maintenance of the work during the biennium. Since that time the society, as the trustee of the State, has labored diligently to collect and preserve the records and other historical materials pertaining to the

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early history of the commonwealth of Nevada, and at the same time has not neglected to gather in the current newspapers and broadside issues which in turn will soon become historic.

General Character of the Collection. The library now contains over three thousand books and pamphlets besides many files of newspapers. In the museum are about one thousand exhibits, some of which are of rare value. Anthropological specimens tell of the Indian occupancy of the country before the days of the paleface; souvenirs from the old mines and mills of the bonanza days recall the memories of the years when the state was in its formative period politically and industrially. The trophies of the Wheelmen's club belong to another and a later era, but when another half century shall have passed over our heads these modern things will also have become ancient history.

A Mark Twain Pipe.—Nevada failed to obtain a Mark Twain statue, but she possesses a genuine Clemens' pipe—such a one as Mark loved, such a one as he pictures in "Roughing It." "Ham and eggs, and after these a pipe—ham and eggs and scenery, a 'down grade,' a flying coach, a fragrant pipe and a contented heart—these make happiness. It is what all the ages have struggled for." And with the pipe there is a letter from his daughter, the Countess Gabrilowitsch, in which she speaks of her father's regard for the work of the Nevada Historical Society, of which he was an honorary member.

The Hawkins Collection.—Of more than usual interest is the collection of souvenirs pertaining to the old Mormon station at Genoa, and to its founders. Through the courtesy of Mr. D. R. Hawkins, of Genoa, these things have found a place in the State Museum.

Pictures of the old log cabin which was destroyed by fire two years since; pieces of the old logs; hand-made nails used in its construction; the andirons and crane from its fire place; the pans in which the gold was separated from the refuse ere it was received in payment for goods at the trading station ; the old inkwell and cancelling stamp from the first postoffice in the State kept at this same Mormon station—all serve to recall to the pioneers those days of the '50's when the life of western Utah centered around the little old log cabin on the banks of the Carson River. Then there is the old Swiss watch given by Stephen Kinsey to his wife when they were married in Washoe City in 1855; the old Kinsey bible with its family record; the Philopena book brought by Snowshoe

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Thompson on his snowshoes from Sacramento to Genoa in 1857 and presented by him to Mrs. Kinsey with his autograph. But space fails to allow the whole record of this collection.

Souvenirs of Governors and Legislatures.—Of governors' souvenirs there is a nucleus; Territorial Governor Nye's sword and "Broad-horn"; Bradley's hard wood cane; and some day in the not far distant future the Blaisdell piano will come to keep these company, while on the walls above will hang the pictures of the legislatures which since 1861 have recorded in statute the growth of the commonwealth of Nevada.

Historic Weapons—Reminiscent of another type of history-making is the collection of old weapons ranging from swords and guns which did service in the great American wars to flint-locks which protected the Mormons on their west bound trek to Great Salt Lake and beyond, and the tiny derringers which saw service on the Comstock in the days when justice was measured out by a vigilance committee. Of still older pedigree is the Spanish lance-head brought from southern Nevada and which, with other relics not yet gathered into the fold of the museum, points to the days of the occupancy of the Vegas Valley by the Franciscan Fathers. Slight reminder this of the place the now Nevada held in the "Mexican Cession," and the Spanish flag, blood-stained and bullet-scarred, which hangs in another corner, bears evidence that as Nevada was at one time rescued by the United States from the Spanish-American or Mexican influence, so a Nevada boy just fifty years later, wrested from the flagstaff in Cuba the flag which stands for the exertion of the same kind of influence in another part of the American continent.

The Fremont Pistol.—Of somewhat doubtful authenticity is the so-called Fremont pistol, but if not the companion of the illustrious pathfinder, it at least helped to mark the trail by which others followed in his footsteps from Nevada into the promised land of California.

Broderick-Terry Duelling Pistol.—This weapon recalls the memory of the influence exerted by the killing of Senator Broderick of California, in 1859, upon the Constitution of Nevada for the feeling of horror which swept over the Pacific Coast was only comparable to that occasioned by the Hamilton-Burr duel of the early part of the same century. Nevada, therefore, in framing her organic law inserted the famous and now obsolete "duelling clause."

Curious Maps and Manuscripts.—In the collection of old maps and man-

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uscripts of especial interest to Renoites is the first map of Reno, when the city was only "the end of the track," and when the first town lots were carved out of the lake property. Then there are the first maps of Virginia City, the Ely District, Humboldt and Reese River, while the most curious of all is the map of the Washoe Mining Region of 1860 showing, though sometimes erroneously, the relative distances of Washoe from the principal places in California and the stage routes connecting these places. As one traces the old trails on this map there arises in imagination a picture of the long procession of emigrant wagons, of pack mules and nondescript caravans that covered these roads in the early days. Suffice it to say that the organization will not rest content until one of these old stage coaches is safely housed in the new building. Here also are mining certificates bearing the autograph signatures of the giant miners of the early days and of the bonanza period. Here are manuscripts written by the pioneers and of only slightly less importance are the stories dictated by them and recorded by the secretary of the society.

Rare Newspapers and Magazines.—Of old newspapers the society has some rare numbers, such as the Daily Morning Post of Carson City, draped in mourning for Lincoln and bearing on one page a copy of the new constitution of Nevada, truly a veritable birth certificate of the "Battle-born" State. From the standpoint of utility in the field of historical writing the magazine acquisitions form one of the best features of the work. The Overland and Sunset, nearly complete, as also the Pacific Monthly and Out West and a part of the Land of Sunshine, are supplemented by at least a part of nearly every magazine which has been published on or about the Pacific Coast, even to the Pioneer in 1854 and 1855 bound in the original wrappers, and California Magazine for 1857 and 1858.

Pamphlets and Broadsides—The ephemeral literature of a mining region always exceeds by far the output of the more stable forms of production; and fortunately many of the posters, dodgers and invitation cards have been preserved. Nevada and California are alike represented in pamphlet literature. In the contemporary accounts of the Vigilance Committee of 1856 and in the many other descriptions of California life in the '50s we have the evidence of eye-witnesses to the stirring events which, from the standpoint of Nevada, were but introductory to the great drama of the 60's. Supplementing Fitch's Manual of the City of San

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Francisco (1852) is the old picture of that city in 1857, while the several old-time drawings of the missions visualize the history of the Spanish period with its more indirect influence upon the Cis-Sierra Mexican Cession.

Marshall and Burke.—In the "Life and Adventures of James W. Mar-shall, the Discoverer of Gold in California," which was published by Marshall and William Burke in Sacramento in 187o, we have a direct and forcible illustration of the intimate relationship between the two States of California and Nevada. For William Burke lived his life and died in eastern Nevada—a valued charter member of the Nevada Historical Society. He was prominent in the formative days of this State, not only in the mining camps, but in the political life of the commonwealth also, and was nominated at one time for Lieutenant-Governor. His brother, the late James Burke, of Steamboat Springs, was a mining partner of James W. Marshall in the early days of California and until 1868, and to him Mr. Marshall pointed out the spot where gold was discovered. James Burke was doubtless the last man who could have absolutely identified the place, and he failed to do it before his lamented death in 1912. When Mr. Burke came- to Reno in 1868 he brought Marshall with him and kept him here at his home for a year. Together they erected the first brick building in Reno, the one which stands at the northwest corner of Second and Virginia Streets. To Mr. Burke's wife Marshall gave as a wedding gift a piece of the first gold taken out in California.

Mining Literature.—In the field of more technical mining literature California and Nevada are again linked together, for side by side with the report on the Lower Comstock Mining Company's claims, 1873, and the rare collection known as "Views of the Gould and Curry Silver Mining Company, Virginia City, N. T." (ca. 1861), stands the Compilation of the Statutes of California, the Territory of Nevada, and Ordinances of Mexico, 1864, known as "Congdon's Mining Laws and Forms"; also Justice Field's "Construction of the United States Mining Statutes of 1866 and 1872 in the Case of Eureka Con. Mining Co. v. Richmond Min. Co., Aug. 22, 1877."

Literary Products.—Some few but rare items of native production have come to take their place beside the "Comstock Club" and "Sagebrush Leaves," of which Harte's "Sazerac Lying Club" (1878) is illustrative of the early period, and Judge Goodwin's "Pioneers" of this our own time.

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Of slightly different cast is the "Morning Report Book of the 8th Cavalry at Camp McDermitt in 1868," recalling the days when the Government still retained its troops within Nevada.

General Collection of Rare Antiquities.—No historical society can afford to neglect to accumulate as opportunity offers mementoes of other historic areas than its own, for the present is the child of the past and the world is but small after all. The Nevada Historical Society has fared well in this respect during the last biennium. Of the Eighteenth Century is Rogers's "Cruising Voyage Around the World," published in 1712, Motley's "Life of Peter, Emperor of Russia," (1739), and Guthrie's Geography of 1794. Of the first item mentioned above, that of Capt. Woodes Rogers's Cruising Voyage, begun in 1708 and finished in 1711, it is interesting to note that the author landed on the coast of California and writes of the natives and of the discovery of a "bright metal." This is one of the earliest references to California in English and is a work of excessive rarity.

Of the early Nineteenth Century, Clarkson's History of the Slave Trade bears the date of 18o8, Murphy's Interesting Documents, 1819, Huish's Voyages, 1836, and Mitchell's Geography, 1852, while a little volume of 1828 portrays the work of Sir Francis Drake in the exploration of the Pacific Slope—a pioneer Westerner, by the way, who has received recognition in California by the erection of the Prayer-Book Cross in Golden Gate Park overlooking the spot of his landfall in Alta, California. The volume has additional value because it was formerly the property of Sir Francis Drake, Bart., descended from the famous navigator.

But rarest of all in this century is Greenleaf's Law of Evidence, 1854, which once formed a part of the library of President Andrew Johnson, and every volume of which now bears his autograph. For these three volumes Southern historical societies have offered a large sum of money, but they came to our organization "without money and without price."

The Stewart Collection. --But in the library the most notable addition is that of the Stewart collection, both as to books and manuscripts. When Senator Stewart, shortly before his death, gave to the Historical Society his scrap-books and private letter-books together with a mass of other highly valuable material, he not only contributed data which will some day be of immeasurable value for the writing of our history, but he set an example worthy of imitation by other of our statesmen. The Stewart

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collection but points the way in one of the most important fields of historical archiving.

First Steps in a Great Movement.—So also in all departments of the work, only the veriest beginning has been made in the different fields. The treasures now at hand are but the nuclei which will attract to themselves other things of equal or greater importance as the years go by until there shall be gathered under one roof an abundance of historical materials concerning this western State. For the present, the possibilities of profitable activity are limited only by the financial situation. Hitherto the society has been greatly handicapped by lack of funds and even at present necessity presses hard upon the treasury and compels the elimination of much endeavor which in the future would bring rich reward in the way of historical data. For it must be remembered that as the area of our State is larger and our population more scattered than in the Eastern States, so the work is more expensive and more difficult. As to the location of historical materials, the east has passed into the era of domestication; its historical food is close at hand; its task is merely to absorb. The west, including Nevada, is still in the hunting stage; it must run down its game before it can feast. In the east are States, several of which could be set down side by side within the boundaries of one of our great western counties. In those States there is always at least one nucleus where for long ages historical materials have been collected; many times there are several such places in one State, each locality having a collection of its own, and the student has no very difficult task before him when he seeks to utilize such records. But in States like Nevada the materials are still scattered far afield and until they are gathered up through infinite effort no real history of the state can ever be written, no critical work can be accomplished.

Historic Consciousness Is Evolving.—By acts of three legislatures the people of this commonwealth have signified their definite intention of preserving this history of the State, and there is now needed but a period of renewed financial prosperity to enable the representatives of our government to appropriate in such goodly measure as will make possible the saving of the historic materials while yet there is opportunity.

Private Benefactors.—And while State sentiment has been forming, and historic consciousness evolving, there have come to the aid of the work individually men who not only helped to make history, but

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have realized more keenly than others the need for quick action in its preservation and who have contributed generously to the support of the work when State aid was lacking. A trio of such loyal Nevadans are Mr. Clarence H. Mackay, Mr. F. M. Smith, and the late Senator Geo. S. Nixon, who for years was the vice-president of the organization. In lesser measure many other citizens have aided in a financial way and to the publishers of the newspapers especially is the society indebted for their uniform kindness in furnishing current numbers and even older files. To one such editor, Mr. W. W. Booher, the society is doubly indebted because of his long and efficient service upon the executive council.

In the matter of safely housing its collection, the society has faced unusual obstacles now happily overcome, at least for a few years, through the erection by the State of a temporary brick structure near the university gates in Reno. With the opening of the building in the not distant future the collection will be made available to the public and through the deeper, more intelligent interest awakened, let us hope, may be made possible a greater era of achievement in publication, in public archiving, in the preservation of historic buildings and marking of historic sites as well as in the collection of historical data.

[PICTURE]

DESCRIPTION OF THE SOCIETY SEAL.

In the foreground is the figure of the Muse of History, "Clio," with the laurel wreath on her head. In one hand she holds the book of history, in the other a pen. Behind her loom the snow white peaks of the Sierras.

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The mountains and the deep canyons carrying streams to the broad valley below are suggestive of the natural resources awaiting exploration and development, which are the basis of mining and agriculture, the paramount industries upon which depend the growth and welfare of the State. On her right are the immigrant wagons indicative of our pioneer life. The tepee to the side and to the rear of these vehicles advancing with the argonauts reminds us of the progress of civilization and the passing of the Indian, whose history should be chronicled as well as that of the white man. All around her is the desert with clumps of sagebrush and the ox head skeleton typical of the waste of animal life and of the hardships and perils on the early overland trail. Beneath the Muse's feet is the Society motto: Servare et Conservare, pointing on the one hand to the labors of the Society as the servant of the people, on the other hand to its equally great work of preserving and conserving the records of the past and .the present. On the margin is the name and date of organization.