It was interesting question posed shortly after Peter Lassen and Edward Clapper’s death on the morning of April 29, 1859 in the Black Rock Desert. Their prospecting companion, Lemircus Wyatt escaped riding a horse without a saddle or reins some 120 miles back to Susanville to relay the news.

A little background. In late April 1859 a prospecting party from the Honey Lake Valley set off for the Black Rock Desert. The first group consisted of William Weatherlow, Joseph Kitts, George Lathrop and a man named Jameson. The second group consisted of Peter Lassen, Edward Clapper and Lemircus Wyatt. They agreed to rendezvous at Black Rock Springs, which did not happen according to plan, though the two parties were in close proximity of each other.

When Wyatt relayed the news in Susanville, a posse of twenty men was formed to bury Clapper and Lassen. The posse found the encampment and noticed something odd–it had not been disturbed. Among the items they found were two sacks of flour, some dried beef, blankets and part of a keg of whiskey.

During this same time period the U.S. Government appointed Major Frederick Dodge, the first U.S. Indian Agent for the West to oversee the welfare and future reservations for Paiute and Washo tribes. Dodge consulted with Paiute Chief Winnemucca. The Honey Lakers had a peace treaty with the Paiutes, and there had not been any problems. Winnemucca informed Dodge that the Paiutes had nothing to do with Lassen’s death.

In May 1859, Major Dodge had his findings of Lassen’s death published in the Sacramento Union newspaper. It was Dodge’s opinion, especially that the Lassen camp was not ransacked by Indians, concluded the dastardly deed was done by four white men, i.e. Weatherlow and Company.

In a strange turn of events, Weatherlow waited a year to deny Dodge’s allegations. In his statement Weatherlow asked Dodge to make public retraction, though it does not appear Dodge did. By the 1880s there was still some of a certain mindset that Lassen was not killed by the Indians. In 1917, when a second Lassen Monument was dedicated, the issue was still being debated. It should be noted that the two  Lassen Monuments have carved in stone “killed by Indians”.

Wyatt, who was the only eye-witness died two years later in Susanville at the age of sixty-two. Weatherlow died in 1864. Kitts, Lathrop and Jameson eventually left the region to parts unknown.

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This notable landmark in one of Nevada’s premiere mining towns has a connection to Honey Lake Valley. It should be duly noted Virginia City’s existence no longer has nothing has much ado about mining for gold and silver, but what is does best these days is mine the pocketbooks of tourists.

For those not familiar with Myron Lake, he is considered the founder of Reno. In 1859, C.William Fuller located along the Truckee River in the Truckee Meadows and built a toll bridge and small hotel there being nothing else. (Today, that location is known as the Virginia Street bridge). Business would soon be brisk with the discovery of the Comstock and the establishment of Virginia City. In June 1861, Fuller traded his enterprise for land in the Honey Lake Valley to Myron Lake. Lake continued acquiring more property in the Truckee Meadows and timing can mean so much. In 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad was approaching the Truckee Meadows as part of the nation’s first transcontinental line.Lake sold the railroad 160 acres for  depot and town and Reno was born.

In 1862, the widowed Jane Conkey Bryant with her three children—Florence, Seymour and Lillian—came to the Honey Lake Valley upon the urging of her parents—Sylvester & Betsy—along with various siblings.   (The Conkeys resided on present day Wingfield Road known as Nagel’s Happy Valley Ranch). It should be noted Lake, prior to  his move to theTruckee Meadows was a neighbor to the Conkeys. It is unclear how Lake courted Jane, but the two were married in Janesville in 1864. To make a long story short, Jane’s daughter, Florence married William Thompson. The Thompson’s daughter, Ethel married Ed Simmer owner of Piper’s Opera House in Virginia. City. The property remained in the family for years, though for a time in a neglected state. In the 1960s, Louise Zimmer Driggs restored the Opera House in the 1960s and eventually donated ti to the non-profit organization that operates it today.

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In small communities, the lone country store was its social hub. They varied in size and offerings depending on the location. Many housed the local post office, and in some cases the back portion included the living quarters for the proprietors.

Flanigan, was a former railroad town in eastern Honey Lake Valley. Its country store—Milne Grocery—was a prime example. In 1915, the store was established as the Flanigan Mercantile Company.

In 1930, the one-room school at Flanigan, known as Bonham, was in need of a teacher. Gertrude Milne, who at the time was living in Yerington, applied and got the job. Her husband, William then packed up and moved to Flanigan. In 1934, Orlando and Victoria Gasperoni, owners of the Flanigan Mercantile Company, sold the store, the old hotel and some rental cabins to William and Gertrude Milner for $1,000. The Milne’s changed the name to Milne Grocery. William who not only took the operation of the store. but succeeded Victoria, to become the town’s postmaster.

In 1945. William Milne passed away. This left Gertrude to juggle her duties as school teacher, store operator and postmistress. Flanigan continued with its quiet existence until the late 1950s. In 1958, Gertrude retired from Bonham School, though when needed served as a substitute. In 1959, the Southern Pacific eliminated its section crew at Flanigan. Thus, with even less traffic, Gertrude decided to no longer stock the store. The store remained open to sell non-perishable food items, and equally important it was the town’s social hub since it also served as the post office.

In 1960, a reporter from the Reno Evening Gazette paid a visit to Flanigan. It was duly noted the town’s population consisted of one—Gertrude Milne. On March 31, 1961 activity at Milne Grocery more or less ceased to exist with the closure of the Flanigan Post Office. While many would have moved on Gertrude stayed. On January 2, 1969, Gertrude while on a social visit to Fish Springs Ranch, her beloved store and home burned down.  Gertrude was bound and determined to stay in Flanigan. and moved into one of her own cabins.  In June 1969, another tragedy for Gertrude, was the closure of Bonham School, where she spent four decades teaching. In 1971, the school was sold and moved to Standish.

Yet, Gertrude stubbornly clinged on and would not move. Finally, she conceded to  her family’s urging, in 1973, and moved to nearby Sutcliffe where she passed away later that year at the age of eighty-four.

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Early toll roads were just not feasible around these parts. One could easily make a short detour to avoid paying fees. Where attempts to put one in, the road network was already in use by the public. This did not stop Lassen County resident, H.C. Stockton to propose a Honey Lake/Black Rock Toll Road. His one page description of his road was quite vague to say the least.  A portion of the route consisted of the Nobles Emigrant Trail. He did propose a new section of road starting at Wall Spring, and instead of following the old road and going around the base of the Granite Mountains, much like today’s road, he dreamed up some route over these rugged mountains. It should be noted he filed his claim and that was recorded in Humboldt County, Nevada on March 2, 1866.  Nothing ever materialized.

Stockton dabbled in many things in the Honey Lake Valley. In 1865 he built the first Milford Schoolhouse, which still stands, as a converted residence. He operated a sawmill, as well as a flour mill. Seasoned residents may have known two of his great grandsons—Abe Jensen and Jud Jensen.

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First of all, it boggles my mind, how B.F. “Frank” Murphy and Marion “Comanche George” Lawrence discovered and claimed the salt marsh in the summer of 1864 in the Smoke Creek Desert. For most of its existence Murphy was the main operator of the Buffalo Salt Works. Two types of salt was produced. The first being table salt that was 99.8% pure. A lesser grade was sold to mining operators with a smelting plant that utilized the salt.  The salt was obtained from wells, the brine pumped into vats, and left to dry.  In 1888, it was reported that 200 tons of salt was produced annually.

Continue reading Buffalo Meadows Salt Works →

Sheepshead, Nevada was a stage stop in the Smoke Creek Desert dating back to the 1870s. It was so named as a big horn sheep’s head was nailed to a cottonwood tree there. It should be noted that the last big horn sheep in that vicinity was killed on Skedaddle Mountain in 1881. Sheepshead was a popular gathering place for the residents of Smoke Creek, due to the creek flowing through, along with the cottonwood trees, made for an ideal setting. It should be noted that the Sheepshead Post Office operated from 1879 to 1926, and upon its closure the duties were transferred to Flanigan.

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One of the side effects of a new railroad was real estate promotion and/or speculation some might say. When the Fernley & Lassen Railroad was being constructed during 1912-13, it witnessed some new towns along its railroad line in the Honey Lake Valley–Stacy, Litchfield and Leavitt.  Of course, exisiting railroad communities such as Flanigan, Amedee and Wendel benefitted from the new railroad. In 1913, a town to be named Review  was proposed along the Fernley & Lassen Railroad between Flanigan and Stacy, but it was never developed.

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