Whether you are an old timer, or a recent arrival, Honey Lake Valley is referred to the “Land of the Never Sweats.” Surprisingly, very few are aware of the origin of the name and its meaning. So as a public service I provide you with my research findings, that a visit to a museum in Victoria, British Columbia and some library research at Twin Falls, Idaho provided the following revelation.
For starters, it was an obscure mining term of the early 1860s. To be a Never Sweat was considered to be a non-conformist. In Nevada, for instance, one could hold an interest in a mining claim and not work it. One could wait for others to prove the claim. Should the prospects be favorable, the Never Sweat could recover his interest by paying an advance on the accumulated costs. In 1865, Nevada passed an “Act for the Encouragement of Mining.” That change in laws abolished the practice of a Never Sweat and the term faded into oblivion, with the exception of the bestowment on the Honey Lakers.
It was the Honey Lakers who used the Never Sweat practice in the political arena. A perfect example was in 1860, when the Honey Lakers petitioned California Governor M.S. Latham, requesting military assistance during the Pyramid Lake Indian War. Yet, at the same time, they refused to pay California taxes, claiming they were a part of the Utah Territory.
By 1863, the Honey Lakers were designated as the Never Sweats. The Humboldt Register of Unionville, Nevada of June 27, 1863, wrote about the Honey Lakers at the Prince Royal Mining District: “It is surpassing strange that these hard working callous backed gentlemen should answer the honest inquiry with a sneer and say there was a place somewhere in the mountains by the name of Prince Royal, but so little repute they had actually forgotten it for the moment. . .Because they were owned by a parcel of Honey Lake ‘never-sweats’! Ha! Ha! What a pity.”
Tomorrow: The terms enduring legacy
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