Nevada Trivia & Tidbits - Page 18

Looking for Nevada trivia? Try our list Nevada little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Jedediah Smith, one of the original mountain men, was the first European to cross what is now Nevada, doing so in 1827 when he sought a route from California to the Great Salt Lake Valley in Utah. Smith was born in New York in 1798 but spent more than 10 years exploring and fur trapping in the West before being killed by Indians in 1831.

first appeared: 5/27/2001

Walker Lake, near Hawthorne (pop. 4,162), a popular spot with anglers, boaters, and swimmers, is what is left of a vast inland sea that covered much of western Nevada nearly 10,000 years ago.

first appeared: 5/20/2001

In 1900, Belle and Jim Butler’s silver strike began an era that turned Tonopah (pop. 3,616) into the “Queen of the Silver Camps.” The Tonopah Historic Mining Park today covers more than 100 acres and preserves the area’s early history.

first appeared: 5/20/2001

Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area just west of Las Vegas, is more than just a scenic picnic and hiking area. Though now a state park, the land is still operated as a cattle ranch. Billionaire Howard Hughes and Chester Lauck of the Lum and Abner comedy team were once former owners.

first appeared: 5/13/2001

Today’s U.S. Highway 50 stretching across the center of Nevada parallels the route of the Pony Express, which ran mail from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Calif., in the early 1860s.

first appeared: 5/6/2001

Nevada’s capital, Carson City, was named for frontiersman Christopher “Kit” Carson. The city became the territorial capital Nov. 25, 1861, and was designated the state capital when Nevada joined the United States in 1864.

first appeared: 4/29/2001

Tonopah (pop. 3,616), in central Nevada, once home to legendary lawman Wyatt Earp, is credited with reversing the economic fortunes of the state when silver was discovered in the area at the turn of the 20th century.

first appeared: 4/29/2001

The stone cabins in Valley of Fire State Park near Lake Mead are made of native sandstone and were erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

first appeared: 4/22/2001

The name Nevada comes from the Spanish word for “snowcapped.” The name was adopted when the area was established as a territory in 1861.

first appeared: 4/15/2001

Nevada’s entry into the United States during the Civil War came about due to a timely coincidence. The future state’s Union loyalty, voiced passionately during its constitutional convention meeting in Carson City, on July 4, 1864, matched the Union’s clamor for another state that would support President Abraham Lincoln.

first appeared: 4/15/2001

The Pershing County Courthouse in Lovelock (pop. 2,069) is believed to be the only round courthouse in the country. Designed by Frederick J. DeLongchamps, the structure was built in 1919 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

first appeared: 4/8/2001

Lehman Caves in the Great Basin National Park at Baker (pop. 337) boasts more than 300 rare cave formations, more than any other cave. One formation, called “Parachute,” resembles an unfurled, descending parachute.

first appeared: 4/1/2001

Bliss Mansion, located across the street from the Governor’s Mansion in Carson City is the first home in Nevada completely piped for gas lighting. It was built in 1879.

first appeared: 4/1/2001

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