Page 47 - 2007 DT 12 Issues

parched and cracked like cobblestones
and colonized by tamarisk, or salt bush Quiz:
cedar, which rose head high.

As we approached the town, the first Nevadans . . . how much do you know? by Chuck Kleber
remains we saw were those of the irriga-
tion channel. As we turned into the main
street, Ranger Sky explained that many If you think that Truckee is where drivers of 18-wheelers stop for lunch, the
of the buildings had been partially demol- Desert Trumpet has plans for you, pardner . . . and you don’t want to know.
ished before the floods came and that all

that now remained were the foundations 1. Beneath the surface of the Great Basin in northern Nevada are
or the lower floors. The neatly formed

building blocks were held together with enormous quantities of hot water ( ) T ( ) F

what at first sight appeared to be re-bar,
but on closer examination turned out to be 2. Nevada is smaller than all but one of these European countries.
bars and straps rescued from wagons. Which one? (a) Italy, (b) Romania (c) Spain, (d) Poland,
One building stood out from the (e) Sweden
others and would have been visible even
when the waters were quite deep. Why 3. Women won the right to vote in Nevada in (a) 1864, (b) 1902,
Hannig’s Ice Cream Parlor needed such
a tall chimney escaped us. Our next stop (c) 1914
was the school, with its still imposing

flight of stairs. It appeared to have been 4. In the 1850’s, travel from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas took
a two-storey building and Ranger Sky approximately (a) 8 days, (b) 20 days, (c) 35 days, (d) 45 days

confirmed this with a photo of it in its
prime. The town seemed to be coming to 5. President Franklin Pierce signed the bill that established the Nevada
life for us and one young member of the Territory in 1857 ( ) T ( ) F
group mused that the ice cream parlor
must have been visible from the school
and then, possibly speaking from experi- 6. The Truckee River runs from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake
ence, imagined the teacher reprimanding ( ) T ( ) F
the pupils for inattention. In the center of
the town are the ruins of the Gentry Ho- 7. In October, 1875, Virginia City was struck by a disastrous fire that

tel, where President Hoover once stayed. was fanned by a famous local wind known as the (a) Washoe
Ranger Sky showed us another photo, Zephyr, (b) Comstock Cyclone, (c) Great Basin Wind
unfortunately of the rear of the hotel, but
we could surmise what the frontage had
looked like from the remnants we saw. 8. Early prospectors often resorted to the so-called “grub-stake” which
Looting has been a problem at times, simply meant that in return for a supply of food, the prospector

but we could still find remnants of the would share any valuable find with his benefactor ( ) T ( ) F

crockery used in the hotel. Further out
are the remains of once-grand houses 9. Key Pittman is a famous Nevadan who was elected to six terms in
and we conjured up in our minds the the U.S. Senate. His name will always be associated with his home
pride with which the owners would have base in (a) Goldfield, (b) Reno, (c) Las Vegas, (d) Tonopah

entertained guests.

Our last stop was at the post office,
where the postmaster had his busiest day 10. When you drive from Austin to Ely, you’ll be on Rte 93 ( ) T ( ) F
on June 11, 1938 stamping thousands of
letters before bagging them up, hurriedly 11. She was a pioneer in the early days of the women’s rights movement
putting them in a boat and closing his in Nevada. Her name was (a) Susan Preston, (b) Anne Martin,
doors forever. (c) Cynthia Barnes, (d) Lana Turner
Thank you to the staff of the Interpre-
tive Association for organizing the visit.
Thank you Ranger Sky. 12. Walker Lake is dry ( ) T ( ) F
Who said that St. Thomas
ever died? ❏ Answers on page 5

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