Page 38 - 2006 DT 12 Issues

M a y Ghost Towns, continued from p. 1 After the Montgomery Shoshone Mine
became famous, Bob Montgomery sold
by a massive fire, but today there are his interest to an investment name that
D e s k S c h e d u l e still close to 50 buildings from the early is famous today, but unrelated. Charles
days and a museum that displays every- M. Schwab bought it for $4 million in
Mon/1 R. Linsmeier D./V. Wray thing from stagecoach relics and Pony 1906. It was the heyday for Rhyolite,

Tues/2 M. Slagle C. Gilmore Express items to outlaw memorabilia. with 12,000 citizens enjoying such
You can still dine there. amenities as schools, telephones, a
Wed/3 E. Meeks E. Schliepp
stock exchange and electric lights. But
Thur/4 I. Grieco J. Barrett Belmont — A standout among it all began to fade, and the lights finally

Fri/5 P. Kepner D. Powers Nye County’s ghost towns, Belmont’s went out in 1916 as Rhyolite’s power
ruins (a national historical landmark) company closed down.
Sat/6 W. Barbuck W. Barbuck are largely in a state that makes it easy
Sun/7 R. Keough N. Kresge to use your imagination. They are And then there are the others
Mon/8 S. Stenzel J. Geier crumbling, but hang on with enough — Grantsville, Berlin, Goldfield, So-
there to picture the resplendent Music daville and so many more. Some have
Tues/9 M. Slagle J. Geier Hall where stars of the day performed. little more than a rusting buckboard

Wed/10 P. Oleson C. Gilmore Belmont’s short life ran for about 20 over there and a barely-standing shed
Thur/11 J. Frank J. Barrett years after an 1865 strike. In that time, over here to declare that they did exist
about $15 million of silver ore
Fri/12 R. Kinn D. Powers was mined. Like nearly all the

Sat/13 T./N. Hughes R. Conductor mining towns, Belmont dealt in
Sun/14 J. Sacks C. Camburn swift, frontier justice. Charlie
McIntyre and Jack Walker came Courtesy Norm Kresge
Mon/15 A. Berg R. Linsmeier to town as strangers, shot a local
Tues/16 E. Schliepp C. Gilmore man, and were arrested by the
Wed/17 N. Kresge D. Powers sheriff who was overpowered
by a party of vigilantes who
Thur/18 I. Grieco J. Barrett then hanged the two men.
Fri/19 G. Fazio D. Kavula Three years after its beginning,
Sat/20 J. Kisosondie L. Eaton Belmont had over 100 busi-
nesses—banks, restaurants,
J. McManus Open hotels, newspapers and, of The Rhyolite Bank
Sun/21 L. Eaton L./M. Utah course, the inevitable saloons.
Mon/22 R. Linsmeier J. Geier By 1885, however, the ore was
running out and its citizens moving on. . . . but the ghosts are there. Build-
Tues/23 I. Grieco J. Geier Belmont would not die without a fight, ings that once were and are now gone
Wed/24 L. Mills L. Mills and a surviving newspaper, the Belmont except for a foundation or a standing

V. Sperry R. Erickson Currier, lasted until 1901. wall . . . somehow, they tell you of their
presence. As for the railroads, they
Thur/25 N. Hughes J. Barrett Rhyolite — Just a few miles from have their ghosts, too. They brought life
Fri/26 R. Kinn E. Schliepp Beatty, Rhyolite is easily accessible for to those towns and lived and died with

Sat/27 M. Lolich M. Lolich Las Vegans. The Bottle House and the them. Hear those whistles and the click-
train depot are the only in-tact struc- ety-clack on the rails! They are from
Open R. Erickson tures in the town, but ruins abound in the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad, the
Sun/28 R. Saperstein L./M. Utah this town that came into being just over Eagle Salt Works RR, the Tonopah and
Mon/29 S. Stenzel T./N. Hughes 100 years ago when Shorty Harris and Tidewater, Battle Mountain and Lewis,
E.L. Cross discovered gold. Prospec- Pioche and Bullionville. They are all
Tues/30 M. Slagle Open tors poured in and the mining claims with us . . . you just have to use your
Wed/31 Open Open burgeoned, over 2,000 of them. Even re- imagination. In Nevada’s author, David
tired Senator William M. Stewart rushed Thomson, put it this way “. . . I felt that
Changes/fill-ins? Call L. Dickey, 515-5363 in to resume his life as a prospector. there might be something there . . .” ❏

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