Major production funding for Wild Nevada is made possible by the Nevada Commission on Tourism, who encourages everyone to explore the Silver State's hidden treasures.

MUSIC >>Dave Santina: Hi, welcome to Wild Nevada.

I'm Dave Santina.

>>Chris Orr: And, I'm Chris Orr.

This trip, we're headed to the southern tip of the state beginning right here in Henderson at the Veterans Memorial.

>>Dave: During the construction of Hoover Dam this area was a squatter's camp known as Midway because it was about halfway between Las Vegas and Boulder City.

Later, in 1941, Basic Magnesium Industries moved in and the city of Henderson was born, and it was an important part of America's defenses during World War II.

In the 1990's, Henderson became one of the fastest growing cities in America and today it's the second most populous city in the state, and it's our starting point.

>>Chris: If you enjoy wildlife then stay with us 'cause we're gonna go in search of the Bighorn sheep.

Tomorrow, we're gonna visit the community of Searchlight and the area called Christmas Tree Pass.

But first, we want to go to the old mining town of Nelson.

>>Dave: From Henderson we're gonna head down Highway 95, then 165 to Nelson.

Then, it's back to 95 to Highland Ranch Crucial Bighorn Habitat Area and on to Searchlight for the night.

Tomorrow, we continue on 95 to Christmas Tree Pass.

>>Chris: Shall we get on the road to Nelson?

>>Dave: Yeah, there's a historical spot I wanna tell you about.

MUSIC >>Dave: This is that spot I was tellin' you about.

Back in the early '30's when they were making, uh, the Dam still, the government put up a gate and a fence across this area on the way to Boulder City and you couldn't get in unless you had a pass that showed that you were a worker there.

And, even the people that worked in there couldn't get in if they had any alcohol or firearms.

So, people would go to Las Vegas on their day off or their weekend and they'd come back to town, and on their way back they'd have to finish off all the stuff they had... (Chris laughs) >>Dave: ...so there were bottles just thrown everywhere.

And, you could just see them laying around.

This is what they say about the old days and, uh, since then the gate's been gone, but I bet you could still find an old bottle or two around here if you looked.

MUSIC >>Dave: We head south for about 10 miles to the junction of State Route 165, then head east toward Nelson.

The road takes us into the Eldorado Mountains and we enjoy the rugged desert scenery for 11 miles before we descend into Nelson.

MUSIC >>Chris: Like so many Nevada towns, Nelson began with the mining boom and later diminished over time.

Today, a small amount of mining still exists as well as a number of homes for those who prefer to live away from the city.

MUSIC >>Chris: A few miles down the road we meet George Stephen, a rancher and tour guide who explains this area's interesting history.

>>Dave: This is an amazing looking place.

>>George Stephen: It's kinda neat.

Uh, people did a lot of work here from scratch in restoring it and, uh, gettin' it back to its original form from the 1800's.

>>Chris: What was the... >>Dave: It's been here since then?

>>George: Yep.

>>Chris: What was it in the 1800's?

>>George: Uh, this was the, actually the headquarters for mine across the road here.

>>Dave: What was mined up here?

>>George: Gold.

>>Dave: Just gold, huh.

>>George: Just gold.

They took out, uh, like I say, millions of dollars worth of, uh, gold outta here.

They had, I think at one time, over a hundred men working, uh, just in this mine alone.

And, they, uh, once you get a chance and go back in there and you'll see the, the scope of what they, they stoped up into the sides of the mountain, and the vein is still showing actually inside of the drifts in there.

>>Chris: So, now, did the mine play out or why did they... >>George: Well, all mines that you see played out.

(Chris laughs) >>George: Uh, I, you know, my famous saying is, "Everybody is, you know, uh, five feet from a million dollars and end up being a million feet from five dollars..." (Chris and Dave laugh) >>George: ...uh, when they get into the mining business.

But, almost ninety-percent of this whole mine was done by hand.

>>Chris: Whew.

>>George: No pneumatics at all.

>>Dave: Wow.

>>George: In other words, the, what they called the single jacks, the hammer... >>Chris: Mm, hmm.

>>George: ...and the, the steel.

They had over a hundred men working in it.

And, of course, they all lived around here in the mountains, you know, in tents and there was not a city here.

Or a town, even.

>>Dave: Hmm.

>>George: And, those are, over there, are thickening tanks.

Those are made out of redwood, which is more likely more valuable today, the redwood in 'em, than, than any gold that's left in the ground.

(Chris and Dave laugh) >>George: And, of course, the white, that's what they call "the tails."

That's the leftover, uh, product, the waste.

>>Dave: Hmm.

>>George: In other words, so, at one time, which is not here now, the, you could see where they had a hopper up there on top of the mountain and they would bring the ore out.

They had donkeys inside here which they would lower to the different levels, uh, on platforms.

>>Chris: Oh, my gosh.

>>Dave: Wow.

>>George: Yeah, and, and the donkeys would bring, uh, haul the ore cars out, back out to the surface.

>>Chris: What a huge operation.

>>George: It was, at, at the time, a very, very large, uh, operation for, really anywhere in the West.

>>Dave: George introduces us to Tony Werly, the owner of the mine.

Tony offers to take us inside.

And, we're happy to accept.

>>Tony Werly: This hole that we're walkin' up to right here is the old 1800 hole.

It's, uh, it's the one that donkeys would drag all the ore cars out of.

It's right down here at the bottom here.

>>Tony: We're, uh, gonna get these lights on.

>>Chris: Cool.

>>Dave: Ah, that's cool.

>>Tony: Watch the floor.

It's not always level and the ceiling's not always tall.

>>Dave: Okay.

>>Tony: I can testify to that.

>>Dave: Well, yeah.

Yeah.

>>Tony: Yeah, my hat's all beat up.

(Chris laughs) >>Dave: If you make it through, we'll be fine.

>>Tony: Yeah.

>>Dave: Did they have to fortify this at any point?

>>Tony: No.

Well, you know, in certain places, yeah.

Way in the back there's a couple of places where there's faults and stuff that they had to fortify.

But, basically, this was drilled, um, drilled with the single jacks and then dynamited in just about every square inch of it.

>>Dave: Wow.

>>Tony: A pick, a pick won't touch this rock.

>>Dave: That, it's that hard.

>>Tony: It's that hard.

>>Dave: What is, is this a jackhammer?

>>Tony: This is, well, this is a stoper.

This is the, somebody gave me these.

They're, they gave me two of them.

But, it's, it's an old drill and a stoper.

When they did, when they started compressing air... >>Dave: Hmm.

>>Tony: ...they would use these stopers to drill their holes with.

In the 1800's, they didn't have things like this.

They had to use, uh, um, a four pound single jack and steel drill bit.

They'd drill probably, with this hole here you'd probably drill a dozen holes in there about two-foot apart, about two feet deep, pack 'em with powder, light the fuse and blast it.

But, only two feet of rock would fall outta here.

>>Dave: Huh.

>>Tony: So, there's 3 miles of tunnels and, two foot at a time.

This is the first vein that you'll see, actually, you'll see the white quartz vein about a foot wide right here in the ceiling, and you'll see the rusty stains that are inside the rock as we, as we go through here.

And, then you follow it down this crack line here and you can see all the rusty rock.

>>Dave: Yeah.

>>Tony: And, all the way down to those quartz veins down in here, and then they, uh, they, uh, follow 'em up there.

So, this is actually about a four-foot wide quartz vein here, and you take all the rock out from up here all the way through that and what they would have left is, uh, this tunnel, a big open void.

That's, that's all that'd be left.

>>Tony: Put your hand on that wall there and look straight up the hole right here.

If you look way up there, that's the 151 foot level and they dropped all the ore down that, from that level down to this level.

>>Chris: Wow.

>>Tony: And, then they, they would drag it out from here.

Two years after that, the claim jumping, they find the Bridal Chamber.

The Bridal Chamber is two gold veins that are runnin' through the white quartz, and that's why they call it that because of those two colors.

And, John Nash, the guy that owned it, um, has both of his partners come up from the river just to show 'em, you know, that they're gonna be rich, it's gonna be great.

>>Dave: Yeah.

>>Tony: And, uh, within two days later, he has 'em up for dinner to celebrate and by the next morning both of 'em come up with strychnine poisoning.

>>Dave: Oh, ho.

>>Tony: And, so he, and he gets away with it.

The sheriff never comes out to investigate it.

>>Dave: Oh.

MUSIC >>Chris: The daylight is incredibly bright as we emerge from the mine.

After our short time in the dark shaft it is easy to know that I do not envy the miners who used to spend hours inside.

>>Dave: George tells us that there's a great view of the Colorado River from his place, so we pile into a vehicle to get a look at it.

It's a dirt road all the way.

Not too rough, but anyone taking these back roads would be wise to bring a vehicle that can handle them.

MUSIC >>Chris: George doesn't mind visitors of the two or four-legged variety.

In fact, a group of Bighorn sheep come through here regularly.

Just another reason why George and his neighbors enjoy calling this remote rural area home.

>>Dave: This is your backyard, eh?

>>George: This is my backyard.

(Chris laughs) >>Dave: Not bad.

>>George: Not bad, huh?

>>Dave: Wow!

>>George: This area, being so remote, um, we have Bighorn sheep come through here twice a day.

Uh, in the morning going south to their watering spring and then at night going back, uh, to the north.

And, they bed down up in the mountains.

But, we have about, uh, depends.

There's two groups of, uh, Bighorn sheep up here.

We have one group that has 13 in it.

And, then the other group, I think, has about 9 or 10.

And, when we first came out here we only had 3.

And, that was in 1990.

So, uh, with us leavin' them alone and, and just lettin' 'em do their thing they've multiplied really well.

>>Chris: Thats great.

>>Dave: Speakin' of Bighorn, that's our next stop.

We have to get goin'.

>>George: S'okay.

>>Dave: So, uh, how do we get, how do we get outta here.

>>Chris: How do we go there from here?

(Laughs) >>George: Okay, uh, carefully.

(Chris laughs) >>Dave: How would you like this to be your back yard?

Not bad.

We'd like to stay here longer, but we've got a few miles to cover.

So, it's time to say goodbye to George and hit the road.

MUSIC >>Dave: It's about 12 miles to Searchlight from Nob Hill.

We pick up Highway 95 South on our way to meet our next guide in Searchlight.

MUSIC >>Chris: Kirsten Cannon is a public affairs specialist with the Bureau of Land Management.

She's going to lead us to the Highland Range Crucial Bighorn Habitat Area.

>> Kirsten Cannon: We are heading to a turnoff right past the Walking Box Ranch so that we're gonna head into the Highland Range and hopefully see some Bighorn.

>>Dave: The dirt road takes us through the Joshuas north from State Route 164.

It's pretty rough, so if you come this way make sure you do it in a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

>>Dave: Is this the Joshua Forest we're going through?

>> Kirsten: This is the Joshua Forest, yes.

>>Chris: The Joshua Forest is habitat for a couple of different types of animals, isn't it?

>> Kirsten: It absolutely is.

What we're going into right now is called The Highland Range and that's where the Bighorn sheep, that we're hopefully gonna see today, live.

Right around the Highland Range is the Paiute Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

And, that area is a habitat for the Desert Tortoise, which is an endangered species here.

There's, of course, many others, there's tons of little lizards and birds.

There's a Gnat Catcher that's out here.

And, actually, in the Joshua trees here, I'm sure you can see how large they are and woody, there's actually even a woodpecker that lives out here and that's pretty rare, uh, obviously for the Joshua trees.

But, since they're so large and woody they have a, a greater habitat here.

>>Dave: So, where do we go from here?

>> Kirsten: We're actually gonna head up the road right here.

In just a little bit we'll probably see some Bighorn tracks.

So, if that's the only thing we see today, at least we'll see a little something.

>>Chris: (Chuckles) Now, how can you tell that it's a Bighorn track?

>> Kirsten: They actually have a really distinctive footprint.

It's basically a round circle and in the middle of it there's gonna be two indentations.

In the more sandy, rocky they'll just be a small print.

Their feet are about 2 inches wide, so it'll be a smaller imprint.

But, we will be able to see it distinctively.

>>Dave: Such little feet.

>> Kirsten: They do have little feet.

They're feet are actually interesting, it's one of the things that helps them climb so well.

The outside of the hoof is hard and brittle like a normal, like how a cow or horse hooves, and then the inside is a soft material that actually helps them grip.

So, when they're running up the mountains it helps them get a little more traction.

>>Dave: Oh, like, uh, cling on pinpoints.

>> Kirsten: Exactly.

Exactly.

>>Dave: Uh, the males are the rams, the females are the ewes, right?

>> Kirsten: Correct.

>>Dave: The rams fight by butting heads?

They... >> Kirsten: Right.

>>Dave: ...what's that about?

>> Kirsten: It's actually, they're not fighting.

What they're doing is, uh, trying to declare dominance for the preferred female.

So, what they'll do is they'll ram into each other until basically one submits and runs off, and then the dominant male gets to have the female.

When they're running together they can run at speeds of about 25 miles an hour.

And, the contest can last 20 hours or more.

>>Chris: Wow!

>>Dave: So... >> Kirsten: So, it's quite amazing.

>>Dave: ... so, after 24 hours, been buttin' heads with this guy, and you win the girl, and your head, you gotta headache!

A brutal headache!

(Kristin laughs) >>Dave: It's gotta be, it's gotta mean a different thing to a sheep than to a human.

>>Dave: As we hike we come across a series of tracks.

Kirsten identifies some of them as Bighorn.

>> Kirsten: See the ones in the road there, the little small... >>Dave: The ones that go straight forward?

>> Kirsten: Exactly.

They actually go in a straight line here.

>>Chris: Oh, I see.

>>Dave: Oh, you can, you can see them going straight up the line.

>> Kirsten: Mm, hmm.

>>Chris: So, they're hooves actually fall in alignment with their body?

>> Kirsten: They do.

It's interesting to, you know, the way we walk it sort of goes left, right, left, right.

But, uh, when the animals go it's, it's actually they have two feet on the ground at the same time, so they just go in a straight line.

>>Dave: They'd be great on a street curb.

>>Kristin: They would, wouldn't they?

>>Chris: We haven't seen any Bighorn yet but, even so, this is a beautiful place to hike.

The sheep may enjoy living in these mountains, but we love just looking at them.

The sloping hills and rock outcroppings create a lovely desert scenery as we move to higher ground.

>>Kirsten: Over here on our left we're gonna see a spring.

I don't think it's the original natural spring, but since it's starting to get dark maybe this is a spot that we can see.

This would be a great example of where they would use their gripping hooves to get down there and get a little sip while still keeping a good eye out on everything.

>>Dave: Pretty challenging.

Stand here and drink outta that.

I don't think we could do it.

>>Kirsten: We certainly couldn't.

>>Dave: A shame we never saw any, any sheep.

But, they're, uh, they're pretty shifty.

They're good at eluding people, aren't they?

>>Chris: I was gonna say, they definitely eluded us today.

>>Dave: As we thank Kirsten, the sun begins to sink in the western sky and our thoughts turn to Searchlight and a good night's sleep.

Tomorrow will be a busy day and we're looking forward to it.

>>Chris: We've had a night of rest and we're ready for Day Number 2 of our adventure.

We're on our way to see a bit of local color called Christmas Tree Pass.

>>Dave: Yeah, and it looks like it's gonna be a great day to do it, too.

But, first, we're headed to the Searchlight Museum to meet our guide for the day.

MUSIC >>Chris: Hey, Jane.

>>Jane Overly: Hi.

>>Chris: I'm Chris.

Nice to meet you.

>>Jane: Nice to meet you, too.

>>Dave: Hi, Jane.

Thank's for meeting us here.

>>Jane: You're quite welcome.

>>Dave: It's a nice little museum you've got.

>>Jane: Well, we like it.

It's, uh... >>Dave: Jane Overy is an authority on the history of Searchlight.

We meet her at the Searchlight Museum, which she helped to create.

>>Jane: ...uh, the Indians, uh, that were here early on and we have the, uh, different artifacts from that period.

And, then we go on into the mining period.

And, this is just some memorabilia of, uh, that we have found in, in some of the mining dumps, people have given us and things like that.

>>Dave: I see a postcard with Scott Joplin.

He wrote... >>Jane: Scott, yes.

>>Dave: ...he wrote a song about, was it about Searchlight?

>>Jane: Well, it was, the name was Searchlight, Searchlight Rag.

Two of the, uh, friends of his, Charles and Tom Turpin, had a, uh, mine here called The Red Onion Mine.

And, they went back to his home and said somethin' about Searchlight.

>>Dave: Uh, huh, okay.

>>Jane: And, that's how they, he wrote the song about it.

>>Dave: He wrote the song, he wrote the song without ever coming here.

>>Jane: Yeah.

He never was here.

>>Dave: Oh, interesting.

>>Jane: Are you all ready to go see the rest of town?

>>Dave: Yeah, absolutely.

>>Chris: Yeah, It sounds like a great community.

>>Jane: Yeah.

>>Jane: This is the, one of the hospitals that used to be in Searchlight.

Uh, there were two hospitals here.

This was the miner's hospital.

And, uh, there were, there was a porch that went all the way around it.

And, it was room for four or five patients.

>>Dave: Not very big.

>>Jane: No, but, uh, it was, it was, it worked.

>>Jane: This is one of the old buildings in town.

This is a representative of some of the buildings that were here.

Uh, as you can see, it's, uh, done with just about anything that they could find at hand to build with.

Uh, shingles, a lot of times they built with canvas.

They built with the, uh, cans that they would bring oil in to town.

They would cut 'em up and use those to keep the air out of their houses and things like that.

And, one of the stories I read about a place they called The Rag House.

>>Dave: Hmm.

>>Jane: And, the reason they called it is 'cause they had a lot of canvas inside and they, uh, had a lot of marks on the walls and they would, and the reason that they were there was every time they brought a bucket of water up out of the mine they would make a mark on the wall.

(Chris and Dave laugh) >>Jane: So, this area here is probably representative of early Searchlight more than any other place we have in town, except for the mines.

And, uh, there was a street that ran along here.

There was a blacksmith and, uh, and Cashman's Garage was here at, uh, one time.

The main street of Searchlight was in the area to the left of us.

It was, uh, Hobs, uh, Hobson Street.

And, all the businesses were down that street in that area of town.

>>Dave: You've had a, a number of, of, uh, well known people come out of here.

>>Jane: Oh, uh, just a great deal.

We had Edith Head, who was the famous dress designer, won lots of Oscars.

>>Dave: Yeah, Academy Award winner.

>>Jane: Academy Award winner.

And, then we had, um, Clara Bow and Rex Bell some more movie stars, that had a ranch about, uh, 6 miles out of town.

>>Jane: We're now on Hobson Street and this is where the main street of old Searchlight was.

A lot of the buildings have been torn down, but there were a lot of, numerous bars along this area.

So, a lot of the, uh, buildings and things along this area would have been buildings in, for the businesses.

And, we're driving down to where the old, uh, railroad station depot came in to, and the depot was located there.

And, when that came to town, uh, when it was located this far out of town, the people in town would, um, they had a big fit about it because they said it was too far out of town, they needed it closer in to town.

>>Chris: So, they say so far away, but really was maybe, what, a quarter of a mile?

>>Jane: That was it.

Just a quarter of a mile.

But, the railroad people said, no, they couldn't do that.

The grade was too high coming into town, so the people had to actually walk, which really upset them.

We're passing by several of the mining sites.

The big mines known as the Quartet, which was one of the big producers, one of the biggest producers in this area.

And, then we also have, uh, the Cyrus Noble Mine that's very famous and the Cyrus Noble, uh, Decanters are world famous for this area.

>>Chris: Well, it sounds like Searchlight has a lot of stories.

>>Jane: Oh... >>Chris: ...lots of colorful people.

>>Jane: ...a lot of very colorful people.

>>Dave: It's about 13 miles from Searchlight to the turnoff for Christmas Tree Pass.

Signs are posted along Highway 95 and there's a kiosk at the turnoff, so it's hard to miss.

MUSIC >>Dave: So, we're headin' up to Christmas Tree Pass now.

What's this mountain we're pointing toward?

>>Jane: It's Spirit Mountain.

It's a granite, solid granite mountain and it has a lot to do with the, uh, Indian, uh, nations that was in this area.

The Mojave, the, uh, Chemawa the different Indian tribes that were here.

It is now on, on the National Register, this area is.

And, um, the Indians still today consider it a very sacred place and bring their children here several times a year to tell them about the, uh, their history and their heritage and, and what the area means.

>>Chris: The road has some washboarding, but we have no trouble in the van.

Most any vehicle should be able to handle it if you take it slowly.

It's about a mile and a half from the highway to the pass.

MUSIC >>Chris: The area's called Christmas Tree Pass, but I don't see a lot of pine trees.

>>Jane: No, these pines were, uh, cedar and juniper and the reason it's called Christmas Tree Pass is because for years people would come out and decorate the tree and, um, we've had, uh, years ago there would, as you would drive through here there would be numerous trees decorated with all sorts of objects and things.

And, families would come as far as Vancouver, Canada and put a sign up and decorate a tree.

(Chris laughs) >>Jane: And, uh, then a few years ago when this became a National Register, on the National Register, they, uh, took all the decorations and things off of the trees.

So, but that's why it's got it's name, Christmas Tree Pass.

>>Chris: The pass itself is pretty, but the real beauty comes next as we continue east and descend past Spirit Mountain.

Nature's artistry is on full display and we feel privileged to experience it.

MUSIC >>Dave: This awe inspiring view would have been worth the trip all by itself.

MUSIC >>Dave: A few miles down the road, Jane directs us to an ancient petroglyph site.

>>Jane: Here's Grapevine Canyon in the Christmas Tree Pass area.

And, it is, there are so many petroglyphs here you just cannot believe.

>>Dave: They seem to be everywhere.

>>Jane: There are several very unique, uh, petroglyphs in the area.

Um, there's panels of deer running, uh, Bighorn sheep, um, and all kinds of, I would say calendar things, suns, different things that mean or meant something to those people.

>>Chris: Yeah.

>>Dave: Yeah.

This looks like an hourglass almost.

Key hole.

>>Chris: And, sheep or Bighorns.

>>Dave: Oh, yeah.

>>Chris: We thank Jane for being the perfect guide to Searchlight and providing us with an enjoyable conclusion to our adventure.

>>Chris: This has been a fun and interesting trip.

We've gotten to see a good bit of southern Nevada's mining pass.

>>Dave: We enjoyed Nelson and our tour of the Chatticut Mine - I hope I said that properly - and we learned an awful lot about the story behind Searchlight.

>>Chris: We've seen some beautiful Nevada desert, including the Highland Range and Christmas Tree Pass.

>>Dave: For more on this and any of our trips, visit our companion website at knpb.org.

And, while you're there drop us a e-mail and tell us about your own adventures.

>>Chris: Until the next Wild Nevada, you go out and enjoy our beautiful state.

MUSIC >>Dave: Hoppin' along.

Major production funding for Wild Nevada is made possible by the Nevada Commission on Tourism, who encourages everyone to explore the Silver State's hidden treasures.