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Chief Tecopa – Peacemaker of the Paiutes
Chief Tecopa – Peacemaker of the Paiutes is Nevada State Historic Marker number 171 and located in Nye County, Nevada. The monument is located at his graveside in Chef Tecopa Cemetery in Pahrump, Nye County, Nevada. Tecopa (c. 1815–1904) was a Native American leased of the Southern Nevada tribe of the Paiute of the Ash Meadows and Pahrump areas.
Tecopa, who’s name means wildcat, along with several other warriors joined Kit Carson and John C. Fremont in the battle of Resting Springs which lasted for three days.
Tecopa maintained peaceful relations with the white settlers to the region and was known as a peacemaker. He often wore a bright red band suit with gold braid and a silk top hat. These clothes are replaced by local white miners when the clothes wore out. This gesture is in gratitude for Tecopa’s help in maintaining peaceful relations with the Paiute.
Tecopa is buried with his son and grandson at the Chief Tecopa Cemetery in the Pahrump Valley, Nevada.
Nevada State Historic Marker Text
Chief Tecopa was a young man when the first European Americans came to Southern Nevada. As a leader among the Southern Paiutes, he fought with vigor to save their land and maintain a traditional way of life. He soon realized if his people were to survive and prosper, he would have to establish peace and live in harmony with the foreigners.
During his life, which spanned almost the entire nineteenth century, his time and energy were devoted to the betterment of his people until his death here in Pahrump Valley.
Chief Tecopa is honored for the peaceful relations he maintained between the Southern Paiutes and the settlers who came to live among them.
STATE HISTORICAL MARKER NO. 171
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE
CALIFORNIA & NEVADA DEVELOPMENTORGANIZATION
Nevada State Historic Marker Summary
| Name | Chief Tecopa – Peacemaker of the Paiutes |
| Location | Pahrump, Nye County, Nevada |
| Nevada State Historic Marker | 171 |
| Latitude, Longitude | 36.2091, -115.9895 |
Nevada State Historic Marker Location
References
Old Spanish Trail
The Old Spanish Trail is a 700 mile long historical trade route that connected the northern New Mexico settlements near Santa Fe, New Mexico with those of Los Angeles, California. The trail’s rugged terrain discouraged the use of wagons. It was always a pack route, mainly used by men and mules.
The routes and trails link California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. The Old Spanish Trail consists of a series and different trails and routes some of which are in service today.
Old Spanish Trail Routes
All routes came together at Fork of Roads, east of present-day Barstow in the Mojave desert, and then crossed Cajon Pass between the San Gabriel and San Bernadino Mountains to Coastal California. After negotiating the pass, traders had an easy two to three days travel to the San Gabriel Mission and beyond to Los Angeles.
Armijo Route
The first complete trip across the trail began in Abiquiú, northwest of Santa Fe. The Armijo party followed well-known trails northwest to the San Juan River, then nearly due west to the Virgin River. They used the Crossing of the Fathers, cut into rock canyon wall some 75 years earlier by the Domínguez-Escalante party. Armijo’s caravan went down the Muddy River and across
the Mojave Desert to the Amargosa and Mojave Rivers, through Cajon Pass and down to Mission San Gabriel.
Main Northern Route
First blazed by William Wolfskill and George C. Yount in 1831, this route veered northwest from Abiquiú through Southern Colorado and central Utah. It avoided the rugged canyons of the Colorado River that the Armijo party had encountered and took advantage of the better water and pasture resources across central Utah before returning to the Colorado River and Armijo’s route not far from Las Vegas.
Northern Branch
This route followed well-known trapper and trade routes north through the Rio Grande gorge to Taos and into southern Colorado. It then went west through Cochetopa Pass, largely open during the winter when other passes were snowed in and up the Gunnison River valley, rejoining the Northern Route near present-day Green River, Utah.
Mojave Road
The Mojave Road is a 188-mile crossing of the Mojave Desert long used by area Indians and by Spanish explorers and missionaries, it was first traveled by Jedediah Smith, an American trapper, in 1826.
Old Spanish Trail Locations
 Old Mojave RoadThe Old Mojave Road (Government Road) is an east-west route that enters the Mojave National Preserve off the highway 95 in Nevada, and Afton Canyon… |
 Old Spanish TrailThe Old Spanish Trail is a 700 mile long historical trade route that connected the northern New Mexico settlements near Santa Fe, New Mexico with… |
 Old Spanish Trail – Mountain Springs Pass – Nevada State Historic MarkerOld Spanish Trail - Mountain Springs Pass is located along highway 160 and Nevada State Historic Marker No. 142. The Old Spanish Trail is a… |
References
Old Spanish Trail – Mountain Springs Pass – Nevada State Historic Marker
Old Spanish Trail – Mountain Springs Pass is located along highway 160 and Nevada State Historic Marker No. 142. The Old Spanish Trail is a 700 mile long historical trade route that connected the northern New Mexico settlements near Santa Fe, New Mexico with those of Los Angeles, California.
Nevada State Historic Marker Text
This portion of the Old Spanish Trail was discovered in January 1830, by Antonio Armijo during his first trip from Santa Fe to Los Angeles. The springs just north of this marker provided excellent water and fed meadows of luxuriant grass for draft animals. Two days were required to travel between Las Vegas and Mountain Springs Pass. The trip was broken at Cottonwood Springs, the site of Blue Diamond, where an early start was usually made in order to climb the pass by nightfall. Early travelers often referred to the area as Piute Springs, but the present title has been used for over a century. The altitude made Mountain Springs one of the favorite camping spots on the trail.
STATE HISTORICAL MARKER No. 142
NEVADA STATE PARK SYSTEM
NORTHERN NEVADA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Nevada State Historic Marker Summary
| Name | Old Spanish Trail – Mountain Springs Pass |
| Location | Highway 160, Clark County, Nevada |
| Nevada State Historic Marker | 142 |
| Latitude, Longitude | 35.9983, -115.4484 |
Nevada State Historic Marker Location
References
Potosi Nevada State Historic Marker 115
Potosi Nevada state historic marker 115 is located along highway 160 between Las Vegas and Pahrump in Clark County. The marker is located off the offramp for Mount Potosi Canyon Road (582). Marker 115 is one of several historic markers located along a very short stretch of highway 160. As you exit highway 160, the marker is tucked away off the main road and turned to the side, so it is semi hidden. Due to the highway devide in this location, the exit is only available when travelling eastbound along Highway 160 towards Las Vegas.
Potosi is one of the first mining ventures in the state of Nevada.
Marker Text
The desire of local Mormon settlers for economic self-sufficiency led to mining by missionaries for lead at Potosí. In 1858, Nathaniel V. Jones was sent to recover ore from the “mountain of lead” 30 miles southwest of the mission at Las Vegas Springs. About 9,000 lbs. were recovered before smelting difficulties forced the remote mine to be abandoned in 1857. Potosi became the first abandoned mine in Nevada.
In 1861, California mining interests reopened the mine, and a smelter and rock cabins for 100 miners made up the camp of Potosi. Even more extensive operations resulted after the transcontinental Salt Lake and San Pedro R.R. (now the union pacific) was built through the county in 1905.
During World War I, Potosi was an important source of zinc.
STATE HISTORICAL MARKER No. 115
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE
Marker Location
Marker Summary
| Name | Potosi, Nevada State Historic Marker 115 |
| Location | Clark County, Nevada |
| Nevada State Historic Marker | 115 |
| Latitude, Longitude | 35.9954, -115.4866 |
References
Miller’s Station – Pony Express
Miller’s station, also known as Reed’s Station is a pony express station located in Churchill County, Nevada.
Pony Express
Sources generally agree on the identity of this station as a C.O.C. & P.P. Express Co. station, possibly located near the area where the north and south branches of the original Pony Express and Overland Mail Company trails rejoined. Bloss lists Miller’s and Reed’s as separate stations, but other sources agree that the two names represent the same station. The station began about 1849 or 1850 as a stopping point on the California Emigrant Trail, and the Pony Express included the site as one of its original relay stations in 1860. On July 1, 1861, the station passed into the hands of G. W. Reed. Even though Reed owned the station after that date, some people knew it as Miller’s Station. On October 19, 1860, Richard Burton stopped at “Miller’s Station” for about one and one-half hours, where he and his companions had a snack and waited for a heavy rain shower to end. A letter written by an employee, C.H. Ruffing, on May 31, 1860, from Miller’s Station to W.W. Finney stated:
I have just returned from Cold Springs-was driven out by the Indians, who attacked us night before last. The men at Dry Creek Station have been killed and it is thought the Roberts Creek Station has been destroyed. The Express turned back after hearing the news from Dry Creek. Eight animals were stolen from Cold Springs on Monday. Hamilton is at the Sink of the Carson, on his way in with all the men and horses. He will get to Buckland tomorrow.
Nothing remains of the station’s structures, but a well still exists on the site.
| Name | Millers Station |
| Location | Churchill County, Nevada |
| Latitude, Longitude | |
| Other Names | Reed’s Station |
| NPS Pony Express | 162 |
| Next Westbound Station | Dayton Station |
| Next Eastbound Station | Desert Wells Station |