Tag: Pershing County

Pershing County, located in the northwestern part of Nevada, is characterized by its expansive desert landscapes and rugged terrain. Known for its rich mining history, the county is home to several ghost towns and remnants of past mining operations that once thrived here. The county seat, Lovelock, stands as a testament to both its historical significance and its modern-day community spirit. With a sparse population spread across its vast area, Pershing County offers a quiet retreat for those seeking solitude amidst its stark beauty, where sagebrush-covered plains meet distant mountain ranges under expansive skies.

Pershing County – Nevada State Historic Marker 17

Posted on June 12, 2024 by Destination4x4

Pershing County, located in north-central Nevada, is a rural county with a population of approximately 6,192 as of 2025, making it the 11th largest county in the state. Covering 6,067 square miles, it is characterized by vast open spaces, with 6,037 square miles of land and only 0.5% water. The county seat is Lovelock, named after early settler George Lovelock, and the county itself is named for General John J. Pershing, a World War I hero. Established on March 18, 1919, as Nevada’s last county, it was carved from Humboldt County.

The county’s landscape includes the prominent Star Peak, the tallest mountain at 9,840 feet, and part of the Black Rock Desert, famous for hosting the Burning Man festival. Historically, Pershing County was a key stop on the Humboldt Trail, known as Big Meadows, where 19th-century emigrants rested before crossing the Forty Mile Desert. Mining, dating back to the 1850s, and cattle ranching remain economic staples, with modern agriculture focusing on alfalfa and wheat production.

Demographically, the 2020 census reported a racial makeup of 77.69% White, 5.35% Black, 3.42% Native American, 0.63% Asian, 0.22% Pacific Islander, 9.38% other races, and 3.30% multiracial, with 19.33% of residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino. The median household income is $72,007, with a per capita income of $42,694 and a poverty rate of 8.05%. Housing is sparse, with 2,389 units at a density of 0.39 per square mile, and most residents own their homes.

Politically, Pershing County leans heavily Republican, with the last Democratic presidential candidate to win it being Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The county has a low incidence of natural disasters compared to the U.S. average, though it experiences significant earthquake activity. Public schools are above average, and the county supports a conservative community lifestyle. Key locations include Lovelock, the largest city, and smaller communities like Imlay and ghost towns such as Seven Troughs, tied to early 20th-century gold mining.

Nevada State Historic Marker 17

Nevada State Historical Markers identify significant places of interest in Nevada’s history. The Nevada State Legislature started the program in 1967 to bring the state’s heritage to the public’s attention with on-site markers. These roadside markers bring attention to the places, people, and events that make up Nevada’s heritage. They are as diverse as the counties they are located within and range from the typical mining boom and bust town to the largest and most accessible petroglyph sites in Northern Nevada Budget cuts to the program caused the program to become dormant in 2009. Many of the markers are lost or damaged.

Pershing County 1964

Here was a key point on Nevada’s earliest road, the famed Humboldt Trail that brought 165,000 emigrants west in the 1840’s and 50’s. Travelers named this rich valley The Big Meadows and stopped for water and grass before continuing south to cross the dreaded 40-Mile Desert, the most difficult lap on the trail to California.

Mining, still an important industry, began here in 1850’s. George Lovelock, merchant, rancher and prospector, gave his name to the county seat. The coming of the railroad in 1869 brought new growth to the area. Pershing County, established in 1919, was previously part of Humboldt County.

Nevada Centennial Marker No. 17

Nevada State Historic Marker 17 Map

Nevada State Historic Marker Summary

Name	Pershing County
Location	Pershing County, Nevada
Latitude, Longitude	40.1803, -118.4769
Nevada State Historic Marker	17

Timothy H. O’Sullivan – Photographer

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Destination4x4

CDV of Timothy H. O'Sullivan with imprint of F.G. Ludlow, Carson City, Nevada Territory on verso. Taken between 1871–74 while O'Sullivan was the official photographer for the Wheeler Expedition. — CDV of Timothy H. O’Sullivan with imprint of F.G. Ludlow, Carson City, Nevada Territory on verso. Taken between 1871–74 while O’Sullivan was the official photographer for the Wheeler Expedition.

Timothy H. O’Sullivan (c. 1840 – January 14, 1882) was a photographer best known for of the Civil War and the western United States. O’Sullivan began his photography career as an apprentice in Mathew Brady’s Fulton Street gallery in New York City. He moved on to the Washington, D.C., branch managed by Alexander Gardner. In 1861. At the age of twenty-one, O’Sullivan joined Brady’s team of Civil War photographers.

Little is known about his early life. He was either born in Ireland or New Work City. As a teenager, Timothy was employed by Matthew Brady where he learn the newly invented craft of photography. When the Civil War broke out, he is commission as a first lieutenant in the Union Army, in 1861.

After the was, in 1867, Timothy H. O’Sullivan is hired by Clarence King to accompany the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel as a photographer. O’Sullivan was with the Survey for the seasons of 1867, 1868, 1869 and 1872.

During these expeditions, he is known to carry two or possibly three camera outfits which include a 9″x12″ and 8″x1O” plates and for stereoscopic views. He developed the plates in the field, as was necessary with the wet plate process, and worked in either a photographic tent or a mule-drawn ambulance wagon. The negatives were usually sent back to the Survey offices in Washington D.C. where they are printed.

In 1871, O’Sullivan join the geological surveys west of the one hundredth meridian, under the command of Lieutenant George M. Wheeler of the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Wheeler would caption O’Sullivan’s photographs with practical information useful in the later establishment of roads and rail routes and emphasized the west’s suitability for settlement.

In 1873, on another Wheeler expedition, O’Sullivan photographed the Zuni and Magia pueblos and the Canyon de Chelly and its remnants of a cliff-dwelling culture. He returned to Washington, D.C., in 1874 and made prints for the Army Corps of Engineers. Soon after being made chief photographer for the United States Treasury in 1880, O’Sullivan died of tuberculosis at age forty-one.

Sand dunes, 1867, Carson Desert Western Nevada RG 77 Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, 1789-1988 Photographic Album of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel – The King Survey, 1867-1872 ARC ID 519530 77KS-3-160

Timothy H. O’Sullivan Portfolio

Desert Lake, near Ragtown, Western Nevada, ca. 1867 by Timothy H. O'Sullivan — Desert Lake, near Ragtown, Western Nevada, ca. 1867 by Timothy H. O’Sullivan

Kearsarge Mining Company's gold mine at Kearsarge, Kearsarge Mining District — in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, Inyo County, eastern California (1871). - Photo by Timothy H. O'Sullivan — Desert Lake, near Ragtown, Western Nevada, ca. 1867 by Timothy H. O’Sullivan

Gold Hill, Nevada Circa 1867, 1868 Photographer Timothy H. O'Sullivan — Gold Hill, Nevada Circa 1867, 1868 Photographer Timothy H. O’Sullivan

References

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Oreana Nevada – Pershing County Ghost Town

Posted on September 19, 2021 by Destination4x4

Oreana Nevada is a milling town which was active from 1865 – 1885 in Pershing County Nevada and home to the Montezuma Smelting Works. The townsite is located on Interstate 80 / U.S. 95 about fourteen miles north east of Lovelock.

Smelting Works. Oreana, Nevada. ca. 1857 by Timothy H. O'Sullivan - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration — Smelting Works. Oreana, Nevada. ca. 1857 by Timothy H. O’Sullivan – U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

In 1865 a five stamp mill was relocated from Trinity and located on the eastern bank of the Humboldt River. This mill is used to process ore from the nearby Montezuma mine and the Arabia district.

In 1857 the Montezuma Smelting Works is built in Oreana, Nevada by the Trinity and Sacramento Company. The location of the smelting works is a bold choice for its Superintendent A. W. Nelson, who built the factory, which contained eight furnaces if a location with little fuel. The nearby mining districts of Arabia and the Trinity mining district were the primary source of ore to supply the plant with raw materials.

Montezuma Silver Works. Oreana, Nevada. ca 1857 by Timothy H. O'Sullivan - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration — Montezuma Silver Works. Oreana, Nevada. ca 1857 by Timothy H. O’Sullivan – U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

A hotel, boarding houses, post office, restaurants, meat market and general store kept the citizens feed and houses. In addition to mining and smelting, a livery and blacksmith and kept them working. The Oreana Jockey Club kept them entertained by sponsoring horses races. So long as the mines produced ore, the smelters processed it 24 hours a day.

At the time, Oreana is the largest in the Humboldt Valley. This title would later be taken by Lovelock, Nevada. Despite its solid foundations, Oreana found itself in financial trouble. Debt and Taxes caused a shutdown in 1869. And again in 1871. Today not much remains to indicate a town.

Oreana Town Summary

Name	Oreana Nevada
Location	Pershing County, Nevada
Latitude, Longitude	40.310833, -118.370556
GNIS
Elevation	4160 Feet
Post Office	February 1867 – July 1869 February 1870 – September 1873 October 1873 – March 1883

Oreana Map

References

Dun Glen Nevada – Pershing County Ghost Town

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Destination4x4

Chafey, Nevada. 1908. Prior site of Dun Glen, Nevada.

Dun Glen Nevada later known as Chafey Nevada is a ghost town and mine site located in Pershing County, Nevada. The mine started its operation in 1862, when silver was discovered. Once of its earliest settlers was Angus Dun, for whom the early camp was named. A commercial district was started in 1863 and with a population of 250 people was the second largest district in Northern Nevada at the time. Early on, there were some “troubles” with the local Native American Piute Tribe who did not appreciated this new settlement and operation.

To protect the fledgling camp, in 1863 a company of United States were garrisoned for protection of mining operations. Camp Dun Glen offered protection from the “Snake Indians” during the “Snake War”. This presence must have been short lived, by 1866 the 12 lb cannon was moved to another post.

The town could support miners and three stamp mills, however, the town and mines languished by the 1880s. The Chinese conducted placer mining operations in near by canyons during this time. The Dun Glen Post Office was opened on July 18, 1865 and served the population until April 7, 1894.

Dun Glen, Nevada, circa 1880. A horse powered arrastra grinding ore from surface veins.

The local mines saw renewed interest starting again in 1908 when E.S. Chafey opened a mining operation. The new town of Chafey supports 1000 people. Saloons and stores sprang up on the old townsite of Dun Glen. Stages operated between Chafey and Mill City four time per day. The Chafey post office operated from August 4, 1908 to March 4, 1911.

Dun Glen Nevada Trail Map

Rochester Nevada – Pershing County Ghost Town

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Destination4x4

In the 1860s, immigrants and prospectors from Rochester New York discovered gold in the nearby mounts and the silver mining town of Rochester, Nevada was founded. Located in Pershing County, Nevada, Rochester was organize in three districts areas spread across on area of three miles within the canyon. The original mine camp located at the upper end of the valley became known as Rochester Heights and later Upper Rochester or “Old Town”.

Early explorations were small and gold ore was processed offsite. Such was Rochester, until on 1912 Joseph Nenzel discovered a rich silver ore. This event changed the forecast for the insignificant town. The steep canyon walls of surrounding Upper Rochester did not allow for larger populations, so Lower Rochester was created further down the canyon.

The boom town populations swelled with miners and businesses. The upper town commercial district support the saloons and hotels, while the mills and mining operations were hosted in the lower town. At one point, the town had The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Nevada Short Line Railway extended a track to Oreana, a town east of Rochester in 1914. From Oreana, a rail was built to Lower Rochester through Limerick Canyon. The rail was extended to the upper camp in 1915 to haul ore to the lower town. Although the track was laid down, the rail never really serviced the mines very well. Accidents, fires and mismanagement caused the service to be unreliable. The mines eventually build a tram between the two towns, however the tram service and railway both failed. The rails were removed in 1920.

Despite theses problems the mining operations continued, however the interest in the location began to subside in 1922. The mines produce over $9 million in gold and silver.

The town of Upper Rochester is currently buried below the tailings of a modern mining operation. Fire destroy much of the lower town in 2012.

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Nevada State Historic Marker 17

Nevada State Historic Marker 17 Map

Nevada State Historic Marker Summary

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Timothy H. O’Sullivan Portfolio

References

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Oreana Town Summary

Oreana Map

References

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Dun Glen Nevada Trail Map

Further Reading

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