1500  

1519 -

•  Area claimed by Spain, Alta California (conquest of Mexico).

1542 -

• Voyage to California coast by Juan de Cabrillo.

1600   

1607 -

• English colonists settled in Virginia, forming Jamestown Colony. 

1609 -

• Town of Santa Fe established as Spanish-Indian trade center. It was held by the Pueblo Indians from 1680-92.

1668 -

• Hudson's Bay Co. established to open fur trade with Indians to provide beaver for hats for men and women.

1700   

1763 -

• St. Louis founded by trappers Pierre LaClede & R.A. Choteau.

1769 -

• Spanish began building Missions in California.

1775 -

• The Spanish missionary Francisco Garces became the first European to enter Nevada, crossing the southern part of the state on his way to California.
• Beginning of the American Revolution.

1776 -

• Spanish possibly entered the area now Southern Nevada.

1778 -

• Norwest Company established by Montreal (Canada) fur merchants.

1783 -

• U. S. western boundary extended to the Mississippi River.

1799 -

• Spanish priests may have explored the southern tip of Nevada.

1800   

1800 -

• New Mexican slave traders captured Southern Paiutes.

1803 -

• Louisiana Purchase from France for $15 million - lands west of Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains less Texas, etc.
• 1803-06 - Lewis & Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean.

1808 -

• John Jacob Astor chartered the American Fur Co.

1810   

1812 -

• Missouri became a territory.
• 1812-15 - War of 1812 with Britain opened the Western States.

1819 -

• The 42nd parallel, which forms Nevada's northern boundary, was recognized as the dividing line between U. S. and Spanish territory by the Adams-Onis Treaty.

1820   

1821 -

• Mexican Independence and control of Alta California.
• Old Spanish Trail in use for purposes of trade.

1822 -

• Crude but permanent photograph produced in France.

1823 -

• Town of Independence, MO, founded - starting point for Western States.

1825 -

• Fur trapper Peter Skene Ogden of the Hudson's Bay Company discovered the Humboldt River.

1826 -

• Entry of first North Americans - Canadian Peter Skene Ogden, and U. S. citizen, Jedediah Strong Smith, trappers and explorers. Jedediah Strong Smith led a fur-trapping expedition for the firm of Smith, Jackson & Sublette West across the Southern tip of Nevada and along the Colorado River (Clark) in search of new trapping grounds. Smith's expedition then crossed the mountains into California over Tejon Pass.

1827 -

• Jedediah Smith crossed central Nevada on his return trip. After spending the winter of 1826-27 in California, Jedediah S. Smith's expedition crossed Sierra Nevada mountains over Ebbett's Pass and traveled eastward across Nevada. His trip was the first crossing of the Great Basin by white men.

1828 -

• 1828-29 - Fur-trapping expedition of Peter Skene Ogden, explorer and businessman for Hudson's Bay Company, discovered Humboldt River (named Mary's River by Ogden) November 9, 1828, visited Humboldt Sink where he saw Indians with guns and horses early in 1829.

1829 -

• Establishment of Spanish Trail, later called Mormon Trail, the recognized route from Missouri into Mexico by the 1830's.
• Winter: Trading expedition of Antonio Armijo to Los Angeles from Santa Fe crossed southern Nevada (Clark).  First expedition to make commercial connection between southern California and New Mexico, later improved and developed as the "Spanish Trail". Ewing Young and Kit Carson, leading a fur-trapping party from Taos, also discovered portions of the trail at about the same time.
• 1829-30 - Peter Ogden possibly explored Humboldt Sink, Carson & Walker Rivers and Walker Lake.

1830  

1830 -

• 1830-31 - William Wolfskill led a trading expedition and pack train over the Spanish Trail between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles - arrived February 1831. This expedition opened the Spanish Trail to commercial traffic. Wolfskill profitably exchanged New Mexican blankets for California mules.
• U. S. population - 12 million people.

1832 -

• Milton Green Sublette led a fur-trapping expedition with Nathaniel Wyeth for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company to the Humboldt River and Oregon.

1833 -

• 1833-34 - Joseph Reddeford Walker, explorer and businessman, led fur-trapping expedition for Captain B. L. E. Bonneville to Humboldt River, Carson Sink, and Walker River. First battle between whites and Indians in Nevada at Humboldt Sink, October 4, 1833, many Indians killed. Walker crossed Sierra Nevada mountains over Walker's Pass; discovered Yosemite Valley and the Tuolumne or Merced grove of giant redwood trees. Second battle fought at Toulon Lake (Pershing) in June 1834 on Walker's return trip, trappers armed with rifles again defeated the Indians, probably Northern Paiutes

1835 -

• Republic of Texas - first loss of Mexican territory.

1837 -

• Publication of deBonneville's account of 1833 trip with map, proving the San Buenaventure River did not exist in the state.

1839 -

• Last rendezvous of the Mountain Men.

1840   

1840 -

• Western Emigration Society formed.
• Death of fur trade. Beaver hats replaced by silk.
• Development of paper from wood pulp by Germans.

1841-

• Congress passed Pre-emption Act, which recognized rights of 'squatters' who settled on surveyed portions of public domain land; repealed 1891. A man who had possession of such land and was using it had the right to buy it from the government at $2/acre prior to sale at public auction. This policy encouraged settlers to move onto the public lands west of the Mississippi River. Congress continued it with the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Desert Land Act of 1877. Congress discontinued this policy with passage of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 and the Multiple Land Use Act of 1964.
• John Bidwell and John Bartleson led a party of overland emigrants from Missouri, including the first white woman and child to enter Nevada to Humboldt, Carson, and Walker Rivers, over the Sierra Nevada mountains at Sonora Pass, and into California; first overland emigrant party to California. First wagons to enter Nevada (these had to be abandoned before the Sierra Nevada crossing); first cattle to enter Nevada.
• First sheep in Nevada; 150 head driven along Spanish Trail, through Las Vegas Springs, by Workman-Rowland emigrant party from New Mexico en route to California.

1842 -

• Elijah White led the first wagon train to Oregon.

1843 -

• Lieutenant John C. Fremont led an exploring expedition approved by Congress to the Truckee and Carson Rivers; discovered Pyramid Lake January 10, 1844; crossed mountains into California over Carson Pass February 20, 1844. First winter crossing of the Sierra Nevada.
• Ft. Bridger established on Colorado River in Wyoming.
• Joseph B. Chiles (Bidwell-Bartleson group) with Walker as guide, led a group from Missouri via the Humboldt Route.
• 1843-47 - Fremont explorations with Carson & Walker as guides.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 38.

1844 -

• Northern Paiute Indian Chief Truckee and Caleb Greenwood guided the Elisha Stephens wagon train of overland emigrants into California over Emigrant Gap. First wagons to cross Sierra Nevada mountains. Opened Truckee River section of California Trail (road included much of present Interstate 80).
• Telegraph invented by Samuel Morse, using dots & dashes.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 53

1845 -

• Numerous emigrant parties as California was well-publicized.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 260.
• 1845-1846 - Second exploring expedition of John C. Fremont to Humboldt, Truckee, Carson, and Walker Rivers. Crossed Sierra Nevada mountains into California over Donner Pass November-December, 1845. Captain Truckee, Chief of the Northern Paiutes, accompanied Fremont as a guide into California.

1846 -

• Applegate-Lassen section of Oregon and California Trails opened by Jesse Applegate and Peter Lassen between Fort Hall, Idaho, and Willamette Valley, Oregon, by way of Nevada and northern California.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 1,500.
• Texas joined the Union.
• Great Britain gave up claims to joint control of Oregon with the U. S.
• Beginning of Mormon migration to Utah from Nauvoo, Illinois.
• 1846-1847 - Donner Party tragedy. Emigrant train, crossing Nevada late in the year, was caught by a heavy snowstorm October 28 and trapped near Donner Lake until February 19.  44 out of 89 persons traveling with the Donner Party died between Fort Bridger, Utah, and Johnson's Ranch, California.
• Mexican War began between U. S. and Mexico over disputed land in Texas.
• California revolution ("Bear Flag Republic") against Mexican rule began June 14 at Sonora.
• U. S. troops occupied Mexico City September 14, 1847. War ended with Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo in 1848.

1847-

• Establishment by Brigham Young of the Mormon Kingdom of Desert and Salt Lake City in Utah, then Mexican land.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 450.

1848 -

• By the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo, which ended the War with Mexico, the United States acquired Nevada. It was then a part of California, known as the Washoe Country.
• Jan 24 - James Wilson Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento. This find was the first major gold strike in the United States. At least a quarter of a million men emigrated to California in 1849-1853, and many of them traveled overland across Nevada.
• Acquisition of Southwestern U. S. by U. S. for $15 million.
• Oregon Territory organized after end of joint U. S.-British control of area, dating from 1818.
• July-August - Lieutenant Samuel Thompson of the "Mormon Battalion" made first wagon crossing of Carson Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains and constructed a wagon road in Carson Canyon, opening the Carson River section of the California Trail.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 400.

1849 -

• March 18 - State of Deseret, including most of present-day Nevada and Utah, was organized by the Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or LDS Church) with Brigham Young as Governor; was not recognized by Congress, and its petition for statehood was rejected.
• The first permanent settlement was established at Mormon Station, now Genoa, by H. S. Beatie.
• Gold Rush to California. Ships sailed from the East, and about 25,000 people formed a scattered line of wagons, walkers, and horsemen across Nevada for six months.
• Death Valley Party, with 107 wagons led by Lewis Manly & Jefferson Hunt from Salt Lake City to Calif. - one death.
• Spring-Autumn - Prospecting parties from California and overland emigrants discovered gold on eastern slope of Sierra Nevada mountains.

1850   

1850 -

• September 9. Most of Nevada was included in the newly organized Territory of Utah. California became a state due to population of 90,000.
• Overland emigrants discovered gold nuggets at the mouth of Gold Canyon (Lyon) near Carson River; one miner wintered there.
• Patrick Henness discovered Henness Pass over the Sierra Nevada mountains; a toll road for pack trains was built over the pass which linked the mining camps of the north and central Yuba River in California with the Truckee River section of the California Trail.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 44,000.

1851 -

• November 19 - An independent local government was formed. It lasted several months until the Utah authorities intervened.
• Establishment of Mormon Station as a trading post on the site of present-day Genoa by John Reese & a group of Mormons - 17 men and 13 wagons of supplies arrived July 7th. First known as Reese's Station. Israel & Eliza Mott arrived a week later & settled just south. She was the first non-Native American woman in the state.
• Mexican miners working in Gold Canyon area.
• Reese's teamster, James 'Old Virginney' Fennimore, began prospecting & mining in Gold Canyon.
• June - John Reese and others established a trading post in Carson Valley. First permanent settlement in Nevada, about 1/2 mile south of Old Mormon Station. Reese's trading post was called 'Mormon Station' (Douglas).
• Summer - California sent a militia expedition to Carson Valley during second El Dorado County Indian War. Small garrison commanded by William Byrne wintered at Mormon Station (Douglas).
• August-September - Indian fights along Humboldt River; William Hickman led emigrant party in battles, reportedly killing 82 Indians.
• September 9 - Congress established Utah Territory, which included most of present-day Nevada, with Brigham Young as Governor; territorial capitol at Fillmore, later moved to Salt Lake City.
• November - Eagle Ranch, now Carson City, first settled; established by California men as trading post along overland route.
• November - Absalom Woodward and U. S. Mail party ambushed and killed by Indians on Humboldt River; mail lost.
• James P. Beckwourth, a black mountain man, opened Beckwourth Pass road over the Sierra Nevada for overland emigration traveling to Marysville, California.
• U. S. Post Office awarded a contract to Absalom Woodward and George Chorpenning for carrying transcontinental overland mail between Sacramento and Salt Lake City. First overland mail left Sacramento May 1 for Salt Lake by way of Carson Valley; carried once a month; it was the first transcontinental overland mail service in U. S. Nicknamed 'Jackass Mail' because letters were carried in packs on mules.
• Carson Valley Settler's Government.
• First government in Nevada was established by public mass meeting. Initial public meeting November 12 at Mormon (Reese's) Station established government by committee of seven and system of making land claims.
• Second meeting November 19, made timber lands common property.
• Third meeting November 20 named a Justice of the Peace, Clerk, and Sheriff; fourth meeting May 22, 1852 encouraged construction of sawmills.
• Fifth meeting March 21, 1853 required actual occupancy and improvements on land claims.
• Sixth meeting May 27, 1854 defined water rights of settlers.
• This government ceased operation after arrival of Carson County government from Utah in 1855; was not recognized as official by either Utah or the U. S.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 1,100.

1852 -

• First land claims filed in Nevada at Mormon Station - Reese, Stephen Kinsey, E.L. Bernard, Jas. C. Fair, Win. Byrnes, J. Brown & J.H. Scott & Bros.
• John Reese built the 1st toll bridge in Nevada over the Carson River. Mottsville was growing up around Mott's Ranch, South of Genoa.
• Moses Job opened a store just south of Mottsville.
• Dec. 10 - 1st Post Office - Mormon Station, Carson County, Utah Territory.
• Arrival of more settlers in Carson Valley near Mormon Station.
• March 3 - Utah Territorial Legislature established counties with boundaries reaching to California State Line; these were the first official local government units in Nevada but were ignored by settlers in western Utah, who had formed a separate local government in 1851.
• Spring - Washburn Loomis and N. R. Haskell operated a trading post at mouth of Gold Canyon, near Carson River, for emigrants on the California Trail and local miners; later operated by Spafford Hall; now town of Dayton (Lyon).
• December 1 - First toll bridge and road franchise granted by Carson Valley settler's government to John Reese and Israel Mott for Carson Canyon section of California Trail.
• December - U. S. Post Office established winter transcontinental mail route between Salt Lake City and San Bernardino, California, using portions of the Spanish Trail across Nevada; post established at Las Vegas Springs (Clark) in southern Nevada as way station. This road was known as the Mormon Trail.
• Placer County emigrant road over Sierra Nevada mountains through Squaw Valley opened to overland travelers on the Truckee River section of the California Trail.
• First survey of California-Nevada boundary begun by Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves of California.
• Noble's Pass Route (Shasta emigrant road) over Sierra Nevada mountains opened to overland emigrants, connecting the Humboldt River section of the California Trail with the mining camps and settlements of northern California.
• H. H. Jameson established a trading station for overland emigrants in Truckee Meadows (Washoe).
• Alantheus Clark became the first settler in Washoe Valley (Washoe).
• First commercial sheep drive through Nevada; led by 'Uncle' Dick Wootton, 9,000 head, from Taos, New Mexico, to Sacramento, California.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 50,000.

1853 -

• First claims staked by Grosch brothers (Allan & Hosea) in the Comstock area. More prospectors in that area.
• Carson Valley settlers petitioned California for annexation.
• Henry Van Sickle opened a blacksmith shop.
• Land claims filed by J.H. Scott, Chas. Ferguson, J.H. Haynes & David Barry, Thos. & Elzy Knott, Chas. Daggett, L.M. Young, Jas. Greene, L. Olds, John Olds. Also, R.T. Hawkins of Jacks Valley. Sale of farm by Cary & Knott to W.J .Thorington for $600.
• December 31 - Nevada's first dance held at Spafford Hall's Station near Gold Canyon on New Year's Eve for miners, settlers and Washo Indians - who drove off horses.
• First wedding & birth of first child born in area recorded at station. McMarlin's Sta.1854.
• Fall - U. S. Post Office awarded a contract to George Chorpenning and Ben Holladay to carry monthly transcontinental overland mail with a wagon and four mule team between Sacramento and Salt Lake City, by way of Mormon Station.
• Benjamin Palmer arrived at Carson Valley and took up a ranch near Sheridan (Douglas); first black settler in Nevada. Palmer ranched, farmed, and prospered for over 40 years until his death.
• First bridge built over Carson River constructed on the California Trail at Carson Canyon by John Reese and Israel Mott.
• Johnson's Cut-off section of California Trail between Placerville and Carson Valley opened over Echo Summit; shortened Carson River section of California Trail to Placerville, California.
• Gold discovered by businessman Francis Xavier Aubrey's volunteer transcontinental railroad survey party in southern Nevada (Clark).
• Volcano Route of California Trail by way of Carson River opened to overland emigrants, linking the mining camps of Calaveras County, California, with the transcontinental route.
• Yreka Route of California Trail opened to overland emigrants, allowing travel to the northernmost parts of California.
• First post-office in Nevada established at Mormon Station in Carson Valley (Douglas).
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 20,000.

1854 -

• The formation of Carson County, Utah Territory, by the Utah legislature, with Judge Orson Hyde named probate judge for the county. It included all the settlements in the western area. The inhabitants tried to rid themselves of all connection with the people of the Salt Lake region. They petitioned Congress to annex them to California.
• Mormon Station settlers began squabbling over water rights.
• Thomas Knott began building a sawmill for John Cary, the 1st in Western Utah. Lumber sold for $100 per 1,000 feet.
• Rufus Adams bought farm; H. and Van Sickle opened way station.
• The town of Sheridan grew up.
• By July first 213 emigrant wagons went through Mormon Station.
• July - William H. 'Uncle Billy' Rogers started weekly pack and passenger mule train between Placerville and Carson Valley; passenger's fare was $12.
• July - Actress Lola Montez and party left Grass Valley, California, for an excursion to Truckee Meadows (Washoe) - Nevada's first tourists.
• October - Doctor Charles Daggett was empowered by settlers to present petition of Carson Valley residents to California Legislature, requesting that California annex  western Utah, including Carson Valley.
• Winter - First school in Nevada; children taught by Mrs. Allen at Israel Mott's house in Carson Valley (Douglas).
• John Reese and four soldiers discovered a new and shorter route across Nevada between Salt Lake City and Carson Valley, which bypassed the Humboldt River.
• Asa L. Kenyon started a permanent trading post at Ragtown, near present-day Fallon (Churchill), on Carson River section of California Trail; land claim filed January 12, 1855.
• Peter Haws operated a trading post on California Trail at confluence of Humboldt River and South Fork (Elko).
• Alpheus Haws became the first settler in Clover Valley (Elko); he kept a trading post there.
• Ira M. Luther made first wagon crossing of Luther's Pass over Sierra Nevada mountains, shortening the road to Placerville on the Carson River section of the California Trail.
• Thomas Knott built a grist and saw-mill at Mormon Station for John and Enoch Reese' - first manufacturing enterprise in Nevada (Douglas).
• Settlers began to move in and occupy land on the lower Carson River (Lyon, Churchill).
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 12,000.

1855 -

• Weddings in Genoa performed by Judge Hyde: Squire Mott & Mary V. Wheeler; H. van Sickle & Mary Gibson; Stephen Kinsey & Sarah Jane Thompson.
• Settlement by Mormons on the site of Las Vegas as farming mission to Native Americans under Win. Bringhurst.
• Importation by J. Reese, of 200 Chinese laborers who settled near Gold Canyon (present site of Dayton).
• Utah Superintendency established a number of farms or small reserves for the Shoshone Indians.
• Van Sickle's way station opened.
• June 15 - Carson County Probate Judge Orson Hyde, U. S. Judge George Stiles, U. S. Marshal Joseph Heywood, and 35 men arrived at Mormon Station (renamed Genoa in 1856) to set up Carson County government for western Utah; settler's government of 1851 ceased activity with last recorded land claim August 30, 1855.
• August 7 - Treaty of Friendship between U. S. and Western Shoshone Indians signed at Haws' Ranch (EIko) on Humboldt River by Indian Agent Garland Hurt and ten principal men of the Western Shoshone tribes. The treaty was not ratified by Congress.
• Treaty of Friendship between settlers of Carson Valley and the Northern Paiute tribe of Indians, represented by Chief Winnemucca. The terms of the treaty provided that Paiute tribal justice would punish Paiute Indians accused of killing or robbing whites, where the criminals could be identified, and likewise whites who killed or stole from Paiutes would be punished by the settler's government. The treaty expressly disapproved of indiscriminate revenge or reprisal; it was not ratified by Congress, but settled relations between the whites and Northern Paiutes until the Pyramid Lake War of 1860.
• Canavan & Stewart built Nevada's first irrigation ditch and dam for Moses Job at Brockliss Slough on the Carson River (Douglas). This was the beginning of large scale irrigation in Nevada, first developed by individual ranchers in Carson Valley. Settlers in Las Vegas (Clark) also began irrigating at about the same time.
• Trail over Daggett Pass between Lake Tahoe and Carson Valley was in use; it was built and maintained as a toll road by Doctor Charles D. Daggett of Carson Valley (Douglas).
• S. H. Marlette, John Day, and George Goddard surveyed Trans-Sierran wagon road routes and the eastern boundary of California; Utah Territory.
• Carson County Judge Orson Hyde, conducted a separate survey of the present California-Nevada border.
• Nicholas 'Dutch Nick' Ambrosia started a trading post on Carson River route of the California Trail which later became town of Empire (Carson City).
• Samuel Blackford started a trading station at Humboldt Sink (Pershing) for emigrants on the California Trail.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 1,500.

1856 -

• Establishment of Franktown & Washoe City in Washoe Valley.
• Mormon families moved to Bringhurst with completion of fort.
• Nathaniel V. Jones sent to Southern Nevada to mine lead near Bringhurst with Mormon Farmers as laborers. Quarrels & difficulties led to Nevada's first ghost town, Potosi.
• January - John A. "Snowshoe" Thompson began carrying mail between Genoa and Placerville on skis (2 days to Genoa, 3 return).
• Grosh Bros. found silver in Gold Canyon, but both died in tragic accidents in 1857 before mining the silver.
• Judge Hyde recalled to Salt Lake City.
• Big Tree Road completed between Stockton, California, and Carson Valley by way of Sonora; improved Carson River section of California Trail.
• Congress designated a National Wagon Road between Fort Kearney, Nebraska, and Honey Lake, California, by way of South Pass, Wyoming, in response to petition of 75,000 residents of California. The route followed the California Trail along the Humboldt River, and then cut west across the Black Rock and Smoke Creek Deserts to Honey Lake.
• Chinese brought by Mormon traders to build canal which diverted water from Carson River to Gold Canyon for placer mining; settled at Chinatown, later called Dayton (Lyon).
• First white child born in Las Vegas Valley; to Ellen Fuller, a daughter.
• Post office established at Bringhurst (now Las Vegas) (Clark).
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 8,000.

1857 -

• January 14 - Utah Territorial Legislature attached Carson County to Great Salt Lake County for election, revenue, and judicial purposes; court records taken to Salt Lake City. This effectively ended the attempt to establish Carson County and left western Nevada without a government. Carson County was reorganized in 1858-9.
• Feb. 3 - Potosi became Nevada's first ghost town.
• May-June - First stagecoach crossings of Sierra Nevada mountains; first between Oroville and Honey Lake (May); then Placerville and Genoa (June); and Murphy's and Genoa (June); regular stagecoach service soon followed.
• Mid-year - Brigham Young removed as Utah Territory Governor.
• July - Thompson took 1st silver sample to Placerville to assay.
• July-October - John Kirk's U. S. wagon road expedition for the Department of the Interior improved route along Fort Kearney - South Pass - Honey Lake section of the National Wagon Road.
• Aug - Election - only one non-Mormon elected.
• Recall of the 500 or so Mormons in Carson & Eagle Valleys by Brigham Young to defend Salt Lake from federal troops. About 450 in area answered the July 16th summons.
• Arrival in Genoa of Hank Monk to drive the Overland Stage between Genoa and Hangtown (Placerville). Major William Ormsby was the local agent.
• Elzy Knott, non-Mormon, killed by Mormon boy over saddle.
• Petition for territorial status claimed 7/8,000 settlers and 100/125,000 Indians (later revised downward to 25,000).
• No effective government, in control of the area. 
• Attempted organization of Sierra Nevada Territory by settlers along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains; primary organizational meeting held at Genoa August 3; mass meeting August 8 produced resolutions and memorial to Congress carried by delegate James M. Crane. Congress did not recognize this 'Territory'; a second territorial movement started in 1859.
• September-October - War scares between Washo Indians and settlers at Genoa and Honey Lake
• Hosea and Allen Grosh discovered rich silver deposits near Mount Davidson and Gold Canyon (Storey, Lyon); both died before their discovery could be developed.
• 1857-58 (November-May) - Expedition led by Lieutenant Joseph C. Ives explored the Colorado River aboard the steamboat 'Explorer'; reached Black Canyon, later site of Boulder Dam, demonstrating practicality of steamboat navigation on the river; survey done by expedition fixed later southern boundary of Nevada.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 4,000.

1858 -

• The first newspaper appeared in Nevada, the Territorial Enterprise. It was published at Genoa after press parts were packed over the Sierra by "Snowshoe" Thompson. The paper moved to Carson City in 1859 and then Virginia. City in 1860.
• Abandonment of Las Vegas mission of Bringhurst.
• "Execution" by hanging of "Lucky Bill" Thorrington.
• Virginia Mining District filing by James "Old Virginney" Fennimore a few months prior Ophir claim & boom.
• Carson City estate by Abraham Curry & Major W. M. Ormsby.
• January 1: The Columbia Mining District, first quartz mining district in Great Basin, was formed around Gold Canyon (Lyon) by miners in nearby hills and gulches; included provision for a miners' government to keep order in the district.
• Spring: Mormon exploring expeditions of William H. Dame westward from Parowan, Utah, and George Washington Bean westward from Fillmore and Beaver City, Utah. Dame's party explored the Virgin River Valley and Meadow Valley (Lincoln, Clark), while Bean's group scouted through the White River and Muddy River Valleys (Clark). Both expeditions were searching for areas where the LDS Church could establish farming settlements during the 'Utah War' panic of 1857-8.
• Transcontinental weekly overland mail by stagecoach started between Placerville and Salt Lake City by way of Genoa; first stagecoach left Placerville for the east June 5; service was discontinued after completion of transcontinental overland railroad in 1869.
• July: Construction started on Placerville & Humboldt Telegraph Company Line; completed between Placerville and Genoa 1858; extended to Carson City 1859; to Virginia City 1860; part of first transcontinental telegraph system. The California Legislature passed laws offering financial incentives 1859; Congress passed Pacific Telegraph Act June 16, 1860; first transcontinental system completed in 1861; followed Simpson or Central Overland route. This line was abandoned in 1888.
• Carson County reorganized and established by Utah Territory officials, despite opposition from local settlers. John S. Child appointed Probate Judge by Utah Territorial Governor Alfred Cumming in September; county elections held October 30; mass meeting by 'vigilance' or 'peoples' party' faction opposing election results held December 11; mass meeting in favor of reorganization under Utah Territory held December 23; Utah Territorial Legislature reorganized Carson County on January 13, 1859; U. S. Judge John Cradlebaugh assigned as District Judge January 21; Probate Court convened at Genoa (Douglas) September 12, 1859; elections held October 8, 1859 and August 6, 1860. County seat moved from Genoa to Carson City January 18, 1861. Carson County government ended when Congress established Nevada Territory on March 2, 1861.
• Abram Curry laid out site of Carson City, formerly Eagle Ranch (Carson).
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 6,000.

1859 -

• Jan 1:, gold found at Gold Canyon.
• Fuller's Hotel & Toll Bridge on Truckee River opened. It later was sold to Myron Lake who got the railroad routed there.
• Aug 30, 1st shipment from Ophir to San Francisco, $3,000 per ton.
• Pyramid & Walker Lake reserves set aside for Northern Paiutes. Shoshones got Ruby Valley and 2 Deep Creek reserves.
• Arrival on Comstock of John Mackay.
• Eilley Orrum Cowan & Lemuel Sanford (Sandy) Bowers wed. "Territorial Enterprise" moved to Carson City.
• Cattle, sheep & Basque sheep men arrived.
• May 8: Miners' convention at Camp Farwell on Walker River; mining district government formed.
• May-June: Captain J. H. Simpson surveyed Central Overland or Simpson (Camp Floyd 'Genoa') Wagon Road Route for the U. S. Army, which shortened California Trail by almost 300 miles; route included much of present U. S. Highway 50.
• June 11: Miners of Gold Hill (Storey) adopted 'Rules and Regulations' for mining in the region this document excluded Chinese from holding claims.
• June 12 or 13: Peter O'Riley and Patrick McLaughlin discovered rich gold and silver ore the Comstock Lode on slopes of Mount Davidson; camp of miners who quickly gathered there was named Virginia City by 'Old Virginny' Fennimore (Storey). Lode was named after prospector H. I. P. Comstock, one of the original claimants.
• July: 'Rush to Washoe' (Virginia City, Gold Hill, and other Nevada mining towns) began when California newspapers reported results of assay of Comstock Lode ore which paid $1,595 in gold and $3,196 in silver per ton.
• Provisional Territorial Government of Nevada organized by settlers after failure of Sierra Nevada territorial movement in 1858.
• July 14:  Election of delegates to Territorial Convention, which met at Genoa July 18-28, produced Declaration of Independence from Utah Territory and framed Territorial Constitution, ratified by popular vote in September 7 elections, which made Isaac Roop Governor and James M. Crane delegate to Congress. Crane died September 27 and John J. Musser was elected to replace him November 12. Territorial Legislature met December 15 at Genoa, but adjourned the same day. This Nevada Territory was not recognized by Congress or Utah Territory, and attempts to create breakaway government failed.
• August: Tim Smith became first permanent settler in Smith Valley, his ranch was on the west Walker River (Lyon).
• September: Construction started on Devil's Gate Toll Road between Dayton and Gold Hill (Lyon and Storey).
• Fall: Samuel S. Buckland started stagecoach and trading station on Carson River route of California Trail, near later site of Fort Churchill; toll bridge constructed winter 1859-60 was first bridge over Carson River below Carson Valley (Lyon).
• December 8: Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake Reservations set aside by U. S. Government for Northern Paiute Indians; reservations formally established by executive order of President U. S. Grant on March 23, 1874.
• Winter: Construction began on Kingsbury Grade (also called Van Sickle Grade, for the man who financed it) toll road between Carson Valley and Lake Tahoe over Daggett Pass (Douglas). Completed August, 1860, it shortened the old California Trail route between Placerville and Genoa and thus made rates for hauling freight to the Comstock mines less expensive.
• Silver City (Lyon) founded.
• William 'Uncle Billy' Rogers, Indian sub-agent, settled in Ruby Valley (Elko).  He was the first rancher there and established a farm for the Shoshone Indians.
• Rancher N. H. A. 'Hock' Mason became the first permanent settler in Mason Valley on Walker River (Lyon).
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 17,000.

1860   

1860 -

• Lapham's Hotel was open summers at Lake Tahoe.
• Establishment of Fort Churchill to preserve peace.
• Arrival on Comstock of William Morris Stewart, attorney, & "Territorial Enterprise."
• Men from every state and 39 countries on the Comstock but few original claim locators left.
• Stock Exchange reportedly at Washoe City.
• Mining boom at Aurora.
• Mills being built to refine ore - Washoe City had the first.
• Pony Express. Transcontinental overland express mail services started by the firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell under contract with U. S.; first rider left Sacramento for Genoa, Carson City, and points east April 4; first rider arrived at Sacramento from Salt Lake City April 13. Pony Express terminated October 1861, after completion of transcontinental telegraph line. Letters cost $5 an ounce to send, and took 17-18 days to travel nearly 2,000 miles between San Francisco, California, and St. Joseph, Missouri.
• Pyramid Lake Paiute War. Started when Indians killed several whites at Williams Station (Lyon) on big bend of Carson River May 7-8; punitive force of whites led by Major William M. Ormsby and others were defeated by Northern Paiute Indians under Numaga ('Young Winnemucca') at first Battle of Pyramid Lake (Washoe) May 12; Ormsby and many others were killed. Second Battle of Pyramid Lake June 2 resulted in defeat of Indians by California militia and U. S. Army troops; Fort Churchill (Lyon) established on Carson River near Bucklands Station to protect travelers on the overland routes and to watch the Northern Paiutes; abandoned March 1870.
• Summer: First ore smelter in Nevada built by R. S. Hatch at Galena (Washoe) to process the ores of the Comstock Lode; first crushing or stamp mills were built in 1859 near Dayton (Lyon).
• August: Kingsbury or Van Sickle Grade Toll Road opened between Carson Valley and Placerville by way of Daggett Pass (Douglas) and Lake Tahoe; construction began in winter 1859.
• August 25: E. R. Hicks, James M. Brawley, and J. M. Corey discovered gold at Aurora (Mineral); town founded shortly thereafter when rush began.
• August-September: U. S. Decennial Census of Western Utah the first in Nevada' population 6,857.
• Winter: Aurora-Carson Valley Toll Road built by Clayton, Pugh, Dickson, and Company; connected the gold mines at Aurora with the Carson River section of the California Trail.
• December: Philip Deidesheimer invented square-set method of timbering mines at Virginia City (Storey); generally adopted by 1861, this method allowed underground mining on a scale much greater than ever known before.
• December: Potosi lead mines (Clark), abandoned 1858 by Mormons, re-opened by Californians.
• Wells, Fargo Express and Banking Company opened an office in Virginia City (Storey); Nevada's first bank.
• Como (Lyon) founded.
• First courthouse in Nevada was built of wood at Genoa, county seat of Carson County, Utah Territory (Douglas).
• Nevada's first daily newspaper, the Silver Age, published at Carson City.
• Ophir Grade Toll Road built between Virginia City and Washoe Lake to connect the mines of the Comstock Lode with the reduction mills of Washoe Valley; opened to the public 1874.
• F. W. Lander led expedition for U. S. Department of the Interior to improve Fort Kearney, South Pass, and Honey Lake National Wagon Road between Humboldt River and Honey Lake, California.
• Total overland emigration to California numbered 9,000.

1861 -

• March 22: Utah Territory was divided, and the western portion was called Nevada. James W. Nye was appointed territorial governor. He served in this office until November 25.
• May: Chinatown renamed Dayton after surveyor.
• The following counties were established. Churchill, Douglas, Humboldt, Lyon, Ormsby, Storey, and Washoe. Churchill, with Fallon as its county seat, was named for Charles C. Churchill, a captain in the army. Douglas, with its seat at Minden, was named for Stephen Arnold Douglas, Representative and Senator from Illinois. Humboldt, with its seat at Winnemucca, was named for Friedrich Heinrich Alexander Humboldt, the German naturalist, explorer, and statesman. Lyon, with its seat at Yerington, was named for Nathaniel Lyon, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, who served in the Civil War and was killed at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri on August 10, 1861. Ormsby, with its seat at Carson City, was named for William M. Ormsby, a major in the army who was killed in a battle with the Indians at Pyramid Lake in 1860. Storey, with its county seat at Virginia City, was named for Edward Fans Storey, a captain in the army who was killed in a battle with the Paiute Indians at Pyramid Lake in 1860. Washoe, with its seat at Reno, was named for the Washoe Indian Tribe.
• Salt mined at Columbus & transported to mills by camels.
• Mining strikes at Potosi and Unionville.
• Birth of the logging industry at Lake Tahoe - Glenbrook mill.
• Completion of overland telegraph, connecting East and West.
• October 1: Opening of first Territorial Legislature which sent 1st transcontinental telegram, pledging loyalty to the Union.
• "Old Virginney" Fennimore died after fall from a horse.
• 1861-65 - Civil War - In 1862 1,000 men training at Camp Ruby.
• January 18: Carson County seat moved from Genoa to Carson City.
• Spring: First log drive in Nevada; J. C. Russell and others floated cut timber down the Carson River from Alpine County, California, to Empire (Carson City); from there the logs were hauled to market on the Comstock Lode and used for firewood or mining timbers.
• July: Special Nevada Territorial census, 16,374 inhabitants.
• October 24: Transcontinental overland telegraph completed when east-west connection made at Salt Lake; first message sent was from Judge S. J. Field of California to President Abraham Lincoln.
• November 6: Legislature passed an act allowing construction of a railroad across Nevada from west to east, to encourage the building of transcontinental railroad.
• November 22: Territorial Legislature passed a law prohibiting gambling.
• November 28: Legislature passed act relating to marriage and divorce, with three month residence requirement; amended 1875; amended 1913 with one year residence required; amended 1923 after November 7, 1922 election to require six months residence; amended 1927 to require three months residence; amended 1931 to allow six weeks residence. The short residency requirement made Nevada a 'divorce Mecca' during the first decades of the 20th century.
• December: Heavy flooding of the Humboldt, Carson, and Truckee Rivers until January 1862.
• Nevada Territory. March 2, Congress created Nevada out of what had been western Utah Territory; James W. Nye of New York commissioned Governor March 22; Nevada Territory organized by proclamation of Governor Nye and officials appointed July 11; judicial organization completed July 17; first territorial election held August 31; Territorial Legislature met at Carson City October 1 - November 29; Territory divided into nine counties (Churchill, Douglas, Esmeralda, Humboldt, Lyon, Ormsby, Storey, Washoe, and Lake) and the capital established at Carson City by Territorial Legislature November 25. Territorial government ended when Nevada became a state on October 31, 1864.
• J. A. Callahan built the first irrigation system on the Humboldt River; his dam and ditches watered the Callahan Ranch at Lassen Meadows west of Jmlay (Humboldt).
• First application of the steam engine to mining in the State, in the hoisting works of the Ophir mine, Virginia City (Storey).
• Gold discovered in El Dorado Canyon, near the Colorado River in southern Nevada (Clark); much of original site now submerged under Lake Mohave.
• Rancher W. M. Kennedy became the first permanent settler in Mound Valley (Elko).
• Central Pacific Railroad Company; incorporated formally June 28, 1861; route surveyed in August; Pacific Railroad Bill passed by House of Representatives May 6, 1862; passed by Senate June 20, 1862; signed into law by President Lincoln July 1, 1862; first ground broken in Sacramento January 8, 1863; first rail laid October 26, 1863; tracks reached Auburn May 13, 1865; Dutch Flat July 4, 1866; summit of the Sierra November 1867; Reno-Truckee May 1, 1868; mountain gap closed June 15, 1868; Wadsworth July 22, 1868; 40-mile Desert to Brown's August 21, 1868; Winnemucca September 16, 1868; Carlin January 25, 1869; Elko February 8, 1869; joined with tracks of Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory Point, Utah, May 10, 1869, completing the first transcontinental railroad system in the western hemisphere.
• Station-keepers Jack Wright and Len Hamilton built a toll bridge over the west Walker River; site later became Wellington (Lyon).
• Way stations started at sites which later became Glenbrook (Douglas), Lovelock (Pershing), and Winnemucca (Humboldt); Unionville (Pershing), Ophir City (Washoe), and Washoe City (Washoe) founded.
• William Cradlebaugh constructed toll bridge and road in Carson Valley to connect Carson Valley with the Aurora mines, now part of U. S. Highway 395 (Douglas).
• John F. Kidder made boundary survey of California-Nevada border north from Lake Tahoe
• Territorial census of Nevada conducted; population was 16,374.

1862 -

• December. The territorial legislature passed an act which provided for the framing of a constitution and the establishment of a state government which was submitted to the people and subsequently adopted at the polls.
• December 19. Lander County, with its seat at Austin, was created. It was named for Frederick William Lander, a railroad surveyor and eventually chief surveyor of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He was commissioned a brigadier general at the beginning of the Civil War. He supervised the construction of wagon roads across Nevada.
• Nevada gained a slice of land (old St. Mary's County) from Utah. California-Nevada border established by public survey.
• Founding of Austin, Star City & Mill City.
• Ranching operation begun with many; cattle, then sheep.
• January 14: Nevada territorial election; voters chose interim county officers until September general election.
• January: Severe winter storms in Sierra Nevada; floods of Carson and Truckee Rivers wrecked most bridges; Slide Mountain landslide in Washoe Valley April 10.
• May: William Talcott discovered rich silver ore in Pony Canyon, later site of Austin (Lander), starting a 'rush.'
• May 20: Congress passed Federal Homestead Act allowing persons who settled on 160 acres of surveyed public land to buy it if they built a house on the property and lived there.
• May 23: Meeting of Governor James W. Nye with the principal chiefs of the Northern Paiute Indians, including Winnemucca and Numaga, at the big bend of the Truckee River, near Wadsworth (Washoe). As a sign of peace and friendship the Indians and whites exchanged presents. This meeting allied many of the Paiute chiefs to a peace policy.
• July 1: President Lincoln signed Pacific Railroad Bill into law after Congress passed it; provided for federal aid to private companies to construct a transcontinental railroad.
• July 7: Congress approved Land Grant Act providing for sale of public lands to subsidize agricultural education; eventually led to establishment of state university systems, including the University of Nevada.
• July 14: Eastern boundary of Nevada extended to 115th meridian by Presidential Proclamation.
• September 1: U. S. Army established Fort Ruby (Elko) to maintain peace along the overland routes.
• September 3: Nevada territorial general election; voters chose members of Territorial Legislature and a delegate to Congress; also voted in favor of statehood.
• Hannah K. Clapp and Ellen Cutler established Sierra Seminary at Carson City, first private co-educational school in Nevada; the school was chartered by Territorial Legislature November 14, 1861.
• Geiger Grade Toll Road completed between Virginia City (Storey) and Truckee Meadows (Washoe), connecting the mines of the Comstock Lode with the Truckee River section of the California Trail.
• Lake Tahoe Toll Road constructed along southeast shore of Lake Tahoe (Douglas); surveyed by Butler Ives.
• Mill City (Pershing) founded.
• Stillwater (Churchill) founded as stage station for overland mail.
• Gold Hill and Virginia City (Storey) incorporated as municipalities by the Territorial Legislature.
• First resort in Nevada, Walley's Hot Springs, started by David Walley in Carson Valley (Douglas); buildings restored after 1978.
• Territorial Fair at Carson City made annual event of Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Society; later became Nevada State Fair.

1863 -

• Second Comstock Boom.
• Election for statehood with 6,600 for, and 1,562 against after passage of the Enabling Act to make Statehood possible.
• Birth of lone, Cortez, Bullionville, other mining camps & towns.
• Walker Lake had a ferry operating.
• January 29: Battle of Bear River in Cache Valley, Idaho, between Shoshone Indians and California volunteer militia under General Patrick E. Connor; Indian defeat broke Shoshone power in northern Nevada.
• February 15: California-Nevada boundary dispute led to gun battle at Susanville, Honey Lake Valley, between sheriff's posses from Plumas County, California, and Roop County, Nevada; truce negotiated February 16; in 1864 Nevada Territorial Legislature conceded Susanville was in California and California Legislature agreed that Aurora (Mineral) was in Nevada.
• March 22: Goshute War (Elko, White Pine). Goshute Indians, led by Chief White Horse, attacked Eight Mile Station and the overland mail stagecoach, starting the Goshute War with white settlers of eastern Nevada; fighting on Duck Creek between May 1-5, and battle at Spring Valley May 6 resulted in defeat of Goshutes by Captain S. P. Smith's command of California volunteer cavalry; Indians attacked Canon Station in early July; campaign by soldiers in Steptoe Valley in August; Goshutes asked for peace in October. Seven stagecoach stations were attacked and burned during the war.
• October 1: Treaty between Governor James W. Nye and 12 principal men of the Shoshone Indians at Ruby Valley (Elko); later ratified by Congress.
• October: Indian war scare at Como when Paiutes protested against woodcutters destroying the Indians' pine nut groves (Lyon).
• October-December: Carson Sink Indian war scare over the murder of Walker Lake Paiute Chief E-zed-wa October 25 near Fort Churchill (Lyon, Churchill).
• Genoa-Aurora Telegraph Line built; dismantled 1873; it linked the mines of Aurora with the main transcontinental telegraph system at Genoa.
• Theophilus Lay and other local businessmen built a toll bridge over the Humboldt River; a second toll bridge was built nearby in 1865 by Joseph Ginaca. Site later became Winnemucca (Humboldt).
• Gas plant completed at Virginia City (Storey) and gas street lights installed.
• H. Robinson and William Shay became the first ranchers in Smoky Valley (Nye, Lander).
• Cortez (Lander), Echo (Pershing), Grantsville (Nye), and Union (Nye) founded.
• Ranchers Peleg Brown and Ervin Crane of Washoe County introduced alfalfa to Nevada. Alfalfa soon supplanted the harvest of wild grasses and later became the most important crop for the state's livestock industry.
• King's Canyon-Lake Tahoe (Lake Bigler) Toll Road over Spooner Summit (Carson City) opened; connected the road to the Comstock Lode mines with the timber and sawmills of Lake Tahoe.
• J. F. Houghton surveyed California-Nevada boundary line from Lake Tahoe to a point east of Mono Lake.
• Sawdust pollution of Steamboat Creek (Washoe) by sawmills led to first environmental lawsuits in Nevada, Atchison v. Wilson, Atchison v. Persons and Atchison v. Chapin.
• Miners' Union, first labor union in Nevada, formed at Virginia City (Storey).
• Failed attempt at statehood. Territorial elections September 2 picked delegates for Constitutional Convention held at Carson City November 2-December 11; proposed state constitution drafted but rejected by voters in election January 19, 1864.
• 1863-64: First settlers took up ranch land in Paradise Valley (Humboldt).

1864 -

• January 19. The citizens of the state defeated the constitution which had been drafted by the constitutional convention. It contained an unpopular clause which taxed all mining property, both unproductive and productive.
• February 16. Nye County, with its seat at Tonopah, was created. It was named for James Warren Nye, governor of Washoe or Nevada Territory and Senator from Nevada.
• March 21. Congress passed an act which enabled the people of Nevada Territory to form a state government.
• October 31. Nevada was admitted to the Union as the 36th state. President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring this fact.
• H. G. Blaisdel, Unionist Republican, became governor of the state. He served in the office until 1870.
• Silver camps of Candelaria, Grantsville & Berlin booming.
• River traffic on the Colorado River and steamers on lakes.
• Construction of Bowers Mansion by the Comstock's 1st millionaires, Sandy & Eilley Orrum Bowers, in Washoe Valley.
• Bank of California and William Sharon on the Comstock.
• State Constitution ratified with 10,375 votes out of 11,659. Nevada admitted to the Union
• Washoe Process for refining silver developed.
• Nevada mining frontier's greatest era of prosperity & productivity.
• June 15: Dutch Flat Wagon Road over the Sierra Nevada mountains by way of Dutch Flat and Donner Lake opened; it improved Truckee River section of California Trail, and the route was later used by Central Pacific Railroad.
• September: Silver discovered at site which later (1869) became Eureka).
• October: Camp Nye established near Carson City for the Nevada Volunteer Cavalry, to keep peace along the overland routes.
• December 15: Legislature elected William M. Stewart (Republican) to serve as U. S. Senator; re-elected 1869, 1887, 1893, 1899.
• December 16: Legislature elected James W. Nye (Republican) to serve as U. S. Senator; re-elected 1867.
• June 6:  Election for delegates to second Constitutional Convention. Constitutional Convention held at Carson City July 4-27.
• Bank of California founded by W. C. Ralston and D. 0. Mills at San Francisco. Through William Sharon, Bank of California representative at Virginia City, the Bank formed the Union Mill and Mining Company which soon gained control of the mines of the Comstock Lode.
• American City (Storey) founded.
• With the assistance of an Indian guide, William Hamblin discovered rich silver ore in eastern Nevada; site later became Pioche (Lincoln).
• Mormon mission settled Muddy River Valley; Panaca (Lincoln) founded first town in southern Nevada; St. Thomas, the 'Cotton Mission,' founded by Thomas B. Smith to provide cotton to other Mormon towns; Muddy River missions abandoned by Mormons 1871.
• CallviIle (Clark) founded by Anson Call as Mormon trading outpost; later abandoned when steamboat navigation proved too difficult; site and buildings covered by Lake Mead following completion of Boulder Dam in 1935.
• First settlers took up ranch land in Lamoille Valley (Elko).
• Ebbett's Pass road between Angel's Camp, Murphy's, and Woodfords completed; had been improved trail since 1850.
• Legislature created Nye County, with county seat at Tone City, later moved to Tonopah.
• Churchill County, attached to Lyon County for county judicial and revenue purposes since 1861, was reorganized by the Legislature as an independent county, with the county seat at Bucklands, later moved to Stillwater and then to Fallon.
• Construction began on East Walker Toll Road connecting the road to Carson City with the mines at Bridgeport near Mono Lake, California; completed 1865.
• H. C. Blasdel (Republican) elected Governor, re-elected 1866.
• Austin (Lander) incorporated as a municipality by the Territorial Legislature.
• Nevada State Prison established at Carson City.

1865 -

• February 16. The state legislature ratified the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• U. S. Population at 35 million.
• Stock Market Crash & Comstock Panic.
• Birth of Belmont, Columbus and Hamilton.
• Arrival on the Comstock of James "Slippery Jimmy" Fair.
• February 7: Nevada legislature adopted eastern boundary of California as official border, ending long-running dispute.
• March-July: Paradise Valley Indian War (Humboldt). Fighting began with attacks along National Wagon Road; Captain A. B. Wells attacked and destroyed Paiute camp near Mud (Winnemucca) Lake March 14; raids began in Paradise Valley on white settlers by Paiute, Bannock, and Shoshone Indians led by 'Black Rock Tom' April 5; battle with Nevada volunteer troops April 6; battle with settlers near Kane Springs April 15; settlers formed paramilitary colonies in May; battle with Nevada volunteers July 26; fighting continued with Quinn River Indian War; 'Black Rock Tom' surrendered himself and was shot August 11 in Spring Canyon, near Unionville (Pershing).
• August-December: Quinn River Indian War (Humboldt), Colonel Charles McDermit ambushed and killed at Quinn River by Indians August 7; soldiers killed 35 Indians in battle September 12; 120 Indians of Black Rock Tom's Band killed November 17 by soldiers and Paiute Indians of Captain Soo's Band; army established Fort McDermitt on Quinn River, became Indian reservation 1889.
• Owen Farrell and Alonzo Monroe, aided by an Indian guide, discovered rich gold and silver ore at Ruby Hill (Eureka).
• Legislature established State Library; State Printer; State Geologist; and State Board of Military Auditors.
• Carson City Mint authorized by act of Congress; construction started 1866; completed 1869. Mint opened January 6, 1870; ordered closed 1893; operations suspended 1895; mint machinery dismantled 1899. Building now houses Nevada State Museum; was recognized as national historic site in 1975.
• Auburn (Washoe), Belmont (Nye), Columbus (Esmeralda), Hiko (Lincoln), and Silver Peak (Esmeralda) founded.
• James Lawson surveyed the California-Nevada boundary.

1866 -

• January:  Indians massacred company of Chinese travelers along Idaho Road in the Quinn River Valley - 95 Chinese killed, five escaped (Humboldt).
• February 26. Lincoln County, with its seat at Pioche, was created. It was named for Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States.
• Transatlantic Cable completed.
• Third Comstock Boom.
• Mining Law of 1866 legalized mining registrations & allowed filing of mining claims on public lands.
• Another slice of Utah (Pahranagat Mines) given Nevada to keep mine profits out of Mormon hands.
• January 12:  Soldiers of Captain C. D. Conrad's command killed 40 Indians in battle at Fish Creek (Humboldt).
• January 30: First black school in Nevada established in Virginia City (Storey); closed due to lack of public support.
• December 12: U. S. Army established Camp Winfield Scott in Paradise Valley (Humboldt); abandoned February 1871.
• Legislature created Lincoln County, county seat at Crystal Springs; moved to Hiko in 1868; moved to Pioche in 1871.
• Legislature approved state seal and motto 'All For Our Country.'
• Nevada's eastern boundary extended by Congress to 114th meridian; portions of Arizona Territory and Utah Territory annexed to Nevada.
• Congress passed Water Act of 1866, confirming state water rights laws and granting rights-of-way over public land to ditch and canal owners.
• Second transcontinental overland telegraph completed by Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Company; the line crossed Nevada along the route of the old California Trail, via Carson and Humboldt Rivers.
• Cargo barges first landed at Callville (Clark), the head of navigation on the Colorado River; steamboat transportation on the Colorado River opened up Arizona and southern Nevada to overseas commerce from Port Isabel, California, before railroads reached Arizona in the 1880's.
• J. W. Haines of Carson Valley (Douglas) invented the 'V' flume; subsequently hundreds of miles of flumes were erected to transport lumber from the logging camps of the Sierra Nevada to the towns and mines of the Comstock region.
• Idaho Road (roughly along route of U. S. Highway 95) built between Winnemucca (Humboldt) and Boise, Idaho, as stage and freighting route to the northern mines.
• Rancher W. C. Seamonds became the first permanent settler in Halleck Valley (Elko).
• Ranchers E. Orser and James and Samuel Gilson became the first settlers in Newark Valley (White Pine).
• Ranchers Jacob and Samuel Stainenger became the first permanent settlers in Monitor Valley (Nye).

1867 -

• January 18: Nevada Legislature accepted a congressional cession of land from Arizona Territory of about 18,000 square miles near the Colorado River.
• January 22. The state legislature ratified the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• White Pine Rush.
• Southern tip of Nevada added from Territory of Arizona. Industrial Revolution in U. S.
• 4,000 Chinese laying track over Donner Summit - 18 tunnels. First V-flume used in Nevada, located near Carson City.
• 1867-75: Bank of Calif. under Win. Sharron in control of Comstock.
• 1867-73: White Pine Co. strikes - Eberhardt Treasure City, Ward, Gold Creek, Shermantown, Cherry Creek, Mineral City & Osceola.
• June: Union Mill and Mining Company incorporated by W. C. Ralston, D. 0. Mills, and William Sharon of the Bank of California. The Union Mill and Mining Company consolidated some 17 mills mortgaged to the Bank of California; through control of prices charged to process ore, the Union Mill and Mining Company was able to acquire most of the richest mines of the Comstock Lode (Storey).
• July: Aided by an Indian guide, A. J. Leathers discovered rich silver deposits at Treasure Hill, starting a two year 'rush' to White Pine County.
• July 26: U. S. Army established Fort Halleck (Elko) near Humboldt River; abandoned December 1886; and Camp McCarry (Humboldt) at Summit Lake, converted to Indian reservation 1871.
• December: First railroad locomotive entered Nevada at Crystal Peak (now vicinity of Verdi, Washoe County).
• Treasure City (White Pine) and Tuscarora (Elko) founded.
• Octavius Gass acquired the Mormon Fort at Las Vegas Springs (Clark) for use as a supply station for travelers on the Los Angeles to Salt Lake road.
• First permanent settlers took up land for ranching in Railroad Valley (Nye); Starr Valley (Elko); South Fork Valley (Elko).
• Catholic Church started Nevada Orphans' Asylum at Virginia City (Storey).
• Nevada exhibits shown at World's Fair, Paris.
• 1867-68  Clarence King led U. S. Geological Exploration of the 40th parallel, involving extensive survey work in Nevada.

1868 -

• December-January: Severe flooding of Carson River and Humboldt River at Winnemucca (Humboldt), earthen dam at Humboldt Lake washed away.
• Arrival of the Central Pacific Railroad in Nevada, creating Verdi, Reno, Wadsworth
• Lovelock, Battle Mountain, Elko & Wells. Reno by railroad auction 1,500 people, spec. train.
• July: first aviation event in Nevada'Tony Ward's balloon ascent from Magnolia House, Carson City.
• Beowawe (Eureka), Carlin (Elko), Reno (Washoe), and Wadsworth (Washoe) founded on line of Central Pacific Railroad; tracks built across Nevada along Donner, Truckee, and Humboldt River routes of California Trail.
• Hamilton (White Pine), Pioche (Lincoln), and Shermantown (White Pine) founded.
• First settlers arrived to ranch in Steptoe Valley (White Pine).
• Elko-Hamilton Road opened (Elko, White Pine) by George Shepherd and Frank Denver; also known as Elko-White Pine Toll Road, it connected the newly discovered mines at Treasure City, Hamilton, and Shermantown with the transcontinental railroad line.
• U. S. Senate approved Burlingame Treaty giving Chinese citizens residing in the U. S. the same privileges as other alien residents right to unrestricted travel and to reside in the U. S. free of local restrictions. Anti-Chinese labor disorders among woodcutters near Carson City.
• 1868-69 Construction of Idaho Central Wagon Road between Carlin (Elko) on the trans-continental railroad line and the mines at Silver City, Idaho.

1869 -

• January: Labor riot at Unionville (Pershing); Chinese residents expelled by mob.
• March 1: The state legislature ratified the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• March 2: White Pine County, with Ely as its seat, was created. It became effective April 1, 1869.
• March 5: Elko County, with Elko as its seat, was established. It was named for the Indian word for "first white woman."
• Mining booms at Bull Run (Cope), Ruby Hills (founding of Eureka) and Pioche, soon to be famed for its lawlessness.
• Meeting of Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads W. of Ogden, UT, to connect Pacific Ocean & Eastern U. S. by rail.
• Disastrous Yellow Jacket Mine fire on the Comstock.
• Virginia &Truckee Railroad made its first run in November.
• Construction begun on Sutro Tunnel under the Comstock as the first big bonanza was exhausted.
• 14th Amendment gave citizenship to all native born or naturalized residents.
• September 29: Anti-Chinese labor riot on line of Virginia & Truckee Railroad; white workmen started the riot to protest V&TRR's hiring of 'cheap' Chinese laborers.
• October: Hill Beachey completed construction of Elko and Idaho Toll Road between Elko and the mines of Mountain City (Elko); road reached the mines at Silver City, Idaho, in 1870. One half the construction cost was donated by merchants of Elko.
• October: Adolph Sutro, with money borrowed from European backers, began construction on Sutro Tunnel from Carson River four miles underground to mines of Comstock Lode; designed to provide drainage and access for the mines, the tunnel was completed July, 1878. Sutro made a fortune and for 20 years was the most powerful landowner in San Francisco, where he was mayor 1894-1896.
• Velocipedes (bicycles) introduced to Nevada.
• Construction of Gilson or Hill Beachey Road between the transcontinental railroad line at Elko) and the mines around Hamilton (White Pine).
• Nevada Legislature passed bill to legalize gambling in the state over veto of Governor Henry Blasdel. The law required gaming establishments to have a license, paid with quarterly fees.
• Legislature established State Mineralogist.
• Legislature authorized State Capitol Building; construction started 1870, completed 1871 (Carson City).
• Third transcontinental overland telegraph system completed by Western Union Telegraph Company; the line followed the transcontinental railroad route.
• Virginia & Truckee Railroad built by Bank of California to link Comstock Lode mines with the transcontinental railroad; construction began February; tracks completed between Carson City and Virginia City November; line completed to Reno August 1872; extended to Minden 1906; abandoned between Carson City and Virginia City 1939; main line abandoned 1950.
• Eberhardt (White Pine), Eureka), Mound House (Lyon), Mountain City (Elko), and Pizen Switch (now Yerington, Lyon County) founded.
• Elko), Verdi (Washoe), and Wells (Elko) founded along line of Central Pacific Railroad; completion of transcontinental railroad May13 at Promontory Point, Utah.
• First settlers arrived in White Pine Valley (White Pine).

1870   

1870 - .

• Opening of U. S. Mint & the V&T Round House at Carson City.
• First train holdup in Nevada occurred near Verdi with $40,000 stolen from CPRR Co. Same train robbed as it neared Wells of $300 in registered mail receipts. 7 robbers at Verdi caught.
• 1870's - Sarah Winnemucca was lecturing in Calif. and writing. In 1883 "Life Among the Paiutes" and in 1885 her solution to the Indian Problem.
• April: Stage road to the mines of Mountain City from Dinner Station, via Independence Valley and the Columbia mines, opened (Elko). By 1875 this road was the main route from Elko to Tuscarora and Cornucopia's mines.
• Elko-Eureka Road opened, connecting the mines at Eureka with the transcontinental railroad.
• Toano-Boise Road built, linking the Boise, Idaho, mines with the transcontinental railroad at Toano (Elko).
• Elko-Boise Road opened, connecting the Boise mines with the transcontinental railroad at Elko (Elko).
• Battle Mountain (Lander), Bullionville (Lincoln), and Palisade (Eureka) founded.
• Start of Ghost Dances, inspired by Paiute prophet Wodziwob ('Fish Lake Joe') at Walker Lake Paiute Reservation; Washo tribe converted by Wodziwob's disciple Weneyuga 1871, movement later spread to California, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, and Washington; movement ended 1872. Wodziwob's disciple Tavivo was the father of Wovoka ('Jack Wilson'), who revived the Ghost Dance movement in 1889.
• Legislature established State Orphans' Home at Carson City.
• California Legislature granted Lake Tahoe dam rights to A. W. von Schmidt and Donner Boom & Logging Company; dam constructed at Tahoe City, California, controlled water level of Lake Tahoe and flow of the Truckee River.
• U. S. Decennial Census population of Nevada was 42,491.

1871 -

• L. R. Bradley, Democrat, became governor of the state. He served in the office until 1878.
• State Capitol completed and occupied by August
• Reno got the county seat from Washoe City.
• Tuscarora boom with 2 more in the 188O's and the last in 1903.
• Lewis R. 'Old Broadhorns' Bradley (Democrat) became Governor; re-elected 1874.
• Lieutenant George Wheeler's survey expedition in Nevada; in 1872 it became the U. S. Army's 'Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian,' later U. S. Geological Survey (1879).
• Congress made Camp McGarry an Indian reservation; land set aside for Summit Lake Paiute Reservation January 14, 1913 (Humboldt).
• First brand recorded in Nevada by E. Burner of Elko County.
• Washoe County seat moved from Washoe City to Reno.
• Ruby Hill (Eureka) founded.

1872 -

• Borax industry & Metallic City, Rhodes & Sodaville. Virginia & Truckee extended from Reno to meet tracks in Carson City.
• Winnemucca got county seat as Unionville mining camp dying.
• March 12: President U. S. Grant established Moapa Indian Reservation by executive order; cancelled and re-established in another spot by executive order February 12, 1874, original reservation included about 3,900 square miles; reduced by Congress 1875 to 1,000 acres; increased by executive orders in 1912; land allocated to Indians 1914.
• Eureka Mill Railroad constructed between Virginia & Truckee Railroad and quartz mills on Carson River; abandoned 1906.
• 1872-73:  A. W. von Schmidt survey of California-Nevada boundary.

1873 -

• March 1: Eureka County, with Eureka as its seat, was created. It became effective March 20, 1873.
• The Great Bonanza Mine was discovered, which helped to bring about a revival of industry and speculation in Nevada.
• Big Bonanza (4th & last boom) on the Comstock - 30,000 pop.
• Pioche & Bullionville Railroad transporting ore to mills.
• Comstock's second big fire, killing 6 men.
• March 4: Legislature elected John P. Jones (Republican) to serve as U. S. Senator; re-elected 1879, 1885, 1891 and 1897.
• May: Freight road established from Winnemucca to Austin (Humboldt, Lander), connecting the mines around Reese River with the transcontinental railroad at Winnemucca (Humboldt).
• June 11-August 1: Virginia City & Gold Hill Water Company built water system for the two Comstock towns; water conveyed through 21 miles of pipe and 45 miles of flumes from a dam and reservoir at Marlette Lake across Washoe Valley to the Comstock by way of Lakeview Ridge (Washoe, Storey). This system was considered a major engineering achievement at the time and in 1975 was designated a national landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
• October 27: Joseph F. Glidden of Illinois invented the first effective and economical barbed wire; invention had major effect on ranching and farming in Nevada. Legislature created Eureka County, county seat at Eureka.
• University of Nevada established by Legislature.
• Winnemucca-Boise road built, connecting the Idaho mines with the transcontinental railroad at Winnemucca (Humboldt).
• Legislature enacted cattle and sheep branding law for ranchers.
• Nevada Central Narrow Gauge (Pioche & Bullionville) Railroad built; abandoned about 1881.
• Wadsworth-Columbus road opened to wagon traffic; connected the mines of Esmeralda County with the transcontinental railroad at Wadsworth (Washoe).
• Discovery of 'the Big Bonanza' directly under the Consolidated Virginia Mine on the Comstock Lode at Virginia City (Storey); largest single silver and gold ore pocket ever discovered, it yielded more than $100 million over six years.
• "Crime of 1873''. Congress passed coinage act which discontinued minting of silver coins for domestic use and severely limited silver purchases by U. S. Government. When law took effect in 1875 price of silver fell heavily, affecting Nevada's mining industry.
• Humboldt County seat moved from Unionville to Winnemucca.
• Belleville (Mineral), Cornucopia (Elko), and Cherry Creek (White Pine) founded.
• Nevada State Agricultural Society chartered; became a state institution in 1885.

1874 -

• The University of Nevada was established at Elko.
• 3rd & 4th Comstock fires.
• Construction began on Eureka & Palisade Railroad designed to link rich mines at Eureka with the transcontinental railroad; completed 1875; abandoned 1938.
• Tybo (Nye) founded.
• Reno-Loyalton road opened. connecting the mining and agricultural communities of Sierra County, California, with the transcontinental railroad at Reno (Washoe).

1875 -

• Worst of six major fires on the Comstock.
• Panic of 1875.
• Big fire in Eureka.
• Eureka & Palisade Railroad completed.
• Wm. Sharron ousted Ralston from Bank of Ca. led to suicide.
• Establishment of Indian reservations by executive order.
• Lake Tahoe Railroad (Glenbrook) completed.
• March 4: Legislature elected William Sharon (Republican) to serve as U. S. Senator.
• April: Anti-Chinese labor riot at Cold Hill (Storey); Chinese workmen forced to leave their jobs by white laborers opposing employment of low-paid Chinese workers.
• August 26: Collapse of the Bank of California; financial panic in Nevada and California; mysterious death of Bank of California founder W. C. Ralston at San Francisco; many of the Bank's holdings were reorganized and taken over by William Sharon.
• September: Goshute Indian war scare in White Pine County.
• Anti-Chinese labor disorders at Carson City and along line of Virginia & Truckee Railroad.
• Logging at Lake Tahoe. Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company (later Lake Tahoe Narrow Gauge) Railroad built at Glenbrook; abandoned 1898. M. C. Gardner (Camp Richardson) Railroad built on south shore of Lake Tahoe; abandoned after 1885.
• Virginia City (Storey) nearly destroyed by fire.
• Elko-Tuscarora Road constructed (Elko); connecting the Tuscarora mines with the transcontinental railroad at Elko.

1876 -

• Top production year for the Comstock. $45,653,477.
• Wm. Sharon merged all Bk. of Ca. mines into Consol. Imperial.
• Invention of telephone by Alexander Graham Bell.
• February: Labor strike on Virginia & Truckee Railroad over issue of Virginia & TruckeeRR using Chinese laborers; strike settled when low-paid Chinese employees were fired.
• May: White labor organizations attacked Chinese workmen cutting wood in Washoe County, protesting employment of Chinese laborers by logging companies.
• June: Large anti-Chinese riot in Carson City; leaders were arrested and convicted for their part in the disorder.
• October 12: Bishop Ozi William Whitaker of the Episcopal Church opened first private school for girls in Nevada, at Reno (Washoe); school closed 1894.
• Nevada products shown at U. S. Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia.
• Belmont-Eureka Telegraph Line built, connecting Belmont mines (Nye) with the transcontinental telegraph system at Eureka (Eureka).
• Gas street lamp system installed at Reno by private company (Washoe).
• Candelaria (Mineral), Pyramid City (Washoe), and Ward (White Pine) founded.

1877 -

• 1st important library opened by Virginia City Miners' Union.
• Dawes Allotment Act gave each Native American family 40 to 160 acres with balance of land surplus for whites.
• March: Congress passed Desert Land Act and Water Act of 1877, allowing sale of up to 640 acres of surveyed semi-arid public land to each settler who irrigated and improved the property.
• April 16: Executive order established U. S. Indian reservation at Duck Valley and Carlin Farms; Carlin Farms Reservation discontinued 1879.
• Legislature established Nevada Fish Commission.
• Wadsworth-Elko-Tuscarora Telegraph Line built, linking the mines of Tuscarora (Elko) with the transcontinental telegraph line at Elko.
• Electric telephones installed in mines at Virginia City after the invention was shown at 1876 U. S. Centennial Exhibition; first telephones in Nevada (Storey).
• Virginia & Gold Hill Water Company improvements, Marlette Lake Tunnel built, second set of pipes added to carry water to the Comstock Lode towns (Washoe, Storey)
• Bunkerville (Clark) founded under the principles of the 'United Order,' a Mormon cooperative concept of community life.
• Hannah K. Clapp and Annie Martin opened the first kindergarten in Nevada at Carson City, as a private institution; first public kindergarten in the state opened in 1895 at Reno (Washoe).

1878 -

• Invention of phonograph by Thomas A. Edison.
• Bland-Allison Act, boosting silver, enacted by U. S. Congress.
• Bannock Indian Wars.
• Eureka fire destroyed $1 million in property despite fire dept.
• February: Congress passed Bland-Allison Silver Purchase Act over veto of President Rutherford B. Hayes, obligating U. S. Government to purchase fixed amounts of silver every year.
• March 1: Day school for Indians opened by Indian agent at Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation; enlarged to boarding school 1882.
• May 30: War began between whites and Bannock and Paiute Indians led by Bannock Chief Buffalo Horn; Indians were defeated after several pitched battles. Buffalo Horn was killed by U. S. Army troops commanded by General 0. 0. Howard. Nevada militia participated in the warfare which took place in the northern part of the state and southern Idaho.
• June 3: Congress passed the Timber and Stone Act allowing citizens to purchase up to 160 acres of public land unfit for cultivation, at $2.50/acre. This legislation effectively allowed a few companies to acquire much of Nevada's forest lands in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
• August 3: Reno's Chinatown burned; Workingmen's Association, a labor organization, ordered all Chinese out of town. Although a vigilance committee at Reno restored order, the Workingmen's Association prevented Chinese from rebuilding their homes and shops for over a month (Washoe).
• Grasshopper and cricket plague reported in Washoe, Humboldt, and Elko Counties, and in California and Utah; lasted until 1883, causing great damage to crops.
• Genoa-Bodie Telegraph Line built, connecting the mines of Bodie, California, with the transcontinental telegraph system at Genoa and Carson City.
• Soda pop (originally called 'soda gush') appeared in Nevada.
• George Wheeler's surveying expedition to Nevada; continued 1871 U. S. Army mapping survey of western states and territories. Wheeler's efforts ended in 1879 when Congress created U. S. Geological Service to take over his work.
• Nevada State Medical Association formed as a statewide organization of physicians at Carson City.
• Rich strike of ore started rush to Bodie, California; most supplies for Bodie, Bridgeport, and other camps around Mono Lake were brought in by railroads and wagons from Nevada towns.
• Bristol (Lincoln), Ely (White Pine); Lewis (Lander) founded; hotel started which became site of Gardnerville (Douglas).
• Construction began on Reno-Bridgeport toll road, designed to connect the mines around Mono Lake, California, with the transcontinental railroad at Reno (Washoe).
• John Wheeler and Oscar Ash built West Walker Toll Road from Antelope Valley to the mines around Bridgeport, California (Lyon, Douglas).
• Joseph Scott of Halleck (Elko) imported the first purebred Hereford cattle into
• Nevada.

1879 -

• J. H. Kinkead, Republican, who had been elected in 1878, became governor of the state and served in the gubernatorial office until 1882.
• Invention of electric light by Edison.
• An ostrich farm started by Theodore Glancy near Carson City.
• Bad fire in Reno destroyed elegant 3-story depot hotel.
• Bust period on Comstock, stocks fell 50 to 250% in price. Stk. Mkt. crash and beginning of decline of Comstock.
• Eureka's mines produced $10 million; brick courthouse built.
• February: Labor  disorders. Woodcutters in Washoe County demonstrated over employment of Chinese workmen by logging companies.
• April 8: Reno incorporated as a town (Washoe).
• August: Labor disorders at Eureka (Eureka); woodcutters' strike ended with pitched battle at Fish Creek ('Charcoal War') on August 18; 5 men were killed and 6 injured in a fight between a mob and a 9-man sheriff's posse.
• Construction began on Nevada Central Railroad between the mines at Austin and the transcontinental railroad at Battle Mountain (Lander); completed 1880, abandoned 1938.
• Eureka-Ruby Hill Telegraph Line built, linking the mines of Ruby Hill with the transcontinental telegraph system at Eureka (Eureka).
• Nevada Legislature passed bill prohibiting gambling licensees from allowing cheating in licensed games.
• Legislature passed acts prohibiting the State government from employing Chinese workers and prohibiting Chinese from owning property in Nevada.
• Spring City (Humboldt) founded.

1880   

 1880 -

• Sierra blocked for 14 days by snow with train passengers snow bound in Reno for 9 days.
• Nevada Central Railroad and Carson & Colorado RR going.
• Supreme Court judged Native Americans "non-persons".
• Old Chief Winnemucca died in Oct. Young 3rd wife stoned.
• Electoral Franchise - the right to vote for political candidates, extended to non-white males by popular vote.
• The waltz came to Nevada; dance was described by critics as 'like a Greco-Roman wrestling match.'
• Sierra Nevada Wood & Lumber Company Railroad built at Incline, Lake Tahoe (Washoe); abandoned after 1894.
• Austin City Railway built between Austin and Clifton (Lander).
• Mormon colony started at Mesquite in the Virgin River Valley (Clark).
• Moapa Valley (Clark), St. Thomas (Clark), and Overton in the Muddy River Valley (Clark) re-settled.
• U. S. Decennial Census, population of Nevada was 62,266.

1881 -

• Big Bonanza exhausted; mines began closing down.
• Sutro Tunnel's north and south branches completed.
• 50 lead-silver mines producing in Eureka area. (pop. 5,000).
• Battle Mountain & Lewis Railroad running.
• Mormons resettling Muddy Valley in Southern Nevada.
• Establishment of 8-hour workday by Virginia City Miners' Union.
• February: Franktown (Washoe) destroyed by flood after dam broke on Franktown Creek.
• March 4: Legislature elected James C. Fair (Democrat) to serve as U. S. Senator.
• Reno-Alturas road opened, connecting the agricultural and pastoral communities of Modoc County, California, and southern Oregon with the transcontinental railroad at Reno (Washoe).
• State Insane Asylum and Board of Asylum Commissioners established by Legislature.
• Construction began on Nevada, California & Oregon Railroad, designed to link Reno (Washoe) and southern Oregon; reached Lakeview, Oregon in 1912. The railroad was sold in 1926 to the Southern Pacific.
• Battle Mountain & Lewis Railroad built to connect mines at Lewis with the transcontinental railroad at Battle Mountain; dismantled about 1890 (Lander).
• Carson & Colorado Railroad built between Carson City and Walker Lake to connect mines around Mono Lake and elsewhere with the transcontinental railroad; reached Owens Lake, California 1883; purchased by Southern Pacific Railroad, 1900; abandoned between Mound House and Fort Churchill 1934; between Mina and Benton 1938; ceased operations 1960.
• Luning (Mineral), Hawthorne (Mineral), and Wabuska (Lyon) founded on line of Carson & Colorado Railroad.
• Dayton, Sutro & Carson Valley Railroad built to connect Carson River Mills with the newly constructed Carson & Colorado Railroad; abandoned 1896.
• Safford (Eureka) founded.

1882 -

• Chinese Immigration Act passed U. S. Congress.
• Gold Hill mines flooded w/hot water at 2800-ft. level.
• Probably less than 1,000 Nat. Amer. living on 'trust lands.
• Sutro Tunnel completed February - Sold for $700,000!.
• Indian agent at Walker Lake Paiute Reservation opened day school for Indians (Mineral).
• Congress prohibited further Chinese immigration for ten years by passing the Exclusion Act; it was extended for another ten years in 1892 when Congress passed the Geary Act. The Exclusion Act was repealed by Congress in 1943.
• Sodaville (Mineral) founded.

1883 -

• Jewett W. Adams, Democrat, who had been elected in 1882, became governor of the state. He served in the office until
• Nevada Indian Agency established Indian police force.
• Esmeralda County seat moved from Aurora to Hawthorne; moved to Coldfield in 1907.
• Legislature merged Roop County into Washoe County.
• Garfield (Mineral) and Taylor (White Pine) founded.

1884 -

• May-June: Heavy flooding of the lower Humboldt River destroyed all road bridges below and including Humboldt House; dam at Humboldt Lake blown up June 24 by masked ranchers to relieve high waters swamping their land (Humboldt, Pershing).
• Nevada Livestock Association formed at Winnemucca (Humboldt).

1885 -

• The Nevada Silver Purchase Association was founded in order to advocate the free and unlimited coinage of silver.
• July: 275 tons of Nevada hay shipped to NY at cost of $200 ton.
• Carson City Mint closed temporarily.
• Legislature established Nevada Land Office for the sale of state school lands; proceeds of sale financed public education.
• Coldsprings (Clark) founded.

1886 -

• University of Nevada moved to Reno.
• Bad fire on Comstock, hastened end of the era.
• C. W. Chubbuck began construction of Lake Valley Railway on the southeast shore of Lake Tahoe; the logging line was dismantled 1898.
• Three judge Court of Indian Offenses established for Nevada Indian Agency to adjudicate crimes committed by Indians.
• Anti-Chinese associations reached their peak in their battle against Chinese labor in Washoe, Storey, Ormsby, Douglas, and Eureka counties.
• Frank Bell established first municipal telephone service in Nevada at Reno (Washoe).

1887 -

• Christopher C. Stephenson, Republican, who had been elected in 1886, became governor of the state. He served in the office until he left the position because of a disability on September 1, 1890. Stephenson died on September 21, 1890.
• The state legislature passed a law requiring all voters to take an oath against polygamy. The object of this measure was to disenfranchise the Mormons. The law was declared unconstitutional by the Nevada Supreme Court.
• February 8: Dawes or Indian Allotment Act passed by Congress, provided for allotment of reservation lands to individual tribal members; was intended to encourage Indians to give up wandering and instead to individually cultivate their own land. Of the approximately 138 million acres in Indian possession 1887, about 2/3 had passed to white ownership by 1934.
• February 14: The Reno Electric Light Co., a private power company, began operating the first electric street lamps in Nevada at Reno (Washoe).
• March 4: Legislature elected William M. Stewart (1887 Republican; 1893 and 1899 Silver Party) to serve as U. S. Senator; re-elected 1893, 1899. Stewart had served as U. S. Senator (Republican) from Nevada 1864-1875.
• Legislature established Nevada Weather Service; Immigration Bureau; Indian School Commission; Commission for the Care of the Indigent Insane (abolished 1951); and State Board of Capitol Commissioners.
• C. C. Stevenson (Republican) became Governor; became incapacitated September 1, 1890 and died in office September 21, 1890; was succeeded by Frank Bell.

1888 -

• Both political parties in the state declared that they were in favor of the free coinage of silver.
• Electric lights came into general use at Carson City.
• Nevada Government Building (now the State Library) built at Carson City.

1889 -

• Carson Mint opened with $1,600,000 in gold bars on hand.
• Ft. McDermitt Indian Reservation established.
• Wovoka (Jack Wilson, Paiute) revived the 'Ghost Dance' which spread through Midwest and frightened whites.
• Congress established Paiute and Shoshone Indian Reservation at Fort McDermitt; dispersed in allotments in Indians 1892; re-allotted 1903; enlarged 1936, 1940, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1956; allotments given up 1959 and 1957.
• Paiute prophet Wovoka ('Jack Wilson') revived 1870 Ghost Dance movement at Walker Lake Paiute Reservation; Indian war scares in Lander and Lyon counties; Wovoka's teachings influenced the Plains Indians and precipitated a battle between the U. S. Army and the Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee Reservation in South Dakota on December 29, 1890. Last major Indian battle in U. S.; movement died out after 1891.
• Legislature established State Board of Reclamation and Internal Improvement (abolished 1891); and Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station at Reno.
• New invention shown at Ormsby County Fair at Carson City - the phonograph.
• 1889-90: Disastrously severe 'White Winter'; Nevada ranchers lost most of their cattle in heavy snowdrifts, which devastated the state's livestock industry. Over 100 inches of snow fell that year, the heaviest total recorded in northern Nevada.

1890   

1890 -

• September 1: Lieutenant Governor Frank Bell became governor of the state upon the resignation of Governor Christopher C. Stephenson, who left the office because of a disability. Bell served in the office until 1890.
• Aggregate 20-yr. yield Comstock mines $306 mil. from 7 million tons of ore. Dividends were $118 million.
• March-June: Flooding of the Humboldt River after the 'White Winter' of 1889-90.
• Indian lands allotted at Stillwater (Churchill); additional allocations 1893-94; cancelled August 15, 1906.
• Sherman Silver Purchase Act passed by Congress; obligated the U. S. Government to buy fixed amounts, twice as much as required by the Bland-Allison Act of 1878'of silver every year. The purchase requirement was repealed in 1893.
• Union Pacific Railroad began construction of Salt Lake route across Nevada, to connect Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. The State Legislature passed a bill in 1901 allowing the railroad to build across southern Nevada. The tracks reached Caliente in 1903 and Las Vegas on October 20, 1904. Construction was completed January 30,
• U. S. Decennial Census, population of Nevada was 47,355.

1891 -

• R. K. Colcord, Republican, who had been elected in 1890, became governor of the state. He served in the office until 1895.
• Organization of Delamar Mining.
• Congress passed National Forest Reservation or Creative Act, authorizing creation of national forests and the withdrawal of valuable timber lands for administration of 'scientific management policies' by government foresters.
• Australian or Secret Ballot adopted for elections in Nevada.
• Stewart Indian School opened outside Carson City.
• Nevada Silver Party formed; controlled Nevada politics 1896-1906.
• Congress passed Water Act of 1891, which allowed use of public (unappropriated) water for irrigation on private lands subject to state water rights laws.

1892 -

• Reno-Incline Road (now Mount Rose Highway) opened between Reno and North Lake Tahoe (Washoe).
• First training encampment of Nevada Militia (now Nevada National Guard) at Treadway's Ranch, Carson City.
• Post Office established at Las Vegas (Clark).
• Nevada products exhibited at World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.

1893 -

• March 6: Legislature established State Board of Health.
• Congress repealed the purchase clause of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, ending government purchase subsidies of western silver mines and depressing Nevada's mining industry.
• Final delineation of California-Nevada boundary began by U. S. Coast & Geodetic Survey; completed 1899.
• Congress began giving land allotments in Pine Nut Mountains (Douglas) to Washo Indians; ended 1910.

1894 -

• Congress passed Wilson Bill lifting tariff on imported raw wool, resulting in a collapse in prices for domestic sheep which affected many Nevada ranchers.
• Pullman national railroad strike paralyzed transcontinental railroad operations; U. S. troops sent to Reno, Winnemucca, and Wadsworth (Humboldt, Washoe).
• The Sunset Telephone & Telegraph Company installed first municipal telephone system in Nevada at Reno (Washoe); completed 1895.
• Delamar (Lincoln) founded.

1895 -

• John S. Jones, Democrat Silverite, who had been elected in 1894, became governor of the state. He served in the office until his death on April 10, 1896.
• Elko Co. Bd. of Education established 1st county high school.
• Movie projection developed simultaneously in several countries.
• Legislative provision for public libraries in Nevada.
• Legislature passed a rigid 'Purity of Elections' law providing for exact accounting of contributions and expenses in state political elections; repealed March 21, 1899.
• Legislature passed County High School Bill providing for a system of County higher education in the State; also a tax on sheep with exemptions for land-owning sheepherders, in an attempt to destroy 'tramp sheepherders' and reduce over-grazing on Nevada range land.
• Legislature established the Board of Dental Examiners; Board of Education; State Textbook Commission; and the University of Nevada State Analytical Laboratory.
• Legislature authorized first public library in Nevada, built at Reno (Washoe).
• Women's suffrage movement organized to advocate giving women the right to vote. In May a suffrage convention convened at Reno; in October the Nevada Equal Suffrage Association formed, with Hannah K. Clapp as president. Suffrage bills to give women the right to vote were introduced in the Nevada Legislature in 1883, 1885, 1887, 1895, 1897, and 1899, but women were not given electoral franchise until 1914.
• John E. Jones (Silver Party) became Governor; died in office April 10, 1896.

1896 -

• April 10: Lieutenant Governor Reinhold Sadler, Silver Republican, became governor of the state upon the death of Governor John E. Jones. Sadler served in the office until the end of the term on January 1, 1903.
• Development of cyanide process for silver at the University of Nevada.

1897 -

• Corbett-Fitzsimmons Bout at Carson City & prizefight boom. The sport legalized by legislature in time for the match.
• Klondike Gold Rush to Alaska.
• Spanish-American War.
• Austin mines closed.
• May 24: State court decision of Union Mill & Mining Company v. Dangberg et al. Nevada adopted legal doctrines of 'prior appropriation' and 'beneficial use' of  water in resolving lawsuit over rights to Carson River; lawsuit had been filed 1889. This established the state law for water rights of 'first in time, first in right,' so long as the water was continuously used for beneficial purposes.

1898 -

• 1898-99: Final closing of Carson City Mint; refitted for government assaying.
• Searchlight (Clark) founded.
• Spanish-American War began with destruction of U. S. battleship Maine at Havana February 15; war ended December 10, with the U. S. the victor; Nevada troops participated in fighting in the Philippine Islands.
• Construction of Colconda & Adelaide Railroad designed to connect the Adelaide copper mine (Humboldt) with the transcontinental railroad; dismantled after 1914.
• Telegraph line built between Reno and Lakeview, Oregon which connected the agricultural and pastoral communities of southern Oregon with the transcontinental telegraph system at Reno (Washoe).

1899 -

• Golconda & Adelaide Railroad.
• Legislature established Board of Medical Examiners and State Board of Taxation Commissioners.
• Legislature passed law recognizing that continuous beneficial use of water prior to 1899 created a vested right to the use of that water; law re-enacted 1913.
• Long distance telephone service became available for the first time in Nevada at Reno (Washoe).
• Southern Pacific Railroad Company purchased Central Pacific Railroad, acquiring millions of dollars in land, tracks, rolling stock, equipment, and buildings in Nevada.

1900   

1900 -

• Washoes given land allotments of 160 each in Pine Nut Mtns. National depression.
• Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and gang allegedly robbed the First National Bank in Winnemucca of $22,000.
• SP Railroad bought the Carson & Colorado Railroad.
• 1900-02-04-06:  Booms at Tonopah, Goldfield, Bullfrog and Rhyolite.
• 1900-08: Delamar (only mine open) produced $25 million in ore.
• 1900-64: Great copper boom centered at Ely. By 1910 dollar value of copper passed that of gold at Goldfield, silver at Tonopah.
• May 17: While searching for a lost mule, Jim Butler discovered rich deposits of silver ore at Tonopah (Nye), starting a 'boom' and a period of prosperity for Nevada.
• 1 September: David Bartley and Edwin Grey discovered rich copper deposits at Ruth (White Pine), which produced profits rivaling the Tonopah and Goldfield discoveries.
• Construction began on Boca & Loyalton Railroad connecting the forests around Loyalton and Portola, California, with the transcontinental railroad at Boca, California; completed 1901; abandoned 1918.
• Lake Tahoe Railway & Transportation Company Railroad built between Tahoe City and Truckee, California; abandoned 1943.
• U. S. Decennial Census, population of Nevada was 42,335.

1901 -

• Transatlantic wireless telegraph invented by Marchese Guglielmo Marconi, Italian physicist.
• Caliente Mining District formed and town started.
• Any form of nickel slot machine became unlawful.
• March 16: Legislature passed Pitt Revenue Bill requiring uniform valuation of property among the counties for tax purposes.
• Legislature established Board of Pharmacy.
• Verdi Lumber Company Railroad built; abandoned 1926.
• Tonopah (Nye) and Wedekind (Washoe) founded.
• Nevada products shown at Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, New York.

1902 -

• Quartette Railroad built at Searchlight.
• National Reclamation Act passed.
• John Mackay died in London, England, at age 72.
• January 1: John Sparks. Democrat and Silverite, who had been elected in 1902, became governor of the state. He served in the office until his death on May 22, 1908.
• Construction began on San Pedro, L.A. & Salt Lake Railroad.
• 1903-05: Lahontan Dam, 1st National Reclamation Act project in U. S.
• December 4: Rich gold ore deposits found by William Marsh and Harry Stimler; site later became Goldfield (Esmeralda).
• Congress passed Interior Appropriation Bill with amendment providing for Walker Lake Paiute Indian Reservation to be allotted to individual Indians; allotment agreement concluded July 20, 71906 with huge Indian celebration at Walker Lake; reservation opened to settlement by whites after presidential proclamation October 29, 1906 (Mineral).
• Congress passed Reclamation Act creating the Reclamation Service under the Department of the Interior; bill was signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt June 17.
• MiIler & Lux v. Rickey, later (Pacific Livestock Company v. Rickey) lawsuit filed in State court to settle water rights on Walker River; decided 1919.

1903 -

• March 4: Legislature elected Francis C. Newlands (Democrat) to serve as U. S. Senator; re-elected 1909, 1915; died in office December 24, 1917.
• Legislature established Board of Revenue and State Engineer's Office.
• John Sparks (Silver-Democrat) became Governor; re-elected 1906; died in office May 22, 1908.
• May 23-August 17: First transcontinental crossing of the U. S. by automobile; motorists crossed Nevada on their way from San Francisco to New York; reached Winnemucca June 21 and Flko on June 23.
• First motion picture house built in Nevada - the Vitagraph Theater, at Reno (Washoe).
• Eagle Salt Works Railroad built to connect the salt works (Churchill) with the transcontinental railroad at Wadsworth (Washoe); abandoned 1916.
• Construction began on Newlands (Truckee-Carson) Reclamation Project. Project authorized March; Derby Dam and Canal completed 1905.
• Caliente (Lincoln), Hazen (Churchill), and Ruth (White Pine) founded.

1904 -

• Southern Pacific RR moved shops from Wadsworth to outskirts of Reno. Tonopah Railroad built.
• Construction began on Tonopah & Goldfield Railroad connecting the Tonopah and Goldfield mines with the Carson & Colorado Railroad near Mina; completed 1905; abandoned 1946 (Nye, Esmeralda, and Mineral).
• Reno Traction Company built Municipal Railroad streetcar system in Reno (Washoe); line abandoned when buses began operating in Reno in 1927.
• Construction began on a portion of the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad through Las Vegas Valley (Clark).
• Legislature added referendum process to the State constitution by amendment.
• Nevada Historical Society founded as a private institution by Jeanne E. Wier and others at Reno (Washoe).
• Nevada products exhibited at St. Louis World's Fair.
• Bullfrog (Nye), Goldfield (Esmeralda), Rhyolite (Nye), and Sparks (Washoe) founded.

1905 -

• Southern Pacific RR established the town of Sparks, first called East Reno, then Harriman for Southern Pacific RR owner; he changed it to honor Governor.
• San Francisco, Los Aangeles & Salt Lake RR completed.
• Tonopah & Goldfield Railroad completed to Goldfield.
• Beatty laid out as a freighting center. w/3 railroads (till 1910).
• Copper mill construction begun at McGill near Ely.
• Truckee-Carson Irrigation Project started.
• Birth of Las Vegas with a railroad auction of 1200 lots and revival of old mining camp of Manhattan.
• May 15: City of Las Vegas (Clark) founded as station on San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad; incorporated 1911.
• July 3: World heavyweight boxing championship at Reno (Washoe) between Marvin Hart and Jack Root; Hart won.
• Mount Rose weather observatory began operating (Washoe).
• Minden (Douglas) founded by H. F. Dangberg Land & Live Stock Company; Beatty (Nyc) and Mina (Mineral) founded.
• Legislature established State License and Bullion Tax Agent (abolished 1913); State Veterinarian (abolished 1913); and Agricultural Experiment Dry Farm at Logan, Clark County (discontinued 1917).
• Legislature approved State Flag ('Silver and Gold' flag).
• Southern Pacific Railroad built 28-mile Hazen Cutoff, linking the Carson & Colorado Railroad at Fort Churchill with the main Southern Pacific rail line at Hazen; allowed direct shipment of goods to and from the Tonopah mines and bypassed the Virginia & Truckee Railroad.
• Nevada Rapid Transit Company built an auto road between the mining camps of Rhyolite and Bullfrog (Nyc) and the transcontinental San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad station at Las Vegas (Clark).
• Construction began on Nevada Northern Railway connecting the McGill copper mines (Elko) with the transcontinental railroad at Cobre (White Pine); completed 1906.
• Beatty-Las Vegas Nevada Telegraph Company established to link Las Vegas, Beatty, Rhyolite, Tonopah, and Goldfield with telegraph and telephone service.
• Construction began on Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad to connect Tonopah (Nye) with transcontinental railroad at Crucero, near San Bernardino, California; completed to Beatty (Nye) 1907; abandoned 1940; dismantled 1942.
• Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad built to connect Tonopah and Goldfield mines with the transcontinental railroad at Las Vegas, completed to Rhyolite and Beatty (Nye) 1906, to Coldfield 1907; abandoned 1918.

1906 -

• Virginia & Truckee extended to Minden to serve the Carson Valley.
• Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad built to Rhyolite.
• Tex Rickard, of the Northern Saloon, promoted the Gans-Nelson Prizefight of 42 rounds on Labor Day. Gate was $72,000.
• Corey divorce settlement publicity and Reno divorce boom.
• Paiutes lost land taken over by white squatters early 1900's.
• Perfection of vacuum tube for radio voice transmission.
• May 3: Congress created Ruby Mountain National Forest.
• May: Independence Forest Reserve established by the Department of the Interior; consolidated with Ruby Forest Reserve in July 1908 as Humboldt National Forest.
• July 20: Walker River Indian Reservation opened for allotments and broken up.
• August 15: Fallon Indian Reservation established by Congress; enlarged November 21, 1917; March 14, 1958.
• November 5: Congress created the Independence National Forest.
• November: Schurz (Mineral) founded.
• George Wingfield and George Nixon gained control of the most productive mines at Goldfield (Esmeralda); Goldfield Consolidated Mines Company organized under their control November 13 at Cheyenne, Wyoming.
• Construction began on Nevada Railroad Company line to connect the White Horse Canyon mines with the transcontinental railroad at Wadsworth; completed 1907 to Olinghouse (Washoe); abandoned 1909.
• Gerlach (Washoe), Mason (Lyon), Wonder (Churchill), Manhattan (Nye), and Phonolite (Nye) founded.
• Silver Peak Railroad built to connect the mines at Silver Peak (Esmeralda) with the Tonopah & Coldfield Railroad; abandoned 1918.
• Virginia & Truckee Railroad extended tracks to Minden (Douglas).

1907 -

• Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad running to Beatty.
• Bullfrog & Goldfield Railroad operating to Beatty.
• Rawhide boom, 90 saloons & 1 church before town burned.
• Panic of 1907 & depression, which finally closed all mines and banks in November, 1908.
• Thousands were out prospecting.
• March: Great floods on Carson, Humboldt, and Truckee rivers; heavy property damage at Reno (Washoe) and elsewhere. March 6-April 21: Flooding in the lower Humboldt River basin damaged Southern Pacific Railroad tracks.
• May: Construction began on the Western Pacific Railroad, third and last transcontinental rail line to cross Nevada. The Western Pacific Railroad Company, incorporated in 1903, planned to link Salt Lake City and Oakland, California, along the route of the National Wagon Road of 1856. The railroad was completed in 1909; crossed Sierra Nevada Mountains at Beckwourth Pass.
• Bullfrog-Goldfield Railroad built to connect the mines at Bullfrog with the Tonopah and Coldfield Railroad (Nye, Esmeralda); abandoned 1928.
• Barnwell & Searchlight Railroad built connecting the mines at Searchlight (Clark) with the Atcheson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad; abandoned 1924.
• Caliente & Pioche Railroad built, connecting the Caliente mines with Pioche (Lincoln).
• Esmeralda county seat moved from Hawthorne to Goldfield.
• Congress created Inyo National Forest.
• Legislature passed law requiring applications to the State Engineer's Office to divert or use unappropriated water, established permit system for new irrigation.
• Arden (Clark), Jumbo (Elko), Midas (Elko), Seven Troughs (Pershing), and Round Mountain (Nye) founded.
• Labor disorders at Goldfield (Esmeralda); International Workers of the World (I.W.W.) called four strikes against mine-owners; U. S. troops called in by President Theodore Roosevelt December 6; withdrawn March 6, 1908 and replaced by the newly formed Nevada State Police.
• Legislature established Mineral Land Commissioner (abolished 1959); State Railroad Board and Commission; Board of Sheep Commissioners; and State Industrial and Publicity Commission (abolished 1911). Nevada Historical Society became a state institution.
• Following financial panic of 1907 and closing of many banks nationwide, Legislature created Nevada Bank Examiners and Board of Bank Commissioners.

1908 -

• May 22. Lieutenant Governor Denver S. Dickerson, Democrat, became governor of the state upon the death of Governor John Sparks. Dickerson served in the office until January 2, 1911.
• Jarbidge gold boom, which lasted until 1935.
• January 29: Legislature, meeting in special session, created Nevada State Police in response to 1907 labor disorders at Goldfield (Esmeralda).
• May 22: Lieutenant Governor Denver S. Dickerson (Silver-Democrat) became Governor after death in office of Governor John Sparks.
• July 1: Congress created Humboldt National Forest out of Ruby Mountain and Independence National Forests.
• July: U. S. Department of the Interior merged Ruby Forest Reserve and Independence Forest Service, establishing Humboldt National Forest.
• Construction began on Governor's Mansion, Carson City; completed 1909.
• Goldfield Consolidated Milling & Transportation Company Railroad (Esmeralda) built; ceased operations 1931.
• National City (Humboldt) founded.

1909 -

• February 5: Clark County, with its seat at Las Vegas, was established, effective July 1, 1909. It was named for William Andrews Clark, president of the Montana constitutional convention and Senator from Montana.
• Governor's mansion completed, opened with a grand public reception by Acting Governor Denver Dickerson on Jan, 10,1910.
• Nevada Legislature passed a bill prohibiting all forms of gambling in the state.
• Legislature made altering livestock brands a felony.
• Legislature established Nevada Code Commission; Banking Board; Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers; State Hygienic Laboratory; and State Inspector of Mines; also started Agricultural Experiment Dry Farm at Pleasant Valley, Elko County (discontinued 1917).
• Construction began on Tecopa Railroad Company Line connecting Tecopa, California, mines with the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad; dismantled 1938.
• Construction began on Gardnerville & Southern Railroad; abandoned before completion (Douglas).
• Nevada Copper Belt Railroad built connecting Ludwig copper mines with the Carson & Colorado (later Southern Pacific) Railroad near Wabuska; abandoned 1947 (Lyon).
• Walker River Indian Agency created.

1910

1910 -

• Reno had become the U. S. divorce capitol.
• Nevada Copper Belt Railroad built to Yerington. Extended in 1912.
• 1st state primary election; poll tax as voter requirement banned.
• Colonies set up to provide urban housing for Native Amer.
• February 18-March 15: Heavy flooding of Humboldt River damaged Elko (Elko) and caused considerable loss of livestock and damaged the tracks of the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific Railroads. Over 30 miles of track of the Eureka & Palisade Railroad was destroyed; rebuilt 1912.
• May: Pacific Reclamation Company began an ambitious colonization project in Elko County at Metropolis; irrigation dam built 1912 at Bishop Creek; Southern Pacific Railroad branch line built December 1911; large scale dry farming began 1912; railroad dismantled 1925, town abandoned in 1930's.
• June 23: First airplane flight in Nevada at the Raycraft Ranch just outside Carson City; pilot was Ivy Baldwin.
• July 4: World heavyweight boxing championship match at Reno (Washoe) between Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries; Johnson the winner.
• October 1: Law passed by Legislature prohibiting gambling went into effect.
• Congress established the Bureau of Mines to supervise mine safety and undertake mining research for the Department of the Interior.
• First gasoline-powered tractor in Nevada (called a 'self-propelled plow'), Lovelock (Pershing).
• Buckhorn (Eureka) and Jarbidge (Elko) founded.
• U. S. Decennial Census, population of Nevada was 81,875.

1911 -

• January 2: Tasker L. Oddie, Republican, who had been elected in 1910, became governor of Nevada. He served in the office until January 4, 1915.
• January 31: The state legislature ratified the 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• February 10: Mineral County, with its seat at Hawthorne, was created.
• Anne Martin of UNR traveled state for woman suffrage. Nevada's mineral production at $35 million, mostly copper. Creation of Mineral Co. from Esmeralda Co.
• Lahontan Dam, Nevada's largest project to date.
• March 4: George S. Nixon (Republican) elected U. S. Senator; re-elected 1911, died in office June 5, 1912.
• March 16: Las Vegas incorporated as a municipality.
• September 17-November 5: First transcontinental airplane flight made by C. P. Rodgers from New York to Pasadena, California, with many stops.
• Discovery of evidence of prehistoric Indian settlement in a cave 22 miles south of Fallon (Churchill); one of the richest finds of artifacts in North America, the site was continuously occupied for 2000 years, from about 700 B.C. to about 1300 A.D.
• Last Indian uprising in the U. S. A band of renegade Indians led by 'Shoshone Mike' killed four stockmen in northern Washoe County in January. State police officers and a sheriff's posse broke up the band and killed 'Shoshone Mike' west of Paradise Valley on February 26, 1911 (Humboldt).
• U. S. Interstate Commerce Commission in Reno Rate Case eliminated the infamous 'Back Haul' shipping rates by which the railroads had overcharged Nevadans for over 40 years.
• Congress merged Nevada National Forest with Toiyabe and Humboldt National Forests.
• First use of gasoline-powered truck for transportation of ore, at Tonopah (Nye).
• Yellow Pine Mining Company Railroad built, connecting Yellow Pine Mine near Goodsprings with the Union Pacific Railroad at Jean (Clark); first internal combustion (gasoline) locomotive in the State.
• Nevada Legislature legalized gambling in card games such as poker.
• Legislature established Public Service Commission; Commission of Industry, Agriculture and Irrigation; and State Registrar of Vital Statistics.
• Legislature created Mineral County, county seat at Hawthorne.
• Lyon County seat moved from Dayton to Yerington.
• Construction began on Lahontan Dam (Churchill) at the big bend of Carson River; Lahontan Reservoir formed when construction was completed in 1914.
• Helen J. Stewart started Las Vegas Indian Colony (Clark) in conjunction with U. S. Government.
• Tasker L. Oddie (Republican) became Governor.
• Rochester (Pershing) founded.

1912 -

• Labor troubles at McGill near Ely. IWW lost to state troops.
• July 1: W. A. Massey (Republican) appointed U. S. Senator until election of 1913, following death in office of Senator George S. Nixon.
• Legislature added recall process to State constitution by amendment.
• Prince Consolidated Railroad built; connected Prince Mines with Pioche (Lincoln); abandoned 1920.
• Guano miners discovered a rich collection of prehistoric Indian artifacts at Lovelock Cave above the southeastern shore of Humboldt Sink. The cave had been occupied from about 1500 B.C. until it was abandoned a few hundred years before whites appeared in the area (Pershing) according to archaeologists from the Nevada Historical Society and the University of California.
• Tuscarora Summit Road from Elko to southern Idaho improved for auto travel; first motor highway in Elko County; short-cut of this road completed by Department of Highways about 1923.

1913 -

• February 6: The state legislature ratified the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• Six-month divorce law repealed - one year residency required.
• Goldfield flooded.
• Nevada Short Line Railroad opened.
• March 4: Key Pittman (Democrat) elected U. S. Senator; re-elected 1917, 1923, 1929, 1935; 1940 (died before term began).
• U. S. sued hundreds of landowners (U. S. v. Orr Water Ditch Company) in federal court to determine rights to waters of Truckee River; temporary decree 1926; final decree 1944.
• Nevada Route #1 designated, first State auto road; later (1920) Victory Highway; (1926) U. S. Highway 40; and (1958) Interstate 80.
• Nevada Short Line Railway built connecting Rochester mines (Pershing) with Southern Pacific Railroad at Oreana; dismantled 1920.
• Nevada Legislature prohibited all forms of gambling, including card games.
• Legislature enacted state inheritance tax; repealed 1925.
• Legislature enacted motor vehicle licensing law; fees set aside to help pay for road building and upkeep.
• Legislature established Nevada Industrial Commission; Commissioner and Department of Food and Drugs; Tax Commission; and State Sealer of Weights and Measures.

1914 -

• Merger Las Vegas. & Tonopah with Bullfrog & Goldfield Railroad.
• Golconda & Adalaide Railroad abandoned.
• March 23: Executive order of President W. H. Taft established Goshute Indian Reservation at Deep Creek (White Pine).
• November 3: Women's right to vote in Nevada approved by state election.
• Construction began on Arrowhead Trail; all-weather highway between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City by way of Las Vegas (Clark); completed 1924.
• Death Valley Railroad built; connected borax mines at Ryan in Death Valley, California, with Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad; abandoned 1931.

1915 -

• January 4: Emmet D. Boyle, Democrat, who had been elected in 1914, became governor of the state.  He served in the office until January 1, 1923.
• February 23: Governor Emmet D. Boyle signed the state's 'easy divorce' law which required 6 months residence.
• Woman suffrage passed.
• Socialist colony existed in Churchill Co. Abandoned after a young draft dodger shot and killed Sheriff Mark Wildes.
• Legislature made recording of livestock brands mandatory for ranchers.
• Legislature established Board of Commissioners for Promotion of Uniformity of Legislation; Board of Stock Commissioners; State Quarantine Office; University of Nevada Agricultural Extension Service; Racing Commission; University of Nevada Veterinary Control Service (abolished 1957); and Department of Weights and Measures (abolished 1959).
• Legislature approved State Flag bearing motto 'All for Our Country'; replaced 1905 flag.
• Nevada products shown at Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco and San Diego.
• U. S. Reclamation Service acquired control of Lake Tahoe Dam from the Truckee River General Electric Company which bought it from the Donner Boom & Logging Company in 1902; this purchase gave the federal government effective control of the water level of Lake Tahoe and the Truckee River.
• Emmet D. Boyle (Democrat) became Governor; re-elected 1918.
• Douglas County seat relocated from Genoa to Minden.
• Job Harriman and C. V. Eggleston founded the Nevada Colony, a socialist cooperative engaged in reclamation and farming, near Fallon (Churchill). Incorporated October 12, 1915, colony founded town of Nevada City in 1916, but broke up after 1918; buildings removed in 1919-1920 to Fallon.

1916 -

• January 11: Federal Aid Road Act (Bankhead-Shackleford Act), passed by Congress and signed into law by President Wilson; amended and signed into law February 28, 1919; designed to aid states building rural roads. The Nevada section of the federal highway system was completed and gravel-surfaced by 1931.
• December 5: Last western stagecoach robbery and murder took place at Jarbidge Canyon (Elko).
• Congress established the National Park Service to supervise national parks and monuments under the Department of the Interior, which institutionalized 'preservationist' values in the federal establishment.

1917 -

• U. S. entered World War I on April 16.
• Nevada 1st state to subscribe Liberty Loan quota - over 92%.
• U. S. participation in World War I, which had begun in 1914. U. S. Congress declared war on Germany April 6; declaration of war against Austria December 7; war concluded by Armistice November 11, 1918; peace treaties signed at Versailles, France in August 1921.
• Guano miners discovered prehistoric Indian artifacts, dating from at least 7000 B.C., at a rock shelter near Granite Point (Pershing).
• William Smith founded Wendover (Elko).
• President Woodrow Wilson established Battle Mountain Indian Colony by executive order (Lander).

• Congress began purchasing land for Washo Indians; January-February, Carson Indian Colony acquired.
• Bureau of Indian Affairs created Yerington Reservation for Paiute Indians (Lyon).
• Bureau of Indian Affairs established Reno-Sparks Indian Colony (Washoe); enlarged 1926.
• Deep Creek Railroad built connecting gold mines at Gold Hill, Utah, with the Southern Pacific Railroad at Wendover (Elko); abandoned 1939.
• Legislature established Department of Highways; State Auditor; Board of Equalization; State Assayer and Inspector (abolished 1921); Inspector of Apiaries (abolished 1921); Nevada Northeastern Agricultural Board (abolished 1923); Nevada Southern Agricultural Board (abolished 1923); and State Rabies Commission (abolished 1923).
• Legislature adopted Sagebrush as State Emblem.
• Legislature authorized incorporation of City of Elko (Elko).

1918 -

• Silver Peak, LAS VEGAS. & Tonopah Railroads abandoned.
• Western Pacific Railroad began serving Reno.
• Anne Martin lost U. S. Senatorial elections in 1918 & 1920.
• January 12: Charles B. Henderson (Democrat) appointed U. S. Senator to serve until 1919 election, following death in office of Senator Francis C. Newlands December 24, 1917. Henderson elected U. S. Senator March 4, 1919; served to 1921.
• March 15: Executive order of President Woodrow Wilson added 34,000 acres to Walker Lake Indian Agency (Mineral).
• November 16: Truckee-Carson Irrigation District formed by water users around Fallon (Churchill); took over much of the Newlands reclamation project by contract with the U. S. in 1926.
• December 17: State prohibition against alcoholic beverages went into effect after vote by Legislature; repealed 1923.
• President Woodrow Wilson established Elko Indian Colony (Elko) by executive order; relocated 1931.
• Congress passed Pittman Act, sponsored by Senator Key Pittman of Nevada, requiring the U. S. Government to purchase a fixed amount of silver until 1923.

1919 -

• January 21: The state legislature ratified the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• March 18: Pershing County, with its seat at Lovelock, was established. it was named for John Joseph Pershing, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, who fought in the Philippine campaign, led the punitive expedition against Pancho Villa, achieved the full rank of general in October, 1917, and became chief of staff in 1921.
• First music broadcasts in Pittsburgh area by Westinghouse Electric. Volstead Act brought national federal liquor prohibition.
• Clara Crowell appointed Lander Co. sheriff to complete term of her late husband.
• Sadie Dotson Hurst, Reno, 1st woman elected to State Assembly.
• Reno Rodeo started.
• Genoa Candy Dance started by Lillian Virgin Finnegan to raise funds for town street lights.
• Lawsuit of Pacific Livestock Company vs. T. B. Rickey in state court decided water rights on Walker River.
• State Department of Highways, using right of way of Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad, built a road between Las Vegas and Beatty; now part of U. S. Highway 95 (Clark, Nye).
• Legislature created Pershing County; county seat at Lovelock.
• Legislature established Board of Registered Professional Engineers; Public Service Board; State Board of Finance; State Board of Vocational Education; State Council of Defense; State Ore Sampler (abolished 1921); Commissioner of Prohibition (abolished 1923); and Reclamation and Resettlement Board (abolished 1950).
• First crossing of the Sierra Nevada by air; by four U. S. Army aircraft from Mather Field, Sacramento; landed near Carson City, March 22.
• Vegas Verdes founded; now North Las Vegas (Clark).
• Sloan (Clark) founded.

1920

1920 -

• Nevada Short Line Railroad abandoned. Reno trolley line partially abandoned.
• 4,907 Native Americans in Nevada. (5,900 per B.L.M. count). Illiteracy had dropped to 66.9% adults and 33% teens, compared to 7.9% and 3% of all classes of rural population.
• August 4: First air mail flight in U. S.; aircraft piloted by Bert Acosta and Captain Eddie Rickenbacker arrived at Blanchefield, Reno (Washoe).
• U. S. Decennial Census, population of Nevada was 77,407.

1921 -

• Tasker L. Oddie (Republican) elected U. S. Senator; re-elected 1927.
• 54,845 acres of Mount Rose timberland added to Tahoe National Forest.
• Congress passed Federal Highway Act (Phipps-Townsend Act); provided financial assistance to states helping to build interstate highway systems.
• Legislature established State Farm Bureau; University of Nevada Engineering Experiment Station; and State Apiary Commission (abolished 1959).
• Labor disorder and general strike at Tonopah (Nye).
• San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad absorbed by Union Pacific Railroad.

1922 -

• Copper mines at Ruth & Ely closed due low copper prices.
• Railroad strike at Las Vegas with some violence.
• Nevada only 3% privately owned; less than 1% irrigated.
• Lehman Cave near Ely made a National Monument.
• July: National Railroad workers strike disrupted transcontinental rail operations all across Nevada.
• Congress established Lehman Caves National Monument near Ely (White Pine).

1923 -

• January 1: James D. Scrugham, Democrat, who had been elected in 1922, became governor of the state. He served in the office until January 3, 1927.
• March 5: Nevada, along with Montana, passed the country's first old age pension act.
• Legislation enacted to set aside state recreational grounds & game refuges.
• 1923-24 - Big Goldfield fires.
• Legislature established State Board of Chiropractic Examiners; State Teachers' Employment Bureau; and State Survey Commission (abolished 1925).
• Legislature enacted tax on gasoline, with proceeds to be used to improve and maintain public highways.

1924 -

• AT&SF RR line to Searchlight abandoned.
• Excavation of Lost City, Pueblo Grande de Nevada.
• Site selected for Davis Dam below proposed Hoover Dam.
• State Legislature arranged for swap with federal government for recreation lands.
• June 2: Congress passed law making all native-born American Indians U. S. citizens.
• Lawsuit of U. S. v. Walker River Irrigation District filed by the U. S. in federal court to settle new claims to waters of Walker River; decided 1936; appeal decided 1939.
• Archaeological expedition of Mark Harrington began work at site of Lost City (Pueblo Grande de Nevada) on Muddy River (Clark). The large number of pueblo ruins and pit houses constituted richest culture in prehistoric Nevada, dating from 600 to 1100 AD. Agriculture was economic foundation of these prehistoric Indians, who raised corn, beans, squash, and cotton. The city was mysteriously abandoned in 12th century, along with other Pueblo Indian villages in Moapa and Virgin River Valleys. Today Lake Mead covers part of Lost City.
• First execution by lethal gas in the world, at the Nevada State Prison, Carson City; the condemned was a Chinese, Gee Jon, convicted of a tong-related contract murder at Mina.

1925 -

• U. S. v. Alpine Land & Reservoir Co. lawsuit filed by the U. S. in the federal courts to determine water rights on Carson River; proposed decree rendered 1951.
• Legislature repealed state inheritance tax, originally enacted in 1913. The absence of a state inheritance tax encouraged many wealthy persons to move to Nevada, bringing their wealth with them.
• Archaeologists discovered prehistoric Pueblo Indian salt mine at Salt Cave, in Virgin River Valley (Clark); site now covered by Lake Mead.

1926 -

• Western Air Lines began service L.A. to Salt Lake with a stop in Las Vegas - two passenger seats in the cargo area.
• April 6: Airplane flown by Leon Cuddeback for Varney (later United) Air Lines and carrying 64 pounds of mail, inaugurated regular transcontinental air mail service, first flight in Nevada landed at Elko.
• October 27: President Calvin Coolidge created U. S. Navy Ammunition Depot at Hawthorne (Mineral) by executive order; Congress appropriated money for construction 1928; construction began 1929; depot placed in operation 1931.
• Oregon Short Line (Idaho Central) Railroad completed between Wells (Elko) and Twin Falls, Idaho; construction originally began in 1907 to link the ranching communities of southern Idaho with the transcontinental railroad at Wells.
• Congress passed Air Commerce Act, providing federal aid for airlines and airports.
• Congress abolished Bishop (California) Indian Agency and merged it with Walker River Indian Agency and Fallon Indian Colony and Reservations.

1927 -

• Divorce residency requirement cut to three months.
• Borax production moved to California.
• Reno-Sparks Trolley and Verdi Lumber RR abandoned. Death Valley opened to tourism.
• Naval Ammunition Depot opened at Hawthorne.
• Estimated 2,500 Nat. Amer. on reservations, 2,000 in colony, 500 on own. Other estimates 4,362 of 5,700 on 'trust lands.'
• State Parks program begun with $1,500 approved to cover incidental expenses for federal land trade for 4 parks.
• Fred B. Balzar (Republican) became Governor; re-elected 1930, died in office March 21, 1934.
• Transcontinental Highways Exposition held at Idlewild Park near Reno (Washoe).
• State Highway Department completed the grading and gravelling of Victory Highway (now U. S. Interstate 80), connecting Sacramento and Salt Lake City by way of Reno, Lovelock, Winnemucca, and Elko.
• Cal-Neva Club built at Incline (Washoe); burned 1937 and rebuilt as hotel-casino; high-rise hotel built 1969.
• First completely automatic hydroelectric system in Nevada planned and organized by H. H. Cazier at Wells; first rural electrification system.
• Weepah (Esmeralda) founded.

1928 -

• Bullfrog & Goldfield RR abandoned.
• Dec. 21: Swing-Johnson Bill authorized Hoover (Boulder) Dam.
• 1st experimental TV station, WGY in Schenectady, NY. (G.E.). 1929 -
• Adoption of new state flag - Nevada's third.
• Nevada got $595,076.53 for Civil War funds advanced from government.
• May 21: Congress passed Oddie-Colton Highway Act; provided for sliding-scale increase of federal aid to states building interstate highways over the public domain.
• November 11: station KOH began transmitting radio programs from Reno Nevada's first radio station (Washoe).
• December 21: Boulder Canyon Project Act (Swing-Johnson Bill) passed Congress; signed into law July 3, 1930 by President Herbert Hoover; authorized construction of immense dam and hydroelectric plant across the Colorado River, forming Lake Mead (Clark).
• Clear Creek Road between Carson City and Lake Tahoe over Spooner Summit paved; now part of U. S. Highway 50 (Ormsby, Douglas).
• Nevada State Bar, an association of lawyers, formed as a public corporation.
• Congress added 69,000 acres of grazing land to Walker Lake Indian Agency.

1929 -

• 1 October: Stock market crash on Wall Street in New York City started national financial panic and Great Depression, which soon affected Nevada, bringing hard times to the state.
• Legislature established Bureau of Mines; Nevada National Guard (formerly Nevada Militia, established 1865 and reformed 1893); State Barber's Health and Sanitation Board; State Range Commission and State Livestock Show Board.
• Legislature approved State Flag bearing motto 'Battle Born'; replaced 1915 flag.
• Following Legislature's passage of a bill reducing residency requirements for divorce from six months to three months, Neil West built Nevada's first 'dude ranch' at Sutcliffe on Pyramid Lake (Washoe). Several others followed, and dude ranch business boomed in 1931 when Legislature reduced divorce residency requirement to six weeks. Liberalized divorce laws across the country resulted in a decline of the dude ranch; in 1975 only two were still operating.
• Peyotism introduced to Pyramid Lake Paiutes by 'outside' Indian Lee Okio.

1930

1930 -

• September 17: Work was begun on Hoover Dam, which was originally called Boulder Dam, at Las Vegas. The work was completed in 1936.
• 1930's - Agriculture was leading industry in all 17 Nevada counties.
• Congress passed Oddie-Colton Forest Highway Act and Oddie-Colton Public Domain Highway Act, providing federal assistance to state road building projects.
• Six Companies, Inc. Railroad built in connection with Boulder (Hoover) Dam Construction Project; submerged under Lake Mead after 1935 (Clark).
• Archaeological expedition from the Southwest Museum excavated Indian ruins at Mesa House, a large Pueblo structure with 84 rooms in western Moapa Valley (Clark) dating from 500 AD.; believed to be one of the last Pueblo Indian strongholds against encroachments of Southern Paiute Indians, it was abandoned after 1150 AD.
• Archaeological expedition to Gypsum Cave on the eastern slope of Las Vegas Valley discovered traces of ancient Indians who occupied site between about 3000 B.C. and I AD. (Clark).
• Naval Ammunition Depot built by U. S. Navy at Babbitt, near Hawthorne (Mineral).
• U. S. Decennial Census, population of Nevada was 91,058.

1931 -

• Legalization of wide-open gambling by Nevada Legislature after introduction of bill by Phil Tobin, Humboldt Co., to ease effects of Great Depression on Nevada.
• March 20: Was the first day of gaming for Reno's Bank Club.
• Boulder City RR branch built by Union Pacific RR for dam.
• The first gaming license in Las Vegas went to Mamie Stocker for the Northern Club. By March 31 there were 6 applicants. Washoe Co. on April 1 had issued 85 and had 12 applicants.
• Great Depression starts.
• State got Valley of Fire & Beaver Dam lands from Fed. Govt. 1932 -
• Apache Hotel, Las Vegas' 1st luxury hotel (air-conditioned lobby & elevator) opened on Fremont St., downtown.
• Nevada authorized sale of beer & wine prior end Prohibition.
• March 19: Legislature legalized gambling in Nevada; act signed by Governor Fred B. Balzar.
• May 1: Six-weeks residency requirement for divorces became effective after bill passed legislature.
• Legislature created Fort Churchill State Monument (Lyon) and State Vehicle Commissioner.
• Legislature approved and voters ratified a constitutional amendment limiting real estate and property taxes.
• Federal Government established Fly Indian Colony (White Pine).
• Construction began on Boulder (Hoover) Dam; accepted by U. S. Government March 1935; dedicated September 1935 (Clark). Construction drew thousands of workers to Clark Co. Boulder City created.
• Boulder City (Clark) founded as company town for Boulder Dam workers; the town was unique in Nevada as no gambling or liquor sales were permitted; hard liquor sales permitted in 1969.
• Rail line between Las Vegas and Boulder City (Clark) completed by Union Pacific Railroad; the line was used to transport materials to the Boulder Dam construction site.
• Nevada section of the federal highway system was completed and gravel-surfaced.

1932 -

• June 28: Indians made subject by congressional act to local laws for major crimes.
• November 1: Two week state 'bank holiday' (first of many called during Great Depression) following failure of numerous banks in Nevada operated by George Wingfield and others.

1933 -

• January 26: The state legislature ratified the 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• September 5: The state legislature ratified the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution
• U. S. taken off the gold standard.
• End of National Prohibition when Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office as 31st U. S. president.
• Organization of Civilian Conservation Corps - public works.
• March 4: Patrick A. McCarran (Democrat) elected U. S. Senator; re-elected 1939, 1945, 1951; died in office September 28, 1954.
• December 21: President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted international silver agreement negotiated at the London Economic Conference earlier that year. By presidential order the Treasury Department stopped issuing gold coins and began to purchase and coin all silver mined in the U. S. This program was discontinued under President Lyndon Johnson in 1965.
• Archaeologists excavated a rich prehistoric Indian site at Tule Springs (Clark); artifacts indicated that it had been occupied as early as 11,000 B.C. by a hunting and gathering people.
• Legislature established State Board of Charities and Public Welfare (now State Welfare Department); State Board of Pardons Commissioners (originally established 1864, reformed 1867, 1875); State Superintendent of Banks; State Board of Control (abolished 1957); and State Board of Relief, Work Planning and Pension Control (abolished 1935).
• Legislature adopted 'Home Means Nevada' as State Song.

1934 -

• March 21: Lieutenant Governor Morley I. Griswold, Republican, became governor of the state upon the death of Governor Frederick B. Balzar. Griswold served in the office until the end of the term on January 7, 1935.
• June: Congress passed Wheeler-Howard or Indian Reorganization Act which provided for tribal self-government under congressionally-approved constitutions; it stopped allotment system and enabled tribes to purchase additional land.
• Congress passed Silver Purchase Act, increasing the percentage of silver coins in circulation.
• Congress passed and President Franklin Roosevelt signed Taylor Grazing Act, which established Grazing Service, later Bureau of Land Management; authorized withdrawal of millions of acres of grazing land from public domain and for all practical purposes ended Congressional policy of land sales and homesteading in the West.
• Archaeologists excavated Etna Cave (Lincoln) where they discovered a prehistoric Indian site dating from about 3000 B.C.
• Land in Wassuk Mountain Range set aside by executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for Walker River Indian Irrigation District.
• Emmett Chase and Ed Knight discovered rich gold and tungsten ore deposit, later Cetchell Mine (Humboldt).
• Construction began on Wildhorse Dam and Reservoir on the Owyhee River (Elko).

1935 -

• January 7: Richard Kirman, Sr., Democrat, who had been elected in 1934. became governor of the state. He served in the office until January 2, 1939.
• CCC built the Lost City Museum at Overton to preserve relics of Pueblo Grande de Nevada, the Anasazi civilization.
• Feb. 23: Raymond L. 'Pappy' Smith opened Harold's Club. He had the first 21 table in 1936, craps 1937, roulette 1938, and was the first to use women dealers in the 1950's.
• State Highway Department began construction of State Route 43 to provide a better highway linking Elko to the Rio Tinto copper mines at Mountain City (Elko), and the communities of southern Idaho; road completed 1939-40, causing abandonment of pre-existing Tuscarora Summit Road.
• Rye Patch Dam built on lower Humboldt River, to conserve water for irrigation on ranches in Big Meadows area (Pershing); construction completed 1936.
• Severe drought year in Nevada drove angry farmers to move heavy equipment to Tahoe City, California, in attempt to destroy dam blocking the Truckee River outlet at Lake Tahoe. Dispute ended peaceably, but waters of Lake Tahoe had to be pumped into the Truckee, as the river repeatedly fell below the natural rim, stopping its flow.
• Truckee River Agreement between water users on Truckee River, the Lake Tahoe Interstate Water Conference Committee, and the U. S. Department of the Interior, fixing rates of flow on the river and providing for the later (1937) construction of Boca Dam and reservoir.
• Walker River Agency abolished and consolidated as sub-agency of Carson Indian Agency, within Bureau of Indian Affairs of the U. S. Department of Interior.
• Richard Kirman, Sr. (Democrat) became Governor.

1936 -

• Hoover Dam was completed on the Colorado River.
• Warren Nelson introduced Keno in Reno's Palace Club.
• Rye Patch Dam and Reservoir began providing irrigation in the Lovelock area.
• Cattle in Nevada valued at an estimated $11 million.
• April 20: Congress approved constitution and by-laws of Shoshone-Paiute tribes of Duck Valley Indian Reservation.
• December 10: Bureau of Indian Affairs authorized approval to purchase Campbell Ranch near Yerington as Paiute Indian Colony; enlarged 1941 (Lyon).
• State Constitution amended to limit taxes on personal property and real estate to an aggregate of five cents per dollar of assessed valuation, making Nevada's property tax one of the lowest in the U. S.
• Geiger Grade road between Reno and Virginia City paved (Washoe, Storey).
• Nevada Route 11 built by the State Highway Department to open the Elko-Tuscarora road to auto traffic (Flko).
• Peyotism introduced to Washo Indians by Ben Lancaster.
• University of California archaeologists excavated prehistoric Indian site at Humboldt Cave, near southern end of west Humboldt Range (Churchill). Rich cultural deposits indicate that the cave was occupied from about 1000 B.C. to 1000 A.D., and that Indians living there traded with other peoples in California and the southwestern US.
• 1936-37: Virginia City-Carson City road paved.

1937 -

• Taylor Grazing Act in effect.
• Nevada Central Railroad abandoned.
• February 27: Washo Indians issued corporate charter and became formally organized; Tribal Council organized 1966.
• May 8: Walker River Paiute Tribe voted for corporate federal charter; Tribal Council sworn in May 25.
• December 7: Final adjudication of water rights on Humboldt River made by State Supreme Court.
• Heavy flooding of the Carson and Truckee Rivers caused great property damage at Reno (Washoe) and elsewhere.
• U. S. Government established Yomba or Reese River Indian Reservation (Lander), expanded 1940, 1941.
• Legislature established Board of Review; Merit Examination Board; State Planning Board; State Soil Conservation Committee; and Unemployment Compensation Service.
• Minerva (White Pine) founded.

1938 -

• Eureka-Nevada Railroad abandoned.
• Lake Mead was full, largest man-made lake in the West with 9 trillion gallons of water, 822 miles shore, 110 mi. long.
• Dewey Sampson, full-blooded Paiute, elected to State Assembly from Washoe Co.
• Virginia & Truckee stopped passenger service from Va. City to Carson City.
• Giant gold-dredging machine operating at Manhattan.
• Southern California gamblers began moving to Las Vegas where they could gamble legally.
• Pyramid Lake Paiutes sued to remove squatters, get their share of Truckee River water and preserve the lake. Supreme Court in 1944 gave squatters 7 more years to vacate lands.
• Waters of Lake Mead covered the historic sites of St. Thomas, Rioville and Callville (Ft. Call).

1939 -

• January 2: Edward P. Carville, Democrat, who had been elected in 1938, became governor of the state. He was reelected in 1942 and served until his resignation in July.
• William 'Bill' Harrah opened Harrah's Tango Club in Reno.
• 1939-56: Second 20th century mining boom due to WWII in Europe; demand for many minerals unfamiliar to Nevadans.
• October: Boca Dam construction completed on Truckee River; work began in 1937.
• Nevada products shown at New York World's Fair and at Golden Gate International Exposition at Yerba Buena, California.
• Legislature established State Apprenticeship Council; State Department of Health; State Health Officer; and Nevada State Museum.
• Congress created Fish and Wildlife Services of the Department of the Interior.
• F. P. Carville (Democrat) became Governor; re-elected 1942, resigned July 24, 1945 to serve balance of term of Senator James Scrugham who died in office.

1940

1940 -

• Tidewater & Tonopah Railroad abandoned. 1941 -
• First of two 'Strip' hotels, El Rancho Vegas, opened and downtown El Cortez opened in Las Vegas.
• April:  Newt Crumley's Commercial Hotel featured Ted Lewis, the first "name entertainer". Set precedent for Nevada.
• Oct. 31: Nevada State Museum, Carson City, opened in mint.
• November 13: Department of Interior approved purchase of land for Duckwater Indian Reservation (Nye).
• November 27: Berkeley L. Bunker (Democrat) appointed to succeed Senator Key Pittman, who was re-elected November 5 but died before his term began.
• Dec 7: WWII - Japanese fleet bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This led to war declaration December 8th on Axis (Germany, Italy & Japan).
• U. S. Decennial Census, population of Nevada was 110,247; an increase of 20.8% over 1930

1941 -

• Spring: Nellis Air Force Base opened as Las Vegas Army Airfield (Clark); deactivated 1947; reopened as Nellis Air Force Base 1950 to train pilots for the Korean conflict.
• 1941-47 - Army Air Corps Gunnery School. McCarran Field, Las Vegas, converted to pilot training field in 1942.
• Nevada Legislature created State Contractors' Board; State Athletic Commission; State Insurance Commissioner (after 1963 part of the State Department of Commerce); State Department of Insurance; Employment Security Department; and State Employment Security Council.
• Basic Magnesium Inc. began building $150 million mining and processing complex at Henderson (Clark); ore production started in 1942, ceased operations 1961.
• World War II: Congressional declaration of war against Japan on December 8, following attack on Pearl Harbor; declarations of war on Germany and Italy December 11. Italy surrendered September, 1943; Germany surrendered May, 1945; Japan surrendered September, 1945; cessation of hostilities proclaimed December 31, 1946. The limited national emergency declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt September 8, 1939 and upgraded to an unlimited national emergency on May 27, 1941 was ended by President Harry Truman on April 28, 1952.
• El Rancho Vegas Hotel-Casino opened at Las Vegas (Clark) by Thomas F. Hull; this was the first hotel-casino on what later became the famous Las Vegas Strip; destroyed by fire in 1960.

1942 -

• U. S. Army Base established at Tonopah.
• Las Frontier Hotel opened on the 'Strip,' Las Vegas.
• 1942-44: Basic Magnesium, Inc., established to produce magnesium. Brought 10,000 workers to create town of Henderson. Birth of industry in Southern Nevada.
• April 3-May 1: Heavy flooding of the upper Humboldt River washed out railroads and highways and inundated portions of Elko (Elko).
• U. S. established post office at Blue Diamond (Clark).
• U. S. Congress approved construction of Army Air Base, now Stead Field, in Lemmon Valley (Washoe); closed 1966 and sold to City of Reno.
• Construction began on Naval Auxiliary Air Station at Fallon (Churchill); commissioned June 10, 1944. Caretaker status June 1, 1946; re-opened March 1, 1951.
• Basic, later Henderson (Clark), founded to house workers of Basic Magnesium Inc.
• William Fisk Harrah opened Harrah's Club in Reno (Washoe); later Harrah's Hotel-Casino. Harrah came to Reno in 1937 and started as a successful operator of bingo games.

1943 -

• January 3: U. S. Senator James G. Scrugham (Democrat) began term of office; died June 23, 1945.
• January 21-27: Heavy flooding of the Humboldt River caused extensive damage to Elko and surrounding highways (Elko); Hot Creek Reservoir Dam washed out. Nevada Legislature created office of Veterans' Service Commissioner; Central Committee of Nevada State Grazing Boards; and Nevada Advisory Mining Board.
• Last Frontier Hotel-Casino built at Las Vegas (Clark) by R. Z. Griffith.

1944 -

• National Congress of American Indians established.
• Van Voorhees Naval Air Station established at Fallon.
• Development of Atomic Bomb by U. S. with crew of Enola Gay training at Wendover on Utah border.
• End WWII. Germany surrendered May 7th. A-bombs in early August brought Japanese surrender Aug. 14.
• Decision of U. S. District Court Judge in U. S. v. Orr Water Ditch Company established priorities of water rights on Truckee River; water master appointed to administer decree; lawsuit had been brought in 1913 (Washoe).

1945 -

• July 24: Vail M. Pittman (Democrat) became acting Governor on resignation of Governor E.P. Carville; Pittman elected Governor 1946 and served through 1950. F.P. Carville (Democrat) appointed U. S. Senator by Governor Vail M. Pittman to succeed Senator Scrugham, who died in office. Carville resigned his position as Governor of Nevada earlier that same day.
• Nevada Legislature created State Forester Fire Warden; State Board of Forestry and Fire Control; and Junior Livestock Show Board.
• Nevada Legislature passed law shifting authority to grant gaming licenses from the local and county level to the State Tax Commission, and a tax of 1% of gross earnings was imposed on gaming licensees - first state tax on gambling.
• Gladys, Gloria, and Charles Mapes built the Mapes Hotel-Casino in Reno (Washoe); 12 stories high, it was the biggest 'skyscraper' in the state when it opened.

1946 -

• Opening of Flamingo Hotel, giving birth to Las Vegas Strip, by gangster Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel, killed in 1947 in L.A.
• Sacramento meat wholesaler Harvey Gross arrived Lake Tahoe to open small "mom & pop" gaming operation.
• September 17: State Water Conference held at Carson City; included all U. S. and state agencies concerned with water in Nevada.
• December 26: Opening of Flamingo Hotel-Casino at Las Vegas (Clark) by Benjamin 'Busgy' Siegel (murdered June 20, 1947 at Beverly Hills, California). The Flamingo was the prototype of the multi-million-dollar hotel-casino; its construction started Nevada's modern gambling and tourism industry.
• U. S. Congress established Bureau of Land Management within the Department of the Interior by combining the Grazing Service and the General Land Office. This agency now manages about 457 million acres of public land in the U. S. Over 47 million acres of these lands under BLM management are in Nevada, where the federal government owns about 87% of all land.
• Harvey Gross opened the Wagon Wheel Casino at South Lake Tahoe (Douglas).
• Lincoln Fitzgerald opened the Nevada Club Casino in Reno (Washoe).
• Tahoe-Biltmore Hotel-Casino constructed at Incline (Washoe).
• Golden Nugget Casino opened in Las Vegas (Clark).

1947 -

• Indian Springs Air Force Base in Clark County established.
• Deactivation of McCarran Field & Reno Army Air Base.
• Gaming taxes totaled $670.000.
• Nevada Legislature created the Genoa Fort Monument, Genoa (Douglas) (placed under jurisdiction of State Parks); the Industrial Insurance Commission to administer the Nevada Industrial Insurance Act; State Medical Board; State Fair of Industry Show Board; State 4-H Camp Institute and Exhibit (Douglas); State Housing Commission; Public Employees Retirement Board, as the governing authority of the Public Employees' Retirement System; Nevada Real Estate Board, later (1963) Real Estate Division of State Department of Commerce; and the Indian Education Division of the State Department of Education.
• Nevada Legislature passed increase in state gambling tax to 2% of gross winnings.
• George W. Malone (Republican) began term as U. S. Senator; re-elected to second term 1952.
• Thunderbird Hotel-Casino opened at Las Vegas (Clark) by Marion Hicks and Clifford A Jones

1948 -

1949 -

• Virginia & Truckee Railroad filed for abandonment. Last run, a special, was in June
• Nevada Legislature created the State Highway Patrol of the Public Service Commission (transferred 1957 to the Department of Motor Vehicles); State Board of Architecture; State Board of Chiropody; State Department of Buildings and Grounds, merging the State Board of Control and the Board of Capitol Commissioners; State Predatory Animal and Rodent Committee; State Woolgrowers' Predatory Animal Committee; and Director of Budget.
• Nevada Legislature passed bill allowing the State Tax Commission to investigate the background of persons applying for a gaming license.
• Legislature passed Free Port Law, allowing property which is to be sold outside Nevada to be warehoused within the state tax-free; amended in 1953, 1955; made part of State Constitution 1960.
• 1949-50: Very heavy winter; snows piled so deep U. S. Air Force cargo planes dropped hay ('Winter of the Haylift') to save thousands of cattle in rural Nevada.

1950

1950 -

• Passage of free port law, expanded in 1954,1957 and 1959.
• Outbreak of Korean Conflict or War, bringing new air service & highways plus reactivation of old air bases.
• Senator Estes Kefauver's organized crime hearings in Las Vegas.
• Reno air base reopened as Stead AFB.
• April 24: Wilbur Clark opened the Desert Inn with his partner, Moe Dalitz of mob notoriety.
• 1950's - Sen. Joseph McCarthy 's communist 'witch hunts.'
• 1950's - Harold's Club, Reno, began using women dealers.
• 1950's - great Las Vegas hotel boom.
• August 27: President Harry Truman ordered U. S. Army to seize all railroads, including those in Nevada, to prevent nationwide strike; railroads returned to owners May 23, 1952.
• November 21: Truckee River overflowed its banks and flooded downtown Reno, causing heavy property damage (Washoe).
• University of California archaeologists discovered prehistoric Indian artifacts at Leonard Rock shelter on the west side of the West Humboldt Range of mountains (Pershing). This important site had been continuously occupied since 9000 B.C.
• Korean War began with invasion of South Korea by North Korea on June 25; President Harry S. Truman committed U. S. troops June 27; cease fire July 1951; armistice signed July 27, 1953.
• Nevada Proving Ground established by the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission in southern Nevada (Clark, Lincoln, Nye) for the testing of nuclear weapons.
• Wilbur Clark opened Desert Inn Hotel-Casino at Las Vegas (Clark).
• U. S. Decennial Census, population of Nevada was 160,083. Population was a 45% increase to 160,083. Reno had 50% increase & Las Vegas tripled in population due WWII, bases, industry.

1951 -

• January 1: Charles H. Russell, Republican, who had been elected in 1950, became governor of the state. He served in the office until January 5, 1959, having been reelected in 1954.
• February 26: The state legislature ratified the 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• The United States government began testing atomic weapons on the Yucca Flats range northwest of Las Vegas.
• Atomic Energy Nevada Proving Grounds established May 15 with Camp Mercury started as a town of few hundred to 10,000 scientists and engineers at various times.
• September 4: First U. S. transcontinental television broadcast; recorded President Harry S. Truman's address at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco, California.
• United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, chaired by Senator Estes Kefauver, investigated gambling in Nevada to determine extent of organized crime involvement.
• Atomic testing began at the Nevada Test Site, 60 miles northwest of Las Vegas (Nye, Lincoln, Clark); area designated as proving ground in December 1950. U. S. Government shifted to underground testing at the site in 1962.
• Archaeologists partially excavated Hidden Cave near Carson Lake (Churchill); they found evidence that prehistoric Indians had lived there as early as 6000 B.C.
• Nevada State Museum archaeologists excavated a group of nine caves over a four year period around Lake Winnemucca's northeastern shore (Pershing). Evidence indicated that prehistoric Indians occupied the sites in at least B.C. 2000-3000.
• Charles H. Russell (Republican) began term as Governor; re-elected in 1954.
• Nevada Southern University established in Las Vegas (Clark); began granting degrees 1963; became University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 1969.
• Nevada Legislature created State Board of Examiners in the Basic Sciences; State Department of Purchasing (functions taken over 1963 by State Department of Administration); Columbia Basin Interstate Compact Commission; State Hospital Advisory Council; State Board of Dispensing Opticians.
• Legislature passed a 'Right-to-Work' law which prohibited forced membership in labor unions as a job requirement; approved by popular vote in 1952.
• Benny Binion founded the Horseshoe Club Casino in Las Vegas (Clark).

1952 -

• January 11: Very severe winter storm began, lasting 28 days; blocked all road, rail, and air traffic over the Sierra Nevada. Total precipitation that year was 59 inches, heaviest total for the area recorded in 20th century.
• February-May: Heavy flooding of Humboldt River, caused by melting of snow from winter of 1951-52; damaged Winnemucca and other towns (Humboldt, Elko, Pershing).
• First television transmission in Nevada beamed from Mount Rose to the Riverside Hotel in Reno (Washoe).

1953 -

• May 25: The United States government fired the first atomic artillery shell at its proving grounds in Nevada.
• The first television stations began broadcasting in the state: KOLO-TV at Reno, and KLAS-TV at Las Vegas.
• Anaconda operating huge Weed Heights copper pit in Lyon County.
• End of federal prohibition on sale of liquor to Native Americans.
• Las Vegas passed Reno in population count.
• Transfer of control of Indian affairs to the states.
• Nevada Legislature created State Detective Licensing Board; State Civil Air Patrol; State Department of Personnel; Governor's School Survey Committee (expired 1955); Governor's Study Committee on Aid to Dependent Children (expired 1954); State Legislative Commission; State Civil Defense Agency; State Statute Revision Commission (functions taken over 1963 by the State Legislative Counsel Bureau); State Legislative Counsel Bureau; and Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
• Anaconda Company began open pit copper mining at Weed Heights (Lyon).
• Sands Hotel-Casino opened in Las Vegas (Clark).
• City of Reno took over operation of Hubbard (Air) Field, originally built by United Airlines (Washoe).

1954 -

• Passage of free port law, expanded in 1954,1957 and 1959.
• University of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, offered degrees.
• Harvey's Wagon Wheel Hotel built at Lake Tahoe.
• Lake Mead Ammunition Depot established.
• July 6 & August 23: Heavy earthquakes in Churchill County cracked and tore the earth in Dixie Valley vicinity and near Fallon. Lovelock (Pershing) was also affected.
• October 1: Ernest S. Brown (Republican) appointed U. S. Senator to succeed Senator Patrick A. McCarran, who died in office.
• Riviera Hotel-Casino opened in Las Vegas (Clark). Automatic dial telephone service began in Fallon (Churchill).
• William J. Moore, Jr. opened Showboat Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas (Clark).

1955 -

• February 18: The United States government began a new series of atomic tests at its Nevada proving grounds. Tests were continued on February 22 and March 1.
• Establishment of State Gaming Commission to tighten gaming controls, formerly controlled by State Tax Commission.
• Resurrection of Tonopah & Indian Springs AF bases plus establishment of Unionville &
• Gabbs GAP filler annexes and Winnemucca AF Station.
• January 3: Alan Bible (Democrat) elected U. S. Senator to fill unexpired term of Senator Patrick A. McCarran; re-elected 1956, 1962, 1968; resigned December 17,1974.
• March: Nugget Casino opened in Sparks (Washoe); purchased by John Ascuaga in 1960.
• William Fisk Harrah bought the Gateway Club (first opened May 1949 in a Quonset hut) on Lake Tahoe at Stateline (Douglas); after acquiring the Stateline Country Club he established Harrah's-Tahoe Hotel-Casino; year-round operations commenced in
• Nevada State Museum and U. S. National Park Service archaeologists discovered prehistoric Indian artifacts at Stuart Rockshelter in Meadow Valley Wash (Clark); site was used as a camp by Indians from about 2000 B.C. until modern times.
• Nevada Legislature passed a 2% general sales tax, principally to provide funds for education in the state; increased revenues for the distributive school fund by more than 70%.
• Nevada Legislature increased state gambling tax again, on sliding or 'progressive scale' from 3 to 5.5% of gross winnings.
• Nevada Legislature consolidated all school districts into 17 units, law became effective September 1956; also created the State Division of Petroleum Products Inspection; Department of Industrial Safety of the State Industrial Commission; State Department of Economic Development; Interstate Oil Compact Commission; State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners; State Dairy Commission; State Gaming Control Board; and State Information Agency.
• California-Nevada Interstate Compact Commission created; bill introduced in Congress March 11, signed into law by President Eisenhower August 11.
• Entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr. was featured at New Frontier Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas; first black entertainer to play in major Nevada hotel-casino (Clark).
• Dunes Hotel-Casino opened in Las Vegas (Clark). Construction began on Moulin Rouge Hotel-Casino in west Las Vegas (Clark); Royal Nevada Hotel-Casino (closed 1956, now a part of Stardust Hotel-Casino); and the New Frontier Hotel-Casino (part of Last Frontier Hotel-Casino, which opened in 1942).

1956 -

• November 6: The citizens of the state refused to repeal the nine-year-old Nevada union-shop plan.
• June 29: President Dwight Eisenhower signed National Defense Highway Act, passed by Congress to provide for an interstate freeway system in the U. S.
• Archaeologists from the University of California excavated a prehistoric Indian site at Hobo Hot Springs (Douglas), dating from about 1500 B.C. to 500 AD.
• Jackpot founded (Elko).
• Nevada Legislature created the State Department of Education.
• Congress passed the Washoe Project Act, permitting construction of Stampede, Prosser Creek, and Martis Creek Dams on the Truckee River and Watasheamu Reservoir on Carson River.
• Famed Air Force Demonstration Squadron 'The Thunderbirds' moved to Nellis Air Force Base (Clark.)
• Indian Springs Air Force Base established (Clark).

1957 -

• May 28: The United States government began a new series of atomic weapons tests.
• Governor Charles Russell removed gaming from local control to the State Gaming Commission. (Control later tightened under Govs. Sawyer, Laxalt & O'Callaghan).
• Lead, zinc & tungsten mines closed.
• AEC created Nevada Nuclear Rocket Dev. & resumed testing.
• Nevada Legislature created the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (Clark); State Bureau of Services to the Blind; the Jcthyosaur State Park (Nye); State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Department of Motor Vehicles; Eldorado Valley Advisory Group (advising the Colorado River Commission); State Department of Forestry; State Olympic Games Commission (abolished 1961); Liquefied Petroleum Gas Board; and Interstate Compact on Juveniles.
• Construction of Nuclear Rocket Development Station at Jackass Flats by U. S. government; town of Mercury founded (Nye).
• Governor Charles H. Russell established Snyder Meadows as a State Park (Ormsby).
• Tropicana Hotel-Casino opened in Las Vegas (Clark).

1958 -

• Howard Cannon elected as first So. Nevadan to U. S. Senate.
• University of California archaeologists excavated prehistoric Indian sites at Wagon Jack Shelter and Eastgate Cave (Churchill) showing occupation between about 500 A.D. and 1600 AD.
• University of California archaeologists excavated South Fork Rockshelter on the south fork of the Humboldt River (Elko). Radiocarbon dating of prehistoric Indian artifacts found there indicated the area was first occupied about 1000 B.C.
• Governor Charles H. Russell established Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe as a State Park (Washoe).
• Voters approved constitutional amendment providing for annual sessions of the State Legislature; ended by voter initiative in 1960 after the sole annual session.
• Construction completed on Stardust Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas (Clark).

1959 -

• January 5: Grant Sawyer, Democrat, who had been elected in 1958, became governor of the state. He was reelected in 1962.
• Approval of Nevada's 'Black Book' to keep casinos 'clean.'
• Labor strike at Ely copper mines; continued into 1960, it seriously affected economy of White Pine County.
• Grant Sawyer (Democrat) began term as State Governor; re-elected 1962.
• Howard W. Cannon (Democrat) began term as U. S. Senator; re-elected 1964, 1970, 1977.
• Nevada Legislature created Western Interstate Corrections Compact; Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education; University of Nevada's Desert Research Institute; Gasoline and Special Fuel Tax Division of the Department of Motor Vehicles; Governor's Committee on Problems of Children and Youth (expired 1960); Pony Express Centennial Committee; State Gaming Commission; transferred the Gaming Control Board from the Tax Commission to the new Gaming Commission; Silver Centennial Commission; and State Colorado River Boundary Commission.

1960

1960 -

• Nevada mineral production hit $80 million (up from $48M, 1950).
• 1960's:  Desert Research Institute of UNR opened.
• 1960's:  Gold prices rose and remained high.
• Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley brought skiing to Nevada.
• Federal Govt. ownership of Boulder City ended by Congressional Act.
• Estimated 4,200 of 6,700 Nat. Americans on 'trust lands.'
• Kingsbury Grade from Carson Valley to Lake Tahoe paved & resorts open year-around (not just summers).
•  Nevada Gaming Control Board started 'Black Book' of undesirable persons who are not allowed in state gambling establishments. Shortly afterwards, Marshall 'Johnny Marshall' Caifano sued Governor Grant Sawyer and the Desert Inn Hotel-Casino, challenging the legality of the 'Black Book' in federal court. Decision August 10, 1966 upheld right of Nevada to maintain the 'Black Book' and enforce exclusion.
• Legislature ratified Nevada-Arizona Compact fixing a part of common boundary along Colorado River.
• Nevada Legislature created the Governor's Committee on Aging (expired 1961); State Board of Public Accountants; State Medical Advisory Board; State Alcoholism Advisory Board; State Cancer Advisory Council; and State Alcoholism Agency, later Alcoholism Division of the Nevada Department of Health and Welfare.
• Nevada Legislature passed the Open Meeting Law, requiring meetings conducted by public agencies to be open to the public.
• Boulder City residents voted to change from federal reservation to city status.
• U. S. Decennial Census; population of Nevada was 285,278.

1961 -

• February 2: The state legislature ratified the 23rd Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• Nevada Legislature created the Eureka Sentinel Historic State Monument, Eureka (Eureka); the Bureau of Preventive Medical Services of the State Department of Health; Bureau of Mental Health of the State Department of Health; Bureau of Environmental Health of the State Department of Health; State Gaming Policy Board; State Department of Agriculture; State Motor Pool (merged into State Department of Administration in 1963); State Park System (merged 1963 into State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources); Automation Division of the State Department of Motor Vehicles; State Commission on Equal Rights of Citizens; and State Centennial Commission (expired 1965).

1962 -

• Howard Hughes began trying to buy up Nevada, began with Harold's Club, Reno, and started on Las Vegas in 1967.
• February 9-13: Severe flooding on upper Humboldt killed livestock; damaged U. S. Highway 40 (modern 1-80) and Western Pacific Railroad (Elko).
• Nevada State Museum archaeologists discovered a number of prehistoric Indian sites in Paradise Valley (Humboldt), which were occupied between about 2000 B.C. and modern times.
• William Harrah opened Harrah's Automobile Collection in Sparks (Washoe)'the world's largest automobile museum; most of the collection was sold in 1984 by Holiday Inn, which acquired the property following Harrah's death in 1978.
• Prosser Creek Reservoir built by U. S. government as Truckee River flood control measure protecting Reno and Sparks (Washoe).

1963 -

• February 8: The United States government resumed underground tests of nuclear weapons at its proving grounds in the state.
• December 8: Frank Sinatra, Jr., son of the singer-actor Frank Sinatra, who is also a singer, was kidnapped at Lake Tahoe. He was released unhurt in Los Angeles, California on December 11, after his father had paid a ransom of $240,000. Most of the money was recovered two days later when agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested three suspects.
• The United States Supreme Court settled a 40-year dispute between the states of Arizona, California and Nevada in regard to water rights. The court specified how much water each state could draw from the Colorado River.
• Eleven million visitors lost $375 million in Las Vegas, lured by elaborate floor shows and name entertainers. There were 30,000 weddings & 20 divorces a year in Las Vegas.
• Intertribal Council of Nevada organized.
• Nuclear Test Ban. Tests moved underground.
• U. S. Attorney General, Robert Kennedy investigated Las Vegas, using FBI, IRS, Labor Dept. and Bureau of Narcotics.
• Singer Frank Sinatra lost his gaming license for entertaining alleged mobster Sam Giancana at Sinatra's Cal-Neva Club at the state border on Lake Tahoe's north shore.
• July 22: World heavyweight boxing championship match between Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson at Las Vegas (Clark); Liston the winner.
• Harvey Gross opened Harvey's Resort Hotel and Casino at South Lake Tahoe (Douglas).
• Discovery of gold in northeastern Eureka County resulted in opening of Carlin Gold Mine; additional discoveries made in 1980 at Maggie Creek and God Quarry.
• Nevada Legislature created State Department of Administration, which included the functions of the Director of the Budget; State Department of Buildings and Grounds; State Department of Purchasing and the State Department of Personnel; State Board of Psychological Examiners; Virginia City Restoration Commission; Banking Division of the State Department of Commerce; Savings and Loan Division of the State Department of Commerce; Insurance Division of State Department of Commerce; Research Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau; Legal Division of Legislative Counsel Bureau; Fiscal and Auditing Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau; Division of State Parks of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; and finally, the State Department of Health and Welfare, consolidating the State Children's Home, State Department of Health, State Hospital, State Alcoholism Agency, State Welfare Department, State Youth Training Center, and Nevada Girls' Training Center.

1964 -

• September 19: President Lyndon Johnson signed two bills passed by Congress; the Multiple Use Act and the Public Sales Act. Multiple Use Act of 1964 gave the Secretary of the Interior the power to withdraw land from the public domain 'for multiple use.' The Act empowers the Secretary, if he sees fit, to prohibit sale, lease, or entry on the land. Public Sales Act gave the Secretary of the Interior the discretion to sell or withhold from sale any public lands. Prior to this time, sale, use, or entry on the public lands was not a matter of discretion but was regulated by law. Settlement on the public lands of Nevada has been almost nonexistent since these acts were passed.
• August 2: Vietnam War. Attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on USS Maddox in Gulf of Tonkin; second attack on USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy August 4; U. S. aircraft began bombing North Vietnam August 5; President Lyndon Johnson ordered U. S. Marine units to South Vietnam and landings began March 6, 1965; U. S. troops committed to combat in South Vietnam June 8, 1965; peace talks began at Paris, France May 10, 1968. Incursions into Cambodia ordered by President Richard Nixon April 30-June 30, 1970; peace agreement signed January 27, 1973 at Paris; last U. S. troops withdrawn from South Vietnam March 29, 1973.
• Interstate 80 opened as an all-weather highway between Reno and Sacramento over Donner Pass.
• National championship air races first held at Stead Field outside Reno (Washoe); since then an annual event.
• Construction of the Mint Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas (Clark).

1965 -

• The state legislature passed a bill which reapportioned both houses of the state legislature.
• July: Del Webb corporation opened the Sahara Tahoe Hotel-Casino at the south shore of Lake Tahoe (Douglas); expanded 1968.
• November 11: World heavyweight boxing championship match between Cassius Clay (Muhammad All) and Floyd Patterson at Las Vegas (Clark); Clay the winner.
• Gaming Industry Association formed in Reno (Washoe).
• Newmont Mining Company opened its extensive gold mining operation near Carlin (Elko).
• Coinage Act eliminated silver dimes and quarters from U. S. currency; silver content of the half dollar reduced from 90% to 40%. The silver content of the half dollar was eliminated December 31, 1970, ending silver coinage in the U. S. President Franklin Roosevelt had eliminated gold coinage in 1933. These measures had a severe effect on the mining industry in Nevada and ended 195 years of value-backed currency in the U. S.
• Following U. S. Supreme Court decision of Reynolds v. Sims (1964) and the case of Dungan v. Sawyer in the federal district court in Nevada, the State Legislature reapportioned representation on the basis of population rather than geography. This effectively ended rural control of the Nevada Legislature. The re-apportionment plan was accepted by the U. S. District Court 1966.
• Nevada Legislature passed Civil Right Act covering employment practices and public accommodations.
• Legislature established Nevada Heritage Association as a State institution to restore the Virginia & Truckee Railroad from Carson City to Virginia City; as of 1986 about I mile of track had been laid. (Carson City, Storey)
• Construction by U. S. government began on Stampede Dam and Reservoir on the Truckee River; completed 1969.

1966 -

• November 8: The state poll tax was repealed.
• Thanksgiving: Billionaire Howard Hughes took up residence at the Desert Inn Hotel, Las Vegas (Clark); left Las Vegas on Thanksgiving Day, 1970. Between 1966 and 1970 Hughes acquired the Desert Inn, Sands, Frontier, Castaways, Silver Slipper, and Landmark Hotel-Casinos in Las Vegas (Clark) and Harold's Club in Reno (Washoe), as well as considerable other holdings in the state. Hughes' casino interests were broken up following his death in 1976.
• Construction of Four Queens Hotel-Casino at Las Vegas (Clark). Caesar's Palace Hotel-Casino opened in Las Vegas (Clark). Construction of Aladdin Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas (Clark); expanded 1976.
• Large open-pit copper mine commenced operations at Copper Basin (Lander).
• University of Nevada archaeologists surveyed prehistoric Indian sites at Dixie Flats and Cedar Ridge (Elko), which had been occupied since at least 1000 B.C. Another survey in the Jarbidge area (Elko) revealed sites that had been occupied by prehistoric Indians from about 8000 B.C. as open camps or chipping sites.
• Woodrow Wilson of Las Vegas (Clark) became the first black elected to the State Legislature.
• Legislature eliminated Nevada Poll Tax.

1967 -

• January 2: Paul D. Laxalt, Republican, who had been elected in 1966, became governor of the state. He served until the end of his term on January 4, 1971.
• February 10: The state legislature ratified the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• The state legislature passed a law changing the state gambling laws in order to allow a corporation that sells stock to the public to purchase casinos and hold gambling licenses.
• The Southern Nevada Water Project was created in order to provide increased water supplied for the Las Vegas area. The $80,000,000 project was completed in 1971.
• 1967 & 69: Corporate Gaming Acts of Nevada.
• Howard Hughes arrived and began trying to buy up Las Vegas-5 hotel casinos, airport in Las Vegas and lots of mining claims. He was stopped by anti-trust law from buying Stardust.
• Nevada Legislature passed bill allowing public corporations to own gambling facilities without licensing each stockholder; law modified by legislature 1969.
• Nevada Legislature enacted a school-support tax, essentially increasing the 2% general sales tax to 3%.
• Legislature adopted the Multistate Tax Compact; established State Air Pollution Control Hearing Board and Advisory Council; Legislators' Retirement Fund; Department of the Military; declared the Nevada Historical Society an Agency of the State.
• Paul Laxalt (Republican) began term as Governor; served to 1970.
• Frontier Hotel-Casino opened at Las Vegas (Clark).
• Nevada Resort Association founded in Las Vegas (Clark).

1968 -

• Gaming stocks on NY Stock Exchange per Nevada Corporate Acts.
• University of Southern Nevada became UNLV under one University of Nevada System.
• March 18: Congress repealed the requirement for a gold reserve against U. S. notes.
• Northeastern Nevada Museum established in Elko (Elko).

1969 -

• January 15: The United States government held two underground nuclear tests at its Nevada test site.
• January 30: The United States government held an underground nuclear test at its Nevada test site.
• February 12: The United States government tested another atomic weapon in Nevada. It conducted many other nuclear tests during 1969.
• July 1: Carson City charter took effect, consolidating Ormsby County and Carson City into one municipal government, called Carson City.
• Nevada Legislature established Department of Parole and Probation; State Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Division (eliminated 1973); Mining Safety Advisory Board; Department of State Printing; Department of Fish and Game; and Virginia City Historic District Commission.
• Mining geologist Gale Peer discovered the rockshelter Indian archaeological site at Gatecliff, in Monitor Valley east of Austin (Lander). A seven year archaeological investigation began in 1970; scientists concluded that prehistoric men had occupied the site continuously over 8000 years.
• Las Vegas Hilton and Landmark Hotel-Casinos opened in Las Vegas (Clark).
• William Fisk Harrah constructed 24-story hotel-casino in Reno (Washoe), that city's first high-rise hotel-casino. Harrah arrived in Reno in May, 1937. After his death in 1978, Holiday Inn purchased Harrah's Hotel-Casino.
• Cortez Gold Mine opened south of Carlin (Elko).
• Interim Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, composed of five representatives each from Nevada and California, created to regulate growth in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

1970

1970 -

• Completion of Legislative Building.
• 1st wild horse adoption program due efforts Velma "Wild Horse Annie" Johnson.
• Beginning of land boom in Nevada; became fast-growing state.
• Tourism became Nevada's top industry.
• June: King's Castle (now Hyatt Tahoe) Hotel-Casino opened at Incline, North Lake Tahoe (Washoe).
• August: Truckee River water rights lawsuit Pyramid Lake Tribes. Morton began; settled February, 1973.
• Nevada State Legislative Building constructed, Carson City; replaced Legislative chambers in State Capitol Building.
• November 3: The voters approved a bond issue which would provide money for recreation and park facilities.
• Community Colleges established by the Legislature at Las Vegas (Clark), Reno (Washoe), Carson City, and Elko (Elko) as part of the University of Nevada system.
• U. S. Decennial Census; population of Nevada was 488,738. Las Vegas claimed 54.7% of 488,738 population with 67.5% of that in 'service industries.'

1971 -

• January 4: Mike O'Callaghan, Democrat, who had been elected in 1970, became governor of the state. He was reelected in a landslide over his Republican opponent in 1974.
• Nevada established community colleges.
• April 12: Legislature passed bill prohibiting racial and other forms of discrimination in the sale or rental of real property.
• June 8: Special election lowered voting age of Nevada residents to 18 years.
• November 16: The United States government resumed its atomic tests at the Nevada proving grounds.
• Donal N. 'Mike' O'Callaghan (Democrat) began term as Governor; re-elected 1974.
• Legislature created Government Advisory Council on Children and Youth; State Comprehensive Health Planning Agency; Advisory Council for Manpower Planning and Career Education; Office of Executive Director of Nevada Commission on Equal Rights of Citizens; Advisory Committee for Environmental Education; State Commission for Environmental Protection; Lost City Museum Advisory Commission; and a Government Museum in the Capitol Building.
• Union Plaza Hotel-Casino opened in Las Vegas (Clark).
• Construction completed on Southern Nevada Water Project; 32 miles of pipeline brought water to Las Vegas Valley from Lake Mead (Clark), at a cost of $40 million.

1972 -

• Martis Creek Dam built by U. S. government on Truckee River as conservation and flood control measure.
• Construction began on 18-story addition to Harrah's Tahoe Hotel-Casino (Douglas); officially opened November 9, 1973.

1973 -

• April 20: Governor Mike O'Callaghan signed a bill which legalized acupuncture.
• April 23: Nevada's No-Fault Insurance Bill became law.
• December: Truckee River water rights lawsuit U. S. v. Truckee-Carson Irrigation District began in federal court, naming 13,000 water rights holders on Truckee Meadows (Washoe) as defendants in attempt to enlarge water rights of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation; case decided against U. S. in 1977.
• Legislature designated Desert Bighorn Sheep as the official State Animal; Indian Affairs Commission changed to Nevada Indians Commission; Division of Archives changed to Division of State, County, and Municipal Archives; created State Conservation Commission; State Fire Marshall Division; Nevada Indian Advisory Committee for Indian Education; Certified Shorthand Reporters Board of Nevada; Nevada Tahoe Regional Planning Agency; Consumer Affairs Division; Youth Services Agency; and Child Care Services Division.
• December: MGM Grand Hotel-Casino opened in Las Vegas (Clark).
• Carano family built Eldorado Hotel-Casino in Reno (Washoe).

1974 -

• Shirley Crumpler ran well if unsuccessfully for Governor of Nevada 1975 - The state legislature defeated the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• Nevada gaming revenues were a billion dollars and paid 50% state budget with 30% in related taxes - liquor, cigarettes, gas.
• Rebirth of mineral production with $250 million produced.
• Holiday Inn Hotel-Casino and Reef Resort Hotel-Casino opened in Reno (Washoe); Howard Johnson Motor Lodge Hotel-Casino opened in Sparks (Washoe).
• California Hotel-Casino and Nevada Hotel-Casino built in Las Vegas (Clark).

1975 -

• May 16: World heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) and Ron Lyle at Las Vegas (Clark); Ali the winner.
• Paul Laxalt began term as U. S. Senator; re-elected 1980.
• Legislature created Consumer Division of Public Services Commission; Housing Division; State Energy Resources Advisory Board; State Communications Board; Nevada Veterans' Advisory Commission; Department of Taxation; Nevada Commission on Equal Rights of Citizens changed to Nevada Equal Rights Commission.
• Sundowner Hotel-Casino opened in Reno (Washoe).
• Marina Hotel-Casino opened in Las Vegas (Clark).

1976 -

• April 5: Howard Hughes died.
• May 5: William R. Lumznis, Howard Hughes' first cousin, was named temporary administrator of Summa Corporation, the holding company for Hughes' Nevada interests.
• June 7: The United States Supreme Court unanimously upheld an injunction which was intended to preserve the Devil's Hole pupfish, an endangered species.
• June 13-16: At the Teamsters Union's convention at Las Vegas, Frank E. Fjtzsimmons was reelected to a five-year term.
• August 30-September 3: The AFL-CIO United Steel Workers of America held its convention at Las Vegas.
• Sarah Carter elected Esmeralda Co. sheriff with more votes than her two male opponents had together.
• November: New Jersey voters approved legalized gambling at Atlantic City, ending Nevada's 45-year monopoly of state-regulated gaming.
• Lincoln Fitzgerald opened Fitzgerald's Hotel-Casino in Reno (Washoe); construction started 1975. Construction began on MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Reno (Washoe)' largest hotel-casino in the world; opened 1978.
• Expansion of Aladdin, Flamingo, Hilton, and Golden Nugget Hotel-Casinos in Las Vegas (Clark).
• Congress passed Federal Land Policy and Management or Organic Act, changing status of public lands from lands held in trust under the Admissions Acts pending disposal to a permanent retention by the U. S. Department of the Interior. This act resulted in the 'Sagebrush Rebellion' which began in 1979; Nevada Assembly passed Bill 413 which declared that public domain lands in Nevada (some 87% of the total area) were property of the State.
• Bureau of Reclamation completed Marble Bluff Dam and Fishway on Truckee River near Nixon (Washoe).

1977 -

• February 11: The state Legislature failed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• Gaming revenues in Clark Co. a billion dollars.
• U. S. District Court decision in U. S. v. Truckee-Carson Irrigation District upheld 1944 Orr Ditch decree regulating waters of Truckee River; U. S. unsuccessfully sought to increase rights of Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation at expense of 13,000 Truckee Meadows water rights holders.
• California sued Nevada in U. S. Supreme Court, seeking to have state boundary line moved east; Nevada countersued to have state line moved west in 1978; Supreme Court upheld existing boundary in 1980.
• Legislature designated Jchthyosaur as official State Fossil, silver as State Metal, and Indian rice grass as State Grass; created State Carey Act Commission; Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology.
• Construction began on Sahara (now Reno Hilton, opened 1978), Comstock, Colonial, Circus-Circus, and Onslow Hotel-Casinos in Reno (Washoe).
• Internal Revenue Service began to require hotel-casinos to report winnings of gamblers to federal authorities.
• School of Medicine of the University of Nevada opened at Reno (Washoe).

1978 -

• February 15: World heavyweight boxing championship match between Leon Spinks and Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) at Las Vegas (Clark); Spinks the winner.
• June 9: World heavyweight boxing match between Larry Holmes and Ken Norton at Las Vegas (Clark); Holmes the winner.
• August: Park Tahoe (now Caesar's Tahoe) Hotel-Casino opened at South Shore, Lake Tahoe (Douglas); completed May 1980.

1979 -

• September: President James Carter announced his decision to locate the 'MX' missile system in western Utah and east central Nevada (White Pine, Lincoln, and Nye). The proposed MX system comprised 200 intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites, encompassing about 25 thousand square miles. The unique feature of the MX system was its 'basing mode,' whereby each launch site contained 23 separate missile shelters, only one of which held a missile. An automated 'Transporter-Erector-Launcher' travelling along a linear grid could move and place the missile in any of the 23 shelters, in a manner devised to foil detection of the missile's location by Soviet surveillance satellites. In the event of a nuclear war, the MX system was purported to ensure the capacity of the U. S. to retaliate against a Soviet 'first strike.' The MX plan sparked widespread controversy in the State; critics claimed the MX would place insuperable burdens on the desert ecology, on water supply, on mining and ranching, on local economies in general, and on state and local government services. Critics also cited enormous 'social costs' associated with 'boomtown' economies.
• Robert List (Republican) began term as governor; served to 1982.
• Legislature changed Department of Fish and Game to Department of Wildlife; provided for State Register for Historic Places; authorized counties to establish Historic Districts; created County Milk Commission; Joint Board of Museums and History; Department of Highways changed to Department of Transportation; created Commission on Professional Standards in Education.
• 'Sagebrush Rebellion' began when Legislature initiated lawsuit to gain control of federally-managed public domain lands in Nevada, amounting to about 50 million acres.
• The Legislature approved constitutional convention to get balanced national budget; approved $224 million in tax relief and imposed maximum limits on state government spending at all levels.

1980

1980 -

• Stewart Indian School closed, reopened as Museum in 1982.
• Nevada State Railroad Museum opened and expanded 1982.
• Lost City Museum in State. Department of history & Museums.
• Nevada became the fastest growing state.
• 1980's - Mining again became big business.
• October 2: World heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) and Larry Holmes in Las Vegas (Clark); Holmes won the fight.
• December: Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Interstate Compact signed by President James Carter; required approval of California and Nevada Legislatures, Congress, and the President before any more hotel-casinos could be built at Lake Tahoe.
• Fire at MGM Hotel-Casino, Las Vegas (Clark) on November 21 killed 84; led to stricter fire safety regulations for hotel-casinos in the State.
• In opposition to the federal government, the State Board of Health attempted to shut down the low-level nuclear waste dump site at Beatty (Nye).
• U. S. Decennial Census; population of Nevada was 799,184.

1981 -

• September 16: 'Sugar Ray' Leonard met Thomas Hearnes in world welterweight boxing championship match at Las Vegas (Clark); Leonard the winner.
• Nevada Legislature passed two bills known collectively as the 'Tax Shift,' supported by Governor Robert List; the bills increased the state sales tax from 3.5% to 5.75%, while reducing property taxes; critics of the 'Tax Shift' claimed it favored property owners at the expense of non-property owners.
• Nevada Legislature designated the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout as the official State Fish; abolished the State Textbook Commission; reestablished the Nevada Racing Commission; created a Department for the coordination of the 'MX' missile project.
• The Internal Revenue Service instituted stricter regulations for the reporting of gaming dealers' tips.
• First annual Caesar's Palace Grand Prix automobile race held in Las Vegas (Clark); 38,000 spectators watched Australian Alan Jones drive to victory; first Grand Prix (Formula One) automobile race in the State.

1982 -

• Barbara Vucanovich elected to Congress (state's 1st woman).
• Patty Cafferta became first women elected to state office other than State Assembly & Senate - state treasurer.
• Nevada State Museum & History Society opened in Las Vegas.
• Stewart Indian Museum opened.
• Lost City Museum became part of Dept. History & Museums.

1983 -

• Expansion started on Karl Berge's Silver Club Hotel-Casino in Sparks (Washoe).
• Expansion of John Ascuaga's Nugget Hotel-Casino in Sparks (Washoe) started.
• Del Webb Corporation opened the High Sierra Hotel-Casino at Stateline, South Lake Tahoe (Douglas).
• Construction began on Carson Valley Inn Hotel-Casino in Minden (Douglas); opened 1984.
• Riviera Hotel-Casino, Las Vegas (Clark), filed bankruptcy; several other Strip hotel-casinos were reported in financial straits.
• Chic Hecht (Republican) became U. S. Senator.
• Richard Bryan (Democrat) became Governor; re-elected 1986.
• The Legislature passed a bill, supported by Governor Richard Bryan, creating a 30% statewide property tax; the new law increased property taxes slashed by the 'Tax Shift' of 1981.
• State Legislature passed law changing means of execution in the State from lethal gas to lethal injection; execution by lethal gas had been in effect since 1924.
• Legislature designated silver and blue as State Colors; memorialized birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.; created Medical Advisory Board for Sports; Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners.

1984 -

• The Legislature held a special session to allow CITICORP, a New York bank holding company, to conduct business in Nevada; CITICORP then established a major credit card center in Las Vegas (Clark) expected to employ 1,000.
• Porsche Corporation opened an automobile distribution center in Reno (Washoe), serving the western U. S.
• Expansion began on Tropicana Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas (Clark).

1985 -

• Cowboy Poetry Gatherings started in Elko.
• Dunes, Aladdin, and Landmark Hotel-Casinos, Las Vegas (Clark), declared bankruptcy; bankruptcies viewed as threat to gaming industry.
• State and local governments battled the federal government over disposal of low level nuclear wastes at Beatty (Nye).
• Controversy developed over possible selection of Yucca Mountain (Nye) as site for a high-level nuclear dump.
• Nevada Legislature designated Washoe Lake a State Recreational Area; changed Department of Motor Vehicles to Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety; created the Nevada Railroad Museum; Nevada State Board on Geographic Names; Office of State Climatologist.
• Crash of Galaxy airliner at Reno (Washoe) killed 70; worst air disaster in State's history.

1986 -

1987 -

1988 -

1989 -

• Las Vegas' giant Mirage Hotel opened with 3,000 rooms.

1990

1990 -

• Women elected to state offices - Sue Wagner Lt. Governor, Cheryl Lau Sec.of State. &
• Frankie Sue Del Papa Atty. Gen. & 4 women in Senate, 8 in Assembly plus 5 of 9 UNR regents.
• 12 publicly-owned corporations owned 21 major casinos, producing 50% of total Nevada gaming revenue.
• June - Excaliber Hotel added 4,000 rooms & 260 sites. in Las Vegas

1991 -

• UNR & UNLV enrollment at 31,000.

1992 -

• Cold, wet winter broke drought of six years in No. Nevada.
• Opening new State Library & Supreme Court buildings.

1993 -

• Gaming approved in other states and on Indian reservations.
• Las Vegas' MGM Grand Hotel/Casino opened - world's largest with 5,005 rooms in a theme park, costing a billion dollars.
• Award to Dann Sisters of 1993 Right Livelihood Award (alternative Nobel Prize) in Sweden for their work for the Shoshone people's access to their traditional lands.

1994 -

• Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, giving Las Vegas 11 of 12 largest hotels in the world.
• Women running for Governor - Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones.
• Nevada State Parks System acquired 24th state park/site.

1995 -

1996 -

1997 -

1998 -

2000