Gun Play
Back down in town, we stopped at the Lincoln Historical
Museum, where curator Jane Humphrey brought even more of the
town’s history to life. Standing amid two rooms packed floor to
ceiling with historical artifacts donated by local residents, she
explained that Pioche was wild in those early days because the
mining claims were poorly surveyed and there was little legal
recourse for strike claimants other than bribing the sheriff. In those
days, the sheriff’s office was rumored to be taking in $40,000 per
year in bribes while prospectors hired gunmen to protect their
interests.
It didn’t take much to start a gunfight, she told us, and as long
as you killed your opponent in self-defense, you weren’t charged
with murder. One poor fellow was shot dead after slapping a man
in the face. Another man succumbed to gunshot wounds resulting
from an argument over a dog. Neither gunman was charged with
murder. It wasn’t until a stray bullet killed an orphaned 4-year-old
boy in 1873 that Pioche began to restrain its wild ways. The museum boasts many original newspapers recounting these tales as
news items of the day, and Jane has spent many a quiet hour, while
waiting for visitors, pouring over the faded, brittle pages.
Still pondering these stories and the lives of the 19th century
miners the next morning, we took a bike ride out to Echo Canyon
State Park for a change of pace. The valley is vast, and after 10
miles of desolate desert, the road curved past a beautiful, lush farm.
Suddenly, a reservoir surrounded by green trees and backed by
huge rock cliffs appeared before us. We watched a heron fishing
along the edge of the water, while two people paddled a canoe in
the reservoir. We circled through the almost empty campground.
With the park’s large, clean sites, fresh water and a book swap, it
was amazing that only two sites were occupied. Cycling beyond
the campground, we followed the road through several turns, up
alongside the stream that feeds the reservoir, and through a steep-walled rock canyon. We yelled to check out the echo, and the walls
yelled back.
The Overland Hotel and Saloon is one of Pioche's few surviving saloons.
Emily Fagan
Budget Overrun
Ready for more history the next morning, we walked into town
to visit the Million Dollar Courthouse. We were delighted to find
Jane on duty here as well. She regaled us with more wonderful stories about this unusual town as she took us on a tour. It cost just
$26,400 to build the courthouse in 1871, but corruption and greed
exploded the bill to almost $1 million by the time all the interest
and bond settlements were finally paid off in 1937, four years after
the building was condemned! Jane whisked us past fascinating
collections of typewriters, firemen’s hats, an original voting booth,
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