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Hundreds had gathered
over a period of a few days and Gold Point waited 100 years to celebrate
it's Centennial with them in the rain. It may have dampened the normally
dry dusty streets but it didn't dampen the spirits of the loyal and
dedicated friends and visitors that came out to celebrate our 7th Annual
Memorial Daze Celebration. A light steady rain did not keep the hungry guests from standing in line to get their breakfast grub Saturday and Sunday mornings. Wearing raincoats or plastic garbage bags they filled their plates with scrambled eggs, fried taters, MGD beer cakes, bacon, sausage and fruit cocktail. Then washed it down with hot coffee and cold orange juice. Under partly cloudy skies, which kept the temperatures cool, they came back again both evenings for the bar-b-que dinners. Tri-tip, marinated in homemade teriyaki, on Saturday and Sirloin steaks on Sunday along with baked beans, green beans, corn, Sheriff Stone's Fries and a cup cake. The peace was disturbed around High Noon on Saturday by a cowboy and his gang. Sheriff Stone was summoned to the disturbance to "get to the bottom of things". It was found out he was looking for a voluptuous blond that was a reluctant bride. The curious onlookers watched Sheriff Stone swear in a possee to search Gold Point. The mysterious woman was found in Sally's Bordello and was quickly overcome by the deputies. After being tied up with a rope she was led out onto the streets with a shotgun in her back to the gallows. Not for a hanging. For this time, with the eagerly awaiting groom waiting on top, they were the Wedding Gallows. The Reverend Red Dog Lil, with hail stones falling, performed the ceremony. Steve Hansen and Jeanie Lauten, both of Las Vegas, were united in the bondage of wedlock. Under rain soaked awnings 9 contestants spent hours preparing their secret dutch oven stew recipes, each in the hopes of theirs being chosen "first place'. In the comfort of the "warm & dry" saloon, the judges picked the following: 1st--Happy Burro, Fred & Patti Summers, Beatty, Nevada 2nd-Gabbs Nye County #1, Joseph Hendrick, Gabbs, Nevada 3rd--B.B.S., Bill Shoning, Las Vegas, Nevada 4th--Barrere's TN Buragoo, Gloria Barrere, Sparks, Nevada 5th--Old Gringa Mexicali Pork Stew, Edie Koepnick, Reno, Nev. 6th--Mad Mountain Dean, Dean Ailor, Incline Village, Nevada 7th--Team Cosey, David Dispensa, Pahrump, Nevada 8th--Gabbs Nye County #2, Nancy Howerton, Gabbs, Nevada Outside a record number of tasters went from pot to pot in the rain and came up with the People's Choice winners: 1st--Happy Burro, Fred & Patti Summers, Beatty, Nevada 2nd-Team Cosey, David Dispensa, Pahrump, Nevada 3rd--B.B.S., Bill Shoning, Las Vegas, Nevada 4th--Patty Maynard, Las Vegas Nevada 5th--Barrere's TN Buragoo, Gloria Barrere, Sparks, Nevada 6th--Old Gringa Mexicali Pork Stew, Edie Koepnick, Reno, Nev. 7th--Mad Mountain Dean, Dean Ailor, Incline Village, Nevada 8th--Gabbs Nye County #2, Nancy Howerton, Gabbs, Nevada Happy Burro, Fred & Patti Summers won 1st in both categories. B.B.S, Bill Shoning won 3rd in both and Nancy Howerton, Gabbs Nye County #2 placed 8th in both. Following a moving and emotional flag ceremony under rainless skies on Sunday the Chili Contest produced the following winners for the Judges choice from 20 contestants. 1st--C.C Chili Co. Maggie & Nancy Charlesworth, Las Vegas 2nd-Bus People, "Moe" Layne Elsea, Goldfield, Nevada 3rd--B.B.S., Bill Shoning, Las Vegas Nevada 4th--J.T. Sather, Las Vegas, Nevada 5th--The Northern Saloon, Chef Keni, Goldfield, Nevada 6th--Glenn Praiss, Hemet, California 7th--Happy Burro Chili & Beer, Fred & Patti Summers, Beatty, Nv. 8th--Claim Jumper Chili, Gary Beck, Las Vegas, Nevada The People made their choice as follows: 1st--C.C. Chili Co., Maggie & Nancy Charlesworth, Las Vegas, Nv. 2nd-Allen Holder, Antelope, California 3rd--Happy Burro Chili & Beer, Fred & Patti Summers, Beatty, Nv. 4th--Gabbs Nye County #1, Joseph Hendrick, Gabbs, Nevada 5th--The Landsharks, Mike Smith, Cliff & Darrell McMachen, L.V 6th--B.B.S., Bill Shoning, Las Vegas, Nevada 7th--Strangers Hill Billy Chili, Stranger, Pollock Pines, California 8th--Bus People, "Moe" Layne Elsea, Goldfield, Nevada C.C Chili Company, Maggie & Nancy Charlesworth of Las Vegas, Nevada won 1st place in both categories. Gold Rush started off the weekend with Country Music in the Saloon. They were joined with classical rock by the Art Jones Band Saturday and Sunday. During the daytime Stuck in Reverse entertained us with Blue Grass. Maria and her Karaoke machine rounded out the weekend with her beautiful voice and a variety of music. Cindy kept the kids busy with a variety of games and pie and watermelon eating contests. Red Dog Lil, Pam and Dawn were busy selling 1000's of raffle tickets which kept Kathy & Sue busy redeeming the tickets for the over 500 prizes donated by local businesses in Goldfield, Tonopah, Gold Point, Bishop and Friends of Gold Point. The grand prizes of the weekend were 3 Henry Golden Boy Rifles. Bill Hall won the .17, Charlie Washington won the .22 and Glenn Bassham won the 45 caliber. Under sunny skies on Monday morning after breakfast had been served, the guest began departing declaring it a fun but wet weekend vowing to return again next year to bring this friendly little ghost town back to life once again. Now for a few improvements in Gold Point. Jerry from Fallon came down with a helper in April and finished up the re-wiring of the rv park. They upgraded the old wiring to each of the poles. On each pole a new double RV plug box was installed, 5 boxes all together. Now up to 10 trailers can plug into it's own 30 amp breaker. Now we just have to upgrade the secondary main to a 200 amp panel. Before Pat went back to work he sanded down a couple of our old library tables in the saloon and put marine spar varnish on them. Dan from Fish Lake finished the job and did the other 4 remaining tables. Now they have a nice glossy shine to them. We sanded off the old brown finish and just varnished over the raw wood to give them a nice golden color. Now they don't show the dust as bad as before and they also wipe down a whole lot easier. Dan also sanded down the shuffleboard table so it can get a new finish as well. Last weekend Dan and Junior from Fish Lake came out to help do some maintenance on the three cabins across from the saloon. I put new cedar shingles on them 25 years. Can't believe it's been that long already. The ridge caps needed replacing to buy another year or two before we have to re-roof them altogether. We also put on new brown rolled roofing on the back bedroom additions of Sally's and Middlegate. I was just checking on cedar shingle prices yesterday. I paid $70 per square back in 83 when I put those roofs on. That was for number 1's. Today number 1 cedar shingles cost $250 per square. About 10 years ago I started using number 2's. They run about $150. Oh well, everything goes up I guess. I used to pay 69 cents a gallon for gas back then and the girls at the Cottontail Ranch were going for $50 I was told. We started work on another cabin. Stranger from Pollock Pines, California has volunteered his time and started saving one of our biggest cabins. He is going to do such a fancy job we christened it Shangri-La. His goal is to have it finished by next years Memorial Day. He brought up a whole trailer load of 2 x 6 used redwood a week before the Memorial Daze party and got out the tools. Everett from Tonopah came out to help him. First thing was to slowly push up the 10 inch sag in the roof line and re-enforce it. It now has only a 1 or 2 inch sag. Over the next several days he used the 2 x 6's for framing up new walls. Building them on the floor in sections he put plywood on the back side of them so when they were in place the old outside board and bat walls could be attached to strengthen the whole building. The South wall had dropped over the years about 5 inches. It was jacked back up to the proper height as the new sections of walls were installed. We had a couple of windows lying around so one went into the front and one along the side for the kitchen. The front door was also found in storage. Yes, I did say kitchen. It will have a refrigerator, stove and breakfast bar. The kitchen sink will be located just under the window. We will vault the ceiling to allow a ceiling fan in the center over the living room. We are thinking of hanging a wagon wheel in the front third and another in the back third over the kitchen and installing lights on them. The back one over the kitchen will have hooks on them to hang the pots and pans on. In the front to the right of the window as you look out we have plans for a wood burning stove. Base heaters will probably do a lot of the heating. Jo, Strangers son, donated a lot of hardwood flooring left over from his house. Plans are to put the hardwood floor around the perimeter and carpet in the center, or the other way around. The building is 12 x 24 feet long with a back room attached with a flat sloping roof that is 14 deep and 20 feet wide. The back will be the bedroom. Stranger already has a Jacuzzi bathtub for the bathroom which will be in the back room. Yes, this building will have running water for the bathroom and kitchen. They were able to sheet half the roof with plywood. The other half still has the old corrugated tin on. Before Stranger comes back we hope to have the roof finished. Our plans are to put down 30lb black tar paper, brown rolled roofing and someday cedar shingles over that. The roof should not start leaking for at least 50 years. I do not want to re-roof this one in 25 years when I'm 81 and I'll probably only be here in spirit in 50 years. Now another chapter in "tales from the not so old west" The following is from the Hornsilver Herald May 16, 1908. "Many arrivals. Besides two stage lines from Cuprite and one from Goldfield coming daily filled with passengers, the automobiles have been doing a rushing business. Despite the severe weather three auto loads came from Goldfield and one from Rhyolite Monday. In the blustering weather of Tuesday five auto loads came from Goldfield and Wednesday brought five more loads. This is a good showing for a town a month old-and yet they say the influx has scarcely begun." "Drug Store for Hornsilver. W. N. Simpson and R. G. Kraeuter of Goldfield have leased the ground lying between the offices of Olmstead & Rich and the Hornsilver Townsite company and will at once erect a building in which to open an up to date drug store." "Hornsilver Realty is having a boom. Much activity in building and corner lots are held at $1700 to $2000. Notwithstanding the bad weather, the business in town lots the past week has been surprisingly brisk, with prices rising by leaps and bounds. About two score transactions have been recorded. Cook & Fleming of Rhyolite purchased two lots. The proprietors of the Rhyolite restaurant secured two good lots..." "An up to date market. Fred Plimpton, formerly of Colorado Springs, and late of Lida, is associated with Chas. Lewis of Lida in the market business at Hornsilver. Plimpton & Lewis will maintain a full line of fresh Nevada meats, and a full assortment of fresh vegetables, which will be received daily..." "Judge Deane talks of Hornsilver and vicinity. (From the Goldfield Chronicle) Judge J. W. Deane...The town is growing as fast as it can, as fast as supplies and materials can be assembled. Lots on the main street have sold as high as $1000 per. The 'addition man' is busy and annexes and extensions are being laid off. There is a strong slope toward the desert and drainage and sanitation are easy. ..." "Everyone - man or woman - upon their first advent here exclaims: How beautiful is Hornsilver! What a magnificent location. How easily accessible from all points... What's in a name. There are some people who do not like the name of Hornsilver. They say it sounds like a one-metal camp, whereas we have both silver and gold here. Whatever it may sound like, it sounds good to the majority of people. To us, it sounds like a live one. Everyone in Hornsilver acts as though he or she felt that the general success depended upon his or her individual efforts; so as a rule all are early to bed and at 5 a.m. the business of the day begins - for all seem to be early risers. There is considerable grumbling and much annoyance at the lack of building materials, but this is being overcome gradually. The mass of canvas yonder is Hornsilver - suggestion to the traveler on the Bullfrog and Goldfield railroad when he reaches Cuprite and gazes westward.... So rapidly is the town filling up that there is now some talk of insurance on buildings and fire protection..." "Jim Russell speaks of progress. The Goldfield Tribune of yesterday says: That a great camp has been opened up at Lime Point, now know as Hornsilver, is the opinion of every mining man who has visited the district.... It has been one of those meteoric rushes from Goldfield in the past month of mining men that the camp never saw before.... James M. Russell, who might be called the father of the camp, arrived in town yesterday. He is the president of several of the companies in the immediate neighborhood of the town as well as manager of the Great Western Mine... he said: 'Since coming to town I have been told that the name of Hornsilver is to be changed to Silverhorn, but that is not true. The 16 horse freight team that is hauling ore from the Great Western makes a round trip every two days. To my personal knowledge ore is being sacked on the following leases over which I have jurisdiction on the Great Western ground and the Silver King: H.P. Aldred on the Jessie, Frisbie, Rogers& Colburn, Smith and Harper, Flynn and associates, Gable & Company, Bradley and McKay, the Shea lease...." "New Business projected. Clayton & Weaver have bought lot 5 block 9, Main street and will put a substantial business house thereon. P.J. Flanner has purchased lot 5 block 10, for mercantile purposes. Gilroy & McGavin have purchased lots 4 and 8 on Main street, and will erect a building for a saloon." "Finishing new buildings. Waltner & Brown are putting the finishing touches to the cozy building next to Beckman & Brick's, in which they will open a chop house. A. Ruf will have completed his building on Third avenue, near Main street by today, which is intended for a meat market. Charles Stevens', building for the Northern saloon is about finished. James Fowlie, of the Montana bar, will have completed the large frame structure... containing the gaming adjunct to his bar." "Great Western Market. Andrew has opened a market on Third avenue, where fresh meats, vegetables and fruits will be received daily..." "Hobbs and Frisbie. An interest in the Frisbie lease on the Hornsilver King ground, at Hornsilver, was purchased last week by John H. Hobbs... Goldfield Tribune." "What the paper are printing about Hornsilver. Birth of the New Camp. One of the best early stories on the Hornsilver was written by W. M. Gotwaldet for the Goldfield News, published two weeks ago... The site is a semicircular basin, surrounded on three sides by the Crescent range. Two days before our visit the first lot had been sold in the new town and the first tent pitched. On the day of our trip there were fourteen tents in the morning and eighteen tents and two famed building when we left. At noon a wagon freighted with lumber and another laden with culinary utensils and supplies drew up in front of a vacant lot. When we returned from a visit to the mines several hours later we found a substantial hotel building with dinner served in the dining room. Sunday morning two saloons started business in the structures consisting of a floor and a bar, together with the necessary stock. By the middle of the afternoon the refreshment parlors were snugly under roof and even had ice with which to regale their customers.... As of this writing, Thursday afternoon, the camp of Hornsilver has already been assured a railroad, a telephone line and water system. It is a bustling little city with six saloons, four restaurants a barber shop, four lodging houses, three stores, two automobile lines and one stage line, a feed yard, livery stable and what not. At the mature age of 5 days the city of Hornsilver made application for a post office and a precinct is being established, while the mining district has already selected its officials. Within a couple of weeks the town will have attained a growth of possible a thousand men, women and children..." Well, until next time have fun at what you're doing or stop doing it. Happy Trails and Sunsets, Sheriff Stone &/or Red Dog Lil |
