Howdy everyone and a big April fool’s day to you all. I know it’s not April 1st anymore but as you read this you’ll understand what happened. I really did try.



I was going to do an April fool on you by telling you all that I went to that big ghost town in the sky. Then I realized that most of you would figure out that it wasn’t true because I’m writing this newsletter to you, or am I??



Well enough foolishness. Lol. Lettuce get down to business.



There are two things at the top of the list that a lot of you have been probably wondering about. Those are the cook book and memorial day weekend.



Let’s start with the easiest of the two, the cook book.



Just the other day we heard back from sue that she’s in the proofreading stage. In fact, wait just one minute. It’s ringing. Yep, it’s sue. I’ve got her on the phone. Let me talk to her and get some more information for you. Don’t leave I’ll be right back. Enjoy the elevator music for a while. La la la, you get the message.



Ok, I’m back. Sorry to make you wait. Sue says there will be just over 100 recipes and the cost will be around $17.00. She has one problem that she needs your help with. She would like to know how many Gold Point Cookbooks to print. There will be two ways to acquire your book. One is to pick one or more up during Memorial Day weekend or order a copy on Amazon.com in the future. We will let you know when to go to Amazon. Right now we need to know how many to have on hand for Memorial Day weekend. PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU’D LIKE TO PICK ONE UP IN PERSON. WE WILL HAVE A FEW EXTRA PRINTED BUT COULD STILL RUN OUT. When you write us back please let us know if you’re picking one up or if you’ll be ordering one in the future. Many thanks to those of you who will be buying one and to those who contributed your recipe to the book. We need to know by the end of April, this month, to let us know if you will be picking one up in person.



Well, I’m ready to finish this. I know it’s been a week since I started it but time just got away from me. I finally caught up with it and I’ve got it tied up in the corner and I see it’s trying to get loose again so we must push on to the end.



Ok, now about Memorial Day weekend.



Let me explain a few things first.



As most of you know we’ve had a few close friends that are into the paranormal come up and have had successful researches of paranormal activity. One group of 5 called Ghost Town Operations, who also just happen to work for Sysco Foods, our supplier, approached us last November to see if we were interested in a paranormal weekend here in Gold Point. We would supply the ghosts at night and the meals during the day and they would take over after the sunset taking guests on tours to look for activity just like on television until the sunrise. They wanted to help raise funds for us so we could continue working on our cabins and other building and maintenance projects. They of course would charge for the tours and make money for themselves.



We said yes and a date of April 1st weekend was put on the schedule.



Now, I know you’re all scratching your heads saying wait a minute that was a week ago so what happened? Why didn’t I mentioned it in the last newsletter in January?? Etc???



The answer is that things were still a little vague in January and I didn’t want to talk about something that may or may not happen.



What actually did happen was that they read January’s newsletter, like all of you, that we decided not do the “BIG” Memorial Day weekend thing with the chili and Dutch oven contest and everything else that went with it.



They asked us since we cancelled the “Big One” if they could do their paranormal weekend during Memorial Day weekend.



There was a big group discussion about it and since they were going to do most of the work, like the advertising, doing the ghost tours, supplying equipment, etc, of putting their shindig on we agreed.



So let’s see if I can sum things up for you.



If your still wanting to come up and camp we’re glad to have you and we’ll try to find a spot for you or you can park your rv on the Gold Point International Airstrip as in the past and hope the air traffic controller don’t fall asleep and let a plane land on your rv.



As far as the paranormal thing goes if you’re interested just write us back and we’ll send you a Ghost Town Operations flyer.



Now for those who are not interested in the paranormal and want to come out here for the weekend of May 27th through the 30th here is the skinny because we are not doing a flyer.



Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be available every day. We’ve added lunch Saturday and Sunday because there will be no chili or stew to eat. The dinners and breakfasts will be the same as you’re used to getting every year. The saloon will be open from sunup to sundown only. After that if you get hungry or thirsty during the dark hours the Ghost Town Operation team will be taking over the work for us. At the cook shack you can get hot dogs and at the hutch house, the shack on the other side of the BBQ, we will have an outside mini bar where you can get canned soda and canned beer and such.



Saturday and Sunday only we will have Maria singing on stage in the saloon from breakfast thru dinner with a lot of breaks. During her breaks she will have music playing. She will also run a speaker wire outside for another speaker for those who are eating outside. We will have no other bands or entertainment. We will miss Gold Rush, Stuck in Reverse and the Art Jones band. We chose Maria because we didn’t want just one type of music as Maria can and will sing across the whole spectrum of types. She also hopes some of you will get up on stage and sing with her. There will be no entertainment by anyone after dark.



There will be no flag ceremony here. The Beatty Lyon’s club will be taking that over and will be doing other things that weekend. The Beatty Cowboys will not be here also as they are going to be performing in Beatty that weekend. So that means no shootout entertainment.



There will also be no raffle of prizes or guns. There might be door prizes for those who purchase the paranormal package.



I think that sums it up. If you have any questions feel free to call or e-mail us your questions as I know I’ve probably forgot something.



As you can read the weekend will be almost a 180 from last year and the only reason we’re allowing the paranormal group to go forward is because nothing they are doing or asking us to do conflicts with any of the personal and private reasons why we chose to stop the “’Big One” as you read in January’s newsletter. If you’re looking for a loud party place to go I don’t think Gold Point will be the place.



However, if you’re looking for a quite weekend with good food and visiting friends you haven’t seen since last year and maybe find a ghost or two then this is the place you ought to be. During the day you can explore hundreds of miles of back country roads or hang out here. I’ll probably have lot more time to sit and visit with you this year.



Ok, let’s move onto the next subject.



You all have heard us talk about our friend Dennis from Las Vegas who comes up a lot to help us work on things including the Gold Central cabin. Well he’s back to help out again. He would have been here sooner but he was waiting to become a Grandpa. The wait ended on March 7th when he became the proud Grandpa to Cory Lane.



Dennis with the help of our friend Kenny made good progress earlier this year on the Gold Central. Except for around the front door the walls are all finished. Then Dennis has painted on a base coat. Right now it looks like a hospital in there it’s so white. In fact the walls right now match the surrounding mountains because it has snowed most of the day. We’ve got the floors in both rooms ready for linoleum in the kitchen and carpet in the front room although we’re not laying those until we finish wall papering and painting.



Dennis will be tinting the paint for the ceilings in the kitchen and living/bedroom to compliment the wall coverings we’re thinking of putting on the walls that were donated to us by our neighbors Dan & Diane. They’ve also donated some old world war two era newspapers we’ll use in some of the other cabins.



Ok, I’ve still got time tied up in the corner but it’s 10:30 at night and I need some rest so I’ll get back to this in the morning if those ropes don’t come undone.



Well, here it is April 20, 2011. Time got loose again and I had a devil of a time trying to track it down and corral it and tie it up again. Let’s see how far we can get before it gets loose again. Actually what happened was that the My Two Wheels gang, an off road motorcycle group on their 5th annual ron day view, showed up April 9th and untied time and it ran amok all over Gold Point for 10 straight days. We have to say it was fun having them here and we look forward to their return next year. They are also a generous group and we will put their donations to good use.



Then I needed a day of rest.



Yesterday we had to do some catching up on things.



Then this morning Dennis and I started working on one of my garage roofs until the wind picked up. Thank goodness it did because that is allowing me the time to try and finish this newsletter. So let’s get to it before time gets loose and runs amok again.



Ok, first we have to say thank you for some more donations.



Tom from Washington state sent us a beautiful hand holding a quail. For tax purposes we had it appraised. They said that if it went up for auction we’d probably get two in the bush for it. I said “oh really!!!!” We are now proudly showing it off in the saloon.



Dan from Fish Lake brought us a box of goodies. Let’s see, the first item was what looks like a metal stage coach with a thing on top that we believe is where a candle would go. Now I see an old horse shoe. There is a very old antique coolant tester that is huge. It’s called a No. 808 FREEZE-D-TECTOR precisioneered by the E. Edelmann & Co. from Chicago, Ill. A metal oil can opener by Perlick Brass Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, pat. #2569123. An old stirrup, a pair of old spurs, couple of old pocket knives and other knick knacks that will go into the saloon museum or general store museum. The last item is an old Coleman double mantel light without the glass called The Sunshine of the Night which looks like it’s made out of brass.



Dan has also set up a Facebook page for Gold Point. You’re all welcome to check it out and add to it and send to your friends. Just go to http://www.facebook.com/GoldPointNevada. I think that will get you there.



By the way, Dan met a special someone named Alison last year during Memorial Day weekend from the hiking group called Meet Ups. They’ve been together ever since. Ali has also been doing a great job helping out here once in a while doing this and that when her and Dan come for the weekend. Alison has become a good McStones helper. The best news though is that Red Dog Lil will be doing the honors of hitchin them together in Las Vegas this coming June.



Richard from Tucson, Arizona was passing through the other day to his ranger job in Alaska and donated a purple Gold Point T-shirt to the saloon museum he purchased in Aug of 1999. It’s in great shape but what makes it unique is that it is one with Gold lettering. We haven’t used gold lettering for a very long time which might make it the only one in existence unless one of you have one out there.



Gold Point is in the News once again. This time worldwide.



The following story was released last Friday. In every seat in every American Airline plane all over the world will have our story for two weeks. They estimate 1,000,000 people will have a chance at reading it. http://www.americanwaymag.com/herb-robbins-nevada-gold-mining We hope you enjoy the story as much as we did written by Bob Whitby. Bob did a wonderful job and he was also here with the My Two Wheels group. We just hope that after reading the story they don’t all visit us at the same time. That could be quite the traffic jam would it not?? If you think about it would you please forward it to your friends and their friends. Many thanks.



We want to thank American Airlines, American Way Magazine, Bog Whitby and everyone else connected or responsible for the story.



Does anyone remember in a previous newsletter about a photo shoot by Stephan Wuerth done I believe in August of 2009??? His photo shoot about 3 girls stranded in the desert will be for sale this coming September through his publisher Damiani in Italy http://damianieditore.it/. Stephan’s website is www.stephanwurth.com Don’t worry if you can’t remember I’ll remind you again when the time comes.



The following is some information on the book. Stephan Würth: Ghost Town Epilogue by Lesley M.M. Blume.

Since moving to the United States from his native Germany, photographer Stephan Würth has been fascinated with the mythical vistas of the American West and the isolation and freedom of vast desert expanses .Würth culminates this geographical romance with the new series Ghost Town. These photographs narrate the tale of three women as they journey through Nevada where they soon find themselves stranded with a broken-down car on the side of a desolate road. Shot over seven days on black-and-white Kodak Tri-X film, the images were scanned for the book from 16 x 20 inch hand-developed prints and never retouched. The book also features an epilogue by fashion and culture critic Lesley M.M. Blume.



Stephan Würth: Ghost Town

ISBN 978-88-6208-185-6

Cloth, 11.25 x 11.25 in. / 160 pgs /

100 b & w.

U.S. $50.00 CDN $55.00

September/Photography/Fashion

This limited edition of Ghost Town

is bound in leather and housed in a

box that also contains a limited-edition

print.



Stephan Würth: Ghost Town,

Limited Edition

ISBN 978-88-6208-187-0

Boxed, leather, 11.5 x 11.5 in. /

160 pgs / 100 b & w / limited

edition of 50 copies.

U.S. $750.00 CDN $825.00 SDNR20

September/Limited & Special

Editions/Photography



We thank Stephan who chose Gold Point out of the whole universe, in the middle of nowhere, to bring his models and all his crew, to do his photo shoot for his book. We also thank the models and crew for traveling from the big cities back east to our tiny little town. We can’t wait to get our copy.



Ok, that about does it. I just need Red Dog to proof read it and she’s on her way home now from her job in Goldfield.



Nope that’s not all she wrote yet?



I’d like to mention a couple of new friends of Gold Point we met recently, Ara & his K-9 companion Spirit. He is a very nice soft speaking gentleman who is very interesting to talk to because of his travels on his motorcycle with Spirit in the attached side car. You can check out his website at www.theoasisofmysoul.com and read his latest entry about Gold Point and look at some wonderful pictures of our town. His writing abilities are far above my simple words and he has quite an eye for putting his camera at different levels and angles to get the desired shot. If you go to his website when you get this newsletter it should take you right to the Gold Point section. If you wait too long he may have posted other stories and pictures but then all you have to do is put Gold Point in his search box and then we should pop up. We encourage you to check out his whole website and learn more about Ara than I could ever tell you. He and Spirit will be on the road again soon but plans on returning again in the future. Ara has made Gold Point a little more interesting with his pictures and story and we hope you enjoy reading it as much as we have.



Well, today is windy again this morning so Dennis and I can’t do any roofing so this gives me the time to finish this newsletter by ending it with another chapter from “Tales from the not so old West



May 9, 1908 Hornsilver Herald Vol. 1 No. 1

“Big body of high grade ore opened on 200 level. Ore opened in crosscut on lowest level proves continuity of values—ore in winze is also rich…”



“Great Western Output.



Date Nt. Weight Gold oz/ton Silver oz/ton Total per ton Gross value Charges Settlm’t

July 23, 1907 39,137 .305 83.25 $59.07 $1,155.91 $313.61 $812.97

Sept. 25, 1907 41,370 .33 87.1 71.51 1,479.18 479.58 999.60

Feb. 18, 1908 71,487 .30 134.70 76.68 2,740.81 985.77 1755.04

Feb. 18, 1908 74,973 .13 178.62 103.37 3,874.97 978.75 2896.22

Mar. 2, 1908 65,221 .58 239.5 113.92 4,458.83 932.68 3526.15

Mar. 26, 1908 46,961 .24 104.9 53.17 1,389.34 499.59 889.75

April 21, 1908 72,968 .43 170.4 102.10 3,523.35 996.08 2537.97

April 29, 1908 67,599 .40 163.3 95.36 3,062.23 923.67 2138.56



A LITTLE NOTE ABOUT THE LAST ENTRY OF APRIL 29, 1908 ABOUT THE TOTAL OF $95.36 A TON. I JUST DID SOME FIGURING AND IN TODAY’S PRICES OF $1500 GOLD AND $45 SILVER THAT WOULD COME OUT TO AROUND $7,700 PER TON. WHICH IS EXTREMLY RICH.



Total net weight 479,716 lbs. or 240 tons; average value per ton $91.11; gross value $24,700.22; total settlements including extras, $15,753.77



“Story of the Great Western. The Great Western property was located May 21, 1905, by Howard Russell and William Kavanaugh and when surveyed comprised four full claims and three fractions, or 100 acres. The first location notice was placed on a large outcrop of quartz, which returned values from $6 to $8 per ton, which induced the locators to do some prospect work.



A shaft was started alongside the ledge and at a depth of 50 feet, a crosscut was run, which developed 3 feet of shipping ore. Two carloads were shipped from the 50 foot level, the first carload going out in July 1907. A stope was run 37 feet in length, and 35 feet high, bringing the pay ore to a point within 15 feet of the surface.



After sinking a winze 15 feet on the ore, work was resumed in the vertical shaft, which was put down to the 100 foot mark before doing further lateral work.



The 100 foot level. The crosscut from the 100 foot point developed the rich shoot, which was followed east for nearly 200 feet without defining the extent of the ore. The shoot, which is pay ore as broken down, is fully 165 in length, and has averaged from three to five feet in width wherever exposed.



Ten carloads have been extracted from this level and shipped to Goldfield, the shipments having been consigned to the Nevada Goldfield Reduction company and the Western Ore Purchasing company”



“Herald Headquarters. Arrangements have been made for the construction of The Herald building near the corner of 3rd and Main streets. Temporarily the office is located in the Townsite office on Main street.”



“Town of Hornsilver enjoying steady growth. Lots in the Hornsilver Townsite were offered to the public April 15th, and nearly all of the lots have been sold. Inside lots sold at $75 and corners as high as $250. Numerous transfers at twice and three times the original price have been reported. One party has refused $1000 for property.



There are about 125 tents and houses in Hornsilver today. When the Herald man first came upon the ground two weeks ago, there were not half this number. The town is growing, and is fast being supplied with all branches of business houses. Lumber is coming in and as fast as possible more building will be constructed.



M.A. Maher & Co. of Goldfield have established a branch here, the firm having been employed by the Great Western company in hauling ore to the railroad for some months past. The company has about 60 heads of horses and mules employed in hauling ore, lumber, etc, and on the Cuprite-Hornsilver stage line. Hay, feed and grain are carried for the retail trade and a general forwarding business will be conducted. Fred Patterson is agent at his place.



Barnes Bros., who have been located for three years in Lida, have established a general merchandise store here, having constructed a 20 by 40 frame on Main street.



J.D. Lothrop of Goldfield has established the Westside Grocery, and is ready for business.



The Exploration Mercantile Co. of Goldfield is constructing a 20 by 30 frame building and will carry a full line of general merchandise and mining supplies.



Mrs. Sarah Wood is building an addition to her restaurant for hotel purposes. The addition is 24 by 40 feet. The place is known as the Horn Silver Hotel and Restaurant.



The Empire Lumber company of Goldfield has established a yard here with H. Milmo manager. Full stock will be carried.



Mike Sullivan and A.A. Abbey are among the first rooming house proprietors of the city.



The Union Bakery building is going up and Hornsilverites are assured of the best things in baked goods.



J. V. Hess and A. E . Wallace have established a corral and feed yard.



Numerous saloons have been installed, and a substantial frame building, 20 by 40, is being built by Charles Stevens of Rhyolite for a saloon and gambling house”





I think that should be enough information for you to absorb for now. Remember, as you learn more if you don’t have room for everything the brain automatically deletes something and sends it to the recycle bin.



Until next time have fun and stay out of trouble.







happy trails and sunsets



Sheriff Stone and/or Red Dog Lil