A History of Amargosa Valley, Nevada

About this book

The Amargosa Valley, about ninety miles northwest of Las Vegas in Nye County, Nevada, did not yield itself easily to human habitation. Less famous than Death Valley, its neighbor to the west, the Amargosa is formidable enough - arid and mainly treeless. Yet the valley has been inhabited by many peoples since early times: archaic hunters and gatherers, Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute Indians, white explores and settlers, miners and present-day farmers and ranchers. Early explorers were followed by prospectors and miners. Settlers who saw the possibilities for agriculture and ranching in the region were not far behind them. The Ash Meadows area, a true desert oasis, was the home of many people, including early community builder "Dad" Fairbanks and some of dubious reputation, such as the legendary desert frontiersman Jack Longstreet. The discovery of borax, clay deposits, and marble and the arrival of the railroads brought new opportunity to the valley's residents around the turn of the twentieth century. Present-day pioneers, who arrived in the later 1940s and early 1950s, coped without paved roads, telephones, and electric service. Nevertheless, they persevered, and by the 1980s had constructed the basis of a modern unincorporated town. Residents of the Amargosa Valley live in harmony with the land and its beauty.