| By Vernon Robison Moapa Valley Progress Submitted May 21, 2008
The Lost City Museum held a gala reception on Saturday evening, May 17, to open its new Southern Nevada Landscapes of Change exhibit. In attendance were officials of the Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs, Division of Museums and History, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and National Park Service. Also invited were archivists and archaeologist who contributed to the research behind the new exhibit as well as contributing members of the Museum. About 40 people were in attendance at the invitation-only event. |
 Staff at the Lost City Museum held a gala reception on Saturday to celebrate the opening of a new exhibit. Pictured l to r Janie Shakespear, Kathryne Olson, Jeanine Bowerman, Eva Jensen, Oscar Mora, Director of Nevada Division of Museums Peter Barton, Tom Cunningham, Terri Wade, Michelle Davis and Director of Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs, Michael Fischer.
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| Dr. Michael Fisher, Director of Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs, praised the staff at the Lost City Museum for their work and dedication. Fischer gave special recognition to Museum Director, Kathryne Olson for her many years of service and dedication to the goals of the museum. He also recognized Museum Archaeologist, Eva Jensen, and Exhibit Designer, Tom Cunningham, for their collaboration in putting together the very compelling exhibit.
Jensen was also given a special recognition award by Director of the Nevada Division of Museums, Peter Barton, for her ten years of service at the Museum. Jensen has been working at the Museum since February of 1998. A special presentation was given by UNLV Archivist, Dr. Karen Harry, who has worked on the job of archiving the materials from the many archaeological digs at what was then called the Pueblo Grande de Nevada. Harry stated that this archiving project was a huge undertaking gathering the many items and document from the Lost City digs. Many of the artifacts that were found and records that were kept had been “scattered to the winds” in the years since the digs took place back in the 1920s and -30s, Harry said. Harry exhibited slides of old magazine and newspaper articles and other publicity materials which showed the stir that was caused across the country and world-wide by the Lost City find. Clippings came from Boston, New York, Minnesota, London, Ireland, Germany, France and many other locations. Some of the more interesting clippings showed a real penchant for exaggeration in the press at that time. Some journalists reported that the Lost City was peopled with a race of 7-foot tall giants. Others exaggerated the size, wealth and culture of the Lost City community comparing it to Greece, Rome and even Chicago. One article toppled the Egyptian Pyramids and King Tut’s tomb from their places as the most important archaeological finds of the century and replaced them with the Pueblo Grande De Nevada in the Muddy Valley of Southern Nevada. Harry showed photographs of a Lost City Pageant that was staged at the site. The Pageant was organized by, then Nevada Governor, James Scrugham. It was meant to provide a tourist destination to draw visitors from abroad to help the then struggling Nevada economy. The Pageant drew around 6,000 people, Harry said. This was a remarkable turnout especially since the Las Vegas valley at that time only had about 4,500 people. The Lost City excavation site became a major tourist attraction in the southwest in its day, Harry said. Museum Director, Kathryne Olson concluded by expressing gratitude to her dedicated staff as well as the Museum Docent Council and volunteers. |
