Nevada Day Celebrations Include Focus On History

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

The weekend wasn’t just for celebrating Halloween. It was also the Nevada Day weekend and there were a couple of great activities in Mesquite that highlighted state and local history.

The historical expertise of Virgin Valley Heritage Museum coordinator Elspeth Kuta was put to good use in both of these events.

On Thursday, Oct. 28, Kuta paid a visit to the Mesquite Senior Center to give a short Nevada Day lunch presentation there.

She began with a brief introduction of Nevada history. The reason for Nevada Day being celebrated at the end of October is because it was first admitted as a state in the U.S.A. on Oct. 31, 1864. This took place right in the middle of the Civil War.

Kuta also gave the seniors an informal Nevada history trivia quiz. Those answering trivia questions correctly received a cookie as a prize. Some of the fun facts covered in the quiz included the following:
What is the State nickname? The Silver State. But did you know that more gold has come out of the state than silver?

What is the state motto? Battle Born because of its Civil War origins.
Did you know that the longest telegram on record originated from Nevada? As it was becoming a state, the State Constitution had to be sent to Washington DC for approval. The timing was key due to various political reasons of the day. So the entire text of the document was sent by telegraph. It took more than 12 hours for telegraph operator Frank Bell to tap out the 16,543 words of the document.

How many nuclear tests were conducted at the Nevada Test site? 900 tests.
How many mountain ranges does Nevada have in its boundaries? 300.
Who was the famous author that changed his name while working as a journalist in Virginia City, Nevada? Samuel Clemens who changed his name to Mark Twain.

What is the longest continuously lived-in township in Clark County, Nevada? It is Bunkerville.
“We had a lot of fun with the seniors talking about Nevada history,” Kuta said. “And maybe there were a few things that they learned that they didn’t know before.”

Later in the week, Kuta led a Historical Walk as part of the Mesquite Senior Games lineup of activities. The short walking tour began at the museum and continued around the block to visit some of the oldest buildings still standing in Mesquite.

One of the stops was at the Old Rock House at 1st North and Willow. The old home was built in 1880, Kuta said.
“It has been the home of a number of different occupants over the years,” Kuta said. “A lot of families moved into it while they were building their home here in the valley. So it got passed from family to family.”

The home was fairly primitive for most of its history, well up until 1970, when the building finally got an indoor bathroom. That was also the year that it received a cement floor. Before that it was just a wooden floor structure built above a dirt base, Kuta said.

Another stop on the tour was the historic Relief Society house built in 1929 as a meeting place for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time.

Elspeth explained that the city, which owns the old structure, is preparing to have it moved across the street next to the rock house. That way it can be a part of the Dixie Leavitt Heritage Park project which is being built there.

In the process, work crews have uncovered the old cement baptismal font beneath the building. The six-foot deep font has cement that is 8 inches thick. The early Latter-day Saints would fill the font by putting a hose through the window of the building. And it was drained through a seep drain which allowed the water to drain directly into the ground over time.
“This group was probably some of the last people to see that old font since it won’t be moving with the building,” Kuta said.

The numbers were few on the tour. But Kuta said that she appreciated the Mesquite Senior Games organization for putting it on anyway.
“I think this is an important heritage event in the community,” Kuta said. “So no matter how many people sign up for it, it is important that we keep offering it all the same.”

Attendees were given a brown bag lunch during the tour. The lunch was furnished by local sponsor Michelle Burkett and the lunches were made by the Table of Contents cafe. Aravada Springs Ranch provided bottled water for the lunches.