September 11-18, 2008 - We finally pried ourselves away from Parowan and Cedar City, Utah, and their
delightful fall fairs, and made our way over the border into Nevada. We stopped at the mining town of
Pioche, and liked it so much we stayed for a week. As we pulled into town, the first thing we noticed was
the unusual tramway that ran from the hills down towards the valley. We followed the tram line through
this crazy, steep hillside town to its origination
point, and a fellow painting a house nearby
told us some of its history. It had been used
for hauling silver ore from the mine to the
processing area until 103 years ago when the
mine shut down. His great-grandfather had
been a miner, and he said that if we wanted
to hear more stories about the town and his
ancestors we could find him every afternoon
at the saloon on Main Street!
The streets of Pioche are a living history. A placard describing the
brutality of the mining life was hung outside an original miner's shack,
and we cautiously opened the door to find the interior just as a miner
would have left it, complete with table, utensils, stove, trunk and bed.
Dusty, cramped and shabby, the 9'x9' room was the real deal. There are ruins of miner's
shacks like this in several places in town, some still standing and others toppled over by time.
Further up the street we
found the Opera House,
restored, and next to it the
old movie theater, not
restored. Silver was first
discovered in Pioche in
1864, and the town
peaked in production,
population and reputation
in 1872. Although $60
million in ore has been
mined over the years,
Pioche has just 700
residents today, compared to
10,000 when it boomed in the
1870's.
You can get a good workout just
walking up and down Main Street. It is very steep and the town sits at
6,000 feet elevation. Each side of the street is lined with shops, and later,
as I glanced at a photo from the 1950's, it was clear little had changed,
except perhaps the names of the stores. There is a lot of pride and a bit
of whimsy in this town, and the old ore buckets and mini rail-cars are put
to good use all over town as planters and roof decorations.
We stopped in at the
History Museum where
curator Jane Humphrey
told us endless tales.
During the wild 1870's,
when everyone was
staking claims, many claims overlapped due to
poor surveys and minimal legal authority. Often,
strikes were claimed by running to the courthouse
faster than the next guy. The town was reputed
to be the wildest of all wild west towns. 75 men
died from gunshot wounds before the first
resident died of natural causes, and most of those
men are buried in Boot Hill Cemetery, so named
because they were buried with their boots on.
As long as you killed in self-defense, it wasn't
murder, and you weren't charged. One man was
shot after slapping another man on the face, and
one was shot following a dispute over a dog.
Neither killer was charged with murder. The long
arm of the law couldn't reach Pioche; it was too
remote.
Profits and greed were the motivator of the day.
Only when a 4-year-old was killed by stray gunfire in
1873, an event that followed on the heels of a scathing New York Times article describing
Pioche's wild side in 1872, did the town begin to check its lawless ways.
We ran into Jane again at the Million Dollar Courthouse and heard more wonderful stories
about the town. Construction of the courthouse in 1872 cost just $26,400, but corrupt
government officials pocketed much of the first round of bond money and allowed
construction to run more than three times over budget. By 1937 when all the compounded
interest and principal of the subsequent bonds were finally paid off (an act that involved
two counties and a major settlement with the bondholders), the building had cost just
under a million dollars. Unfortunately, by that time the building had been condemned for
four years!
Jane's personal tales were equally fascinating. One neighbor of hers was
excavating her backyard to build an addition and found not just ancient
tunnels connecting to other buildings but many bottles of opium lining
those tunnels as well. Another friend did some extensive plumbing repairs
to her house and found 19 coffee cans stuffed with silver and gold coins.
Jane routinely sends her grandkids out into the hills to "find stuff," and
most recently they returned with an exquisite silver ladle. Many of these
items are on display in the History museum.
Pioche is an absolute gem of a
town, but it is still far from the long
arm of modern civilization. In
1994 Pioche tried to get PBS to
bring Antiques Road Show to town, but was turned
down become it is too remote. However, the
illusionist Chris Angel did come to town with a full
entourage of TV people. After studying the historic
jail for 5 days, he was locked behind the two-foot
thick walls. As the cameras rolled, he pulled off his
escape.
The jail was conveniently located next to the
courtroom, and in its day only 3 men escaped. After
9 days of intense rain, these men were able to dig
along the foundation from the inside, using picks
they had fashioned from eating utensils. Upon
emerging in the courtyard next to the jail, their
commotion raised the suspicions of the sheriff, who
was doing his personal business in the outhouse just
steps away. He burst open the door and arrested
them on the spot -- with his pants around his knees.
The jail once housed 66 people -- for one night in
the 1970's when a huge New Year's Eve party got
out of control. The jail was the only place that could
house all the rabble rousers!
A lifelong town resident told Jane his father had used the jail once as well -- to discipline
his own son. This man, now 89, vividly remembered disobeying his father and avoiding his
chores when he was 9, and consequently being locked in the jail for one night (as his
father and the sheriff cooperated to teach him a lesson). The boy started crawling through
the rafters in the dark and came across a human skull. He leapt to the floor in terror and
sat bolt upright in the wooden chair til morning. Needless to say, he never disobeyed his
father again.
Our heads spinning with these tales, we sought a change of pace, and
ventured out of town on our bikes a few afternoons to visit the beautiful
state parks nearby. After a 10 mile spin through open desert brush one
day, we came to Echo Canyon, a cool reservoir oasis with steep, echoing
canyon walls
Heading in the opposite direction on a different day, we discovered
Cathedral Gorge, a sandstone treasure.
With a haunting otherworldliness reminiscent of the many
canyons we loved in Utah, Cathedral Gorge offers spires,
slotted "caves" and breathtaking moonscapes.
The day was hot, and the unrelenting sandstone and
desert vistas left us parched. But as we stepped into
the slots that enter the Cathedral Caves, we found the
air crisp and refreshing and the stone cool to the touch.
Shimmying between the slots we looked up to see brief
peaks at the sky high overhead.
As we clambered over the smaller
spires and perched on
outcroppings overlooking the
valley, we found ourselves uttering
that now-so-familiar refrain: "What
a cool area!"
We had an appointment ahead of
us, however: Interbike, the annual
bicycle industry trade show in Las
Vegas. So our days in Pioche
drew to a close and we made our
way first to Vegas and then on to
San Diego for some fun in the surf
and sun.