Double Springs NV126
Double Springs was the notorious Round Tent Ranch, or Spragues, another station on the road to Esmeralda. Here, James C. Dean, one of the owners and Justice of the Peace in the District in 1864, murdered his wife. This station was connected by the Olds Toll Road with the headquarters of the horse thieves at Fairview. This was also the place where the Washo Indian tribe, assisted by their neighbors, the Paiutes, held round dances in the spring to assure the growth of the pine nut, their staple food, and again in the fall for the quality and quantity of the crop. About four miles north is Mammoth Lodge, post office of the Eagle Mining District, and the polling place in 1861 of the Mammoth precinct of Douglas County. After 1866, it was known as Carter's Station, a stopping place on the road to Esmeralda.

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Duck Valley Indian Reservation NV151
Established in 1877 by President Rutherford B. Hayes, this reservation is situated on the ancestral lands of the Western Shoshone Indians. The reservation includes 400 square miles in Nevada and Idaho and is home to Northern Paiutes as well. Peaceful and cooperative, the residents have developed their culture from stone age levels to contemporary America, but many still retain ancient handicraft skills. Most residents are ranchers producing hay, wheat and cattle. Duck Valley Indian Reservation is governed by the Shoshone-Paiute Tribal Council elected by the residents.

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Edwards Creek Valley NV111
Abundant grass and brush found near its springs and intermittent streams were important ecological areas for the valley's prehistoric inhabitants. Shoshone Indians and their ancestors wandered seasonally to gather wild seeds and small game and settled here in winter camps. Later, Paiute Indians also lived in the valley. In 1854, Colonel John Reese discovered a route through Edwards Creek Valley shorter than the Humboldt Trail. Established by surveyor James Simpson in 1859, it was followed by the Pony Express, the Overland Telegraph and the Butterfield Overland Mail stages. An 1862 Austin gold rush route, too, it became the principal commercial artery until 1880.

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Gerlach NV152
Situated between Black Rock Desert on the east and Smoke Creek Desert on the west, the townsite of Gerlach lies in country long occupied by prehistoric man. John C. Frémont traveled through Northern Paiute Indian lands when he camped here in 1843 and named "Boiling Springs" 1/4 mile north of town. This was also emigrant country; the Noble Road left the Applegate-Lassen Trail at Black Rock Springs, went past this site and southward through Smoke Creek Desert toward Susanville. The town was established when the Western Pacific Railroad was constructed in Nevada 1905-1909. It still functions as a railroad division headquarters.

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High Rock Canyon NV149
The presence of man from 3,000 B.C. to the gold rush days is recorded on High Rock Canyon walls. Prehistoric man left his rock shelters, campsites and petroglyphs in this historically rich, remote, volcanic area. Northern Paiute Indians roamed these lands when John C. Frémont first journeyed through High Rock Canyon in 1843. The Applegate brothers blazed their trail from Oregon through the canyon to the Humboldt River in 1846. Peter Lassen partially followed this route in 1848, and gold seekers crowed the trail in 1849 For further information on Nevada's historic markers, contact the State Historic Preservation Office, Historic Marker Program Nevada Department of Museums, Library and Arts

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Ione NV159
Ione Valley had a dense and permanent aboriginal population, dating back about 5,000 years. Unusual property arrangements and agricultural methods were practiced later by the Shoshone and Northern Paiute Indians. Silver was discovered in 1863, and in 1864 Ione City was named first county seat of newly created Nye County. Over 600 people worked in this prosperous town until Belmont wealth attracted most of the miners in 1865, and the county seat in 1867. Alternately prosperous and poor, yet never completely deserted, Ione suffered mining depressions, milling difficulties and the loss of miners to richer strikes throughout its history.

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Lida NV157
Known as a contact point for Shoshone and Northern Paiute Indians, Lida Valley was the site of early prospecting in 1860's. Later prospectors organized a mining district in 1867 and laid out the town in 1872. Soon stores, shops, stables and a post office were established. Some ore was milled locally, yet high-grade ore ($500-$1,000 per ton) was treated at Austin or Belmont. After 1880 mining declined. Lida revived and thrived for three years during the Goldfield boom but declined again in 1907. Mining efforts resumed a few years later, and a small community existed here until World War I.

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McDermitt Indian Reservation (Northern Paiute) NV146
In the mid-1860's many Paiutes returning from Oregon's Indian reservation here joined some from the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation (home of the "Cui-ui Eaters") because of poor treatment and dishonest dealings of U.S. Indian agents. These Indians settled contentedly about Fort McDermitt, preferring the generosity and kindness of the military. They aided the local military against Bannocks and others resisting Caucasian takeover of traditional Indian lands. Nearby mercury mines have furnished employment for Indians adjusting to the lifestyle of the "white man." Likewise the local precision assembly industry utilizes the dexterity skills of the Indians today. Red and green clays from the canyon are now made into pottery.

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Old Spanish Trail (Mountain Spring Pass) NV142
This portion of the Old Spanish Trail was discovered in January, 1830, by Antonio Armijo during his first trip from Santa Fe to Los Angeles. The springs just north of this marker provided excellent water and fed meadows of luxuriant grass for draft animals. Two days were required to travel between Las Vegas and Mountain Springs Pass. The trip was broken at Cottonwood Springs, the site of Blue Diamond, where an early start was usually made in order to climb the pass by nightfall. Early travelers often referred to the area as Paiute Springs, but the present title has been used for over a century. The altitude made Mountain Springs one of the favorite camping spots on the Trail.

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Pyramid Lake NV18
America's most beautiful desert lake is a remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan, which during the Ice Age covered over 8,000 square miles. Caves along its shores have revealed a prehistoric people with a well developed community life. John C. Frémont discovered the lake on January 10, 1844, and named it for the pyramid-shaped island it contains. From 1844 to the 1860's, the lake's history is an account of native people in contention with the white invasion of northwestern Nevada. With the Indian victory in the first battle of Pyramid Lake, May 12, 1860, more white men died than in any prior White-Indian engagement in the far west. The Pyramid Lake Reservation was set aside for the Indians in 1859. The unusual calcium carbonate Tufa formations along the lake shore are formed by algae, by precipitation from hot springs, from concentration during drier periods, and from wave-action shoreline deposits. The 41-pound world record size cutthroat trout was taken from Pyramid Lake, in 1925, by Johnny Skimmerhorn, a Paiute Indian. The lake is the home of the Cui-ui, a peculiar lakesucker now found nowhere else in the world. Anaho Island, a national wildlife refuge, is probably the largest white pelican nesting colony in North America.

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