Frances Humphrey Lecture Series: "Forgotten Carson Valley Settlements"
Nevada boasts more than six hundred ghost towns, thousands of mining camps, stage and railroad stations and mines. All too often, though, the focus is on just a handful of ghost towns, such as Berlin, Rhyolite and Belmont. Consequently, many other sites become forgotten, their ruins and history obscured in the Nevada deserts for over a century.
Ghost town explorer Tami Force will present “Forgotten Settlements of the Carson Valley” as part of the Nevada State Museum’s Frances Humphrey Lecture Series. Force has explored Nevada and eastern Sierra ghost towns and mining camps for 25 years. Since 2020, she has actively shared her love of ghost towns through Nevada Ghost Towns & Beyond, Radio Goldfield and publications, including Nevada Magazine. Her specialties are the little-known ghost towns and long-forgotten stories of life in the Old West. She presents to various historical societies and works with non-profit groups to preserve Nevada’s historical resources.
This lecture examines the forgotten settlements of Carson Valley. Who was Jack’s Valley named after? What mysteries does the cemetery contain? Why was there a war in the Pine Nut Mountains at the Buckeye Mine? How did Zirnville in Fish Springs almost become the new Virginia City? Where did Bill Zirn’s headstone originate and what was so deadly about it? Learn about these unusual ghost towns and the forgotten lives of those who lived in the Carson Valley and made Nevada what it is today.
