ORAL HISTORIES

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Carl's parents - their backgrounds and the work Carl's father did throughout the West; Carl's high school years in Tonopah; the Haas family's friendship with Barney Manor; some writings about the RO Ranch; Carl's early years as a cowboy on the RO; the beginnings of the Rogers Ranch in the 1860s and the settling of the Reese River and Smoky valleys; why Esmeralda County records of the 1860s wound up in Bodie, California......An in-depth description and discussion of possessory water rights - the law that established the rights, and how they are used; Del explains FLPMA - the Federal Land Policy Management Act, its implementation on federal riparian areas in Smoky Valley, and the effects of that implementation on cattle ranching.....

Growing up in New Mexico; experiences in World War II; discovering the Amargosa Valley. The T&T Ranch in the early days; getting on the land with the Desert Land Act. Early farming in the Amargosa Valley Early people in Ash Meadows. Records' early days in California and mining in the west; the U. S. Army's OCS. Hardships and challenges in the Amargosa Valley. Wild horses in Nevada; losing the T&T Ranch. Bringing electricity to the Amargosa Valley.

Mike Banovich comes to the United States and Miruna joins him nine years later; silicosis; Mrs. Banovich is widowed; the family home in Yugoslavia; detained on Ellis Island; school in Tonopah; Serbian Christmas; silicosis; the Tonopah economy. The Tonopah Army Air Base; Freck Lydon; Tonopah as a boom town with the air base; the red-light district; the Slavic community. How Miruna Banovich fed her family and boarders; the highway department; to Yugoslavia and back to 'Tonopah; making wine and grappa during Prohibition; the strike of 1919. Selling firewood; Serbian food; tending goats; the local water company. Getting by with few resources; the good people of Tonopah; teachers; ethnic groups; childhood games; Serbian Christmas. Chinese in Tonopah; the fire at the Greystone; drugs in town; Freck Lydon; marriage to Fred Steele. The black servicemen in Tonopah; airplane crashes; housing in town during the air base; Radar Hill.

Oil exploration and drilling in Railroad Valley; the oil refinery in the valley; truck traffic from the oil business and the need for better roads; the families in Railroad Valley in 1992; electric power at Blue Eagle from the 1940s to the advent of commercial power in the 1970s; television stations available in the valley; living with a telephone party line. How atomic testing has affected Railroad Valley; the Stealth bomber and other causes of sonic booms; Jim Sharp's death; the daughters of Lina and Jim; daughter Carole Sharp Hanks and her husband take over the Blue Eagle Ranch. The Sharps's hospitality to visitors in Railroad Valley, particularly botany and geology students; Lina's interest in and study of local plants; an early Mexican presence in Nevada"); mail delivery in Railroad Valley. Lina recalls stories regarding Jack Longstreet, Sheriff Bill Thomas, and Paul Irwin.......

Kelsay arrived at the Berg ranch in 1923 and stayed in Smoky Valley for the rest of his life. His parents moved to the Berg ranch with him and remained there until they died. Little Kelsay, who became a member of the Berg family in all but name, resided on the ranch all year even though the family lived in Round Mountain during the school year. He helped with raising hay and livestock and maintaining the ranch buildings and land. In his diaries, he calls Will Berg his "partner." Kelsay also had his own business, raising horses that he sold to the U.S. Cavalry and to individuals in the Smoky Valley and perhaps farther afield. He was apparently a master at breeding and training horses.......

Suzy and Riley "retire" to Rhyolite; life and research in Rhyolite, including a walking survey and creating an award-winning manual; Rhyolite in its boom years; Rhyolite's infrastructure in the early days; a discussion of Rhyolite, Bullfrog, and the Golden Horseshoe; Rhyolite's early boosters and community builders; the working people in old-time Rhyolite; women in Rhyolite; the brothels of Rhyolite; Rhyolite's demographics; notable buildings from old-time Rhyolite. The decline of Rhyolite; the contrast between Rhyolite and Beatty; people who stayed in Rhyolite, and the transition to only a few people and then to caretakers; Barrick Mine as currently working in the area but preserving Rhyolite; the BLM as the "owner" of Rhyolite; the frontier can-do attitude.

Clarabelle's birth and her status as a very early Pahrump resident; remarks on Clarabelle's parents and their parents, including Whispering Ben; the Pahrump cemetery; school days in Pahrump; preparing mesquite beans and a discussion of other native foods; work on the Pahrump Ranch and other area ranches. A discussion of Chief Tecopa; recollections of old-timers in Pahrump; the various relations of the Bob Lee family; a discussion of how various Pahrump-area Paiutes are and were related. Remarks on Pop Buol; on various sacred sites around Pahrump; remembering Helldorado; Clarabelle's father's work as a horseman; on Whispering Ben, Tule Ben, and Chief Tecopa; on the Southern Paiute as a migratory people; on families' "rights" to pick pine nuts in certain areas.

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