Wabuska, Nevada

Wabuska sits at the north end of Mason Valley. Wabuska is a Washoe word meaning “White Grass”. Mason Valley is flanked by the Singatse Range on the west and the Wassuk Rage on the East. Fort Churchill, established in 1860 to protect early settlers and the mail route, is 13 miles to the north.

In the early 1870’s Wabuska was a freight stop and small settlement. A post office was opened in 1874 to serve town and residents of north Mason Valley.

With construction of the Carson and Colorado Railroad in 1881, Wabuska served as the principal supply center for Mason Valley and the surrounding mines. The town grew to include a general store, restaurant and hotel for railway workers.

Southern Pacific Railroad purchased the Carson and Colorado Railroad in 1900. A depot was built in 1906 by railroad agent Edward Lovejoy. Edward was the son of abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy, the first white person to die for an anti-slavery cause.

The Nevada Copper Belt Railroad was constructed in 1909-1911. It connected mines at Ludwig on the western side of the Singatse Range with the Thompson Smelter on the east. Wabuska became the northern terminus of the line. The town expanded to include 60 families, a two-room school and seven saloons.

Copper mining and declined in the 1920’s and the Thompson Smelter closed for its final time in 1926. Nevada Copper Belt Railroad made its last run in 1929 as automobiles and trucks replaced rail travel. By mid century only a handful of houses and a small store and bar remained in Wabuska.

The Wabuska depot remained in service until 1979 when both passenger and freight service were discontinued. The depot was donated by Southern Pacific Railroad to the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. It was relocated in 1983 and restored to its former glory.

Today little remains of Wabuksa. Abandoned houses and a shuttered bar and grocery store sit vacant as trains speed by.

The Wabuska Mangler: “The Onion” of its day…

Carson Appeal Editor Samuel Post Davis created a fictitious newspaper named the Wabuska Mangler and appointed Edward Lovejoy as editor. Between 1889-1891 the Carson Appeal would print fantastic stories purported to be written by Lovejoy.

Last week as the ‘Mangler’ was going to press, Sol Noel’s Holstein bull came charging into the office and demolished the forms so that we were unable to get the issue out today. 

The Carson Appeal

A bull running into a print shop and disrupting distribution was not beyond Samuel’s satirical reach:

We know for a fact that for some months past, Sol Noel and a lot of his conferees have been training the bull to charge into print shops. They rigged up an old cider press and fixed a lever on it so as to represent the Mangler press and a man would stand on the side and make motions as if running an ink roller over the forms. They would then flaunt a red flag in the bull’s face and let him charge on the machine and knock it over. He would then be fed real hay as a reward for his success in demolishing an educational engine. They got the bull well in train and then sent it charging into our office with the above result. He went home with his hide filled with No. 8 shot…

The Carson Appeal

Samuel also created a fictional feud with the Wabuska Mangler and Lovejoy. Davis called the periodical a

wicked little sheet….disgrace to journalism

Carson Appeal

Tales from the Wabuska Mangler spread far and wide. A journalist from St. Louis wrote:

Of all the liars on the face of the Earth, we believe the Nevada newspaper liar is the most prodigious outside of Missouri.

St. Louis Journalist

Wabuska is a quick stop along the highway. It can be easily combined with Thompson Smelter and Town, Buckland’s Station.  Desert Station and Hooten Well Pony Express Stations would also make a nice day.

Visited 9-7-2020, 4-24-2020

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References

• American Heritage: Wabuska Railroad Station
• Basso, Dave. Nevada Historical Marker Guidebook. Nevada Publications, 1986. Page 113.
• The Diggins: Wabuska Nevada Overview
• Massey et al. Nevada Trails: Western Region. APC Publishing, 2016. Pages 194-197.
• Nevada Appeal: The Strange Story of E.P. Lovejoy and the Wabuska Mangler
• Nevada Appeal: Wabuska a Railroad Ghost Town
• Nevadagram: The Helping Spirit at Wabuska Nevada
• Nevada Press: Wabuska Mangler
• Paher, Stanley. Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps. Nevada Publications, 1970. Page 81.
• Wikipedia: Wabuska, Nevada
• Yerington Mondays: The Story of the Wabuska Mangler
• Yerington Mondays: Wabuska

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