My own ghost town?

Hubby found a hand-forged nail lying on a rarely used ranch road. Now, I have another piece of a mystery on my hands.

Ranch History

The original deed to our ranch was on September 15, 1864, to “Decotah or Sioux Half Breed.”

Given under my hand ect. (seal) By President Abraham Lincoln.
Patent, September 15, 1864

The deed later mentions the woman’s name and that she is a widow from Minnesota. We suspect her husband was killed in the Civil War, and the ranch was compensation. I doubt she had ever been to Nevada and never would. She sold the property to a well-known local man who had a stage stop a mile away.

Our “Miner’s Shack” may have been moved from Virginia City

The ranch changed hands multiple times, often returning to the stage stop owner. The owner’s names are a “Whose Who” of our valley. The ranch was purchased in 1924 by a local man who we believe built the barn, original house, and outbuildings. Twenty-two years later, Hubbies family purchased the ranch, and it has been in the family for seventy-six years.

Station stop?

When I started using my Garmin GPS for ghost town trips, we were surprised that USGS placed a historic station on our ranch at our current bridge. However, we have searched old maps and have not found a road through the ranch.

I found reference to a stage station by the same name, five miles north of our ranch. The distance is the correct between station stops, and it was not unusual for toll roads to have multiple stations. Looking at satellite views, it doesn’t seem to make sense to have a road through the ranch due to the number of water crossings. But, over 160 years ago, that might have been a different story.

Nailed it!

Now we found a hand-forged nail on one of the ranch roads. We only rarely use this road, and no one else accesses it. I want to have others examine the nail, but it appears from the mid-1800s.