Descendants of the Lane family, early settlers on the East Walker River, contacted me about their family’s time in Nevada. They lived and had a mill at Cambridge. Their history is marked by the tragic loss of their 4-year-old son, Frankie.
The mills and grave are private access, and the family kindly gave me permission, so @nevadaexpeditions and I headed out Sunday.
Cambridge
I went down a rabbit hole, digging into old newspapers about Cambridge, the mills and the Lane Family. I am updating my article; it may take some time, but it will include unpublished photos of the family who went on to become movers and shakers in mining on the West Coast.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I already found the first Governor of Nevada (after we gained statehood), Governor Blasdel, was the first to mill at Cambridge in the 1850s, long before the Comstock! I just finished a story about Logan City, where he made a heroic ride from Death Valley to save his travel party.
Along the way we also visited Santa Margarita Ranch, Wichman, Washington, and the Ly-1 petroglyphs.
Huntington Mill
This rare Huntington mill used rollers to crush ore. It operates similarly to an arrastra but crushes ore on the sides instead of the bottom. The date on the mill is 1886, so it is likely after the Lane family. This one was engine powered.
Mills
Mill Foundations
Santa Margarita Ranch
Wichman
Wichman was first known as the Wright Ranch in 1883. It was a small settlement on the East Walker River. The Wichmans moved into the Wright ranch and opened a post office in 1911 for the local ranches. The couple served as postmasters. The post office remained open until 1941.
Follow me on social media:
Leave a Reply