On the trip to Winnemucca, I stopped to pay our respects to the Strode Family.
On Tuesday, December 2nd, 1980, at their mine on Mjuba Mountain, three members of the Strode family were brutally murdered. Emerry was 71, Mary was 72, and their daughter Merian Treadwell was 41. Sadly, their son, who lived in a different house on the property, found them upon his return from a trip.
What was described as an “Indian friend” erected a memorial on their property. This is likely Frank Van Zant, known as Chief Thunder, who created Thunder Mountain in Imlay. The Strodes are buried in Winnemucca, along with their son Frank, who died 10 years later.
Mark Rogers was convicted of the murders. He stole the Strodes’ truck and fled to Washington, where he attempted to cross into Canada, but he was denied entry. In 1981, he was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death.
The story was not over there. In 2015, the death penalty was overturned. In 2022, the convictions were overturned due to ineffective legal counsel on the insanity defense. Nevada had the option to re-try him or accept a not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity outcome.
On January 15, 2026, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision, finding Rogers incompetent to stand trial and ordering his civil commitment to a forensic mental health facility as a danger to himself and others.
Unfortunately, someone desecrated the memorial at the Majuba mine. While some of the damage may be due to time, there are bullet holes in the marker. The memorial remains as a marker of the tragic end of the Strode Family.
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