Elko Time-Line

Western Shoshone Indians in Nevada
			Columbus lands at West Indies: October 12, 1492
Declaration of Independence Signed:  July 4, 1776
			Louisiana Purchase:  July 18, 1803
			Jedediah Strong Smith First Documented White Man in Nevada (central Nevada): 1826
The first recorded white men in the Elko area were fur trappers led by Peter Skene Ogden in 1827					"Peter Skene Ogden was a chief trader with the Hudson's Bay Company. In the period 1824-1829, he led five trapping expeditions to the "Snake Country" -- the upper reaches of the Columbia."
Walker Lake, Nevada	Joseph Walker leads group along Humboldt River to Ca.:  1833
			John C. Fremont with Tracker Kit Carson in Northwestern Nevada:   1834 - 1844
			First Immigrants - Bartleson-Bidwell Party - Cross Nevada: 1841
Stephens-Murphy-Townsend Party  first wagon train over California Trail: 1844
Congress approves a declaration of war on Mexico: May 13, 1846
			Donner Party (Wagon Train) at present Elko:  Saturday, September 26, 1846
Capture of Mexico City by General Winfield Scott: September 14, 1847
		Gold Discovered at Sutter's Mill, Ca:  January 24, 1848
		US acquires Nevada from Mexico Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: February 2, 1848
Brigham Young, Territorial Governor and leader of the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City.		US Congress establishes Utah Territory (now Utah, Idaho, and Nevada): 1850		Brigham Young with pictures of 21 of his wives
			Pony Express (S. of Elko):  April, 1860 - November, 1861
			First Transcontinental Telegraph (Follows Pony Express Route Across Nevada):  October 24, 1861
		Civil War:  1861 - 1865
Ruby Valley Treaty Western Shoshone Indians Of Nevada: October 1, 1863
			Nevada Statehood (36th State):  October 31, 1864
13th Amendment Abolishes Slavery: 1865			Click Photo To Enlarge
Gold Discovered in Tuscarora Nevada:  Spring 1867
			Elko Founded:  December 29, 1868
Transcontinental Railroad Line Open: May 10, 1869
			Elko County Created by State Legislature:  1869
Lewis R. "Broadhorns" Bradley, from Elko County, elected 2nd governor of Nv: 1871
University of Nevada opened in Elko: 1874
			Automobile Invented: 1886, Germany
G.S. Garcia establishes saddle shop in Elko:  1896
			Wright Brothers Airplane First Flight:  December 17, 1903
Western Pacific Railroad (now Union Pacific) lays track through Elko:  1908
Henry Ford Began Mass Production of Automobile:  1913
The Nevada School of Industry (now Nevada Youth Training Center) came into being in 1913 as a school and facility designed to serve delinquent and needy youths for the State of Nevada (1940 photo).  The same year that Elko-Lamoille Power Company brought electricity to Elko.

Telephone: 1914

Lincoln Highway 1st Transcontinental Highway (Ely Route): 1916

WWI:  1914 - 1918

Elko Indian Colony Established:  March 23, 1918

Elko Airport - The Early Years:  1919

The Great Victory Highway (Through Elko): 1922

US 40 Completed: 1927

Great Depression:  1929 - 1939

Nv Governor, Fred Balzar, approves "wide open" gambling:  March 19, 1931

WWII: 1939 - 1945

Big Name Nevada Entertainment - Commercial Hotel:  1941

Nevada Youth Training Center - New Facility:  1962

First community college in Nevada opened in Elko: 1967

Carlin Gold Mine Discovered:

 I-80 Constructed: 1975

Links

HOWARD HICKSON'S HISTORIES

Nevada Resident Populations — 1861–1920

Compton's Encyclopedia Nevada Time-Line

"Carlin Trend"

© Gary A. Horton
July 1995
[Tables and graphs updated 1997]

Although gold had first been discovered along the "Carlin Trend" in 1907, it would take the combination of high prices and advanced technology in the extraction and milling processes to separate the average of only about 0.06 ounce of gold from each ton of surrounding earth to promote the extensive development of these new mining operations. Today, the Carlin Trend constitutes Nevada's richest gold deposit and covers a vast area of north-central Nevada, running in approximately a northwesterly direction from Carlin, in Elko County, through the northeast corner of Eureka County, and back into Elko County.

The full extent of this body of ore is still unknown. Upon this expanse of potential wealth would sit some of the richest and most productive gold mines in the United States. Today, the Carlin Trend mines, along with other major Nevada operations, primarily in the adjoining counties of Humboldt, Nye, and Lander, produce approximately 6.8 million ounces of gold each year valued at almost $2.4 billion. In conjunction with their gold mining operations, these areas also produce approximately 22.8 million ounces of silver, making Nevada the nation's current leading producer in both of these precious metals.

Despite this proven mineral wealth, the State's mining would never again play the dominant role it did in fostering statehood for Nevada in 1864 and bringing settlement to this sometimes harsh and inhospitable land. Currently, mining employment makes up less than 2 percent of Nevada's total number of jobs, as compared to the gaming and tourism industry which directly accounts for almost 27 percent of all jobs in the State. In late 1993 alone, primarily on the opening of three casino complexes on the Las Vegas Strip, Clark County (Las Vegas) added more jobs (16,700) to its hotel, gaming, and recreation industry sector than existed in Nevada's entire mining industry (13,100 jobs).