Eagle Valley (Nevada)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Eagle Valley is the area encompassing
Carson City Carson City, officially the Carson City Consolidated Municipality, is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the 6th most populous city in the state. The m ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
. The valley was first settled during the
California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...
of 1849. The discovery of Nevada's Comstock Lode in 1859 established the economic importance of the area, which would become the site of the Nevada State Capitol.


History

The area was historically occupied by the indigenous Washoe before the arrival of American settlers. The Bartleson–Bidwell Party is believed to have passed through the area on the way to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
in 1841. Kit Carson and John C. Fremont rode into the valley, which was still under Mexican rule, during their survey of the
Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...
in the mid-1840s. In 1848, Mexico ceded the region to the United States after the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
. Soon afterwards, the California Gold Rush brought a wave of prospectors in search of fortune. In September 1850, the valley was part of the newly established Utah Territory. Many early settlers included
Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...
led by Colonel John Reese. In 1851, Reese and a band of eighteen men established "Mormon Station", the first trading post of the Nevada region, near the valley at a location that would become the town of
Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
. When they were recalled to
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
,
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
by Mormon leader
Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...
, the land was sold to local resident John Mankin. North of Genoa, in the area of what would become Carson City, another early trading post was established, known as Eagle Station. The post was likely located near present-day Fifth and Thompson streets in Carson City. The surrounding area was called Eagle Ranch. The name reportedly came from an eagle shot by ranch manager Frank Hall, who displayed it on the trading post wall. The station served as a stop on the California Trail.


Establishment of Carson City

In 1858, Abraham Curry came to Eagle Valley after he found the real estate in Genoa to be too expensive. Curry partnered with attorneys John J. Musser and Frank M. Proctor to purchase the trading post and much of the valley for a $300 down payment out of a total sale price of $1,000. Musser and Proctor worked to carve a separate territory from Utah, while Curry promoted the newly founded
Carson City Carson City, officially the Carson City Consolidated Municipality, is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the 6th most populous city in the state. The m ...
. Curry set aside and donated of land for the site of the future Nevada State Capitol.


Silver mines and statehood

In July 1859, Musser became president and Proctor became vice-president of the constitutional convention to establish the Territory of Nevada. Curry served as the delegate from Eagle Valley. In 1859, the discovery of the Comstock Lode east of Carson City was made public. It was the largest silver find in history, attracting tens of thousands of miners to the area. Carson City became a station of the Pony Express in 1860, and was designated the territorial capital in 1861. In 1862, the Nevada Territorial Legislature leased the Warm Springs Hotel, located in the valley east of Carson City, from Curry to hold meetings and detain prisoners. The legislature had been using the site's prison quarry to provide stone material for the Nevada State Capitol. In 1864, the territorial legislature acquired the hotel along with 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land from Curry for $80,000. As the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
was being fought in the Eastern United States, Nevada became a state on October 31, 1864. In 1873, another major silver find called Big Bonanza continued the prosperity of the area. In that same year, railway service was opened by the Virginia and Truckee Railroad to transport ore and timber.


Geography

Eagle Valley is a tributary to the Carson River basin. Runoff from the valley has contributed to
flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...
ing of Carson City, notably on January 3, 1997.


See also

* History of Nevada * Silver mining in Nevada


References


Further reading

* * *


External links


Myth #24: Eagle Valley and Carson City
at the Nevada State Library and Archives {{Authority control Landforms of Carson City, Nevada Valleys of Nevada