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inside Springs Preserve
CONGRATULATIONS to the members and friends of the Friends of NSMLV!!! YOU DID IT! Your kindness and generosity over the past two months allowed us to smash our goal of $5,000, reaching a total to date of $5,547!!! A fantastic number that validates the support and generosity of the Many Friends of the Museum. There may still be a few checks in the mail, so the final number won't be known until September 4.
When we started the 2-month campaign on July 1, we established an aggressive goal of $5,000. We wanted to aim high and dream big. The Board is so pleased that we exceeded that goal. It is a tribute to the Friend’s members that they demonstrated their care for the Museum that they donated so freely. A total of 43 people and 3 organizations have contributed to our campaign to date. That is truly outstanding! The Friends Board deeply appreciates and values the support and generosity of every member who helped support this campaign. Thank you so much for your kindness!
To date, your contributions have purchased the following items:
Kiel Ranch’s Phase as Boulderado Dude Ranch Drew Celebrities
by Joan Whitely
The Friends’ Aug. 20 guest speaker brought the history of Kiel Ranch full circle.
Speaker Jeff Alpert opened with the North Las Vegas ranch’s start in the 1850s when Mormons at the Las Vegas Fort encouraged local Paiutes to farm at a water source two miles north, a site that became Kiel Ranch.
Then, Alpert closed with a new development: Earlier this year, human remains that originally had been buried at the ranch were privately re-interred there, with the city of North Las Vegas planning to hold a public ceremony once COVID restrictions ease. (In his talk Alpert addressed the circuitous path travelled by those remains, which this article will eventually disclose.)
But Alpert - a retired California middle-school math teacher who’s taken up research of Southern Nevada history - started with a swift overview of the ranch before the 1930s, when the working ranch turned into the Boulderado guest ranch.
Originally known as the “Indian farm” because the Mormons tried to instill a farming lifestyle on the Paiutes, the site soon took the name of Conrad Kiel, a former 49-er. He came in the 1870s to visit friend O.D. Gass, ranching on the abandoned fort’s lands, and stayed on. Kiel, who was already in his 60s, over time built up to 240 acres. In part he made a living taking periodic trips to sell his produce and other supplies to miners at Eldorado Canyon, roughly 40 miles away. He also milled lumber at Mount Charleston and produced a bit of wine.
Railroad enters the picture
After Kiel’s death in 1894, son Edwin carried on the work helped by Paiute laborers, then was joined by brother Will. The brothers died in 1900; William Clark’s San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad bought the ranch from heirs for $100,000 in 1901. However, the railroad laid track, instead, on land from the 640-acre Stewart Ranch it bought in 1903. Gass had lost the ranch in 1882 after defaulting on a loan to Archibald Stewart. His widow, Helen, sold most of it in 1903 to the San Pedro line.
The railroad leased out the Kiel acreage for a decade, but John S. Park, a prominent Las Vegas banker, bought it in 1911. First it was his second home, and eventually his family’s permanent residence. The renamed Park Farms became a social hub for Las Vegas society, with the new upscale white mansion hosting socials, recitals, weddings and other fun occasions, according to Alpert.
In 1924, Edward Taylor, a Pasadena, Calif., businessman, bought Park Farms as a getaway for himself and his new wife. He lured a ranch hand - who was living in a tent - away from the nearby Stewart acres to serve as his foreman by promising high wages and a new house onsite. That was Frank Allen with wife Zelda. They started leasing the ranch as their own in 1926, and held it until 1939. Their era was marked by a trade in wild, broken-in horses from the Spring Mountains, and Sunday rodeos. “They charged, like 15, 20 cents to watch the rodeo activity,” Alpert said.
Dude Ranch Starts
In 1939 two Losee brothers and their wives took over the Kiel acreage to run, in Alpert’s words, a “dude ranch combined with a divorce ranch.” They renamed it the Boulderado Ranch. For $35-50 a day, each guest received room, board and entertainment. For one frequent activity, each was “assigned a saddle and a horse to ride on,” Alpert explained.
The operation lasted until 1958. Families and celebrities took advantage of its offerings. Star Mickey Rooney as well as other famous people such as authors and elite business executives sought pre-divorce seclusion there.
From the 1960s the ranch sat unoccupied for 50 years. The city of North Las Vegas acquired it in 1976, but made no firm decisions for decades. Finally the city broke ground for a park in 2015. Then Kiel Ranch Historic Park opened in 2016. It holds the second-oldest building in Southern Nevada: an adobe cottage with a cellar built by Conrad Kiel, since restored.
As to those dead bodies that had been buried at Kiel Ranch ... They belonged to brothers Edwin and Will Keil, a frequent house guest named Mary Latimore, and an unidentified baby. Back in 1975 UCLA researchers had exhumed the remains for analysis, concuding that the brothers had both been murdered, contradicting a long-held theory that one had shot the other and then committed suicide.
After that, UNLV stored the remains for decades. Alpert attended a ceremony in early 2020 when North Las Vegas interred those remains in a new marble mausoleum at the park.
Museum Honors Historical Voting Rights Achievements
by Sarah Hulme
August saw three very important anniversaries in terms of suffrage in the United States, and the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, has been active in commemorating these events.
On August 18th 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment which protect a women’s right to vote; the last one required in order to have the amendment adopted. On August 26th 1920, the 19th Amendment was duly adopted as part of the United States Constitution, and this day was later proclaimed to be Women’s Equality Day - not only commemorating the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calling attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality. This is particularly pertinent as, although the 19th Amendment was a significant step forward for women, it did not address the systemic barriers preventing most immigrants, the poor, or Black, Indigenous, and People of Color from voting.
On 6th August 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed all state discriminatory voting practices, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, which did break down some of those barriers, although this has subsequently been amended somewhat by the Supreme Court.
All of these events, challenges faced, and achievements, are featured in three exhibits that make up the Prejudice & Pride: the Fight to Vote suffrage program:
We hope that everyone enjoyed this program, and we look forward to re-opening the museum in the near future as Prejudice & Pride: the Fight to Vote will be available for the remainder of 2020.
Stuff-A-Truck is Happening Again
The FRIENDS of the Nevada State Museum Las Vegas second annual Stuff-a-Truck donation campaign will be held on September 26 from 9 AM TO 1 PM! This campaign will cost you no money, doesn't require you to attend an event, maintains social distancing, and requires just a little bit of effort to make it a successful campaign. We are collecting all your old small household items ( clothing, small appliances, games, toys, shoes, etc.) – everything you would throw out in a spring or fall cleaning. We realize spring cleaning this year was greatly hindered by the COVID breakout. So, we are hoping that everyone can gather together their spring items, do a fall clean-up, and then donate it all to the Friends on September 26!
We are paid by the Savers Organization for each pound of material we collect, so the more pounds you donate, the more money the FRIENDS raise to use to benefit the Museum. We are asking everyone to donate 3-4 large plastic bags of goods – contact your friends, your neighbors, your family! Get goods from everyone! COLLECT YOUR ITEMS NOW, WHILE IT'S ON YOUR MIND. DON'T DELAY AND DON'T FORGET! TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A NO COST, EASY WAY TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE FRIENDS.
There are two ways to donate:
We realize the Coronovirus has affected everyone, financially and otherwise. The STUFF-A-TRUCK campaign is an easy way for everyone to donate things around their house that are no longer useful or needed but can benefit the FRIENDS fund raising. PLEASE DONATE!!!! SEE YOU ON THE 26TH!!
2020 EVENTS, NV STATE MUSEUM, LV NOTICE: DUE TO THE CURRRENT COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS, ALL PLANNED EVENTS, ARE CANCELED. CONSULT OUR SITE OR NEXT MONTH'S NEWSLETTER FOR ANY UPDATES. PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, YOUR FAMILY, AND THE WORLD. |
To see the complete schedule for the year, please go to our Events page.