Lander County
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PRINCIPAL TOWNS.
Austin leads in age as it does alphabetically the
towns of Lander, while Amador, once its rival, has passed to the list of
"deserted towns and cities." The growth of Austin and its history will
constitute the major part of the history of the county. Should one look for it
on the map, it will be found in latitude 30° 29' 30", and in longitude 40° 4'
west from Washington, or almost exactly in the center of the State. Senator M.
J. Farrell, in a lecture before the Reese River Pioneers, gave such a sketch of
its history that it is reproduced in the following: —
When I arrived in
Austin in April, 1863, there was but one house, unfinished, and a few brush
tents. Clifton was at that time a very lively mining camp, containing probably
twenty or twenty-five houses, and was rapidly filling up with pilgrims from
California, but the grand rush had not commenced. I made a trip to California,
in September of that year, and the emigration was then at its zenith. I did not
take the trouble to count, but others did, and one who traveled over the road on
horseback, and was part of two days off the main track, reported 274 freight
teams (carrying freight at fifteen to twenty cents per pound), nineteen
passenger wagons, three pack trains, sixty-nine horsemen, and thirty-one footmen
between Austin and Virginia. Another recorded 400 teams of all descriptions,
counted in a stage ride between the same places, and it would be safe to say
that there were one-third as many on the way from Salt Lake City and the East.
At the same time two lines of stages from Virginia were booked for six or seven
days ahead; and parties in Virginia who never intended to come to Austin made a
good speculation by booking and selling their chances, at a good advance, to
persons who were afraid the claims would all be located before they could get to
the scene. In fact, the road was literally crowded with people in wagons,
stages, carriages and carts, on horseback, on donkey's, with saddles and without
saddles, with hand-carts, wheel-barrows, on foot, and in every other conceivable
mode of traveling, all rushing wildly to Reese River, the land of promise, the
poor man's paradise, the Mecca of fortune's devotees. They seemed to have but
one idea, with which they were perfectly saturated, and that was to get to
Austin quick. It was impossible not to get excited when brought in contact with
this eager crowd of people; and those who smiled at the recital when at a
distance, in California or at the East, were the wildest of the wild when they
reached hero. Houses were built, tents erected, and brush shanties thrown
together, and in an incredibly short space of time a town had sprung up as if by
the touch of an enchanter's wand. Water was scarce, and an enterprising firm
that retailed it in carts, cleared from $1,000 to $1,200 per week. The dust
became unbearable, by reason of the immense amount of teaming and travel, and an
Austin bath was described as composed of two inches of cold water in a big tub,
a piece of brown soap, a napkin, and a dollar and a half. The whole surrounding
section was laid off into lots, streets, blocks, mining claims and water rights.
Even wet ground was made the subject of proprietary interest. City lots sold all
the way from $100 to $8,000 apiece. During the summer of 1863, building
operations were carried on with the greatest energy, and in addition to
innumerable tents and shanties, 366 houses were built. Fortune-hunters from
California brought their houses with them, having them all ready to put up on
arrival at Austin. New mining excitements occurred constantly, new districts
were discovered and organized, new towns were laid off, and thousands who had
hurried to Austin hurried off as eagerly elsewhere, and yet the Reese River
metropolis contained 10,000 people. Money was abundant, chiefly in twenty-dollar
gold pieces, which nobody could change, and provisions were correspondingly
high. Flour, at one time, sold at fifty dollars per hundred weight. Every
industrial avocation and every profession had representatives, and saloons and
gambling dens were ample for all emergencies. Stages departed regularly to
Watertown, Canyon City, Big Creek, Washington, Ione, Yandleville, Yankee Blade,
Butte City, Geneva, Coral City, Jacobsville, Lander City, Pizarro, Clinton,
Centerville, Augusta, Bolivia, Unionville, Star City and a multitude of places
no longer heard of. From California and Utah pack-trains were constantly
arriving, and even an air of oriental magnificence was imparted to the scene by
the advent of a long train of camels, loaded to an astonishing extent. A duel
occurred, a Young Men's Christian Association was formed, killings were common,
six ore mills were put up, from ten to twenty mining organizations were
incorporated daily, an enormous postal and express business was transacted and
more than fifteen hundred offices were opened in San Francisco for the sale of
the hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of stock of the thousands of Reese
River mining companies."
Some additional accounts of early events have
been furnished by John Frost, of the Manhattan Company. He says that Felix
O'Neil, J. Q. C. Vandenbosch, George Buffet, and himself, arrived in Austin on
the eighteenth day of December, 1862, and found a Mr. Marshall and William Cole
living in a cabin at Clifton, and running what was known as the Highland ,Mary
Tunnel, opposite the present site of the International Hotel, on the south side
of the canon, at a point which is now near the middle of the town of Austin.
There was no one else there at the time, and as they wore the first to build a
cabin, they could properly be called the first settlers, although the first
discovery of the mines was made by the pony rider.
Mr. Frost and his
partners located claims known as tho North Star, Oregon and Southern Light, and
then returned to the Truckee River to spend the winter.
They returned in
March, 1863, and built the first cabin in Austin, which was of logs. The claims
they located formed the nucleus of the present Manhattan Company. The company
was first known as O'Neil, Frost A: Co.; then as the Oregon Company, under which
name a ten-stamp mill was built and operated for two years. In June, 1865, the
property was sold to a New York Company, and the name changed to Manhattan. The
Frost & O'Neil survey was the first town location made, and its object was to
secure the water and mill site. After that, Marshall, previously referred to,
located a town site; and after him, D. E. Buell, W. C. Harrington, E. Welton,
and I. C. Bateman made a location. The citizens, together with the town-site
proprietors, built the grade which made Austin possible, as no teams could
previously get up from the valley. This was in the spring and summer of 1863.
Meantime, the town of Clifton, situated on the flat at the mouth of the canon,
had grown to respectable dimensions, but after the grade was built its
inhabitants commenced moving up to Austin, which became the central town. The
cost of the grade was $3,000. By the sixth of April, 1863, the town company had
also completed the International Hotel, at Austin, a building, 37x90 feet in
size; had donated $800 for the establishment of the Reveille newspaper; and one
of its members, Buell. had started to San Francisco to secure the erection of an
ore mill.
On April 6th a post-office was in operation at Clifton, with
John W. Clark as Postmaster. G. L. Turner also started a pony express for the
carrying of letters to the various mines, and to an office of Wells, Fargo &
Co., that was in charge of S. W. Langhorne. The Reveille of May 16th mentions
that Clifton has hotels and stores of every description; that Austin promises to
be a fine town; that flour is selling at seven dollars per hundred, whereas it
commanded twenty-two dollars in January; that the overland stages pass
regularly; that an extra line departs for Virginia City; and that Austin is
within four days' travel of San Francisco, and three days travel of Salt Lake
City. The same day it records the return of J. R. Jacobs from Carson City,
bringing with him his daughter Nellie and Mrs. J. Steadman, who were just over
from San Francisco. To meet these parties, "Wash. " Jacobs and General Ford
drove in a buggy to Mount Airey. Captain To-to-a, high chief of the Shoshones,
also met them at New Pass Station, accompanied by a band of his chosen braves.
His attachment to Mr. J. R. Jacobs was remarkable, whose life he several times
saved by giving timely warning of impending peril, and by putting out of the way
jealous or vicious members of the tribe. On one occasion To-to-a killed an
Indian who designed to assassinate Mr. Jacobs for the reason that the latter had
given the Indian some medicine which failed to effect a cure. On May 17th,
twenty families arrived from the States, and six families from California. On
May 23d it is recorded that ''the International Hotel is under the control of
the firm of Bateman, Paul & Buell. George W. Terrill has supervision of the
restaurant in connection with the same, and presides with dignity." In June
following, this hotel, which was but a lodging-house and saloon, was leased to
Charles Stebbins.
In addition to these W. K. Logan, at present Justice
of the Peace, kept a tobacco and stationery store. Jeff. Work, afterwards in the
United States Land Office, kept the Bank Exchange Saloon, and Daniel E. Waldron,
now of San Francisco, was attorney-at-law. Austin then contained about 450
citizens, and its business enterprise was represented by two hotels or
lodging-houses, two stores, five saloons, one billiard room, two meat markets,
one bakery, two stationery stores, three blacksmith shops, one wagon shop, one
variety store, three laundries, one lodging-house and a new one in course of
construction, one livery stable, one barber shop, one tailor shop, telegraph
office, Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express Office — John Leach, Agent — Turner's
Express Office, two adobe yards, one dairy, one printing office, two lawyers,
four Notaries Public, one sign painter, four carpenters, four stone masons, one
boot and shoe store, one physician.
In July of this year Miss Jennie B.
Rauch started a school in a brush tent. The Reveille of July 29th records the
death of Annie McDonald, and alludes to it as ''the first from natural causes."
The first child, a daughter, was born to Mrs. W. M. Middleton, of Upper Austin,
in the latter part of June; and, on July 4th, the first marriage took place — C.
Bryant to Mrs. J. E. Leet.
AUSTIN THE COUNTY SEAT.
By a vote of
the people at the election held September 2, 1863, Austin was declared the
county seat of Lander County. It was here that prospectors, miners and men of
means were congregating. It was thought to be the center of a series of
mineral-bearing veins, which would be found to extend through the earth for
miles around. These things, together with the fact that it occupied about the
geographical center of the State, from which parties in search of mines would
take their departure, and to which they would return, raised great hopes
concerning the future of Austin. The population increased rapidly, and the
highest prices were paid for mechanics of all kinds. Food was scarce, and $400
per thousand was paid for lumber. The cost of working ore was $100 per ton, and,
in January, 1864, the mills reported a total production of ore to date of
$100,000.
On the second of January, 1864, a fire company was organized,
which was called the Hook and Ladder Company of Austin, with ten charter
members. Wm. J. Brown was elected President, and J. K. Fisher, Foreman. At a
meeting held January 11th the name was changed to Pioneer Hook and Ladder
Company, and under this name the organization exists at the present time, with
the following officers: George W. Dixon, President; W. Walton, Foreman; R. Y.
Woodward, First Assistant; John Gray, Second Assistant; W. A. Clifford,
Secretary, and W. P. Dyer, Treasurer. The company now consists of twenty-six
active and four honorary members. The first outfit was obtained by donations
from citizens, but the present one was purchased by the company itself. In July,
1880, the funds of the company on hand, derived from dues and fines, was
$706.46.
Since the organization of the first company two other companies
have been organized, the Manhattan Hose and Eagle Hose. The regular officers of
the Fire Department of the city at the present time are, Melville Curtis, Chief
Engineer; A. Nicholls, First Assistant; A. Sower, Second Assistant. The Board of
Delegates are C. P. Soule, Wm. Schwin, Geo. Alsop, J. B. Eddy, R. Y. Woodward,
Joseph McGinness and Patrick Lynch — the first three named being respectively
President, Treasurer and Secretary.
INCORPORTED AS A CITY.
In
January, 1864, ii petition was largely signed by the citizens of Austin, asking
the Legislature to incorporate Clifton, Austin and Upper Austin into one body
politic, to be known as the "City of Austin." On the seventeenth of February,
1864, the Governor signed the bill which was passed in accordance with such
petition, and the City of Austin was launched with high hopes and brilliant
prospects. The first city election, which was held April 19, 1864, and at which
there were 1428 votes cast, resulted in the choice of the following officers:
Mayor, Charles Holbrook; Clerk, L. M. McKenney; Recorder, W. P. Harrington;
Marshal, Louis M. Bodrow; Assessor, N. McLean; Aldermen, Wm. W. Hobart, Andrew
Nichols, Thomas A. Waterman, Thomas W. Triplett, Dudley Sale, G. F. Dinsmore and
S. O. Clifford.
On the day following this election, occurred the
celebrated incident of the sale of Gridley's sack of flour, the particulars of
which will be found on pages 268, 269 and 270 of this work. By the terms of the
Act of incorporation, the City Recorder was ex officio a Justice of the Peace;
the City Marshal was also City Collector; and the City Clerk was Treasurer and
Clerk of the Board of Aldermen. The City Attorney was elected by the Common
Council, the choice falling on W. H. Beatty. Of the above-named officers, Bodrow
was killed at Belmont, Dinsmoro and Clifford died, and the remainder reside as
follows: McKenney, in California; Harrington, in San Francisco; Harmon and
Hobart, in Eureka County; Nichols, in Austin; Sale and Waterman, in Elko County;
Triplett, in White Pine, and Beatty, late Supreme Judge, is now a resident of
Sacramento.
WATER COMPANY AND STOCK BOARD.
William C.
Harrington, J. C. Bateman, John Frost, Felix O'Neil, J. Q. C. Vandenbosh, and
others organized a water company; and on the sixteenth of February, 1864, the
Legislature gave them a charter, granting exclusive privileges in supplying the
town of Austin with water, the same to extend over a period of fifteen years. By
an amendatory Act, passed February 17, 1877, this charter was made to cover an
additional period of four years.
On the fourteenth of March, 1864, the
"Pioneer Stock and Exchange Board" was organized for the purpose of dealing in
mining stocks, but there was never very much business done, and the seats never
commanded fabulous prices.
REACTION AND VARYING FORTUNES.
After
such a period of wild excitement and feverish prosperity as accompanied the
discovery of ore in Lander County, it was but natural that a reaction should
follow. It came in the winter of 1864-65, and many who had been enormously rich
in expectation were compelled to prospect again, or seek employment outside of
the city. However, in the spring, speculators swarmed in from the East, claims
were purchased, and a rage for building quartz mills ensued; and although the
people sometimes overdid the business, and by the employment of incompetent
superintendents, made partial failures in this line, yet Austin was destined to
grow and become an important town. Wild speculation ceased, prudent ventures
succeeded, and business flowed on smoother and in more enduring channels.
A fair estimate of the business transacted there may be formed from the
simple statement of the passengers, produce, and. building materials that were
taken over the roads leading into the city during 1865. The Overland .Mail
Company carried between Virginia City and Austin 5,840 passengers, charging
forty dollars each. The first part of the year the Reese River Fast Freight
Company ran a tri-weekly line of stages, and carried several hundred passengers.
Other occasional passenger wagons probably brought the number up to 6,000 for
the year; 7,620 tons of freight, consisting of merchandise, machinery, and
lumber were transported from San Francisco to Austin at a total cost, for
freight alone, of $1,381,800. Lumber was brought from the Sierra at a cost of
six cents per pound for freight. Besides the above, there were about 525 tons of
freight hauled through this city to Salt Lake, Egan Canon, and other points
east, making a total of over 8,000 tons arriving at Austin. The principal
portion went through the care of the merchants of Austin, being reshipped at
this point. The rates of freight between Salt Lake and Austin ranged from six to
nine cents per pound in coin; and from San Francisco to Austin from eight to
twelve cents during ordinary weather; but in severe winters and springs they
sometimes reached eighteen cents per pound. The charges on freights received at
Austin during 1865 averaged over $4,000 daily.
The lumber at that time
used at Austin and vicinity consisted of two varieties. The first-class article
was brought from the Sierra Nevada. The secondclass was manufactured from native
pinon, and was known as Reese River lumber. The receipts for 1865 were as
follows: —
Sierra Nevada lumber 1,170,000 feet
Reese River lumber
1,200,000 feet
Total 2,370,000 feet.
This lumber cost, Sierra
Nevada, $250 per thousand; Reese River lumber, $125 to $150 per thousand. During
that year, 1,600,000 shingles and shakes were received from the Sierra. The
shingles cost $20 per thousand, and the shakes from $80 to $100 per thousand.
The number of brick manufactured during the season was 2,500,000; price, $12 to
$18 per thousand. A great quantity of brick was used during the year for the
construction of mills, roasting furnaces, smoke stacks, stores, and dwellings;
250 tons of lime were also used at a cost of $45 per ton. Estimates and prices
are always in coin, then at a great premium over the National, or Greenback,
currency.
During 1865 the amount of treasure that passed through the
office of Wells, Fargo & Co., at Austin, aggregated $6,000,000. A line of
telegraph connected with every section of the Union, and a mail arrived daily
both from the east and from the west, via the Overland Route. About 400i letters
were received daily, and about the same number were dispatched. Letters, papers,
and packages, were carried by express wherever stages went. Three banking houses
were in operation (one of them a National bank) purchasing bullion, furnishing
exchange, receiving deposits, loaning money, etc. The learned professions were
represented by twelve physicians, five clergymen, and thirty-three lawyers.
There were several private schools in addition to the public school, conducted
by competent teachers, in which the English and foreign languages were taught,
as well as vocal and instrumental music, drawing, dancing, and calisthenics.
DESTRUCTIVE RAIN-STORMS.
Although business had settled into more
conservative and legitimate channels, the White Pine excitement of 1868
attracted from Austin and vicinity large numbers of adventurous and enterprising
men. Home who were doing moderately well where they were, were willing to change
with even a remote prospect of doing better. In August of that year, also, great
damage was done to the town by a destructive rain-storm. It occurred on the
fifteenth day of the month. At half-past 2 o'clock in the afternoon a storm of
rain and hail, accompanied by sharp lightning, swept over the city, and at four
o'clock torrents of water poured down the canon and through Cedar Street,
destroying $80,000 worth of property.
The Reveille office, a one-story
brick structure that stood above the Court House, was swept away and one life
was lost. A man named Spernam was carried away in his saloon and drowned.
Six years afterwards a storm still more destructive to property visited the
city. In August, 1874, a cloud burst occurred among the hills east of the town,
and an immense volume of water poured down into Pony Canon, and rushed through
the streets of Austin, dashing trees, boulders and drift of every description
against the buildings, and creating great devastation. The inhabitants took the
alarm in time, and fled to the hills. No lives were lost; but sidewalks,
porches, roads, awnings and fences were demolished; goods and merchandise were
swept away, and three feet of mud and debris filled the streets and houses when
the waters had spent their force. The damage was estimated at $100,000, and the
scene presented was deplorable. Resolute and undismayed, the people set to work
to repair their loss, and within a few months no signs remained of the
catastrophe.
CHANGES AND PRESENT APPEARANCE.
During the latter
part of 1879 and the first part of 1880 the Nevada Central Railroad was built
between Battle Mountain, on the Central Pacific Railroad, and Clifton, giving
Austin railroad communication with San Francisco.
In the early part of
1881, Allen A, Curtis, one of the principal mine owners of Austin, constructed
the Austin City Railroad to Clifton, to connect with the Nevada Central. It is a
narrow-gauge road, and runs through the main street of the town.
There
have been several changes in the organic Act which created the city of Austin,
from time to time, and finally, the city was disincorporated by Act of the
Legislature, and Austin is now a quiet, peaceful, and pleasant country town.
The present population, according to the census report of 1880, consists of
1,992 persons; in addition to which there are 320 Indians and 120 Chinamen,
Austin is situated in a canon, running west into Reese River Valley, on the
western slope of the Toiyabe Mountains, and at an elevation of about 7,000 feet.
Surrounding it on all sides are mountains and sage-brush valleys. Its
streets are shaded, to some extent, principally with locust. Battle Mountain is
ninety miles to the northward; Eureka, seventy-four miles to the eastward;
Belmont, eighty-four miles to the southeastward; and Grantsville, seventy miles
west of south. Fuel, chiefly nut pine, is brought by rail from the mountains to
the northward. In the vicinity of the town are three cemeteries, which have been
decorated and beautified to some extent. One hotel, seven or eight stores, two
restaurants, fourteen saloons, three livery stables, three blacksmith shops, two
assay offices, a printing office, a telegraph office, an express office, a
foundry, and some railroad machine shops, comprise the leading industrial and
business establishments. The buildings are constructed of wood, stone, brick,
and adobe. The Catholic, Episcopal, and Methodist denominations are well
organized, and have each a clergyman, and a fine brick edifice of worship, and
have well-attended Sunday-schools. These churches are among the finest in the
State,
Public educational facilities consist of one school held in a
largo brick structure, capable of seating 400 pupils. Four teachers are
employed, and the number of pupils in attendance is about 350, The County
Hospital occupies a large brick building, and is under the management of the
County Commis sioners. The Court House, furniture, and the five lots surrounding
the structure cost $30,000. The sidewalks of Austin are plank. In the vicinity
of the town enough hay, barley, and vegetables are raised to supply the local
demand. The Masons, Odd Fellows, Rebekahs, Knights of Pythias, Red Men, Good
Templars, Reese River Pioneers, and Ancient Order of Hibernians, all have lodges
and societies. (See particulars elsewhere concerning the secret societies and
benevolent associations of the State.)
The only mill now in operation at
Austin is that of the Manhattan Company, which is a very complete establishment.
It was built in 1863 as the Oregon Mill, and rebuilt in 1865 by a New York
company, and transferred to the present company in 1875. Originally it consisted
of ten stamps, and had a capacity of ten tons, but now contains twenty stamps,
and has a capacity of twenty-two tons. Attached to it is a melting room and
machine shop. The roasting is done in a Stetefeldt furnace, only salt being used
in the process. The ore works to within ninety-three and one-half per cent, of
its assay value, and has done so for the past two years. The engine is of 120
horse-power. Formerly from fourteen to eighteen cords of wood per day were
required to run the mill, but since boilers, with upright tubes, have been put
in, the same work is accomplished with six cords. The cost of wood, delivered at
the mill, is twelve dollars per cord. The charge for working custom ore is
thirty-five dollars per ton, and was formerly forty-five dollars. Previous to
1867 no record of the amount of bullion worked at the mill was kept. Since then
the total amount has been to the value of $13,287, 874.67. In and around the
mill about forty men are employed, who receive four dollars each per day. The
present Manhattan Silver Mining Company is a San Francisco corporation, with the
following officers: President, John A. Paxton; Vice-President, C. P. Hubbell;
Secretary, John Crockett; Superintendent, Melville Curtis.
ALLEN A. CURTIS
Allen A. Curtis, the subject of this sketch, Is a native
of New Jersey, born November 1, 1838, in Passaic County, near the town of
Belleville, on the Passaic River. His father was an extensive paper
manufacturer, and his grandfather on his mother's side, Robert Morris, of New
Jersey, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Curtis
came to California in 1850, by water, and at once entered the employ of Van
Winkle & Duncan, iron merchants, at Sacramento, at thirty dollars per month and
board. He remained in the employ of this firm until 1865. During that time he
visited Austin, Nevada, in the interest of his employers, and being well pleased
with the prospects in that section of the country, concluded to locate there,
which he did in April, 1865, and filled the position of book-keeper for the
Oregon Milling and Mining Company, until, in August of that year, the company
sold its interest to the Manhattan Company, at which time Mr. Curtis entered the
employ of that company, and, with the exception of two months, filled the same
position he had held in the Oregon Company, until February, 1867, when he was
appointed Superintendent, in which capacity he served three years, at which time
he resigned, and his brother was appointed in his stead.
From the time
of his arrival in the country, he has been a stockholder in that company to a
limited extent, and, to demonstrate his faith in the value of the property,
assumed all he was able of the indebtedness of the Manhattan Company, in 1866,
that eventually proved the sagacity of his judgment, and resulted greatly to his
pecuniary advantage.
At the time he became Superintendent, the
indebtedness of the company was $180,000, and within one year that obligation
was paid, and eventually Mr. Curtis, with his associates, became the purchasers
of the entire property. He built a narrow-gauge railroad from the mill, a
distance of two miles, which connects with the Nevada Central Railroad, in the
outskirts of Austin.
He is one of the firm of Paxton & Curtis, of the
Bank of Austin, and also connected with the Paxton & Co. Bank of Eureka. He has
twice held the office of County Treasurer, and is interested in the wholesale
grocery house of Gage, Curtis & Co., at Austin, Lander County, Nevada. In
connection with others, he erected a fifteen-stamp mill at Mineral Hill, that
was under his supervision while being Superintendent of the Manhattan Mill, and
was situated eighty-five miles northeast therefrom. With a relay of three horses
he often made the trip between these two points in eight and one-half hours. The
Smoky Valley Salt Works, in Nye County, are also his property. In Reno, Washoe
County, there is also a banking house controlled by Paxton, Curtis & Co., and,
in the palmy days of Belmont, they also had an establishment of the kind there.
Mr. Curtis was married November 1, 1877, to Mary C. Curtis — who, though bearing
the same name, was no relative, until after the date mentioned above — in
Austin, and is a native of Sacramento, California. Their union has been blessed
with one child, now living, about two years of age, named Allen Ralston. Mr.
Curtis has been closely identified with many enterprises, and is one of the
solid men of the State.
ANDREW NICHOLLS
Is a native
of New York; born in the town of Geneseo, Livingston County, September 6, 1832.
His parents wore from Scotland. In the year 1836 they moved from the native town
of the subject hereof to Coburg, Canada. His education was consequently obtained
on Canadian soil, and at the age of seventeen years he was apprenticed to a dry
goods firm, and after a time was a clerk in the same establishment. In 1855 he
went into business for himself in western Canada, achieving success; but in the
year 1858 was taken with the milling fever, and started for California. On his
arrival he found the Frazer River excitement somewhat subsided, and turned his
attention in other directions, spending four years in the mines in Butte County.
In January, 1862, he crossed the mountains to the Territory of Nevada, and
located in Carson City; and about one year later came to Austin, Lander County,
where he engaged in the hardware business, which he still continues. In 1869 he
started a lumber-yard, and is now in full possession of that branch of industry
in that town. During his residence in Austin he has made many investments in
mines, which have not proved as remunerative as he could wish. In 1866 Mr.
Nicholls received the appointment as Assistant Assessor of United States
Internal Revenue, and held the position until 1871, at which time he resigned.
In the years 1875 and 1877 he was a member of the Nevada Legislature, and was
one of the parties to procure the passage of the bill that resulted in giving
Lander County a railroad, of which he is a director and stockholder. In politics
he is a Republican. His rise in the world to his present high position among his
fellow-men, and the accumulation of his estates, is wholly due to his own energy
and perseverance, having received no pecuniary assistance from any one. He was
married March 9, 1863, to Miss E. H. Wells, of San Francisco, California.
Extracted, 2021 Aug 27 by Norma Hass, from History of Nevada, published in 1881, pages 465-469.
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