Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

~* as Q. * CYCLI GAPORTION OF THE OLD WEST Story and Photos by cun Boswell "Smokers and chewers will please spit on each other and not on the stove or the floor", reads an old sign in a Carson City, Nevada saloon. The venerable hang-out for atter-work businessmen and acquaintances or long standing hasn't changed 'a whit from the roarln' days or gold and silver mining around the turn or the century. lt s old style front, hardwood bar, the signs, pictures and paintings on the walls are the same as in 49' er days. "Whisky and hard liquor" are still 50 cents a drink, and ac cor ding to another ancient ann0uncement on the wall, "Men may pour their own Inks; ladies need not; hogs may no t, ' , The great wide open country or Nevada, least populated of any state in the union except Alaska, is ideal for motorcycle touring and exploring. Add 10 ' it a trip along Highway 49 in California, rapidly becoming known as the highway or the 49'ers, and you have a trip worthY or the most diScerning rider. Long s tretches of little-traveled and sparcely populated roadway In Nevada urge one to crack the throttle wide to see what the old bike will do, while mountain grades with their sharp curves offer a challenge to sk1ll and control In more exacting situations in the California section. All the while, evidence of the pioneers who settled the west, who populated Its boom towns and built Its transportation systems is plainiy visible. Nevada probably has more ghost towns per square mUe than any other state, even though not all are ghost towns to the extent that no one except the phantoms or long departed residents live there. But, along with present day live occupants and some oldtimex:s, there exist many ghostly reminders of the past - defunct mining tunnels with -piles or ta1lIng dotting the b1llsideS, ramshackle buildings or pine and redwood whose sun and wind warped sUently but eloquently or rough days when men were men, where the single-action Colt was the equalizer, and where women were the strangest and scarcest of creatures. ThIs was the country where the lure or gold drew hoards or men to live in hards hiP, poverty, and danger, where lucky mIne operators grew rIch by exploiting the earth's treasures and the common miner's labor . Fortunes were made In merchandiZing and freighting. RaIlroads were built, extended and discarded as mining camps flourished and fizzled. Goldfield, Tonopah and Virglnia City in Nevada, Auburn, Angels Camp and Columbia in California were some or the historic mining areas still worth a passel of the vistior's time for a vtstt, The California gold discovery in 1849 touched off the great rush to the west and prompted the exploration of Nevada as well. The two areas, much aUke In the structure or their mining camps and 10 their population make- ups were and are completely dissimilar in terrain. Nevada, part of a great geological basin at one time, but a high one, is largely devoid or trees and water. The southwestern part is a land or vast distances in t e r s per sed Irregulary with small towns and the remnants or mining Deserted street In Goldfield, Nevada remains a polcnant link willi the town's Illustrious past. settlements and Isolated mining ventures. Main roads are good. The b1gbway, as Is typIcal of most places In Nevada, stretches across a dry lake bed or valley, climbs a wlnd1ng grade to the summit or a pass , then descends Into another ancient lake bed In an intermnible struggle to transcend the wilderness. Rugged rocky peaks and rough ridges or black lava rise spectaeularlly into the sides. A storm of one kind or another Is usually visible In one or more directions across the expansive Iandscape ; The land Is largely barren except for scattered sage and cottonwoods along stream beds. A reliable machine is a valuable asset in this country - along with a large canteen of water. Highway 49, by contrast, In California leads north-south through the slopIng forested foothllls of the Sierras In all their spring greenery and fragrant wild flower beauty. Twisting and turning along one canyon wall atter another In descending to rIver level then ascending the opposite wall It takes the rider through the great canyons of the American and the Merced Rivers and past many or the gold towns and d1gg1ngs which played such an important part in developIng the west. Most or the old mining towns are flourIshing to a degree consistent with the growth of California, but buildings and traditions remain. It is not di.ff1cult to find a historIcal celebration about to happen In any or these pioneer settlements - like the frog jumping contest or SUtter Creek willi Its tradlnc post and Wells Farco Bank are reminders of cold mlnlnc days In California. Calavares County, or the wild burro races or Beatty, Nevada. It was Into this interesting country that I steered my BMW R69S the first week or AprU 1968. After crossing California's Mojave Desert and Death Valley I arrived at Beatty, Nevada. The temperature was close to freezIng even though the sun shone brIghtly. I donned my Barbour s uIt (over regular clothes and insulated underwear) and headed along Highway 95 for Goldfield. Tra.ff1c was practically non-existent, my macb1ne was purring like a Idtten, and I sped along at a good clip. Nearby mountain ridges, splattered with snow, rose majestically Into the blue heavens remIndful of the great dis tances and vast expanses of wIld country in this state. Arriving at GoldfIeld I stopped for a breakfast of steak and eggs ($1.35), then toured the remnants of what was once the richest city in Nevada. Many old clapboard shacks and dug-outs and mining building rematn as a poignant link with the past. Goldfield Is the county seat of-Esmeralda County. It was largely destroyed by fire on two occasions and once by flash flood. A long time resident told me that some or the buildings made or stones with a b1gb sulphur content burned for two days atter the wooden structures were consumed. * * Tonopah, at 6000 f~t. elevation, was reached at noon. With the roadside lined with snow, I was glad to speed onward to lower elevations at Hawthorne, then past Walker Lake, through Yerington and finally to a motel room at the lonely crossroads settlement at Silver Springs atter dark. The next morning a short but very cold run or 35 miles broughl me to Carson City. A heavy icy headwind and dark threatening sides kept me hunched behind the w1nshleld and made me wish for June weather. The cllma.te In April Is not the best for cycling, as It may be highly unpredictable with one day warm and sunny the next with b1gb winds, rain or snow. A short side trip from Carson City led to the great old town or Virginia City where can be seen the face on the barroom floor and where the Territorial Enterprise, Nevada's pioneer newspaper has been in continuous publication. Once the richest city In America It is still a going concern, catering to tourists and carrying on some mining activities. Carson City, Capitol or Nevada, is an Interesting place with its orlglnal Capitol building, its gaming balls, and its famous museum located in the defunct mint building where silver coins were made for many years. Several hours can be spent here where the history of the state is depicted In large dioramas. In the basement is located sections or mining ratlroad leading through tunnels past typical underground mining operations with Ufesized figures and ancient mining equipment used In the Comstock. The trip back to California over the old grade to Donner Pass on Highway 40 (interstate 80) was cold bUt pleasant. Many Sunday siders were occupying the nearby slopes. Turning south on 49 at Auburn my bike took me through the gold mlnlng towns associated with the mother lode In caUfornia. Weather was much warmer on the western slopes or the Sierras, and the countryside was green with many wild flowers evident. The bright scarlet red-bud, a shrub resembling a small peach tree with many upright stems, was In tull bloom, and its gorgeous presence was evident beside the road and on the b1llsldes the tull length or the hlghway. A stop at Sutlers Mill Historical Park gives the visitor a view or the orlglnal discovery site of gold which led to the stampede to California. Sutters Mill, or rather a replica or It has been built at a spot away from the river where It can be seen at close hand. IDghway 49 ends at Oakhurst located on the Yosemite-Fresno highway. The road has been modernized in places, but mostly It is the same winding meandering trail or 30-40 years ago. A tour or the mining areas of western Nevada and eastern California could go tar beyond the one mentioned here, and whole months could be spent without visiting and savoring all or the possible historical spots. This one will do for a start, though. Try It on for size, sometime, and you will not regret It. Sulters Mill, where cold was dlscovered In California, Is now an historical monument on HiChway 49. . • c r

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