Nevadans for Cultural Preservation

November 2024

The annual NVFCP outreach booth at Hump-N-Bump in Logandale, NV was another success. This off-road event draws a great crowd of folks who enjoy riding in the Nevada backcountry. They are the ones that are able to access remote archaeological sites. We asked them to help us all by reporting any damage they find and to visit sites responsibly.  Our friends at Vegas Valley 4 Wheelers host this event and always provide us a spot free of charge! 

November 2024

Presentation by Jean-Guy Tanner Dubé, Nevada State Historic Preservation Office

Nevada’s railroad history is long, rich and varied, dating back to 1868 when the Central Pacific Railroad reached the state, building east from Sacramento, California.  In the century-and-a-half since, the Battle Born state has been served by a handful of railroads.  One aspect of their legacy is the railroad depots and facilities built to serve local communities.  A century ago, there were hundreds of depots dotting the state.  Today, just over two dozen passenger and freight depots survive in Nevada.  Some are threatened, some are preserved.  Join us as we tour these survivors.  Their present day adaptive reuses include Amtrak stops, museums, homes, businesses, tourist railroads and even a brewery.

Jean-Guy T. Dubé works for the State Historic Preservation Office of Nevada as the National and State Register of Historic Places Coordinator.  He is a member of the Friends of the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Southern Pacific Historic & Technical Society, and the Virginia & Truckee Railroad Historical Society.  Dubé received the national Leicester B Holland Prize in 2017 from the Library of Congress and National Park Service.  He is an author, architectural draftsman and historian.  He has studied Southern Pacific depots since 1983 and is the author of Railroad Depots: A Southern Pacific Collection.

More information about Dube’s book and blueprints can be found on his Etsy store.   www.etsy.com/shop/depotblueprints

Watch the video on our YouTube Channel here. 

November 2024

NVFCP will be working on creating interpretive signs for the Tecopa Charcoal Kilns along Wheeler Pass Rd. Wheeler Pass Rd. is a popular 4X4 trail for both full-size vehicles and side by sides. This project is being awarded to us through Tread Lightly! This month, we took a trip out to the kilns to measure for signage and found some recent vandalism on the rocks around the parking area. We hope these signs will help visitors understand why it is important to respect these historic sites. 

We will likely organize a clean up for the black spray painted graffiti on the boulders in the spring.

November 2024

The 10th Biennial Three Corners Conference was held November 2nd at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The conference speakers share research in the region of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert. NVFCP's presentation was on the issues of vigilante graffiti removal in the area. 

In addition to traditional presentations the conference had:

• Panel of Museum Specialists
• Workshop on USA Jobs
• "Speed Dating" - one on one time with professional archaeologists
• Archaeology Lab Tour

Check out the program here.

The next conference will be in 2026. We hope you can make it!

October 2024

Presentation by Isabelle Guerrero - Ph.D. Student/Museum Fellow with the Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Reno

Tunna’ Nosi’ Kaiva’ Gwaa (TNKG) is a large multi-component site complex situated within pinyon-juniper woodlands at the edge of the western Great Basin in a region known by the Numu toponym, Tuvugatudu. The pre-contact components at TNKG include hunting features, rock rings, lithic materials, and rock art. Recent historical materials at TNKG include evidence of charcoal production and wood cutting likely connected to the historic mining towns of Bodie, California, and Aurora and Del Monte, Nevada. While the precontact materials have been well-studied, the recent historic components require further investigation. This presentation showcases the preliminary results of dissertation research being completed at TNKG, examining how this landscape was transformed from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. This project utilizes a multi-pronged approach that incorporates archaeological investigation, archival research, oral history research, and collaborative work with Tribes, federal agencies, and private landowners.

Watch the video on our YouTube Channel here.

October 2024

NVFCP is working with Stratum Unlimited LLC to develop interpretive panels for a new campground and trail in the Mt. Irish Archaeological District in Basin and Range National Monument. The district contains 640 acres of cultural sites and resources. Four concentrated petroglyph areas are along the trail and NVFCP will be encouraging preservation and respectful visitation. We are honored to be working on such an important educational project. In October, we collected mapping data and selected sites for 6 new kiosks along the trail. We will let you know when the signs have been installed. 

At this time, Bird and Hike has some of the best information for those interested in the campground and trail. Learn more

Photo is of the new pit toilet and main kiosk. 

October 2024

NVFCP held an outreach booth for Public Lands Day at Walking Box Ranch in Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. Folks volunteered to clean up around the ranch in the hot temperatures. Trucks took others to work on other manual labor tasks like repairing fencing. What an amazing dedicated group of folks interested in helping the ranch and monument. The day ended in early afternoon with root beer floats and lively conversations. Check out the Friends of Avi Kwa Ame for upcoming events and tours of the ranch. 

Photo is a view from inside the Walking Box Ranch. 

"The Walking Box Ranch is a 160-acre ranch in Searchlight, Nevada that was owned by silent film stars Rex Bell and Clara Bow from the 1930s through the 1940s. Rex Bell (née George Francis Beldam) purchased the ranch in 1931 from John Woolf who bought it from the Rock Springs Land and Cattle Company. The Walking Box Ranch name and cattle brand were inspired by a film making process and motif popular at the time: a box camera mounted on a tripod." read more

September 2024

Presentation by Jackson Mueller, University of Nevada - Reno

Archaeologists, when documenting and reporting historic mining sites, frequently review mineral surveys and their field notes.  In this presentation, Jackson covered how he and his colleagues plotted the locations of mining features using original distance and bearing descriptions in survey notes, then compared the results with archaeological survey data. 

Watch the video on our YouTube Channel here.

Webster Mack, Lois Etzel, Alicia Evans, Cheryl Stinar, Rayette Martin, Gordon
England, Philip Sherman, Paul Krachenfels, Isabelle Krachenfels, Lucky Holtam,
Bruce Kester, and Roland Alburquerque

September 2024

Ten volunteers provided 38 hours of their time to remediate graffiti, pick up trash, and repair fencing at the historic Cold Creek Ranch north of Las Vegas. 

This project would not have been possible without funding from the Nevada Offroad Association through a grant from Fox Trail Trust, our volunteers, members from the Dunes and Trails UTV Club of Las Vegas, and US Forest Service Archaeologists Marty McMahon and Alicia Evans.

After a short talk on the history of the area, the team worked on trash clean up, fence repair, and remediating graffiti on the historic garage. Only two bags of trash were collected. The area was really clean considering it is a popular OHV staging area. Unfortunately, there are no photos of the fence repair but a few areas were taken care of to prevent wild horses and burros from accessing the site.

September 2024

NVFCP was proud to be a part of the Annual OHV Summit. We believe it is important to engage with the off road community. These are the folks who can access a lot of Nevada's remote archaeological and historic sites. They are our allies and can report damages they find to these nonrenewable resources. 

This year's summit was held in Virginia City at Piper's Opera House. There were talks, panels, and education session on the importance of safe and sustainable recreation and partnerships. Nevada Senator, Robin Titus, provided opening remarks. Representatives for the Lt. Governor's Office, Department of Outdoor Recreation, and Nevada Commission on Off Highway Vehicles were also present and participated in discussion.

NVFCP's Executive Director, Rayette Martin and President Katie Hoffman held a booth and provided archaeological information on the county sheriff led trail ride to Lagomarsino Petroglyphs. Rayette also presented "Partnerships for Preserving Cultural Heritage in Nevada!" and recruited OHV Preservation Ambassadors. 

Photo above is Katie Hoffman at Lagomarsino Petroglyphs.