Chapter 2

It is strange that the Great Seal of the State of
Nevada shows no sheep. Somehow, down the years,
ranching, the key to prosperity through most of
Nevada history, has been taken for granted or overlooked completely. Certainly, if the Seal portrays the
resources of the state it should include a sheep.
Nevada was to leave the Arcadian days of her
livestock industry behind in the seventies. Portents
of evil were in the air. The Civil War was over, and
the poverty-ridden South had recovered sufficiently
to lose its great interest in trailing sheep and cattle
to the West. The United States government could
afford to snub Nevada now that the war was over and
h e r money and men were no longer so important to
the nation. Not only did the federal government fail
to pay its war loans to the state, but the Congress
refused to face up to the need for adequate workable
land laws, a s it still does. As the western lands became more thickly populated, lack of workable land
laws made for conflict. Nature joined with political
forces in a storm ridden winter in 1874-1875. Sheep
men, anticipating a bad winter, sent their animals to
California markets before the storms broke, but
train loads of sheep were trapped by early snows in the
S i e r r a , and only after days of clearing the railroad
t r a c k s could the creatures be returned to Reno,
where they were unloaded and pastured in the Truckee
Meadows until the following spring. The beginning
and end of every decade have brought a storm front
to Nevada. Often mid-decade has produced serious
storms and drouth. A drouth swept over California in 1870 resulting in a wholesale migration
of stock eastward to Nevada. For three years California livestock men usurped the pastures and graze
of Nevada. The result was a too rapid expansion of
the sheep industry in the Silver State. It was during
this period that the three distinct geographic regions
emerged; North of the Humboldt; the Central; and
the Southern Regions. The Northern a r e a s along
the Quinn, Paradise, and Icing r i v e r s were speedily
taken over by sheep interests. Henry Miller of
Miller and Lux moved his sheep from Mason Valley
to the North Region. The Central Region offering the
best wintering ground was quickly overrun. The
South continued to be marked by the farm flocks
of the Latter Day Saints. Along with drought conditions in California, the completion of the Central
Pacific Railroad gave fresh impetus to the sheep
industry of the state. Before the road's completion,
sheep and cattle were largely consumed at home
in the mining camps, but the new, rapid means of
transportation opened up markets in Sacramento and
San Francisco. Trailing sheep to market was hard
work and every mile walked meant less weight in
the market place. So it was that shipping centers
developed al; E k o , Wells, Battle Mountain, Winnemucca, ancl Reno near the great ranches. By the
midclle of tlie decade, sheep men in Nevada had extended their Izolclings into Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana where good land was still available and sheep
brought good prices. The f i r s t marked expansion
within Nevada was in the North Region where a network of creeks offered water and pasture. Here
the nomadic and semi-nomadic sheep men overran the land.
Flockmasters were considered settlers when
they owned a good share of land on which they produced hay and pastured flocks for a p a r t of the
year' s feeding.
On to^ of all ill feelings and crowding, the
winter of 1874 was a bitter, cruel season. One sheep
man named Wilson lost all his sheep in the winter
storms. Dan Murphy, one of the most important
stockmen of the West, used his vast expanse of Elko
County lands for summer graze, turning his flocks
south for the winter. It was in this decade that the
Brennen family came from Utah to Lamoille. They
were not Mormons, although they had lived in Utah
for some time, The family raised both sheep and
cattle. Chester Brennen, the last of the line in the
livestock business, did extensive research on northeastern sheep in the nineteen thirties and forties.
White Pine County had been the scene of many
mining booms during the seventies with the result
that the entire area was woefully overgrazed by
cattle and horses by the mid-seventies. Many ranchers turned to sheep which would survive and even
prosper on the overgrazed lands. James Thompson, a
miner, brought fifty head of sheep to White Pine
County. He worked in the Starr Mine near Hamilton,
and his wife served a s shepherdess for the flock
through the day. Came the eighties and this same
Thompson shipped 200,000 pounds of wool to the Boston market in one season. The Bew brothers, also
miners, Joshua Yelland and Patrick Keegan, found
prosperity with sheep in the seventies. Sheep of
American breeding had come from Utah in the sixties
and gradually expanded from small domestic flocks
to thousands ranging the valleys and hills. These
were of nondescript American breeding.
A number of the more important outfits entered
Central Nevada in the seventies and eighties. One of
these leaders was James Hylton, who was born in
Norton, Virginia, August 22, 1854. Elisha, his father,
was a blacksmith. When John was about five years old,
Elisha and his wife, Rebecca, sold their farm and
moved to Kentucky. There they were delayed in the
westward migration by the Civil W a r . Elisha enlisted
in the Confederate Army. After the war and the subsequent struggle l;o recover from war inflicted wounds,
he moved his family to Arkansas and later to Texas.
Young John, drawn to California by the lure of
gold, began his own progress to the West. When short
of funds, he would stop over, work awhile, and then
move on. Although not planned, his stop in Elko in
the fall of 1874 turned out to be his journey's end.
Here he was told he could find work on the South
Fork. F r o m there he went to Mound Valley where he
worked for Charles Adams and Ed Carville for
several years. He was especially skilled a s an irrigator of grain, hence was able to divide his time
between the two ranchers.
The desire to own something for himself prompted him to purchase a horse-powered hay baler,
which he used on the Huntington Valley and South
Fork ranches. Hay had come in to great demand a s
feed for hundreds of freight and stage animals covering the routes from the railway at Elko to the booming
towns of Hamilton, Eureka, and Pioche.
In 1880 John and Oliver Riffe went toIdaho where
they purchased a band of sheep which they trailed
back to Mound Valley. This marked the beginning of a
prosperous sheep venture. Hylton had a partnership
with Riffe, then later with Tom Suttle and was finally
in business for himself. At this time he purchased the
Cedar Hill Ranch near Harrison Pass, which remained
the sheep headquarters for many years. For winter
feeding John took the sheep through the pass south
to White Pine County, where open ranges were lush
with the white sage. On the long evenings in camp he
taught his herdsmen, many of them Basques, to read,
speak and write English.
October 1 0 , 1889 was a r e d letter day for John
Hylton, for it was then he married Lena Katherine
Garrecht of Elko. Lena's mother ran a hotel near
Elko and it was a center of social life for the community, so the young bride found a sheep ranch a
lonely place to live. During the hard winter of 1889
the couple went to Elko to spend the Christmas holidays with her family and were unable to return home
because of the storms. John knew he must reach his
stock so he struck out on foot for Cedar Hill. It was
a dreary homecoming, for dead, frozen bodies scattered over the snow drifts were all that was left of
his dreams of riches. It took him and his helpers a
month to skin the carcasses for the pelts. At least
the wool was saved. Many ranchers were broke. Ed
Carville was one completely disillusioned about the
cattle business. Because of his heavy losses, he
willingly sold his cattle to Hylton. The Miller ranch
went with the cattle. This ranch on Huntington Creek
became the cattle and horse center for the Hyltons.
Hylton continued to buy. He bought the 25 Ranch,
a Bradley outfit, from Oliver Riffe, and the Hale place
from Charlie Hale. To afford better sheep pasturage
he acquired holdings in the Red Rock country. He also
purchased the Skelton property which, in addition to
the land, included a store, post office, hotel, bar, and
large barns. The general store was enlarged to serve
a widespread, growing community. Later a school and
corninunity hall plus a r-anger station and several
dwellings made the town of Skelton a very lively place.
With the purchase of each piece of land went the
brands belonging to the ground. Thus it was that Hylton stock carried several brands. The ZeeTee was
the same a s his father used in Texas. The Bar 11
was the well-known Miller brand.
From a homemade desk in his one-room office,
John Hylton efficiently directed his ever-increasing
holdings. At the same time, he was interested in progress not only for his family but for his community.
There was never a movement for betterment that J .J.
didn't have a hand in i t . He took an active part in
getting flour mills for Lee, Lamoille, and Elko. He
organized creameries to handle the local dairy
products. In 1900 he was the leader in getting telephone lines for the county. He and Abe Hasson spent
days driving by team to the ranches north and south
of the railroad to solicit signatures demanding telephone service for the ranches. In later years, he was
president of the local telephone company.
A handsome home was built at the Miller ranch
and remained the family home until 1925. From the
years of 1907 to 1911, daughter J e s s i e (Mrs. Dewar)
and son, John Leland, completed their high school
educations in Elko. During these years the family
lived in the home it had owned since 1903. In 1925
John Leland took over the operation of the ranches
while Lena and John moved to Elko. Their residence,
probably the oldest in Elko, is now the home of
Archie and Jessie Dewar. Its gardens, Jessie's
paintings, and their Nevada antiques make it not only
a delightful home but a showplace.
Another Elko County sheep man, Chauncey Griswold, whose history is told in Chapter Three, came
to Elk0 County as a youngster in the seventies. His
brothers had preceded him there and offered the boy
a home. Over in the Battle Mountain country, W.T.
Jenkins began his career in the sheep world. His
brother Reese grazed his flocks toward the western
border and in California.
White Pine County and portions of Nye County
a r e known as the winter homes for sheep and
cattle, but there were a number of pioneer flocks
located year around in White Pine during the seven-
ties. As we have seen, this grass covered a r e a was
speedily overgrazed chiefly by stock coming from
Utah, so the more daring turned from cattle to sheep
for income. James Sampson, James, Harry and
Thomas Bew, Joshua Yelland and Patrick Keegan
made White Pine their home base. Their flocks
originated in Utah.
When the Central Region first attracted ranchers,
Henry Anderson was among the early arrivals. Although he made his s t a r t in cattle, he has come to be
listed along with Taylor and Moffat as leaders in the
sheep industry. Henry was born in Denmark, April 24,
1852. A s a young man, he planned to be a teacher and
in preparation set off on a trip around the world. For
some unknown reason his baggage was thrown ofl
in Reno. Since he had no f i r m schedule, after he
leaped off to retrieve his bags, he stayed to look
around a bit. The t r i p was never finished, for Anderson spent the rest of his life in Nevada.
He found employment as a hay hand in Truckee
Meadows, saving every penny he could. Through
thrift he was able to purchase 160 acres of land. The
old Catholic Cemetery was the north boundary of his
property, while the we'stern limits were at Sierra
Street. As time passed he extended his lands and
flocks to Elko and Eureka counties, runningthousands
of sheep on his own landandpublic range. Wool prices
hit a new low in 1893 and 1894 thanks to the United
States venture into f r e e tariff, but he went right on
buying land to the point where he owned 20,000 acres
as well as rights to public grazing laqds.
Unfortunately, there is little known of the herders
who did the day by day work with the stock. Anderson
had at least one French herdsman who made the news
because he found the body of a man on Anderson land
just north of Reno. With all the' expansion, his home
base remained in Reno. Flocks summered on Peavine
Mountain a s well a s in the mountains of the eastern
counties. Eventually his ranches spread to California,
Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. Although the sheep c a m e
to take most of his time, he served his community
energetically. In 1900 he was elected to the Reno
school board. For a number of y e a r s he was a director of the Nixon National Bank and the Reno National
Bank. It was he who promoted the Anderson addition
and gave lands to the University of Nevada, and he
built the Wigwam complex which still operates. H i s
interest in mining centered on Alkali Flat in 1900.
There were four sons, who would plan to c a r r y
on the family business. Kenneth, the oldest, joined
the British Air Force before the United States
entered World War I and was killed in 1916. Henry,
Frederick, and Andrew showed little interest in the
family business. On November 7, 1930, Henry died
as the result of a ruptured appendix, leaving his
wife Dorothy and the three boys.
The seventies were a decade when an ambitious,
energetic man could set himself up in business with
little interference by the government. Once a young
fellow showed the ability, the local bank usually backed
him. Established ranchers often offered temporary
partnerships. The sheep men of the West moved to
the front in business and community life. The nomadic
sheep man without land wandered freely where pasture
lured his animals and felt no crying need for a home
base. An example is an unnamed shepherd in Nye
County who purchased 1500 c o a r s e wooled Cotswolds
in Calaveras, California. H e eventually trailed them
down the Reese River to the Humboldt, thence to
Washoe County. He arrived with 1,000 ewes, having
sold the wethers along the way. His flocks w e r e
established near Yankee Reservation, where he
claimed some 24 square miles of range, although he
made no effort to gain title to any of this land. His
chief interest was in wool s o he replaced the Cotswolds with Spanish Merinos. In the bitter winter of
1879-1880 he suffered a loss of 18 per cent which was
not bad at all considering the toll the storms took in
the Nevada sheep world at large.
Drifting to the western part of the state in these
years were a number of spectacular leaders. Such a
person was Patrick L. Flanigan, who came in the late
seventies and achieved stktewide leadership from
1895 to 1920. He was born in February, 1857, at
Oswego, New York. A s he approached 20 years he
was keenly aware of the limitations in rural New
York and wanted to try liis hand in more promising
fields. So it was that he visited his cousins, the
Dennis O'Sullivan family, on Wedekind Road east of
Reno. He was made welcome and for a time milked
their cows and did the run of chores to pay his way.
Within a few years he was joined by his brothers
Jim and Joe and even later by his s i s t e r Minnie.
As early a s 1889, Pat with J i m Dunn had purchased the Smoke Creek Ranch north and west of
Gerlach. This ranch had been owned by Theodore
Winters of Washoe Valley. The ranch name evidently
comes from the atmosphere along the creek where a
haze hangs over the trees most of the time. It i s
said that Mr. Flanigan talked the Nixon Bank into
putting up funds for the land and sheep, which in itself was no small feat. The sheep marketed from
Smoke Creek were driven over the mountains to
Virginia City, where they found a ready market.
Before the turn of the century, Pat married
Hannah Linnehan, a popular teacher in Glendale. She
was a s ardent a Catholic a s her husband. Hannah
liad grown up in Virginia City where her father was
a mine foreman. Pat had little schooling and was
aware of his lack. While his wife undertook to teach
him, he had neither time nor patience to accept the
drudgery of learning.
His charm and his flamboyant appearance was all
he needed to find success in his variety of ventures.
He was s i x feet two inches tall, slender and straight
a s a sabre. Never did he become stooped. His shock
of flaming red hair and mustache along with the
sharp blue eyes marked him as Irish. In contrast to
his sophisticated d r e s s , country-boy freckles spattered over his red face. Even in travel among his
ranches he wore r a t h e r f o r m a l dress. Photographs
show him in a frock coat, derby hat, and high, uncomfortable collar. His son Paul tells of how he tied
a string to a button on the back of his father's coat
and to his own wrist so he would not lose his fastmoving parent.
Pride reached a new zenith in the family when
the first son, Paul, a r r i v e d November 2, 1900. The
occasion was marked by the Reno Lodge of Elks, Pat
was presiding officer of the lodge. Since Paul was the
f i r s t baby Elk, the members presented the father with
a silver punch bowl, which is a cherished possession
of the family. Later a brother John and s i s t e r Helen
arrived to complete the family group. A family home
was built at 429 South Virginia whereHannahpresided
as a gracious hostess on many notable occasions.
While brother J o e watched over the sheep, Pat
plunged into the political and business life of Reno.
In 1895 and 1897 he was electedRepublicanAssemblyman from Washoe County. In the following four y e a r s
he served in the State Senate. H e was an ardent Republican although an I r i s h Catholic. I-Iis stand was
explained in that he did not approve of the f r e e trade
policy of the Democrats, preferring the protective
tariffs advocated by the Republicans.
His sheep and cattle interests expanded so rapidly
that he needed market and storage facilities n e a r e r
home. In 1902 along with U. Slater of Oakland, California, he built the Nevada Packing Company. The
formal opening of this business was indeed a gala
affair. After speeches of congratulation, the crowd
was treated to a s t e e r barbecue. While the operation
was largely wholesale, the retail meat shop was done
in the latest style with forty, no less, incandescent
bulbs to light the meat counter. Within the year, the
partners were planning additions for small and large
stock operations in eastern California andNevada that
could use such an outlet. Flanigan Warehouse filled a
subsidiary need by offering storage for Nevada wool.
Flanigan was the first sheep man in Nevada to ship
wool direct to Chicago and Kansas City. Early in the
century Flanigan was instrumental in organizing the
Reno Light and Power Company. He owned controlling
stock and hoped to sell the utility to the city of Reno.
This did not work out s o he later sold to the power
company which is now operating a s the Sierra Pacific
Power Company. In the early years the power for
Reno was developed at Floriston, California.
When automobiles were available, Flanigan was
one of the first to have a Dorris car sold by Lundy
ancl Wingfield of Reno. He never learned to drive so
a chauffeur accompanied him near and far. Once, when
the car was left unguarded, it caught fire. The cause
was not determined, but P a t promptly bought another.
Brother Joe drove his own Dorris. On one occasion,
he drove it into a sand hill where it overturned. Joe
emerged unscathed, had the Dorris set on its wheels
and drove on his way.
With the expansion of his ovine empire he needed
more water and graze, s o in 1900 he bought George
F r a z e r 9 s ranch at Stone House west of Mud Lake.
This property had excellent water. About this time
Pat boasted he had the largest payroll in the state115 persons. He also complained loudly that he
carried the heaviest tax load in Washoe County. Although he and Oscar Smith owned the Reno Gazette,
he had bouts with the p r e s s . At one point he was
accused of being in favor of permitting the City of
San Francisco to use the waters of Lake Tahoe. This
he denied vehemently, saying it could not be true because he was known to favor construction of a tuqnel
through the mountains to c a r r y Lake Tahoe waters
to Washoe Valley for storage. The idea of a tunnel
was not new, dating back to the sixties and still r e vived from time to time.
For an interval he was in the timber and mill
business, but having run out of timber to cut he
found no more near at hand and discontinued the
operation of his mill.
When the state Republican convention convened
in Reno in April, 1900, all other interests were laid
aside. Pat wanted to be National Committeeman f r o m
Nevada again. He held this office for sixteen y e a r s .
Since the convention named the candidates for office,
he sought control in the selection of Republican candidates. His slate was named, and he was named a
delegate from Nevada to the Republican National
Convention.
Busy a s he was, Flanigan saw little of his family,
although he was fond of them and took great pride in
them. He frequently took them on trips to San Francisco, where he was a frequent and generous visitor.
His favorite restaurant was t h e Poodle Dog, a rendezvous for many Nevada stockmen. As soon a s Paul was
old enough, he accompanied h i s father on the endless
trips to the ranches. Mr. Flanigan raised trotting
horses and preferred these animals harnessed to a
buckboard for his f a r flung desert trips. A proper
number of demijohns of whiskey were aboard. Since
practically every one they met on the road was a
friend, the bottle was taken out frequently and was
passed at all ranch stops. The end of the day found
Pat in a convivial mood, but his keen judgment was
not impaired. His brothers had come out from New
York to work for him. Later s i s t e r Minnie came out
to keep house for the bachelors. Miss Minnie had
prominence of her own as the society editor of the
Gazette for many y e a r s . And for many years it was
she who rang the bell for early morning mass. Paul
recalls that J o e was a perfect uncle, producing a l l
sorts of gifts even to a Shetland pony. He was known
a s a ladies man. Brother J i m returned to New York
in 1905.
In 1904 the Smoke Creek ranch was sold to John
Poco and Andrew Duke. They in turn sold it to Reese
Jenkins, whose son William runs sheep out of Susanville, California. John Casey is the present owner.
After the sale of the ranch, the three Flanigan brothers organized the Pyramid Land and Stock Company in 1902. Pat showed his generosity by giving
land for a chapel and building a chapel at Constantia,
which became the ranch headquarters. The N .C .O.
Railroad planned to build stock pens at Constantia s o
Pat gave the land for stock pens and track. L a t e r
when the Western Pacific came through, pens were
built at the station bearing the name of Flanigan.
Constantia is on Highway 395 south of Doyle, California. At the s a m e period Flanigan enlarged the
family holdings around Tule Mountain. Some seven
ranches ringed the base of the mountain, which furnished good winter graze. In 1904 lands aroundweber
Lake were taken up for summer range. Sierraville,
California, was the outlet f o r this country. Just two
years later the Forest Service arrived, and the long
q ~ t a r r e l between that agency and Pat began. The
Weber Lake holdings a r e now a r e s o r t .
F lanigan flocks were basically of Nevada breeding, but he had an eye out for production of better
wool and meat. With this in mind he purchased 100
purebred Lincoln r a m s in England. They created a
sensation in the Nevada sheep worldupon their a r r i v a l
in 1905. These r a m s were crossed with Merino ewes
to produce a Rambouillet type with long wool and
delicate meat. Two years later there is a news item
saying that five r a m s were sold to his cousin, Dennis
O'Sullivan, near Sparks. In 1906 there was a report
that he had entered into a partnership with John G.
Taylor in Humboldt and Pershing counties. Probably
the basis for this story is that Taylor procured some
of the bucks for his own flocks, and it may have been
a transaction on a share basis. The Flanigan world
was big, safe, prosperous, and rich. Thousands of
acres of ranch lands stretched over northern Nevada
into California. A dozen business operations in and
around Reno were prospering. Pat continued to buy
more land. He ventured to organize a western wool
trust which did not materialize. Flanigan was director
of the Nixon National Bank, the Scheeline National
Bank, Nevada Savings and Trust Company, and the
Nevada Agency and Trust Company.
In 1902, he organized the Nevada Transit Company to finance a street c a r line from the very new
town of Sparks to Reno, terminating in Moana Springs,
a community parlc and r e s o r t . The Troy Laundry
carried his name as the majority stockholder.
Patrick L. Flanigan was assured of enoughpolitical support to run against Francis Newlands for the
United States Senate. Newlands had long been a member of the lower house and was popular throughout
the West for his efforts to bring water to the arid
lands of the West since he was the father of the Arid
Lands Act. He also had great wealth to pour into
the campaign so it was not surprising that he defeated
Pat by 1,000 votes. Flanigan2s enthusiasm was in
no way diminished despite a bout with ill health which
took him to Europe for the baths in 1909.
In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt accepted his invitation to visit Reno, where he would be a guest in the
Flanigan home. Elaborate preparations were made
for the entertainment of the great man. Upon his
arrival, he and Pat rode in the Flanigan carriage
from the Southern Pacific depot to Powning Park,
where the President spoke from the bandstand draped
in red, white, and blue bunting. For this occasion,
young Paul had been chosen to present Roosevelt with
a flag from the Boy Scouts. Veronica Dickey had
prepared him well, but awe of the crowd overcame
him and he was speechless. Not a word came, so
Roosevelt saved him further embarrassment by taking
the flag with a kindly word of thanks. There followed
a glorious picnic with the best cooks of the community
offering their specialites and families seated at long
tables. That night there was further entertainment
in the Flanigan home, but the children were kept
above stairs, hearing and seeing little of the festivities.
It was at this time that Roosevelt split with the
Republican Party to form the Progressive Party.
Flanigan followed his friend to the new party where
he stayed for four years. In 1916 he returned to the
Republican fold where he remained the rest of his
life
A brief two years after this great celebration,
Flanigan faced ruin. Overnight his world collapsed.
It was the happy custom of Nevada banks to permit
their favorite clients and stockholders to borrow
money without special security. The system was an
open note plan. When a favored depositor wanted
money, the bank advanced it, increasing his note at
the same time. Pat could not meet his payments, and
George Wingfield, president of the Nixon National
Bank closed him out. He had lost almost everything,
but started over at once. He started buying land
wherever it was available. The Washoe Bank underwrote his later ventures. He bought a ranch in Washoe
Valley, which he sold to buy a larger one near Weeks,
Nevada. This was the Garaventa ranch. John G. Taylor
sent his friend, Pat, 2,000 of his own sheep to stock
the new ranch.
I11 health came to haunt the energetic leader
who sought health in Hawaii. After two months, he
.
returned to San Francisco enroute to Nevada and died
there in July, 1920. Death came from lung cancer,
although he did not smoke. He chewed tobacco for
many years. The funeral mass was said at the altar
he had given St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno.
H i s son, Paul, followed his father a s a sheepman
and was working for William Moffat in 1918. He continued in the sheep business until the middle sixties.
For many years he managed the Lucky Livestock
holdings near Dayton. Most of his shepherds were
Basques new to the United States. One family, the
Sarratea brothers, showed special capability. Eugenio
was outstanding. Four of the brothers a r e in Nevada,
the two youngest working for the Borda brothers in
Lyon County. While most of them speak no English,
they do know sheep. Jesus Echeta, another herder
Paul employed, attended night school and became a
man of means. Pat had used Indians on most of his
ranches and found them satisfactory help. Most of his
herders had been Irish boys. He sometimes brought
over as many as fifty at a time.
It is a strange quirk of history that a man of
Flanigan's achievements has no street, park, o r public
building bearing his name. Men who did far less for
the community a r e recognized, but Pat Flanigan has
been ignored. He was involved in many community
projects, giving generously of his time and money.
Among his gifts was the land for the University of
Nevada farm. Reno is a much better town because
Patrick Flanigan lived there.
Not every sheep owner chose his way of life
deliberately. There was A.G. Fletcher who became
a reluctant sheep owner in the late seventies. His old
friend Stephen Hall owned large flocks in Central
Nevada. While on a visit to Colorado he became
desperately ill and sent for Fletcher, who stayed with
him until his death. In gratitude he left his flocks,
land, and estate to the young man. Fletcher was a
contractor and cabinet maker, not a flockmaster, but
he ran the sheep successfully for some ten years.
The Hall home base had been near Austin, &It Fletcher drove the sheep into the northwestern part of the
state near his Reno home. Periodically when his
services were in demand he returned to his old trade.
He built the McKissick opera house and a number of
other public buildings. Meanwhile, his sheep grazed
as far north a s Harney County, Oregon coun.l;ry.
When winter came they were driven across
Sheepshead Pass, Smoke Creek Valley, through Flanigan, down the east side of Pyramid Lake. Fletcher
sheep summered in the eastern S i e r r a a s well. When
he brought the flocks to Reno, he would send word
ahead to tell his family of his return. His small
granddaughter, Gretchen Boles, was allowed to meet
the wanderers at Fourth and Virginia Streets. The
corrals were on the site of the Liberty Garage. The
usual drive to the west was from Verdi over Dog
Valley Grade.
The mid-seventies witnessed another vicious
winter and a falling market. There was a general
exodus to Wyoming and Montana where grass still
grew abundantly and prices were high. While times
were bad, the press declared that Nevada mutton was
an "Epicurean Delight." This was before the days of
planned breeding, although a few outfits bred ewes
early to produce "spring lamb7' for the Easter market.
By this time hard days had hit the cattle world,
and numbers of cattlemen had gone into the sheep
business along with cattle. They did this to "pay the
taxes," so they said. After the winter losses of the
mid-decade, the more intelligent owners began to
stress planning for feed and breeding. Winter s t o r m s
caused great loss everywhere but in Clover Valley.
Washoe and the North suffered severely. Lack of
suitable pasture lands saw the introductionof fencing.
At first rocks, logs, or brush Were used, but with the
introduction of barbed wire it became and has r e mained the favorite fencing material in the timberless country where posts were prohibitive in price. ~t
f i r s t the home ranch was fenced. When the wild hay
was cut through the summer, it was fenced in to prevent stray stock and deer from eating it before the
winter came. Some ranchers began to experiment
with clovers and grains for winter and fattening use.
All summer long the rancher, neighboring Indians,
tramps and permanent help cut and stacked hay. ~t
f i r s t it was done by hand with scythes, and later the
mowing machine made quick work of the cutting,
Fencing and adding grain to the hay improved the
stock, but sheep must be thoughtfully bred to produce
better wool, meat, and endurance. TheSpanish Merino
seems to have remained the favorite, although various
types of rams were introduced over the y e a r s . The
seventies marked the end of the eastward sheep
drives. From this time forward the sheep would walk
to the West.
The summer of 1879 found California sheep men
desperate. There was such a drouth that sheep had to
be driven from their usual summer pasturage. One
of the great tragedies of that dreadful summer involved the crossing of Nevada. General Edward Fitzgerald Beale was the central figure whether he be
hero or villain. Beale had had several c a r e e r s . Among
his accomplishments had been the carrying of news
of the discovery of gold in California to Washington,
D.C. He had been a successful Indian agent and
carried his interest and concern with Indians over to
his great El Tejon ranch, where he employed Indians.
He was a Brigadier General in the California militia.
But his fame was of no account when springs and
streams were dried and the pasture eaten to the roots.
There was a desperation in moving the Beale sheep
&from the Tejon ranch, one of the finest in Southern
California, to the s u m m e r pasture before they
perished. F i r s t , he ordered the move to Inyo County
and Mono County, where w a t e r and g r a s s seldom fail
as they did in 1879. Up to t h i s t i m e the sheep business
had been s o prosperous that, in addition to the magnificent spread of El Tejon, Beale maintained a home
in Washington, D .C ., where he and his wife spent t h e i r
winters .
An Englishman, R.M. Fogson, was the superintendent of Tejon Ranch, but each type of activity had
its own boss o r manager. Fogson wasted no t i m e in
writing his boss of the catastrophic situation in
Tejon. Beale hurried west to his San Francisco office
immediately. T h e r e he learned the t r u e condition of
the sheep market, which w a s a t a new low, f r o m
Shoobert and Beale (his son). It was agreed that the
sheep m u s t be moved, and o r d e r s w e r e given J o s e
Jesus Lopez, the 26-year-old flockmaster at Tejon,
to move the flocks south. Beale must have changed
his mind, for Lopez in h i s later y e a r s wrote the
long saga of his t r e k , saying he was told t o take the
animals to Long Valley and Round Valley near the
Nevada line. T h e r e they would b e held until the
market improved in the spring.
In May, Lopez gathered t h e sheep a t CowSprings,
n e a r the present Neeach. Lopez said the gather was
16,000 head; Beale reported 17,600, while young
Herbert Beecher, son of Henry Ward Beecher, told
Eureka, Nevada, newsmen that t h e r e w e r e 18,600
ovines in the drive. When it was proposed that the
sheep be driven e a s t , Lopez protested that he had
never driven sheep through the designated country
and needed wise guidance, which Beale a s s u r e d h i m
he would have. It didn't turn out that way. On May 15,
the drive was under way f o r Willow Springs on the
edge of the Mohave Desert. Lopez had 20 herdsmen,
two of them Indians. Each flock numbered 2,000 and
had two herdsmen. There w e r e d r i v e r s f o r the wagons,
which carried w a t e r , supplies, bedrolls, and saddles
for extra horses, d o g s , and young.beecher . Then there
was Martinez, s a i d t o know the country, but who was
in truth a fugitive f r o m justice. Beale, havingreturned
to Washington, D .C , could not be reached for instructions.
The sheep g r a z e d slowly over the Mohave Desert,
then over the winding t r a i l through the sandstone
formations of R e d Rock Canyon. They pushed with
all speed over the glaring white saline deposits in
Owens River Valley. All the while careful count was
kept of the flocks. T h i s was done by counting tlie black
sheep which were distributed one to each 100 head.
The higher elevations of Big Pine were reached
without loss. Lopez had cause to rejoice over his
accomplishment u n t i l he picked up the mail at a
nearby post office. H i s journal speaks for him:
.
On my a r r i v a l at Big Pine I received a letter
from M r . Fogson that General Beale had decided I
should take the s h e e p to Pioche, Nevada. There was
very little water and the heat was intense.
I wrote Mr. Fogson telling him what I had learned
and that if General Beale was determined to have the
sheep taken to Pioche, he should send a man to take
charge of the s h e e p and I would go along to assist
him. Instead, a man by the name of Hudson was sent
to guide and a s s i s t m e . Hudson, I learned later, knew
no more about the country than I did, but we headed
for Pioche.
Pioche was about 200 a i r miles from Big Pine.
Between the two points lay one of the most desolate
spots on earth, c r i s s - c r o s s e d by rugged mountains,
drifting sand and glaring s h o r e lines of prehistoric
lakes. (Now used as a bombing range.)
Beale seemed unaware of the plan and wrote that
it was reckless. Young Beecher told people in Eureka
that Beale had b e e n offered $15,000 for the entire
flock in Independence, California. Since this was less
than a dollar p e r head, he refused it. Later he ac-
cepted an offer from a Salt Lake City man for $2.50
per head. The plan was altered to reach the railroad
in Milford, Utah, rather than t o stop in Pioche. The
band fought its way courageously over the mountains
and 30 miles out over the desert to Pigeon Springs,
where new orders awaited the worn, bewildered
forces. This time, Beale had sold tlie sheep to M .E
Post of Wyoming, and the ovines were to be delivered
in Green River. Lopez wrote:
I was in the midst of the desert with 16,000 sheep
.
and to turn back was a s dangerous a s to proceed
onward. My course from Pigeon Springs would take
me across the desert by way of Lida Valley and
Stonewall to Stone Cabin, then to Eureka, Nevada, and
on to my destination over the best route I could find.
No wonder Lopez was perplexed and discouraged.
Again he had been told to do tlie impossible. No migration of sheep had ever traveled such a course.
Here he was in the midst of measureless desolation
with nothing to guide him but the s t a r s of the summer
night. Evidently the elder Beale knew nothingof either
plan, for the change in routes came from the San
Francisco office, where the one purpose was to make
money by whatever means. In turning to the Eureka
Route, Beale was at the complete mercy of Post.
Lopez was descended from a line of Spanish adventurers, and he had no thought of turning back. He
pointed the lead flock north and prayed for the best.
Pah Utes were cajoled into revealing the location of
water holes. Often when he reached them, they were
long dry. At Lida Springs they found water and were
assured by the Indians that good water and food lay
ahead at Stone Cabin, some 60 miles away.
Nights were the restless times. Foxes, kangaroo
rats and unrecognized denizens of the desert skittered about frightening one and all. Cactus thorns
were easily brushed against, day o r night. It was in
the night that tragedy struck. The drivers of the two
supply wagons had failed to rendezvous with the flocks,
which meant there was no water, food, o r bed for
the men. A desert wind screamed across the night
and frightened the sheep. Thus aroused, the two
advance flocks set out on trails of their own making.
Dawn revealed the catastrophe, and Lopez set out to
find the wanderers:
The sheep had scattered before the wind and I
located only a few. Finally, both my horse and I
reached the limit of endurance and I had to turn back.
I had been out 36 hours. My horse was so tired he
could c a r r y m e no longer. I followed behind, holding
on to his tail. He would go along for a while and then
lie down. I would let him r e s t . Then I would urge him
up and we would go ahead again. Sometimes I stumbled
and Pell, and then we would both lie down and r e s t .
It was only good fortune that my men on the hill
happened to s e e me and the horse some miles away.
They came to our rescue with food and water and we
revived after a time.
On his way back to the trail drive, Lopez learned
that a second band had disappeared. Four thousand
sheep scattered in the night! He decided that pursuit
was hopeless, so the remaining sheep and men moved
on to Stone Cabin. For ten days they wandered waterless over the scorching desert, but Stone Cabin was
near at hand. Here it was that Lopez met with disobedience in the man Hudson, who was driving the
strongest flock of 3,000 in the lead. He told Hudson
to take his flock on a s fast a s possible to Stone Cabin
and to return a t once with a report on conditions
there. Instead, Hudson rode ahead of the animals and
then hurried back to Lopez. In the meantime, the sheep
wandered off on ways of their own. When the scent
of water reached them they stampeded. Away they
went out of sight over the mountain. The land had engulfed them. After several hours an old man riding a
mule came along. When he wa$ within hailing dis-
tance, he demanded to know if the sheep t r a m p i n g
down his pasture belonged to Lopez. Lopez shouted
back that if the man had a pasture he hoped they were
his sheep. The oldster replied that there m u s t be
200,000 sheep in the meadow. In turn, Jose told the
old one of his disasters and hardships. So touched
was the landowner that he refused pay for t h e u s e
of his grass. Unfortunately many sheep gorged themselves on grass before they came to water a n d died
from eating too much too soon before the h e r d e r s
could thrust in a knife blade to release the gas.
Springs and grass showed more frequently as the
flocks moved along contentedly. Two nights d r i v e out
of Willows, near Eureka, General Beale r o d e into
the camp. He had been in Eureka several 'days trying
to locate his flocks. His letter tellingof his w o r r y and
disgust with the whole sorry business has been preserved. Again the desert had won.
The count of sheep showed a scant 8,500 head.
These were the property of M.A. Post technically,
but there was still 1,000 miles of country t o cover
before delivery in Wyoming. Lopez now swung north
to the Humboldt River and followed the emigrant
trail north of Great Salt Lake on to Soda S p r i n g s ,
Idaho. The problem on this portion of the d r i v e lay
in the crossing of streams and rivers. At t i m e s t h e
sheep flatly refused to enter a stream a few inches
in depth; at other times they would jump into deep
streams and leap about sportively. The exasperated
drovers would drive or carry the lead ewes a c r o s s ,
tying them to trees on the far bank so they could not
return. Usually the body of the flock ~ o u l d f o l l But
~~.
sometimes after crossing they would bolt b a c k t h e
way they had come. Often the flock would follow t h e
wagons or riders over. On wider streams a s o r t of
~ n t o o nbridge would be made of the wagons and
boards, and the sheep crossed over dry footed.
T h r e e months had been spent crossing the desert, and four months had passed on the trail. Now they
were in Indian country, sometimes passingthe villages
of white s e t t l e r s burned out by the Indians. A passerby told J o s e to follow the Snake River to the Bannock
River a t Russells7 Fork and t r y that crossing. Upon
arrival a t the point, a white man hailed them. He said
he was the Indian agent and that the men and their
charges would c r o s s over into the Indian reservation
at their own r i s k . Lopez had no choice, but at long
last fortune smiled. A handsome Indian approached and
offered to help c r o s s over the sheep the following
morning for $2.50. Lopez agreed eagerly, but was
disturbed the next morning when h e saw a crowd of
Indians forming parallel lines a c r o s s the waters. The
Indians passed the sheep hand to hand over the water
without loss of temper or confusion. Lopez anticipated
trouble over the pay, but the Indians were well pleased
with the $2.50 for the morning's work.
It w a s early November when the drive reached
the Green River. Here a final obstacle presented itself. T h e last tally must be made on the opposite
shore where the Post herders waited to take over.
This c r o s s i n g was rough, but the nearest easy one
was 6 0 miles away, adding 120 miles to the trip.
Lopez decided t o gamble on the crossing. P a r t way
across the r i v e r there was a small island near the
railroad bridge. He laid planks on the bridge and used
the wagons to haul the sheep over twenty-five a t a
time. Then men and dogs crowded the remainingsheep
into the r i v e r where they struck out for the island.
When t h e island was too crowded to hold more, they
pushed the sheep into the water toward the opposite
shore where the earlier arrivals were quietly browsing. They were safely over and ready for M r . P o s t .
The new owner was s o exuberant over the crossing that he ordered champagne by the basketful to
be brought to all the Lopezparty.As soon a s possible,
Lopez loaded the Tejon men and equipment on the
t r a i n for home. At the new owner's urging Jose
stayed over several weeks with Post to advise him
on further purchases of sheep. The entire flock
brought less than $5,000 to Beale. Post became one
of the most important sheep men in Wyoming, but
eventually lost a l l his holdings. He moved to California and retrieved his fortune. Lopez became head
sheep and cattle man at Tejon a s a reward for his
loyal service to Beale.
The great days of derring-do were drawing to a
close. The sheep came to be a respectable occupation
which required more brains than brawn, but the sheep
world has remained a gambler's world based on outwitting nature and the market. The decade closed a s
i t began with violent s t o r m s . While freight c a r upon
freight car of stock were moved out of the drought
a r e a s along the Central Pacific, most of them were
stranded in the S i e r r a and forced to return to Reno.
In 1879, there was no market for sheep. Up in
the newly developed Quinn River a r e a only 50 per
cent of the sheep survived that stormy winter. One
reason for the high death r a t e was that two years of
drought had left the sheep in poor condition without
the stamina to survive the snows over the state. In
the Reese River and Ione country many flocks were
totally destroyed. Clover Valley also suffered great
losses. Adding to the hardships suffered by the local
ranchers and intensifying them, California sheepmen
were wintering their sheep in Nevada using grazing
belonging to Nevada. Only those outfits survived
which turned to fence, summer-long hay cutting, and
intelligent breeding.
And so another decade closed in violence and
~ t of the sheep growers refused to addefeat, b ~ most
mit defeat and began t o build up their flocks again.
In 1874, the census showed 185,000 sheep in the
state; in 1880 the census showed only 77,000. The
Nevada Livestock Association was organized in 1877
and sponsored a state fair the following year. A t that
time, A. Evans, a prominent sheep man with holdings
in many states, showed a band of purebred Merinos
of the Spanish strain. Up until this time a goodly s h a r e
of the ovine population of Nevada had been s c r u b
Merinos o r American. The latter was a name for any
sheep driven west from the farming states. The
Spanish had a close wool which shed moisture and
was not apt to be pulled out by thorns and weeds
along the trail. They flock well and thrive in large
flocks now a s they did then. All these qualities along
with excellent meat fitted them for life on the rangelands of Nevada.
U.S.D.A.
STATISTICS BULLETINS 51-68, 1908
SHEEP CENSUS OF NEVADA, 1871-1907
-
blank to 1871
26,100
32,000
40,000
44,000
44,500
46,700
48,000
50,500
- Drove to California,
Wyoming, Montana,
Nebraska
Came from O r e p n ,
Idaho, California
July 1 , 1880
81,454
92,293
South of Humboldt
South of Douglas,
Esmeralda, Nye and
Lincoln - 42,836
1867
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1880
-
-