10 Thursday, April 3, 1997 Pahrump Valley Gazette
Editorial
I
Home, Homestead on the Range
By Robert Lewes
Last place I expected to read this was in the Washington
Post, the national weekly edition of which we continue to
get to keep up on activities in the Beltway. Not exactly what
one would expect to read in a publication of the eastern
establishment.
For much of the last two centuries, homesteading has
been associated with primarily the rural west. In fact, it was
the way most of the West was settled and the way many of
our towns of today were initially formed and developed.
And in a throwback to the homestead era, a vast sprawling
mass of the Nevada bigger than Las Vegas and Reno
combined- Nevada' s two major urban areasuis going to be
placed on the auction block this week, offering bidders a
chunk of the Silver state for as little as $50 an acre.
Interestingly, much of today's Nye, Esmeralda, and
Clark Counties originally resulted from either large land
grants or homesteading by the early settlers in the area. In
fact, the ownership of many of the large farms and ranches
in the Amargosa, Fish Lake, and can be traced to original
homesteading of the area.
However, if this modern version of homesteading sounds
appealing. It could be a deal for you. And it just might be, but
there's one small catch- the land available is remote, very
remote to say the least.
There are no roads, no power, and very little water, which
at times in the desert can be more precious than all the gold
buried beneath the ground.
"This is cowboy property eight to ten miles off the
nearest freeway," broker John Blom explained at a recent
meeting with potential bidders in Las Vegas.
The government gave the roughly 1.4 million acres to a
railroad company to expedite completion of the transconti-
nental railroad back in 1896. Almost a hundred years later,
in 1995, the land-rich and cash-poor Santa Fe Railroad sold
their excess high-desert land to a real estate company, the
Nevada Land Resource Co, of Reno.
The 101 parcels involved, ranging from 155 - 714 acres,
are scattered across 340 miles of desert from the east of
.erie to the town of Wells, most of them within a relatively
short drive---or horseback ride--off Interstate 80. This is
roughly west of the northeastern area out of state made
famous by Hollywood actors Bing Crosby and Jimmy
Stewart, who ran cattle on their vast rural Nevada spreads
during the fifties.
"We feel there is a property available for everybody,"
said Julie Schneider of LFC Communications Ltd, which is
marketing the land for the owners.
In addition to the personal pitches, prospective bidders
also received a slick brochure with detailed instructions for
making an offer on the properties.
Minimum bids for the parcels containing 640 acres--one
square mile--range from $29,900 in Churchill County to
more than $1,110 in Elko County.
John Houston, director of Nevada Land Resource, said
the company received inquires from as far away as Hong
Kong, England, and Germany.
For some bidders, the proximity of the railroads or the
interstate offers retail or industrial potential. For others, the
sheer remoteness of the northeastern Nevada area was in
itself the lure.
"There are checkerboard sections," Houston said. "A
square mile all to yourself and it touches other corners of
square miles that touch absolutely nothing."
If that's your thing, this could be the opportunity of a
liietime. No nasty neighbors to contend with, no fences, no
by R.P.L
urban traffic or congestion; in fact as
we said earlier, there are no roads, no
power, and very little water, but
there's lots of wide open spaces if that's what you are
looking for.
While reading about them in an article in the Washington
Post might be somewhat unusual, land auctions in rural
Nevada are not. For example, a little more than 100 years
ago this month, the entire townsite of Hawthorne was
auctioned off to provide for a new central Nevada rail stop
for the Carson and Colorado Railroad.
THERE' S A LOTof history to be found hidden in these
Nevada hills, and the Nevada Commission for Cultural
Affairs, appointed by the governor and funded by the
Legislature, provides funding to preserve historic sites and
structures for the benefit of present and future generations
as cultural centers.
This year, 17 such organizations from around the state
received a total of $2 million for this purpose. While the
majority of this year's recipients are from northern Nevada
more space around the principally Carson City, Reno, and
Virginia City, Tonopah, Boulder City, Caliente,and McGill
also shared in the awards.
Unlike many rural county governments, Nye County in
particular, the state Legislature appears to be rolling in
money, blessed with an excess of cash. When it's tallied up
in June, the state budget will show a handsome surplus in the
quarter-billion-dollar range.
Singled out by some of the more miffed southern media
for his legislative dash for cash was our own 36 th Dist.
Assemblyman Roy Neighbors, the Tonopah Democrat who
can only be accused of making sure that his constituents get
their fair share of the legislative largesse.
And out-numbered by his legislative counterparts from
both Las Vegas and Reno, Neighbors, the retired Nye
County manager, succeeded in getting $600,000, one of the
largest this year, for museum repairs and the establishment
of a mining park in Tonopah, the Nye County seat.
But Roy wasn't alone in reaching for the legislative
cookie jar, Clark County rural Assemblywoman Gene
Segerbloom, also a democrat, picked up $407,000 of the big
ones for exhibits at the Boulder City Museum.
Does all of this go to prove, as some northern legislators
have suggested," there just ain't no culture in Las Vegas?"
FOR AS YOUNG a country as America is, we seem to be
a nation hopelessly addicted to anniversaries. Before this
month is out for example, we will have observed the second
anniversary of the senseless terrorist type bombing of the
Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that
killed 168 innocent victims, including a number of women
and children.
After spending the last two years in federal prison, the
alleged master-mind of the terrorist-type attack, Timothy
McVeigh will finally get his day in court, although judicial
jurisdiction of the controversial case has been moved to
Denver to insure a fair trial for the defendant.
While the tremors of the shockwave which radiated from
the incredulous act of terrorism radiated across the nation,
they were also, felt dangerously close to home as Terry
Nichols, formerly of Las Vegas, was arrested along with
McVeigh as a co-conspirator in the bombing of the Okla-
homa City Federal building.
Never did know Nichols, but we met his ex, Lana Padilla,
when she was partners with a friend of ours, Key Bignotti,
in the real estate business in Las Vegas.
Padilla, who authored the book "By Blood Betrayed,"
continues to live in the area with the couple's now 14-year
old son, Josh, but is not granting any interviews at this time,
partly because of a gag order imposed on the case, and due
to her travel schedule to Denver as a witness in the McVeigh
case, and also in the prosecution of her ex-husband, the
father of their youngest child.
If convicted McVeigh and Nichols face the death penalty
for the April 19,1995 bombing that killed a total 9f 168
people. In the federal case, the alleged co-conspirators are
charged only with the deaths of the eight federal workers
killed. However the state of Oklahoma continues to have a
hold on them for the remaining 160 civilian victims of the
blast.
There are those who continue to contend that the Okla-
homa City bombing was done out of a warped sense of
revenge for the controversial actions of federal agents in the
Waco (Texas) assault on the Branch Davidian religious cult,
also on April 19,1993.
That ominous date, which claimed the lives of 80 mem-
bers of the religious cult, is also the date commemorated in
history for the shots fired at Lexington and Concord that
triggered the Revolutionary War in 1775.
Some frank talk about newspapers and their demise
Let's talk about newspapers, particularly small rural
newspapers.
The death of a newspaper is a terrible tiff ng to see. A piece
of the eommtmity dies with that newspaper. This would
seem to be the case with the Prospector, published in
Goldfield. Owner/publisher Ken Jackson died and with him
gone there is no one to continue with the paper. Now, the
Prospector filled a void in Esmeralda County. No other
paper really covered the territory. Certainly.not with the
personal perspective that only a local paper can give.
The Gazette tried to cover Goldfield and Esmeralda but
this was a big project with very little return. Commissioner
meetings were impossible since the Nye County Commis-
sion meets on the same day. Our coverage of the Esmeralda
commissioners, when we had it, was supplied by third party
individuals. We'll continue to supply as much coverage as
we can and perhaps, with the loss of the Prospector, try to
be more cognizant of that community's needs. (There are
rumors that some individuals are going to try and resurrect
the Prospector. If this should come to be we will be the first
to wish them the best of success).
Some folks think the Gazette is just a Pahrump newspa-
per, That'snot true. We try hard to give as much regional
coverage as possible. It's a tall order and we often miss a
good story in this large coverage area, but we try our best.
Why did the paper change it's name from Death Valley
Gateway Gazette to the Pahrump Valley Gazette? It was
strictly a business decision, not an editorial one. We were
experiencing some pretty tough economic times. Some-
thing had to be done about it. Up north they called us a
"Pahrump" paper, while in Pahrump they called us a
NORTHERN EXPOSURE
by Dave Downing
"Tonopah" paper. We rather liked this,
editorially, because it showed we were
doing the job we intended.
The fact of the matter was that we
were failing to get enough advertising and the major adver-
rising base in this county is in Pahrump. The time had come
for us to identify ourselves with the Pahrump area. While
still trying to provide regional coverage, our advertising has
jumped by leaps and bounds.
• Each newspaper in Nye County has a somewhat different
slant on the news coverage of the area. To read each paper
is to get a different point of view in this coverage. Each is a
fine newspaper. Some like one, some like another. At least
there is a choice -- and that's what makes multiple newspa-
pers such a gret thing.
There are three newspapers available in Pahrump, this
one, the Pahrump Valley Times and the Valley Observer. Up
north there are two papers available, this paper and the
Tonopah Times-Bonanza. Is there competition among these
papers? Of course there is. Newspapers tend to become dull
and boring without such competition -- another great ad-
vantage to having more than one paper to choose from. At
the same time we certainly wish all of our competitors
.SUCCESS.
It is discouraging to hear of a part-time employee of
another newspaper referring to our paper as a "rag." I would
never call his paper such a thing. In fact, I have a very high
respect for that paper. Then, I guess I have to consider that
this is not a professional newspaper person saying this but
a part rime amateur photographer.
This newspaper has won numerous awards for it's work.
While it's true the paper tends towards snappy headlines,
controversial editorials, etc., this is a style. We choose that
style because it sets us apart from our competitors and offers
area readers a different look.
In the meantime, Goldfield and Esmeralda County have
lost their newspaper. They must now rely on "one of us" to
pick up the pieces. We at the Gazette promise to do the best
we Call.
But, there's nothing like having your own community
newspaper. We can't fill that void, only mourn the loss.
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