Let's remember Curry's example

Before we turn our attention away from the city's sesquicentennial, which was celebrated this weekend, it's worthwhile once more to think about the determination it took to build this city.

The four men who founded the city probably doubted themselves on many occasions, including when the surveyor they hired to plat the new city urged them to abandon their plans because the land was worthless.

One of those founders, Abraham Curry, hinted in a letter in the local paper in 1863 at the pessimism they had to overcome: "The enterprise met with serious resistance on the part of some of the neighboring sites, and they complimented our new town with the name of Mugginsville, in full expectation of a failure ... And it was mutually agreed between myself and partners, that the ground should not be sold or occupied for any other purposes as long as there was the least prospect of a Capital being built upon it."

If they had listened to their doubters, Nevada's capital would not be Carson City. This city would likely not exist at all.

The problems they faced were daunting, but no more so than those we confront today. The naysayers will tell you the city's economic woes, its crime and a myriad of other problems have made Carson's future bleak.

What do you think Abraham Curry would say to those people? He'd probably tell them to quit complaining and get to work finding solutions.

Fortunately, Carson City is full of people who think that way, too. While their voices may not be as loud as those of the cynics, they're greater in number. And they're the reason that Carson City's future is bright.

This editorial represents the view of the Nevada Appeal Editorial Board.