Past Pages for Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015

150 years ago

The last letter of Lt. Col. McDermit (sic). Here is the last letter received by Gov. Blasdel of Nevada: Queens River Station, Aug. 1, 1865. Governor: I returned to this station on yesterday evening. The Indians will not meet us in Butte. We have driven them out of the State of Nevada to the Territory of Idaho. They divided into two parties; the larger traveling Northwest and the other we followed to Gravelly Ford, where we took sixty-three prisoners ... Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, C. McDermit, Lieut. Col.

130 years ago

A skeleton afloat near Truckee. On Tuesday last a box containing the skeleton of a man was found floating in Cold Stream, an affluent of the Truckee River, near the town of that name. It proved to be the bony framework of a man who suicided there in 1880 and was buried near the place where he was found. As the grave was above the high water mark, the question was how the coffin got into the stream.

100 years ago

State Treasurer Ed Malley and Superintendent George Cowing of the Orphan’s Home yesterday afternoon took the boys out to the hot springs for a swim. There were two auto loads of boys, each seven-passenger car carrying twenty-two boys, besides the owner. Mr. Malley says his car was slightly crowded, but he did not mind, as the boys had a good time.

70 years ago

The war is over. Japan surrenders. And approaching that time, by unanimous vote the citizens of Nevada vote to bring back Nevada Day, on hiatus during the war years.

50 years ago

The White Pine Chamber of Commerce and Mines, which previously has supported any proposal to give eastern Nevada a national park, will give full support to Rep. Walter Baring’s bill to create Great Basin National Park.

Trent Dolan is the son of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.