View from the Past

100 years ago

City Council Busy: The city council met Tuesday evening and carried through a plan it has been working on the past month to provide traffic towers at the principal street intersections. The fountain, which was erected to regulate traffic in front of the courthouse, has proven so effective that it was deemed advisable with the growing business of Fallon to erect theirs. Bill No. 67 providing for the closing of all saloons in Fallon after Jan. 1, 1919, was defeated. The wages of common laborers in the employ of the city were increased from $3.50 to $4 per day. A resolution was introduced requiring concrete sidewalks, five feet wide to be constructed on both sides of Maine Street from the Gray, Reid & Co. store to the high school.

–Churchill County Eagle, Saturday, July 20, 1918

75 years ago

Nothing Exciting: To shoot down a couple of German Messerschmitts and then limp home in a bullet-riddled bomber, is apparently all in the day’s work for Uncle Sam’s air men in Tunisia. “Nothing exciting ever happens,” wrote Sargent L. M. Wightman, after an experience like that, communicating with his mother, Mrs. J. A. Carpenter of San Francisco, who forwarded the letter to the sergeants’ sister, Mrs. A.V. Huff, who made it available to The Eagle.

“North Africa, May 29, 1943, Dear Mom: Seemed like I had something special to say when I got out the writing materials, but now I can’t think of it. I do want to say that I am sorry I forgot Mother’s Day. I never thought of Easter, either, until someone said, ‘This is Easter Sunday.’ Most of the time I don’t even know what day it is. They have revised that ‘personal experience’ order a little. We can’t name any targets we have bombed. If you have been following this campaign in the papers you know pretty well what we have done over here. Did I ever tell you that Upton was the fellow I was talking about when I said that one of my friends was missing in action? His plane blew up near the target one day. They say that some of the men got out. Guess I’d better call it quits for now. Lots of love Bud.”

–The Fallon Eagle Standard, Saturday July 20, 1943

50 years ago

Vietnam: Marine Lance Corporal Niman L. Allen, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Allen of Fallon, was promoted to the rank of lance corporal while serving with the First Battalion, Third Marine Regiment, Division in Vietnam. Corporal Allen, a 1967 graduate of Churchill County High School, was sent to Vietnam in January. He was last home on leave between Thanksgiving and Christmas,1967. The promotion was based on time in service and rank, military appearance and his knowledge of selected military subjects. As a member of the battalion he helps capture or destroy enemy forces. He accomplishes this through weapons fire, tactical maneuvering, and both large and small scale operations. His unit is also engaged in a civic action program designed to assist the Vietnamese people in completing self-help projects, such as building wells, culverts, small bridges and schools.

–The Fallon Eagle, Friday July 19, 1968

A view from the past… Stories from the Churchill County Museum and Archives, researched and compiled by Brianna Silver, Churchill County Museum Assistant.