Museum’s free Spring Lecture Series begins March 20

The 2018 Spring Lecture Series “Nevada Rocks” will be offered for four Tuesdays — March 20-April 10 — at the Churchill County Museum.

The first speaker on March 20 is Gene Hattori, curator of anthropology of the Nevada State Museum, presenting “North America’s Earliest Dated Petroglyphs.” His lecture will focus on the ancient petroglyphs of Winnemucca Lake, which date between 10,500 – 14,800 years ago.

On March 27, Dr. Dana Bennett, historian and current president of the Nevada Mining Association, will present “Digging Deeper, Finding Women in Nevada’s Mining History.” She will introduce an African-American woman who owned her own silver mine, a Southern Nevada woman who did not take kindly to being claim-jumped, and many other Nevada women, especially those in Churchill County, whose livelihoods depended on the state’s original STEM (science, technology engineering, mathematics) industry.

Chris Ralph, author and associate editor of Prospecting and Mining Journal, will speak on “Hunting Gold, Rocks, and Gemstones Across Nevada and the West” on April 3. This presentation centers on rock hounding in Nevada, finding turquoise, opals and the elusive gold nuggets.

The final presentation is “Family Salt Business, the History of Huck Salt.” Tron Huckaby, Huck Salt company’s representative and third-generation salt miner, will relate the history of the company on April 10. A local business, the Huck Salt Company was started in 1938 by Tron’s grandfather and will soon become a four-generation salt mine.

The 2018 Spring Lecture Series “Nevada Rocks” is free to the public and refreshments will be served. All lectures begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at the Churchill County Museum, 1050 South Maine St.

For information, the museum’s telephone number is (775) 423-3677, and the website address is ccmuseum.org. Museum hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sundays 10 a.m.-3 p.m. and closed Mondays.