Subject: Our Expedition In Stillwater Nevada & Wildlife Refuge On - 12/29/14
Date: 11/29/2014 7:53:54 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: LordOfThyNight@aol.com
To: ParanormalBuffalo@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalGhostSociety@googlegroups.com, paranormalghostsociety@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalGhostSocietyConnections@yahoogroups.com, TheParanormalGhostSociety@yahoogroups.com, SupernaturalFlorida@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalCalifornia@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalNevada@yahoogroups.com, Paranormalflorida@yahoogroups.com, sierraparanormal@yahoogroups.com, PGSPhantoms@yahoogroups.com
 
Stillwater is a little semi ghost town just on the outskirts of the city of Fallon Nevada. Most folks do not even blink an eye passing through it because afterall it is rural and allot of what once is now abandoned as natural has taken a foothold on the area. But at one time this was a ranching community that held the county seat of Churchill County. It also had a hotel, icehouse, stores, theater, pool, blacksmith shop, jail, courthouse and so much more. Today all of it is long gone but the ranches still remain forgotten unchecked and a part of the areas early pioneer history.
 
We would head off really early on a cold brisk winter morning the winds were blowing and the skies were dark. I was not sure if it would rain or how the day would plan out. My son brought one of his friends along sometimes I allow other friends of my kids to attend some harmless adventures. Its good that kids can get out run around get some fresh air and see some things. If they learn something new also even better right?
 
The Stillwater mountains are amazing even more so is the Carson Sink or what is known as the 40 mile desert which contains a salt marsh full of wildlife and the views are simply timeless. I could not wait just to get out here explore some old ranches and chase some ghosts. Although for me it was also about the history afterall some of Nevada's earliest ranching history transpired here so that the miners in Virginia City could be fed.
 
Everyone had been sleeping when I arrived here which is okay I do my best work anyhow by myself and some of the things I do not are not for anyone to see but me. This would be a combo adventure filled with some urbex and paranormal investigating. The main obstacle id have to face is dealing with the wood boards with nails sticking up that might be hidden in the brush.
 
The first area I visited had a couple old trailers along with many wood outbuildings including an outhouse.The sun was just coming up and I headed out into the desert to check them out. It was kind of creepy I mean when you see someone's blue jeans laid out on the couch, an old record player, bottles of old whiskey, frying pans hanging up, plate with decaying food, family photos etc etc it makes you wonder what happened to these people as to where everything was simply left behind.
 
I begin to hear this ghostly music playing it was creepy I captured the audio not only the audio on my recorder but also on my video cam. It sounded like patriotic music but really old almost like a record player and I could not find out where it was playing from. It sounded like it was coming from one of the old mobile homes on the property which obviously was abandoned and had no windows. Then again sound carries maybe it was one of the houses down the road afterall despite most of Stillwater being abandoned there are a few people who still operate ranches today so if you explore the old country roads you will find there is some life back here just not allot.
 
I found an old freight wagon from the 1800's that is in addition a chicken coop and quite a few piles of wood boards. You could tell allot of outbuildings had succumb to the nature everything was in bad shape. But I found workshops, barns, tool sheds, stables etc some had holes in the wall you could just walk through to the outside. It was still kind of dark out when I was exploring this and it was creepy. Not to mention all the rodents that had overtaken this ranch you could tell I was in there home.
 
My next location was more towards where downtown use to be where we explored a collapsed house and a barn. On the property was also a newer home with a fence around it. The fence probably was put there because it appeared people had been throwing stones threw the windows. Not sure why people destroy things. I could see that many of the pioneer ranches had been vandalized, stolen from and ransacked. People have absolutely no sense of historic preservation which is why I do what I do so I can educate others to explore but do it with respect and dignity.
 
Near the collapsed house we also found some stables even what appeared to be an old well or spring made out of stone with a pipe leading from it. I assume that they had taken water from the spring pumping it into this well like trough for horses or cattle. I say well like because it was this circular trough made with homemade concrete. The type of concrete it was appeared to have been at least a century old. These ranches at one time were very lush you had irrigation channels, canals, springs etc but due to drought its dry back here very brown and in the winter all the gorgeous old cottonwood trees are leafless.
 
I did allot of what you would call joyriding in the jeep just taking country road after country road seeing what kind of things I could find. There was a farm that had a hundred cattle and another one that had horses grazing. Also if you go out near the Stillwater Range just beyond town their are allot of wild mustangs and antelope that just graze. I took a ride out to the thermal power plant also there was a few old wooden homesteads and shacks out that way too.
 
If you go downtown they have a canal which runs off of the Carson River. Downtown has a bunch of abandoned wood buildings and foundations you just have to know where to look. There are also other old relics like wagons and wheels. Their is also a plaque which talks about the town in turn the plaque was pretty much where old town use to stand which boasted a hotel, saloons, courthouse, school etc. So much is gone because when Stillwater became a ghost town the ranchers dismantled these locations and used the wood to build there own ranch houses or barns.
 
Some lady asked what I was doing while out exploring I was not sure what to say because its obvious if I have a camera in my hand and I am taking photos that this is what I am doing lol. Their was this one foundation where the concrete was mixed with minerals like for example giant pieces of marble, quartz etc. I also found a work shop, homestead and what appeared to be the shells of some older businesses downtown that just had a roof and a few beams holding them up.One of the outbuildings looked like it was used for cold storage being it had shelves lined on both sides of the aisle.
 
We decided for awhile we would go check out the Stillwater Wildlife Refuge and Salt Marsh which just resides beyond the town site. Along the way we seen a cattle skull hanging up on a fence to remind us that were far from home and that this is the range. The range is harsh at least living here would have been back in the day they had disease, grasshopper plagues, massive winter storms, earthquakes and floods. People died in Stillwater that is the reality of it therefore I believe this semi ghost town is haunted at least some of the older ranches and downtown where at one time was a bustling town.
 
I drove around the refuge and was saddened because generally there are lakes back here but they were dry from having three winters of no snow almost which is rare. But three winters of snow means the Carson River dries up then these wetlands and marshes which get fed no longer can sustain their water. I seen entire lakes just dry and ponds here. I had a refuge map so even though they marked certain lakes when I drove up to them they were just open desert and sand.
 
There is a nice boardwalk which had these bronze plaques talking about an ancient sea being here all the way up until the first pioneers and native Americans which thrived off these wetlands. When you get to the end of the boardwalk there is a nice area you can sit down at which overlooks a couple lakes as a matter in fact you can see the entire refuge here. The winds were picking up then again we had no cover we were just below the Stillwater Mountains in a vast open expanse. But one of the lakes was rather large so I wanted to drive up to it and do some birding.
 
This area is known to be home to a million birds per year that nest, migrate and breed on the refuge. As a matter in fact there are almost 500 species of bird and other animal life here. Nevada by any means is not a vacated desert life does thrive especially when the refuge contains water. This area is very open it use to be an ancient sea 12k years ago as a matter in fact where were standing was 700' under water kind of scary when you think about it ya know? It was sprinkling a little and there was a bit of snow on the range but nothing the way it should be here. It was brown and dry everywhere on the refuge.Thus wildlife was very limited here unfortunately.
 
I read that they want to restore the salt marsh you see back in the day the farmers dug canals from the refuge to there farms to irrigate the lands so in a sense its allot more dried out here then it was a few hundred years ago when the natives live in the marsh. Although I took my family on a hike out to two lakes one of them has the Paiute Indian Trail which has a variety of educational plaques that talk about the tribe known as the cattail eaters who utilized the marsh to fish, hunt wildlife like big horn sheep and make medicine with many of the plants that grow here. The cattail was sacred to the tribe they would use them to build with such as shelter for example.
 
I did get to see some bird life such as a heron, owl, ducks, geese etc. But if their was not a drought then their probably would have been many more birds here then just a few here and there. There was other bigger birds flying off in the distance they also get eagles here and you can see there nest up in some of the older trees found on the refuge. I relaxed drank a beer smoked some bud and I drove all over the refuge down dirt roads between wetlands and marshland it was cool. I felt like I was in the Serengeti of Africa, Outback of Austrailia or something here lol.
 
Without these wetlands the pioneers would have never formed Stillwater but when a station was built for the Pony Express and Overland Stage Company the town begin to build a year later from that point forwards. Then the ranchers came in because they found that the water from the Carson River and Marsh could be diverted to their farms. Little good that did in the 1870's when the mills and mines were dumping mercury into the river then it traveled downstream almost causing Stillwater to meet its maker. The problem is the Indians and the locals fought over this water it led to tensions. Eventually the government kicked them off of this land so that the ranchers could have the water rights. Now look at it today there hardly is any water left to even fight over how sad!
 
We ended up going out to some alkali areas of the refuge and eventually ended up at some sand dunes it was like the Sahara so awesome. The kids and Tammy were writing things in the sand including Lord Rick was here haha and I just dove onto a sand dune making sand angels. Their was a dry lake that I ran all the way out into the middle and had my family take a picture because nobody would believe there eyes unless I actually showed them. This refuge is not what it was compared to decades ago its disappearing well it was in 2017 a record breaking winter with allot of snow melt replenished it so it should be okay for a few years depending on future winters.
 
After having fun on the refuge we went back down some of the country roads around Stillwater. I found a series of old ranches, barns and outbuildings on this one road. They were very old 1800's old probably part of the original town. Not much remains that is part of old town except today some of the ranches if you can find them. One one of the ranches I even seen what appeared to be a head frame maybe it was a well hard to say. Their is an old Shoshone legend about a silver rich ledge near downtown Stillwater. Till this day nobody has ever found it but some ranchers may have tried a hand in some mining on there property.
 
I also took a ride out to the old Tribal Shoshone-Paiute Cemetery to pay my respects. I do not think its right the way the natives were treated here. They did win a lawsuit against the government but it wont change anything what is done is done. They lived on the salt marsh and river for thousands of years then were put on reservations all because ranchers wanted the land for themselves. Then the natives that were given 60 acre lots again were forced to give up that land if they wanted to have fresh drinking water.
 
The cemetery is extremely historic full of big trees its private and I wont tell anyone where it is. But it sits in the middle of Stillwater therefore it deserves at least a spot on our site so people can understand the history here. The natives had a foothold in this region I mean all the wood crosses, fences, enclosures etc tell a story about how hard life has been for the natives this past century. I have no idea when burials begin here but there are hundreds upon hundreds of wood gravemarkers and crosses. Most of the wood fences surrounding some of the graves are collapsed or in bad shape due to the wind and elements. The cemetery has an eerie feeling to it but I did drive around the road that loops around it to take some photos for the site.
 
After the cemetery I stopped to take a few more photos of some old abandoned houses. Some of the houses were heavily boarded up others were wide open but to close to other residences so I did not explore them. I did not want to get shot by farmer John or something lol. There is allot of stuff to see and I know I did not see or find it all. I have seen other peoples photography here and they found abandoned ranches I did not find meanwhile I am sure I found some ranches they did not find. I mean your looking at an area that is five to ten square miles of open farm land so there is allot of things to see. I also see this dome like building it looks like an Indian smokehouse or a lodge of some kind hard to say. The reservation is not to far away it borders the marsh, cemetery and the ranches.
 
My last stop of the day would be at the old Churchill County Cemetery also known as the Fallon Graveyard. I really wanted to visit the old Stillwater Cemetery which has about six graves but I could not find it. Their are two other pioneer cemeteries though eventually we will do not far from Stillwater which are overgrown. Their also is a few pioneer and ranching cemeteries problem is they are on private farm land. So it is difficult really to put pioneers graves with Stillwater considering many of them we cant even find or access.
 
However, their still is many early ranchers and pioneers buried in the Churchill County Cemetery who came to the area to live out their lives. Many of them lived in Stillwater when it had the county seat existed along with its courthouse and government buildings. They also probably drank at the local saloon and road there horses right through downtown when downtown Stillwater merely had a dirt road. The cemetery is full of giant trees surrounded by hills and at the entrance is made all of stone.
 
There is about 10 thousand interments located in this cemetery so by any means its not very small. Their are many historical graves some are children that died in epidemics others are ranchers who came here to endure this rugged harsh wilderness. It was not easy ranching in Stillwater in fact one winter the snow was so deep it killed hundreds of cattle. Their also was major floods some farmers ended up dying and drowning in them. You had every walk of life buried in this cemetery sure some are from Fallon and others buried here were from Stillwater but truly what is the difference. Fallon absorbed Stillwater when it grew into a large city in Northern Nevada so really they are part of eachothers history.
 
Their was a few graves leaning up against trees, broke and others had been mended. Their was an angel statue of a teenage girl that died in the 1930's that had a broken arm. In the center of the cemetery is a giant cross with a couple statues. There was a giant stone cross that had been broken that someone had cemented and fixed its obvious it was on the ground at one time in the cemeteries history due to vandals. One cross looked like it was made with homemade cheap cement mixed in with ore and other minerals. It reminded of the foundation I found downtown which contained pieces of ore and other miners mixed with the concrete.
 
The cemetery contained allot of birds the sun was beginning to go down.Many of the graves here are some of the early pioneers and people who made lives as farmers in Stillwater. The cemetery sits right on the border of Fallon and Stillwater also. So it really is a part of the towns history afterall a majority of those who lived in this farming community permanently ended up here. Many of the graves found here have beautiful epitaphs and stonework. Of course you had your masons and other fraternal groups. Some folks were well to do so they could afford the nicer gravestones while others may have just been given a small little stone. I really did not see any wrought iron enclosures like other cemeteries I been to out in this region though.
 
It was a great day all in all I did take some EVP and readings I always do even if I get nothing I have to at least make an attempt at proving a location is haunted. I pass through Stillwater allot sometimes taking the backroads through here to go up into the Stillwater Range because other ghost towns exist here such as White Cloud City, Mountain Well and LaPlata. I did find the schoolhouse also it has a green roof its historic but its not the original one the original was a two story school house which was dismantled and prior to that kids attended school at the courthouse.
 
Next to the school house though is a old homestead probably turned into a teachers faculty since it had a small kitchen, men's and a ladies bathroom along with a lounging area or den. Behind it was a small workshop or storage shed. But it sits next to the school house which appeared when I looked at it to be just one giant room that could hold about 30 children. It obviously had been restored because the school house had a green aluminum roof, fresh paint, parking lot with a handicap parking area and beautiful glass windows. Its probably the most up to date or restored structure in Stillwater.
 
I did explore the building next to the school but jumped out the back window when a group of guys slowly drove by in there truck. I did not want trouble some folks seem very paranoid in northern Nevada when you are seen exploring old buildings. I know because I have had people try to cause me harm, threaten me, chase me and tell me to get out even if it is public property or they do not own it. I was not looking for any trouble but I did not want to make sure on my excursions to Stillwater I collected plenty of video, pictures and information for our viewers so that I could collaborate it all together that way people could understand what once was. Of course only a little remains of the original town but its still considered today a ghost town or semi ghost town rather because there are a few ranches in Stillwater that been in operated for nearly 150 years so its not completely dead nor forgotten.
 
I am sure their is allot more to see out here their is so many rural roads, ranches hidden by trees and brush. Their are foundations consumed by nature and quite a few tiny graveyards on private property or rather ranch land I cant get any access too. I do hope that the refuge thrives once again it went from being an ancient sea to nearly a dry desert its hard to believe how drastic the landscape has changed over the years. Its kind of creepy knowing that at one time this area was under 700' of water and was an ancient sea. Thousands of years later ranchers are growing alfalfa and corn here now the same place prehistoric monster like sea creatures swam.  Today the cattle and horses graze which was once an ocean. The forty mile desert does contain life but also death since allot of men died crossing it some never even made it to Stillwater. The oldest mummy and maybe even man that came to the Stillwater Marsh is one of the oldest in North America found near here. If that is not even stranger red haired giants had a cave north of Stillwater they dwelled in and more then likely they journeyed to the marsh also to fish and hunt. Thus its a very fascinating region to explore not to mention very scenic!
 
I did not have allot of paranormal experiences some places I explored were very creepy. The ghostly music was straight out creepy and random. I seen a wicker animal which was not paranormal along with a cattle skull which just adds to the whole excursions eeriness in a sense. I also found a track not cryptid or some monster although people have claimed there are flying creatures and other monsters sighted around Stillwater this looked like maybe a mountain lion track where it had slipped in the mud running perhaps even a coyote it was kind of in bad shape but it just proves that their are animals that roam the marsh and these ranch lands.Life thrives here and I am lucky I did not run into a mountain lion pushing through brush at some of these abandoned ranches. But its a bit of a scary place exploring these ranching I mean it looks apocalyptic. You have to wonder how many of these ranchers died leaving behind everything because while exploring it looked like some of the kitchen tables boasted the last supper.
 
It was an awesome adventure I love exploring and their just is so much to see. The Carson Sink is a beautiful desert I am sure their is so much more to see out here. People back in the day would duck hunt and go cat fishing. This area today still provides those into birding and history with endless opportunities. Their is allot of tales in relation to Stillwater about how the ranchers broke into the LaPlata Courthouse to relocate the county records to Stillwater so it became the county seat or about an old timer who was found leaning against a tree frozen and the local ranchers hosted a dance till the old timer thawed so he could be buried in the cemetery. Allot of little tales which surround Stillwater are told today but so very little of this rich farming community remain. Downtown really is nonexistent the only thing remaining are the ranches the first pioneers homesteaded and the ghost that haunt them. This will be a special addition on our website it will offer everything our viewers could ever want to see and hope for in regards to a ghost town scenery and nature included.
Peace,
Lord Rick
PGS Founder
 

This is the map to the Stillwater National Refuge almost every single lake is dry here if you think global warming is not a threat think again. This map tells us a story and that is almost every entire lake is dry. Everywhere it says dry is a lake and sadly this also means that it will have repercussions to the wildlife that seeks sanctuary here. At one time none of these lakes were dry but when farmers in the 1800's begin to dig irrigation ditches and canals they also diverted the water from this marsh land through their farm land. If you combine the ranchers will to divert to the water away from the salt marsh and years of drought due to global warming these are the final results. While it may not be paranormal it is important that we raise awareness educating the public so they can understand what happens when we do not care for our planet. Someday the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge may cease to exist! When the lakes vanish without a trace the only thing left behind is a dry lake bed which is great for running through but not great for the birds and other animals that depend on water for their survival! I suppose it also did not help that a few years ago many of the lakes were completely drained for vegetation control; unfortunately and ultimately this will not help the bird population in my opinion. All life on this planet nearly depends on water that is why the native Paiutes lived on these wetlands and that is why millions of birds migrate here yearly.

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