Forbidden Universe

Paranormal => The Paranormal & Ghost Society => Topic started by: AngelOfThyCosmos on April 05, 2019, 04:21:21 PM

Title: Our Wild Western Historic Fallon Country Expedition On March 2nd 2019
Post by: AngelOfThyCosmos on April 05, 2019, 04:21:21 PM
Our Wild Western Historic Fallon Country Expedition On March 2nd 2019

While Fallon may be Nevada's third largest city in Nevada many folks do not realize that before it was Fallon it was home to many smaller towns and communities. But most of the history has been lost or absorbed by the growth of this ranching community and growing military city. I say military because many of the local folks are employed locally at the Naval Air Base.

However, if you are willing to go beyond the city your going to find many ranches that date back as far as the 1850's. While we have done the semi ghost town of Stillwater which borders Fallon there are some other towns which been nearly erased from the history books that I wanted to do some projects with. So I decided to return to Fallon so we could work with St. Clair which was a small ranching town that began before 1860. We would also visit Ferguson Cemetery, St. Clair Historic Cemetery and Johnson Ranch Cemetery all part of this once thriving ranching community.

St. Clair also had a post office which was widely used by other communities especially after the Ragtown post office closed down which is worth mentioning. We would do a ghost town expedition in Ragtown too and traverse this back road into another lost community known as Willowtown aka Northam. In between it all after St. Clair we would make a side trip up near Rattlesnake Hill to the old Nevada Sugar Company mill ruins. So we would have a full day and at the time it was my sons first over night pass so he would finally get to go on an adventure because he came home Friday and we went out on a very rain Saturday.

Rain, shine or snow you can bank on us always going out and doing the work we need to get done. The weather just gives these locations more character I suppose. We were lucky it was not snowing because most of the time we tend to get stuck in snowstorms just like the one we had gotten stuck in two weeks after we did these locations.

I love Fallon because parts of it do not look like desert as its very green here their are ranches, canals, Carson River, big ole cottonwood trees everywhere and grass growing everywhere. Their are times you take these old dirt roads and think your in the Midwest or something its pretty far out. Only difference is that in Fallon you also get nice views of the mountains some even covered in snow this time of year. With all the snow and storms we had the area was quite wet even good dirt roads were washed out so we had no idea what we would encounter once we arrived on location to explore these places.

I was very stoked because we really had not done many ghost towns up until this point in the new year due to snowstorm after snowstorm. Nevada got hit so hard in January and February that some areas of the sierra had over 240 inches of snow which is phenomenal considering the drought we went through years ago where rivers were going dry. But when you get this kind of weather its dangerous to go to ghost towns due to the fact roads are washed out, flash flooding, you can get stuck in deep mud, erosion up on cliffs etc which makes it hard to get to these places.

The nice thing about the Ragtown/St. Clair area is most of the roads are paved so these are doable wild western semi ghost towns. Notice I say most not all but ill get into that a little later on. But when it comes to St. Clair the roads are fairly decent throughout and there are a few cemeteries worth checking out which is the bread and butter of such a location. So after breakfast and a Chai tea latte we decided to head on off to our first location of the early morning known as St. Clair.

St. Clair Nevada

St. Clair runs for a few miles its not a small community by any means but its a ranching community. It really did not have many businesses. If you wanted to do business you would have to make the trek to Ragtown or Stillwater during the 1800's. The farms been around for generations so with a expedition like this I wanted to photograph some of the old farms and bars just to kind of show how old the community is.

I love going adventuring I have thousands of songs I can play on my new bluetooth sound system so I sit back burn a bowl of some White Widow/Dream Star/Lemon Sherbert/Blue Steele cranked the tunes and just drive in rural Nevada. It was a rainy wet morning but at least it was not snowing. It was also just sunrise so still very early morning which is an awesome time to explore just as the sun is coming on up. Yeah I always have more then one strain of bud on me when I go ghost towning love to smoke a bowl in the country even just sit under a tree and burn one very relaxing tradition for me lol.

This would not be an easy trip for me I just became owner of our basketball team in Carson City. So we just started our basketball season off as The Paranormal & Ghost Society "Phantoms" at the MAC Center its really intense were playing against the best of the best games are aggressive but still cant wait for football and hockey season for our teams future. So I was quite tired on this trip I mean I jump about fifty times a game and we just played the hardest team in the league. So I went from playing two games of basketball, a long practice all the way to adventuring in the wild west definitely not easy. So it would take a bit for me to get use to balancing playing sports for my team to adventuring in the rural Nevada. So for this trip oh man was I sore and I had not even begun lol.

Anyhow, I would stop first at the Allen Road Cemetery or rather the Ferguson Cemetery first before anything else. The problem is that a local farm and what appears to be a mill nearby now owns it or resides behind it which consumes this graveyard. To get to the cemetery you have to go down this steep bank and figure a way across the canal. Then once you cross the canal then you have to go under barbed wire right into a pasture with cattle grazing all around you. Once you do that there is a wood gate and dirt path leading out to this burial ground.

I did not cross the canal was not in the mood to take a swim and again another historic site on someone's farm which really to me is a turn off. The last thing I want is farmer john chasing me with his shotgun because he thinks I am stealing his livestock or something. The cemetery use to be public but I guess this farm purchased the land then decided to put a fence around the cemetery to keep the cattle out but it also keeps humans out to because in order to get out to it you have to enter the farms pasture land.

There is only one maybe two visible monuments in this open dirt patch surrounded by high brush that I could see from afar. Behind the granite monument is a large cottonwood tree that fell over. Its hard to say if the tree fell on any graves but as far as I could tell I think there was a little stone I seen in some brush and in the center of the cemetery a monument. That monument states that Elizabeth is buried in the Churchill County Cemetery while Jackson's original headstone is also there buried next to Elizabeth. Then below it states Marvin and Wendy Ferguson October 2016.

Its hard to even know if any graves exist here anymore or if most of them are lost to history. Its just an open flat area surrounded by brush with this monument in the middle. More then likely this was a small family cemetery but I also read that the reason there is no graves is because most of them are unmarked. Most of them were early ranchers that came to the area and were buried right up the road from there ranches. While its private you can see the cemetery from the road like I said not very big maybe 100 by 50 feet in size.

The Ferguson's owned a ranch in the area and they also operated a post office on there land. As a matter in fact Jackson served as a post master. The couple was buried in the cemetery today they reside in the Churchill County Cemetery which we have already up on our site from a previous cemetery project we did. That does not mean all bodies were exhumed or moved there are probably other ranchers buried here or family members.

I spent a good hour driving around St. Clair I wanted to find remnants of old homesteads, cabins, farms etc and I did find some very unique sites including this three story wood tower we also found a similar one in Ragtown, stone walls, weird shaped homestead and a few barns dating back to St. Clair's boom years. You really have to drive around to find these places most of the historic sites are on private property though. I remember seeing this big ole creepy farm house not even sure anyone was living in it as it was very dilapidated. No less you could tell it was over a century old back when St. Clair had a post office and was a small thriving community.

But all you have to do is drive a mile or two and you can see this is a very old community. Most of the history exist on these old ranches but still its all original. The town also had a school, boarding house, community center and stage stop or rather hotel. Most of what was is gone Fallon became more relevant and St. Clair began to fade into the history books. I passed by this massive sheep farm so not much has changed they still grow vegetables, raise cattle, sheep and other livestock on these ranches.

My next stop in St. Clair would be the St. Clair Historic Cemetery or as some call it the Adventist Cemetery. Near the cemetery there use to be. You see back in the day there was a place known as Big Adobe located here. It was a ranch yes but the adobe was also used for community gatherings, dances and events. By 1871 it was not occupied so the owner moved his ranch elsewhere and when the building became abandoned it was used as the first school in Churchill County. You had your main classroom downstairs and upstairs had about eight rooms so it ended up becoming a boarding school.

By 1876 the school moved when a new school had been erected therefore the Seventh Day Adventist purchased Big Adobe using it as a church. But they also used it as a private boarding school that way the children could get an education but also continue to practice religion at the same time. W.H.A. Pike and his wife Ida who was the daughter of Ragtown's Asa Kenyon taught here. Asa Kenyon owned most of Ragtown him and his family begin their lively hood by operating a Overland Route Station for weary travelers who crossed the Forty Mile Desert. But he was very prominent owning many businesses and much of the land in Ragtown.

While the boarding school remained open for many years along with church services eventually they would move to Fallon. Not before many of the children died of epidemics and were buried in the cemetery next to the institute. Can you imagine your a parent shipping your child off to boarding school only to find out they had gotten sick and dying? That was how life was in the wild west there was no way to quarantine any of the children from one another so when one had gotten sink so did many others which often led to death.

The cemetery is a symbol of that dark past it really is considering many of the interments are that of children buried here. Yeah the big adobe, school, church etc are all gone. Today there are newer houses surrounding the cemetery but no less its still rural and not to far perhaps a mile from the Ferguson Cemetery. Life was harsh out in this part of Nevada you had floods, bad winter storms and even earthquakes. While big adobe or the institute is long gone the graveyard in a sense is symbolic as to what once was.

When I walked up to the cemetery it begin to rain fairly consistently and it was a cold rain trust me. Once I entered the gate which btw its not posted as a private cemetery nor are there any trespassing signs the home owner living next door to it told me I cant be there. I said hmmm that is strange this is not listed as a private cemetery as a matter in fact there was some fresh foot prints just inside the gate so its obvious time to time people visit this place. Not sure if the guy is watching over the place or is just simply bored living out in the middle of nowhere next to the place. But the cemetery has its own fence around the property and therefore this home owner does not own it he just lives next to it for anyone who might consider visiting here.

He did come up to me told me I cant be here that would not deter me I told him look I am here to do research. I filled him in about the towns early history and a bit about the cemetery then he backed off told me to respect the place and he wont have an issue with me. The man claimed where I was stepping was the graves of children and I need to stay on the path. I thought to myself what paths this place is so overgrown most of the graves or plots are barely even visible. I was like yes sir I mean I never disrespect any location I go to let alone touch anything but that is just me. However, in order to bring you St. Clair I had to also bring you the pioneers and children who perished living out their lives in St. Clair so this was for me a very relevant site so we can put this all together on our site eventually.

When you enter the cemetery there is this big gravestone with four different names on it all painted in black. The names are poorly written as a matter in fact they were all jumbled together, uneven and it was a bit hard to read. Not sure if all four are buried where this stone is or if its to mark that they are buried in the cemetery. To the left near the fence bordering this house is a row of graves all children most of them small plots outlined by rocks. I found a couple wooden grave markers and a few little stoned buried or consumed by brush. The cemetery needs to be cleaned up I cant understand why the man next door is lecturing me on respecting this place when he should go on in with a chainsaw or hedge clippers and at least clean up the place so that the graves are not covered with tree limbs or brush just sayin!

If I was going to live next door to the cemetery I would go in and do a clean up because I would want my house to sit next to something relevant, historic and would want it looking pristine. But this place needs allot of work like I said its hard to know the paths because its all so overgrown your walking between thorn brush to get to certain grave sites. There was a wooden enclosure but no grave marker inside and a newer grave made out of rose quartz. Their was a larger wooden enclosure with a few hard to read wood grave markers all on there sides, tilted and even the enclosure was about to collapse.

Hidden in some high grass was also the skeletal remains of what was either a cat or some kind of giant bird which looked more like a small dinosaur. It was hard to tell what the remains were but based on the skull it looked more like this thing had a beak did not see teeth so my guess was a large bird of some kind but who knows I was not going to move it or touch it lol. Sometimes I find weird stuff just exploring I am not looking for anything other then chasing histories and the ghost that go with them but we do find some things time to time that are a bit out of place.

I found a third wood enclosure which had a few wooden gravemarkers again could not read them. I found another gravesite where a post had been put into the ground. There was also a family plot most graves could not read but this rose quartz or rose colored granite stone said Elizabeth Truman on it. I could not read the other graves in this plot to overgrown and some stones were just poorly weathered.

I would say there probably is about 100 people buried here but only 25 graves are visible or standing. There is so much wild brush, weeds, vandalism etc here its hard to make heads or tails of anything. My cam was getting soaked so I was a bit worried it might get to wet and breakdown so I only spent about twenty minutes here just trying to look at some of the grave sites. Also near the gate and really close to it is a gravestone but nothing is written on it. The weather and just the fact its not being maintained has made this place beyond disrepair.

I would move on with feelings of shock because again I cant understand why someone would be so protective over a cemetery that they do not help maintain. If your property borders this place why not clean it up a little rather then harass people like me visiting it? I cant make the history known or the cemeteries condition if I do not put this place on youtube or my website. So when I do places like this its with the intent to get people and communities working on preservation so its not just about chasing ghost for me.

I was trying to find a place also called Magee Station which burnt down in the mid 1900's. But supposedly the ranch is original and old. A website gave me an idea of where it was but all I found was more farms and newer homes so its hard to know. But Magee Station was just up the road from the cemetery which boasted an ice house but also boasted many large parties and events in St. Clair since 1864. By 1890 it was closed sold to the Springer family who built a nice two story house and eventually an accidental fire destroyed it leaving the ranch behind. I tried to get up to the Springer Ranch but nothing remains but that was just another trek I took while in St. Clair.

I spent more time exploring St. Clair this was a bigger project then I thought. As a matter in fact I went out to the old St. Clair Station site which today is split up between this ranch and new subdivisions or rather housing. But back in the day St. Clair and J.J. McClellan operated a toll bridge and station on there ranch calling it St. Clair Station not far from Big Adobe. But the bridge crossing the river or road rather would have been where the toll would have been located otherwise you simply were forced to have to take another way. The post office originally operated out of this station and was the only one in the region from 1867 to 1869. So it was shortlived and would move over to big adobe.

 In 1860 Augustus Gus Meacham operated a ranch and by 1863 sold most of his lands to other ranchers who settled in the region. Taylor bought that land which was said to have built Big Adobe which served as a sister station of St. Clair just four miles away. Its possible Meacham sold some of his property to James St. Clair and McClellan too since they came to the area a short time after Meacham operated his ranch in the area. But at the time before it was called St. Clair it was Meacham that owned most of the land before it became a community.

I was trying to find any remnants of the old St. Clair Station while once I crossed the bridge over the river to the left was open farm land to the right was a subdivision. I figured I could find some of the original buildings of the St. Clair Station and Ranch. But I did not find many what I found is a road that took me through a subdivision with quite a few new homes. To the left further down the road was a small playground for children and a fenced in area which turned out to be a cemetery and I knew it because a gravestone caught my eye.

I read this is the Johnson Ranch Cemetery just another small forgotten burial ground only this one had high chain link fencing around it. I read that nothing remains of Clair Station that this subdivision swallowed up the entire ranch. Back before the housing was built here there probably was some foundations and old wood outbuildings but not anymore. The housing had to even be built around this little cemetery or so it seems and so they put a small fence around it but its not even labeled. There are two wood crosses inside the fence and a small granite stone that says on it Nellie Mae daughter of R.L. and L.B. Johnson. I assume the wood crosses were her father and mother.

So in total St. Clair has about three to four cemeteries, a bunch of old ranches and I did see along some roads a few artifacts like wood wagons that sort of thing. This one rancher had some homemade art work made out of car parts including a hunter hunting for ducks and a giant chicken all made out of scrap metal. I also found an old power house building I photographed and a bunch of other really old historic barns surrounding these cemeteries. Its sad that both stations and big adobe are long gone because honestly they were the heartbeat of old St. Clair and today they have vanished leaving behind many old ranches on the road less taken. We would move onto our next location the Nevada Sugar Mill Company Ruins.

Nevada Sugar Mill Company

In order to find this place you have to take a series of dirt roads behind the Churchill Cemetery. I was at this cemetery a few years ago doing an investigation. I had no idea there were ruins of a sugar mill back behind it. The thing is its so overgrown back in here most people probably had no idea that at one time a massive mill which employed hundreds resided back here.If I would have known I would have visited this place a long time ago.

Just below Rattlesnake Hill are the ruins when I first arrived I was just driving around trying to find them down this dirt road which was muddy, overgrown and I did not think a mill site could be so close to such a nice kept up cemetery such as this. But sure enough when I was driving I looked left and there it was a 50' maybe 75' wall. I been fascinated with this mill for awhile especially since I got my hands on the original vintage photos this place was huge and when it closed bootleggers during the prohibition were using the abandoned mill to make alcohol until he FBI raided the place.

Today the factory or mill rather is long gone but there are some foundations remaining, walls, rusty remnants, bricks and some other things left behind. Its a very overgrown site then again that was the story of my day pushing through high brush, thorns, weeds etc just to get back into these places to do some old fashioned Lord Rick exploring.

The site is massive but the strange thing is the floors are covered in sand even sage brush growing out of the cracks. But you can see the main buildings floor in certain areas which is concrete and a long wall which wraps around into the hillside. There is also piles of debris with metal in the concrete and even some rusty pipes. This building had some plumbing we found a pipe embedded in the ground where a toilet may have stood or sink at one time.

We also found an iron or steal plate of some kind embedded into the ground and a few other smaller foundations with rebar protruding from it. Most of the mill has been torn up or bulldozed because I could see large pieces of concrete that were just torn up and placed in piles. Its obvious the mill extended further out but had been removed to make room for the cemeteries piles of vases, wreaths, fake flowers and other things. But the foundation for the main building and wall still exist today even if it is overgrown you can make out that this was a massive mill during its hey day.

Just above the mill is rattlesnake hill and they call it that because in the hotter months there are hundreds of snakes that just consume this hillside. You would not want to jog or hike there in the summer but its the only hill near this mill site then afar you can make out some of the mountains and local ranges. My son took off to look around the fields for more remnants I was focused on the main part of the mill. I even found some rusty machine parts embedded in some dirt.

We found a few foundations hidden in brush, concrete floors and walls but most of what is here is now gone. We also found a pile of bricks which when the factory was dismantled many of them were used in the construction of many businesses located in downtown Fallon. The bricks are sort of beige in color most of the ones we found were broken but back in the day there were thousands of them that made up this mill.

Many of the farmers tried growing sugar beets in the Fallon area especially the ranchers up in St. Clair so you can see the historic connection between the two. But growing sugar was not very successful in Nevada and at times the mill just did not produce enough. Granted one year they produced 25 thousand 100lb sacks it just was not that profitable especially for the farmers who were asked to plant these beets so they could mill them for there sugar.

We found id say just about all we could find here its very scattered the site and its been picked clean. Everything else is just concrete remnants and pieces of rusty metal here and there; But if you look at the vintage photos its pretty amazing how nice of a mill this once and today it looks like an earthquake hit it. All the concrete ruins are cracked, eroding, falling apart etc but no less if you are a good day dreamer you can envision what the site once looked like back in the day.

When the mill was purchased by some other company it produced 40 thousand sugar sacks. But the problem was is Fallon farmers were hit with a mysterious disease called Curly top so the beets would just rot or wither away in place with this extra growth. No less this mill had years of being plagued by bad luck and when sugar costs were way down profit was not to be made. Its hard to believe that Nevada had a sugar mill or that it could be grown here.

The locals use to call this factory project Uncle Sam's Nine Million Dollar Farm because this was a spendy mill to run and it was costing the local farmers more then they made in profits. If you stand at the base of rattlesnake hill their also is a giant cross that sits at the top. This is the third cross but it was there when the sugar mill was in operation in the 1920's. The first cross was destroyed by vandals while the second one someone cut with a chainsaw. If you worked at this mill you probably seen the first cross before it was destroyed.

It started to rain hard again my camera was getting wet so we wrapped it up but I made sure to video record and photograph any of the mills remains including some photography of Rattlesnake Hill. I also went downtown Fallon to the historic section to visit the J.H. Corn Building built in 1940 which were previously apartments then an auto shop or garage prior to that. The building was made with bricks from the sugar mill so I wanted to see them. When the factory was dismantled many bricks were used to build downtown Fallon while most machinery ended up being exported to Japan.

The police in Fallon must be bored they pulled up on me sitting in there SUV and watch me taking photos of the Corn building. I thought they were going to ask what I was doing they have a reputation for harassing people maybe they are bored who knows. But I definitely do not look like a burglar carrying around my expensive camera taking photos of a historic building that is for sure. Not only did they watch me then they drove around the block again and past me really slow. Surprised like I said they did not stop me I always am carrying my gun in my holster which makes me stand out like a sore thumb lol.

After we had finished up here we grabbed a quick burger we were on the way to our next destination known as a little semi ghost town known as Ragtown along the Carson River. I also got a spicy butter cream high energy coco oh man that was awesome.  I really could not wait to go up to go up to Ragtown because it is one of the more well known locations if you study the wild west especially in this part of Nevada it was the one settlement pioneers looked forward to seeing after crossing the harsh Forty Mile Desert.

Ragtown Nevada

Just west of Fallon about twelve miles exhausted immigrants in the 1850s would reach Ragtown to rest here after crossing the forty mile desert. At the time there was a station here maybe a few huts or shacks. It had gotten its name because many of the weary travelers would hang there garments, rags and clothes from trees and bushes. It was no more then a seasonal tent city which sprang up in the spring and was taken down in the fall in hopes that men could profit from the transcontinental wagon train trade. Most of the travelers were on their way to California and they would probably stop here for a couple days just to rest up before climbing the high sierras.

More or less the station was a way to water down your horses one can imagine that when the travelers seen the giant cottonwood trees growing along the river they made a mad dash towards Ragtown. When Asa Kenyon came along he purchased the Ragtown property. He and his family were farmers who utilized the Carson River building the first permanent structure made out of wood which became a trading post or rather general store. Kenyon and his family owned and operated an Overland Route Station along the Overland Wagon Road for many years.

With that being said a small town developed here there was a post office that operated twice here in the 1800's. When it was not in operation you had to use the one in nearby St. Clair. Asa Kenyon owned most of the town hell there was even a cemetery but I do not know where it was located I tried to find it on the expedition. But supposedly all 200 graves were washed away during a flood in 1861-62 that washed away not only the entire graveyard but the town with it at least most of it. Its hard to know if the bodies will ever be recorded or if they are just laying somewhere in the mud somewhere near the river bank.

I really wanted to visit the Ragtown site because Mark Twain passed through here and he does talk about it in one of his books as he did stop here. This is a relevant location since if it were not for its existence many immigrants crossing the forty mile desert would have presumably died Mr Asa Kenyon built up Ragtown to save lives. But with the river nearby and a decent watering hole Ragtown was an important stop in Nevada even if most of it is gone today its historic relevance will live on thanks to folks like me who care enough about its wild western heritage.

Once the railroad came through Ragtown transformed more into a ranching settlement because there was no need for a station anymore. There also was a community called Centerville nearby which boasted a hotel and ranch a mile and half away. So the area was in the 1800's growing today not so much because most of old Ragtown is gone. I remember reading that Dan DeQuille a editor for the Territorial Enterprise who worked with Twain calling Ragtown ancient but also well known. He noted that Asa Kenyon owned most of the town. 

If you stop on highway 50 there is a historic plaque with a bit of Ragtown's early history and how it may have gotten its name. There is also a stone monument with a plaque that talks about Ragtowns Crossing and attached to the stone monument are two old wooden wagon wheels. If you take the road nearby the plaque for a couple miles it will take you to ground zero of where Ragtown use to be. You will pass many old farms, open meadows and see the old cottonwoods meandering along the Carson River.

As I drove down the road which goes from paved to partially paved to eventually all dirt some of the old farms along the road boast some of the old pioneer relics of the past such as old tillers, farming equipment, wagons etc. I tried to photograph what I could one home I seen had about twelve historical relics spread out throughout the front of there home. Its hard to know if these relics were left behind on some of these old farms or someone purchased them. But along the road up to Ragtown if you pay mind you will see that there is plenty of old relics of the past.

Some of the farms are not very old back here or ranch houses but when I see old rusty remnants of the 1800's out on someone's front lawn it just gets me so excited because I know I am getting close to something historic and sure enough we made it to the Ragtown site which today has a couple small farms and a few historical dilapidated structures that I would go on to explore.

I ended up parking for about a half hour walking around I did not want to disturb the local residents like I said there are a couple small ranches back here but wow is it remote. Its a world away from a world back here. Keep in mind this is not like other ghost towns your not going to see an assay office or a mine or an old school and church. Most of what remains is back from the towns early ranching days because while this was a station and eventually a town most of the residents were ranches who harnessed the water from the Carson River to irrigate there fields, crops and livestock.

As most of you know allot of Nevada is high desert well the northern half is. But back here there are farms, green pastures etc especially tons of big 200 year old trees. So it does not feel like desert back here at all which is why the early pioneers loved coming to Ragtown they could fish and swim in the river nearby, pick up things at the local store and some ended up settling here because the land was fertile.

Today downtown is not so much a town at all but there are some older structures to see such as a two story barn my son and I visited. There is also a second barn its very long but missing its doors and a entire wall. I think they were the stables for either cattle or horses. I did not go into the barn the grass to get to it was higher then my head and I am not to keen on dealing with rodents. I am sure that high grass was a rats nest lol. There was a few corrals around did not see any livestock here so maybe some of the old wood buildings are truly abandoned. But the house across the road is fairly new and they had over eight historical relics out front including old wagons like it was some sort of museum. Perhaps some of those relics were left behind and I am glad the home owners at least are displaying them rather then stacking them up in some barn so that nobody can enjoy them.

There was also an old outhouse painted red, some workshop with a table and what may have been a circular saw or something to that effect. Near that was an old homestead it was gutted or empty inside but we were able to at least peer into an empty window. Across the road was a three story tower with a garage actually two garage doors that were all bent and barely clinging to life lol. My son did go up in the tower I did not. I did not feel comfortable going in any of the barns or structures in Ragtown there was people watching us out there windows and I just did not want to deal with it. I walked up to every structure to photograph and video record it for our website and youtube. Most structures seemed to be used to store junk, metal parts, machinery, scrap metal etc.

I cant do a nice historic write up without good photos or videos so that you can envision it see what is left and be a part of the exploration. But when it comes to nosy back country folks I try to keep things neutral that way I am not being chased, shot at or having to deal with drama. Sometimes I end up dealing with drama and I am not even trespassing like that cemetery up in St. Clair where the resident next door made a big thing about me walking around taking photos in the rain carrying my very expensive camera like I was going to burn the place down sheesh. I have not had much luck with the folks out this way a few years ago five guys tried to murder me not far from here so I am a bit skeptical when it comes to people watching me out there windows real hills have eyes shit!

On a good note I logged all the old wood structures at ground zero not much to see really most are very overgrown but I took some good black and white pictures. I am not sure how old some structures are but the oldest structures such as the barns and outbuildings is where Ragtown stood. With that being said over 100 thousand immigrant camped here or visited this town before going to Gold Country, Virginia City and crossing the sierras to the west.

Eventually we would leave Ragtown at least it was not raining anymore but the skies were dark that is for sure. If you take the dirt road its a wonderful scenic ride along the river lots of cottonwoods, meadows, hills etc. The road was rugged there were areas that were muddy, washed out or rugged but I never felt so at home because I was waiting all day long to offroad leave that dang pavement. Eventually it would come on out to our next location yes the back way in I took to a place known as Willowtown which today is called Northam.

Willowtown and Northam Nevada

This would be our final expedition of the day as we followed the Carson River for miles. Its gorgeous back here all farm country. Their is no place id rather be then visiting some rural farming ghost town to be honest with you. I do what I do to escape and get away from the city along with people. Willowtown was known as the Willows which sprang up along the river in 1854 by Thomas Pitt. I guess they called it this because of the willows that grew in this area. But from my research Willowtown vanished a long time ago or did it? Technically it was consumed by a larger ranching community today known as Northam which boasted a school and even a post office in the earlier 1900's.

Jarrod and I visited the ruins of the school which resides in a field along a creek under a patch of trees. The school opened in 1915 today though all that is left is the foundation which contains two sets of stairs. The schoolhouse had two large rooms one may have been the classroom the other may have been faculty or for the teacher or maybe even the office. It was not very big but its one of the only historical remnants of the town. In order to even get to the school you have to leap over this creek/canal. While we were exploring the schools foundation a horse walked up to us lol. Its obvious that the school is on a ranch so id ill advise anyone going but you can photograph it from the road. I just need to get closer to it for our documentary for our site.

Just a half mile away you can take this dirt road out to a place known as Sheckler Lake and Dam. Actually the damn is called the Carson Diversion Dam which was completed in 1905 as part of the Newlands Irrigation Project. Right now they are doing some kind of work back there I came across a bulldozer and a bunch of trees etc were being cut. Not sure if they are going to make a picnic area back here but I did see someone offroading on the other side of the dam on a dirt road one I would take in later March when I was doing my Lahonton Pony Express project.

The road to park up near the dam was completely blocked with a giant earth mover It was a mud fest back there. I am sure when it dries up you can go back here see the dam, lake and river. This is a nice area around the dam there is this brand new bridge that goes over the Carson River to the left there was white water rapids to the right also the river but it was barely flowing so it was more like a pond. Then the dam and the lake on the other side of the dam. You can cross the bridge or the dam to get to the other side. If you veer left after crossing the river you can visit an old wooden bridge which today is deplorable but back in the day it use to cross the Truckee Canal at Lahontan City on the Lincoln Highway or Highway 50 rather which is just outside of Fallon.

The bridge was moved by George Frey in 1933 and I was able to visit it. I even climbed on it but I was alone did not bring my tripod so I had to just take selfies with it lol. I do not mind anyway's I just try to prove to our viewers that I do visit these locations so I do that by taking photos with everything I find that way nobody can say that I am bsing them. The bridge was not an easy find because you have to cross the river then veer left walking through this willow forest and eventually you follow this canal and there it is an old wood bridge spanning across where there is some ranch. Its real backwoods definitely would not want to be caught by any of the locals snooping around but I had to see it with my own eyes.

I was by myself my family stayed back at the truck I did not want them to come with me. There are certain places I will only do by myself due to the risk and dangers. I did not know who might be back here and with all the signs about being arrested I figured its not a good idea since the dam is obvious a federal or if anything a state project they do not want people playing on it. No less this is a interesting part of Nevada I got to hike around a cottonwood and willow forest.

I also had gotten to climb up on the dam I was shocked when I noticed that Sheckler Lake was a mud pit definitely not a reservoir or a lake. I would think with all the snow and monsoon rains we had that week along that there would have been more water on the other side but honestly that was not the case. Its a big dam a couple hundred feet across. But the entire lake was dry yeah there was a little water flowing it is afterall a part of the Carson River but its very shallow and most of it was just mud. Obviously I get why they do not want people playing around the dam if you fell in the mud is very thick, deep and perhaps like quicksand so you would still drown without being able to swim out of it. All long the dam was just thick sludge and the dams floodgates were open just a little to let water flow through.

I did walk across the dam there is this bridge that spans across with these old giant wood beams over a century in age. You often see these giant ties or beams in some of the old mills in ghost towns that processed ore. But instead these beams were all put together to create this bridge. There was an area the wood seemed a bit weak or rotted I was a bit worried like I say you fall below the dam your going to end up with mud and sludge 10' deep and you wont be able to swim out of it. So I had to still be careful climbing on dam and crossing the trestle to the other side.

 I seen a photo taken awhile ago of some structure near the dam but its gone. My guess is the earth movers tore it down not sure what they are doing back here but the concrete bridge is new that is probably so they do not have to take the trestle because the wood is starting to rot and well if those beams were to give out it could be dangerous if you were in a vehicle per say. But it appears they are improving some things around the dam. The Carson River down stream also has canals which branch off of it and those canals traverse many of the ranches in Fallon, St. Clair, Northam and Stillwater. All rural towns or semi ghost towns our team has worked with or should I say I have done historical research at and explored.

If the river becomes to flooded in the Spring they can close the floodgates hold back some of the water and slowly release it that way the farms get irrigated and canals flow throughout the summer. Because without the river, dams, canals etc it would be impossible to grow alfalfa, crops, pumpkins, corn and other crops. But because of the irrigation projects in Fallon cattle, sheep and other livestock thrives. Farmers are able to grow crops in the middle of the Nevadan high desert. What happens is the snow melts in the spring in the sierras draining into the Carson River which in turn drains into Lake Lahontan where the dam contains the water then a few miles downstream it ends up in Sheckler where again more water gets released downstream where it then gets diverted to various canals and ranches.

If I were you id be careful crossing the trestle while the big beams could support a vehicle where you drive on the boards in between are loose and weak. Falling through them could be bad so I stayed on the thick wood beams to get to the other side. In turn I got some good photos of the dam but man Sheckler is gone I am sure this spring they will release the water from Lahontan where this reservoir will be up at normal levels. It was a pretty nice little side trip and a part of Northam worth taking a gander at before we moved on to the last leg of this adventure.

I arrived back at the truck was full of mud but it was a fun trek. I had gotten to see the old bridge that Frey moved so that he could cross from Fallon to his ranch making his trek easier. You cant cross that bridge today its a four foot climb alone just to stand on it and its in bad shape. So bad the steel beams are protruding out from where you first cross onto it and no wood boards are covering the beams. But the bridge, dam, school and ranches in the area are all part of Northams early development.

There is this narrow road you take to climb out of Northam actually the south side of Northam more or less. It keeps climbing above this big open valley you can see the ranches below, river off in the distance and even the school its really nice. I had gotten out of my truck to take a photo of the view just wow. But once you get to the top you can cross the Lincoln Highway where you can continue to see the north side of Northam which is this long road for a few miles of nothing but old farm houses, ranches and barns.

I took my time went down the road photographed a few older ranches, farms and homes along this road. Some of them date back easily to the 1800's when Northam was a thriving community. Prior to that it was called Willowtown but Willowtown was contained along the river while Northam was both on the river and also on the other side of the Lincoln Highway. Many of the old farms and ranches have many nice relics of the past from back when Northam was thriving. Then again maybe these relics were original to these farms to begin with and just happened to be laying around. One farm had about ten relics of the past laying out in this corral one of them was an old ox cart and you see some old tillers as well as wagons even just a few wagon wheels laying around. Some of the relics I found not just in Northam but all the semi ghost towns I visited that day had pieces that belong in museums that is how worthy they are.

The thing is about what I do is yeah most folks look for structures and they forget to photograph or look for those museum worthy relics of the past which were also part of these places. At one time farmers in the 1800's used these old wagons to haul there crops to town or families or they may have used this old farm equipment to till there fields. But Northam has dozens of historical barns, outbuildings, farm houses and relics of the past. Most people do not see them because they are to busy speeding down these rural roads to slow down get out and take a peek. There are some gems in Northam lots of history scattered around if your willing to take your time to see it all. Northam also had a post office not sure where it stood or if any of it even remains today but the school foundation can still be seen in the heart of what was at the time downtown before Northam became more of a ranching community and less of a town.

Also in Northam lots of cattle and horses grazing everywhere. I love being out in the country just seeing the ranches and all there animals grazing. Even the smell of the air is so pure and natural that country breeze. Most of my day was spent on ranches along the Carson River and I uncovered allot of history at least what is left of these small farming towns which are relevant wild western sites of inhterest that once boasted stations, hotels, small towns and farming communities. You needed these ranching towns so that beef and crops could be exported to these local mining camps. The miners needed to eat therefore beef could be shipped to Virginia City for example for the Comstock Miners. Without these historical farming communities most of these mining camps would not be able to sustain themselves therefore many famous ghost towns of today would have never even existed. Most of these towns like St. Clair, Ragtown and Northam could raise the beef, grow crops and export there goods via railroad across the west.

My last stop of the day would be at Lake Lahontan as a matter in fact I wanted to visit a ghost town near the lake known as Lahonton City. It was a community established for federal workers so they could live on site during the construction of the Lahontan Dam. It had a huge dining hall that could feed 300 people per shift, hospital, school, post office, billiard parlor, library and even there own baseball team. Well what happened is that I did not have the right coordinates I knew it was near the dam but the coordinates took me on the wrong side of the lake so they did not match. I stopped at the vista point to take some photos of the lake then went down this dirt road in Silver Springs and was on the wrong end of the lake.

I did not have enough time to get back to the other side as nightfall was getting ready to set in soon so I figured id just save it for our next expedition when we had plans to travel the old Pony Express visiting stations, homesteads and this other ghost town near Lahontan so it would have to wait.. When I did eventually find Lahontan City I felt a bit dumbfounded because its near the highway and I have seen its chimney foundations before just never knew that this was it. I would be returning when we had more light to work with and continue on with the our research in the Fallon area.

All in all this was a great expedition I mean who does not like spending the day up in the country? Especially in beautiful rural Nevada so much history along these dirt roads. I been to a few of these farms in the past to buy chickens or visit the pumpkin patches. But you really do not think about the history of the region till you delve into it and realize that Fallon was home to many ghost towns and communities. Now its all sort of either blended due to the cities growth or there is no in between so you do not think much of it unless you were to research these places.

Most folks think the wild west is just the Pony Express and a few mining camps but its not. Many of these ranching communities had hotels, schools, post offices etc that begin in the 1850's when the west was born. Sure today most of its gone that is why they are considered semi to ghost towns with the exception that for many generations these farms and ranches were there from the very beginning and can still be admired today if your willing to take the road less taken! No less this was our first really awesome ghost town adventure to ring in the new year! I bet some of these locations have some good ghost stories also people died back here from epidemics, wild animals, floods, droughts, Indian raids, harsh winters etc. The life of a rancher in the wild west was not an easy one and its really amazing that many of these remnants of the past have survived for guys like me to share them with all of you!

I was sure tired when I came home the mileage adds up when your exploring on a good exploration I might drive over 300 miles in just a day dirt roads included. When I came home I made Parmesan Noodles with these chicken medallions that I cut up seasoned then smothered it on top with a flavorful garlicky broccoli and cauliflower medley mix. It was a nice meal to celebrate our outing and it was a long hard day I was tired. But I always like to have a nice meal in or out after ghost towning. Just a way to celebrate life itself and the fact that were safe and sound. Because anything can happen you could get bit by a rattle snake or trampled by a bull or have some crazy farmer run you down with his shotgun lol or some drunk driver on the highway up here. So you have to be thankful for family and friends also a hot meal on the table after a hard days work exploring. Nobody pays me to do this were putting together solid wild western history and heritage on our site so that people can see the west through our work and learn about it that in my book is a win! Sure we did not have many paranormal experiences but we definitely nailed it as far as our research and exploration goes! What a great time wish more people were involved with our group over the years they have missed out on good times, partying, great adventure and seeing things most folks will NEVER get to see truthfully!

Peace,
Lord Rick
PGS Founder

PS All reports are subject to revisements before they end up on our site in the future thus reports are subject to change or for rendition in the future as this is a rough draft!