A Contribution to a Survey of Life in Carson Valley from First Settlement through the 1950s

Interviewee: Frank Yparraguirre with Raymond Borda
Interviewed: 1984
Published: 1984
Interviewer: R. T. King
UNOHP Catalog #130

Americans of Basque ancestry figure prominently in the history of Nevada. Sheepherding and innkeeping are the activities most commonly associated with the state’s Basques in the mind of the general public, but that is an excessively narrow interpretation of their role, particularly in Carson Valley.

Harry Hawkins: Douglas-Alpine History

Interviewee: Harry Hawkins
Interviewed: 1965
Published: 1967
Interviewer: Mary Ellen Glass
UNOHP Catalog #016

Harry Hawkins was born in Alpine County, California, in 1881. His grandparents were among the earliest settlers in the area of Woodfords, on the property where Mr. Hawkins still resides. His home, which he calls “the castle of mystery,” is a storehouse of local memorabilia—artifacts, documents, photographs.

Las Vegas has developed a reputation for imploding its past. Actually, the reputation is neither deserved nor unique. Other cities have blown up historic buildings whose owners or the community had decided had outlived their usefulness—Reno’s Mapes Hotel serving as an example. And Las Vegas has imploded mainly hotel-casinos in financial trouble or unlikely to compete with newer, more modern, larger resorts. What Las Vegas has done differently, though, is turn these implosions into spectacles.