Soon after its founding in 1868, Elko became a critical distribution point for the Central Pacific Railroad in northeastern Nevada, and quickly established itself as the central business hub for desolate Elko County. By February 1869, the budding town supported a rough and rowdy population with over sixty canvas tents. Later that year, Elko was selected as the seat of the county that bears its name. The town grew over time, with shipping, livestock, gaming, and mining as central to its economy. These remain important industries in Elko today.

Donald W. Reynolds was one of Nevada's leading media moguls. Born in 1906 in Texas, he was raised in Oklahoma, where he started out by selling newspapers at the Oklahoma City railroad depot. He graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 1927 and worked for several newspapers.

Delphine Anderson Squires helped build the community of Las Vegas with her husband, Charles Pember "Pop" Squires. She was born in 1868 in Portage City, Wisconsin. As a child, Squires moved to Minnesota, where she met her future husband. She received a teaching degree in music from the state Normal School in Winona, Minnesota. The couple married in 1889, making their home in Redlands, California. They later moved to Los Angeles and had four children. C.P.

Dayton is at the western end of the Twenty-Six Mile Desert at a bend in the Carson River. Immigrants stopping there for water would consider whether to follow the river south or continue west, giving the location its first name, Ponderers Rest. In 1849, Abner Blackburn, while heading for California, discovered a gold nugget in nearby Gold Creek, one of the tributaries of the Carson River.