Places
Mountain Shrub Communities
Most mountain ranges of the northern hemisphere grade in elevation from one forest type to another in a steady progression from less cold-hardy to more cold-hardy trees, eventually giving way to alpine tundra where trees can no longer survive the extremely cold temperatures. The Great Basin... more
Moulin Rouge
Places: Clark County, Las Vegas, Southern Nevada
The first integrated hotel-casino in Las Vegas, the Moulin Rouge, opened on May 24, 1955 on West Bonanza Road, at the edge of West Las Vegas, the town's segregated area. Owned almost wholly by whites and intended to compete with whites-only resorts on the Strip and downtown, it originally... more
Morris Barney Dalitz
Places: Clark County, Las Vegas, Southern Nevada
Morris Barney Dalitz was born on December 24, 1899, in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Michigan, where his father operated a growing laundry business. When prohibition begin in 1919, bootleggers needed delivery mechanisms, and Dalitz's access to laundry trucks helped him enter that... more
Mormons and Native Americans: A Historical Overview
In many ways, the Mormon Church is similar to other Protestant denominations world-wide. The church does not support a professional clergy, it encourages members to read and interpret the Bible, and it promotes establishing a personal relationship with God. Yet in other respects, Mormonism is... more
Mormons and Genoa
Places: Douglas County, Northern Nevada
What some consider Nevada's first Euro-American town appeared in the Carson Valley in 1850. Gold Rush fever had swept the nation, sending fortune-seekers streaming into California. The Humboldt Trail, one route west, crossed Northern Nevada and deposited prospectors at the foothills of the... more
Mormon Settlement: Lincoln County
Places: Lincoln County, Southern Nevada
In 1857, afraid that American troops were about to invade Utah, Church of Latter-day Saints leader Brigham Young called for outlying Mormon settlers to return home to Salt Lake City. He made one exception, allowing a small group of Mormons to find a remote place where church leaders could... more
Morley Griswold
Morley Griswold was born in Elko on October 10, 1890. He earned undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Michigan and served in World War I. A leading attorney for corporations operating in Nevada, he formed a noted law firm that evolved into the Las Vegas firm of Jones Vargas. When... more
Monarch Butterflies of Nevada
Almost everyone knows the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). The adults are large with wings colored a deep orange with black borders containing white spots; the caterpillars are pale green and ringed with black and yellow. It is the one butterfly that almost everybody recognizes by sight, and... more
Minsky's Burlesque
Places: Clark County, Las Vegas, Southern Nevada
The Minsky family became synonymous with burlesque in the first decades of the twentieth century, operating several theaters in New York City. Burlesque combined comedy sketches, variety acts, chorus line dancers, and strippers. However, the rough language and bawdy entertainment made them the... more
Mining Technology in the Nineteenth Century
Mining technology consists of the tools, methods, and knowledge used to locate, extract, and process mineral and metal deposits in the earth. The methods used to locate ore bodies range from on-the-ground reconnaissance by prospectors to remote sensing techniques such as satellite imagery. Mine... more
Minerva Pierce
Minerva Lockwood Pierce was one of a coterie of Reno watercolorists who was motivated by California painter Lorenzo P. Latimer (1857-1941). She was instrumental in founding the Latimer Art Club in 1921, and went on to a long career painting landscapes and supporting local arts organizations,... more
Miners' Unions: A Comstock Case Study
Places: Storey County, Northern Nevada
Conflict between western hardrock miners and management has its roots in the Comstock. In May 1863, Comstock miners initiated efforts to form an association. The following year, the Storey County Miners' League became the first sustained attempt at unionization of miners in the American West.... more
Mineral County Courthouse
Places: Hawthorne, Mineral County, Southern Nevada
Hawthorne has the only courthouse in Nevada to serve two counties. The state legislature created Mineral County in 1911, and designated Hawthorne as its county seat, but the courthouse first served as Esmeralda County's seat of government until 1907, after which the county moved its offices to... more
Milton Badt
Places: Elko County, Northern Nevada
Milton Benjamin Badt (1884-1966) considered himself a Nevadan although he was born in San Francisco and received most of his formal education in California. He established a law practice in Elko and became District Judge before his appointment to the Nevada Supreme Court in 1947. Paul Leonard,... more
Milling Technology in the Nineteenth Century
One of the greatest challenges the mining industry faces is the extraction of resources from ore, the material that encases valuable minerals. This task follows the better known first phase of mining, the retrieval of ore from the surface or underground. During the nineteenth century, Nevada... more
Midas
Places: Elko County, Northern Nevada
The town of Midas, located in northeast Nevada, existed for roughly the first half of the twentieth century due to mining activity. Today it is a retirement community preserving fond memories of its exciting past. Highly successful mining has recently returned to the region without significant... more
Michael Heizer
Michael Heizer's roots in Nevada go deep, back to his grandfather Ott F. Heizer, a mining engineer in Lovelock in the 1880s. Raised elsewhere, he would have to return to Nevada to find his artistic voice. His father, Robert F. Heizer (1915–1979), an archeologist recognized... more
Methodism in Nevada Part II
A Bridge Spanning Two CenturiesBeginning in 1878, Nevada mineral production steadily eroded over the next thirty years. The accompanying population decline in every town dependent on mining also heralded the neglect or abandonment of church facilities. One of Nevada's most influential Methodist... more
Methodism in Nevada Part I
OriginsThe United Methodist Church in Nevada has its roots in a spiritual awakening among members of the Anglican Church in eighteenth-century England who were influenced by the German pietism of that period. John Wesley, a young Anglican priest, and his hymn-writing brother, Charles, were major... more
Mesquite Club
Places: Clark County, Las Vegas, Southern Nevada
Formed in 1911 as a literary club for women, the Mesquite Club quickly became a force for community improvement in the railroad town of Las Vegas. The name, suggested by an early settler of the area, Helen J. Stewart, emphasized the hardiness and usefulness of a tree native to the area. The women... more
Meadows Club
Places: Clark County, Las Vegas, Southern Nevada
The Meadows Club was one of the first casinos to open in Las Vegas in the weeks after the Nevada legislature legalized casino gambling in March 1931, during the prohibition era. In its early years, the Meadows, with its live entertainment and fancy interior, was regarded as the finest casino in Las... more
McWilliams Townsite
Places: Clark County, Las Vegas, Southern Nevada
In 1902, pioneer rancher Helen J. Stewart hired surveyor J. T. McWilliams to map out her 1,800 acres of ranch land in the Las Vegas Valley so that it could be sold to United States Senator William Clark of Montana, who was building a railroad through the area from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles.... more
McKinley Arts and Culture Center
Places: Reno, Washoe County, Northern Nevada
The McKinley Arts & Culture Center is housed in the former McKinley Park School and is owned and operated by the City of Reno and its Arts & Culture Commission. The school was built in 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was renovated and opened as an arts... more
McKeen Motor Car
Places: Carson City, Northern Nevada
McKeen Motor Car is a nationally important self-propelled gasoline engine railway vehicle built by the McKeen Motor Car Company of Omaha, Nebraska. The Virginia & Truckee Railway Company ordered it in October 1909 at a cost of $22,000. The McKeen Car entered regular service as V&T Motorcar... more
McGill
Places: White Pine County, Northern Nevada
Soon after large copper deposits were discovered in central White Pine County between 1900 and 1902, four towns were established by the companies who owned claims in the area. Of those "company towns," McGill was the largest and most important because it processed ore in a district that... more