Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

Mar 5, 2007

History Nuggets: Panaca

Panaca, Nevada is a small dusty town on state route 319, a little bit north of Caliente off US-93. At seven in the morning on a summer’s day it was already almost too warm to be walking around, and a woman on a bicycle watched me curiously as I stomped about taking photographs of the several historical markers on its high street.

The state historical marker for Panaca is a small one, telling the story of a town that started with a Mormon settlement. As I rode through Nevada, some of the greenest, most pleasant areas turned out to be the handiwork of the Mormons. They came here, they settled, they irrigated and farmed, then politics and change moved them along. Their abandoned farmsteads gave others the workings of an agricultural world where none could really have been imagined before.

The oldest surviving town in eastern Nevada still has many descendants of the original 1860s settlers. It was founded in 1864 when the Mormon missionaries and pioneers arrived, led by Francis Lee. The name was taken from the Paiute words “Pan-nuk-ker” which means “metal, money, wealth.” Missionary to the Indians, William Hamblin was shown a place where such things were to be found in abundance. They must have thought they had hit paydirt.

When originally settled, this area was part of Utah. However, in 1866 the boundary was revised and suddenly it was in Nevada. The Mormons refused to pay their taxes or acknowledge that this was a part of Nevada. The fight dragged on until 1870 when many of them upped and left. Only a few hundred remained behind. They grew produce for the nearby miners, and involved themselves in logging, thus removing a large portion of the area’s original forest.

There was a school here, a church, and some homes. With the help of a ranger at nearby Cathedral Gorge State Park, I was able to find the tucked-away marker for some natural springs, too. (It had been moved to stop it from getting vandalized by bored youths.) The mercantile store here has been open and running for over a hundred years. It really does not look as though much has changed in the years since then. I rode through trying to find a motel, convinced that there was one, and found a sleepy, peaceful place where people minded their own business.

Panaca