Lev Lazinskiy

Thoughts on "A Short History of Carson City"

I picked up “A Short History of Carson City” by Richard Moreno at the Nevada State History Museum when I was in Carson City. As I mentioned in my previous review about the history of Sacramento, one of the best ways to really learn about a city is to study its history. Moreno is the former publisher of Nevada Magazine and currently works as the director of student publishing at Western Illinois University.

I know what you are thinking. Reading about the history of one of the smallest state capitals is a surefire way to fall asleep quickly. Moreno comes to the rescue with his colorful prose and succinct descriptions that take the reader on a journey through over a hundred and fifty years of history.

The little trading post in an eastern Sierra valley that had been named after a dead bird, birthed by a transplanted New Yorker turned land speculator, and given substance by the overachieving family of a Basque sheepherder, had thrived for a century and a half.

One fascinating thing that I learned about the early history of Nevada was that the entire Nevada constitution was sent via telegraph to Washington D.C at a cost of $3,416.77. This was the longest and most expensive telegraph sent to date and would cost roughly $52,565.69 today after adjusting for inflation[1]. I had never really considered the “cost” of sending a telegraph. All this time I thought that AWS bandwidth costs were pricey, but it is hard to beat $546/kB.

I was surprised to learn that Mark Twain spent quite a bit of time in Western Nevada and even wrote a lesser known book called “Roughing It” where he described his time in the area. In addition, I was equally as surprised to learn that George Ferris, the inventor of the Ferris wheel, spent some time in the Carson Valley during his youth.

The most interesting thing that I read about was the Corbett-Fitzsimmons prize fight which was recorded and made into a documentary in 1897 in Carson City. A small part of this film is shown below:

The Corbett Fitzsimmons Fight from Lev Lazinskiy on Vimeo.

I am not necessarily a boxing fan, but it was absolutely amazing to see a film that is this old. In fact, I believe that this was the oldest film that I have ever seen.

I really enjoyed reading this short book and learning more about some of the people, places, and things that I encountered when I was in Carson City.

Sources used in this text

[1] Inflation calculation courtesy of Dave Manuel’s inflation calculator.

Images used in this text

The original Ferris Wheel at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago; By Not given [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons