Milton B. Badt, associate justice of the Nevada Supreme Court, was a member of a pioneer Nevada family. His father, Morris Badt, was one of the state's early merchants, arriving in Elko County in 1868. At Wells, in Elko County, the elder Badt founded a mercantile business that expanded to include banking facilities for the people of the surrounding area. The family also engaged in cattle ranching.

The future judge was born in 1884, one of a family of eight children. He received his education in Nevada and California schools. The young Badt was just completing his college work at the University of California at the time of the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906. After his graduation from Hastings Law School, Milton Badt began his life's work in Nevada. He practiced law in Elko County, becoming involved in a number of interesting irrigation, mining, livestock and Indian claims cases. He became a district judge in Elko County in 1947. The same year, a vacancy opened on the state supreme court, and Badt was appointed to the higher tribunal.

Mr. Badt presents biographical material about his father, with extracts from Morris Badt's diary kept during the notorious hard winter of 1889 to 1890; reminiscences about his education and observations on education practices; a description of the San Francisco earthquake and fire; discussions of some of the outstanding legal cases upon which he worked; material concerning practices of the state supreme court; and a philosophical summary.

Mrs. Lucy Davis Crowell is the daughter of Nevada historian Samuel Post Davis. She was selected for interviewing because of local interest in her father and his activities. Davis was the editor of the Carson City Appeal in the 1880s and 1890s, active in community affairs of Carson City, an occasional state official, and important in the organization of the Silver Party in Nevada.

Lucy Davis Crowell's oral history begins with the establishment of the Carson City Appeal in 1865 by her mother's first husband, Henry Rust Mighels. After Mighels died in 1879, Mrs. Mighels married Sam Davis. Together the couple conducted the affairs of the Appeal and raised a growing family, which included several Mighels children and two daughters, Lucy, who was born in 1881, and Ethel Davis. Sam Davis busied himself with work on the newspaper and his political interests, while his wife, a pioneer newspaperwoman, helped with writing chores and kept the home.

After the Davis daughters were grown, Lucy was forced to enter the business world. As an employee of the Nevada State Supreme Court for nearly forty years, she was a witness to a number of interesting events. One of the most vivid in her memory is the divorce granted in Carson City to Mary Pickford. Mrs. Crowell became involved in the case as a secretary in the court. She later was interested in state retirement programs, and began the agitation that resulted in the passage of the first Nevada state employee's retirement act. Mrs. Crowell retired under the provisions of the present state retirement act.

Charles D. Gallagher, born in 1884, is a native of White Pine County. His father, W. C. Gallagher, established a ranch there early in the state's history. The homestead, in the Duck Creek Valley, came to be known as Gallagher's Gap. Charles Gallagher's earliest memories are of the life of the family at Gallagher's Gap. He remembers social and educational contacts with many of the pioneer settlers in the area, and retains vivid memories of the native and non-native groups.

Mr. Gallagher's career, spanning over half a century, was first as a teacher in a rural school and then as a photographer. He photographed Greek weddings and funerals in Ely, used a circuit camera to record the growth of the Kennecott establishment at McGill, and met every graduating student in the local schools at commencement time. He learned aerial photography during World War I. The war and its aftermath kept Gallagher away from Ely for a number of years, but he returned to his home and resumed his photography business.

When Charles Gallagher retired he entered politics as a state senator from White Pine County. He served ten years in the Nevada State Assembly; he was greatly respected by the people of White Pine County and by his former colleagues for his performance in the state senate. Gallagher served on a number of important committees, and was chairman of the Education Committee when the school districts of Nevada were reorganized. His efforts at that time earned him a life membership in the Nevada Congress of Parents and Teachers.

Roy A. Hardy was born in South Dakota in 1886. Having been raised in mining camps, he went to Tonopah and Goldfield in 1905 during their boom days. There, he knew or met many of the leading figures of the day: Jim Butler, Harry Stimler, Tex Rickard, Charles Schwab, and George Wingfield. The early meeting with Wingfield began a business association that lasted for forty years. His major activities have always been in mining and prospecting. A brief tenure on the University of Nevada Board of Regents was his only venture into public office.

After completing his education at the University of Nevada Mackay School of Mines, Hardy returned again to mining. Times had become harder; the mining booms in western and central Nevada were past. He became a consultant and active mining engineer, reevaluating and rebuilding worked-over mines, and "occasionally" discovering a new one. With his partner, Alex Wise, Hardy tried to revive the Comstock in the 1920s, and built an extensive plant and mill at American Flat. Other places he worked included Wonder, where he became friendly with Vernon Adams and his small daughter, Eva. Hardy and his wife, the former Bonnie Thoma, lived and worked in several more mining towns and prospects, the best of which, according to Hardy, was the Getchell mine in Humboldt County.

It was through Hardy's efforts during his tenure as a regent of the University of Nevada that the Jot Travis Student Union on the university campus came into beingone of his proudest achievements. A long acquaintance with the family of the late Jot Travis allowed Regent Hardy to convince Wesley E. Travis, Jot Travis's son, that he should endow the building at the university in honor of his father.

Roy Hardy's oral history is not a long story. His extreme modesty prevented him from including some of the more colorful aspects of his life and the honors that he had earned. Hardy's reminiscences include geological evaluations of the various mining camps in which he had worked, brief sketches of some of the famous men he had met, and snatches of every-day life in the mining towns.

Eugenia May Bruns enjoys the distinction of having lived in three Nevada towns that no longer exist. She spent the early years of her life in Empire, a milling town on the Carson River, where she was born in 1877 and attended school. After attending the University of Nevada, Mrs. Bruns taught in schools in Galena, Lander County, and in Pine Grove, Lyon County. Both of the latter were mining camps—short-lived, but interesting. Following her "Nevada" experiences, Mrs. Bruns moved to Alpine County, California, where she spent sixty-eight years teaching, raising a family, acting as county school superintendent, and observing the passage of time.

Jennie Bruns's memoir includes reminiscences about her girlhood in Empire, observations on life at the University of Nevada in the 1890s, anecdotes of her teaching experiences in Nevada and California, a discussion of local practices in the rural community where she resided for more than sixty years, and her story of a trip to Yosemite Valley in 1896.

Alton E. Glass was interested in, or associated with, agriculture nearly all his life. Born in 1893 on a ranch at San Ramon, California, he spent his early childhood on the T. B. Rickey ranch in eastern California. He remembers well the Rickey spread, and the details of ranch life there. Mr. Glass received his early education at home on the Rickey ranch, and later attended schools in California and Reno, Nevada. After leaving the University of Nevada, he worked at various engineering jobs in Nevada, California and Texas, finally returning to Reno. There, he became associated with First National Bank, and his second--and longest--work in the agricultural field began. Working as appraiser for the bank, Glass visited hundreds of farms, ranches, and livestock herds in the course of a forty-year career. He learned to judge crops and animals with the sure consideration of an expert in both banking and ranching. Meanwhile, he observed the development of branch banking and the expansion of financial facilities in Nevada.

The memoir by Alton E. Glass includes descriptions of life on the Rickey ranch with observations on local people; accounts of educational conditions in Reno in the period from 1908 to 1915; vignettes of his work with Shell Oil in California and Magnolia Petroleum Company in Texas; the evolution of the First National Bank of Nevada; narratives and anecdotes of his work as appraiser for the bank, including economic assessments of nearly every rural community in Nevada; and a philosophical conclusion. Mr. Glass died in May, 1966.

Mrs. Amy Thompson Gulling is a member of Reno's oldest family. Her grandmother, then a widow with three children, married the town's founder, Myron Lake. Mrs. Gulling's mother had vivid childhood memories of crossing half the continent from Wisconsin in a wagon train, of arriving in Honey Lake Valley in California, and finally of making a home at Lake's Crossing (later Reno) before Nevada became a state. In 1874, the young pioneer married William Thompson, a rancher of Washoe Valley. The couple lived on a ranch near Franktown, and raised a family of six children—Alice, Maud, Will, Roy, Ethel, and Amy. Thompson was a member of the Nevada state legislature as senator from Washoe County in the 1873 and 1875 sessions, and as Washoe County assemblyman in 1889 and 1891. Later, he became active in Silver Party politics as a supporter of William M. Stewart. The Thompson family moved from the ranch at Franktown to Reno, where they became prominent members of the community.

Amy Thompson was an observer of her environment. Born in 1889, she clearly remembered her school days at Franktown and Reno. She also recalled details of Reno society and economy before the turn of the present century. In 1911 she married Lawrence Gulling and busied herself with family life. However, she always remembered her father's stories of the excitement and drama of politics. When her daughters were grown and time permitted, Mrs. Gulling turned to politics herself, working for the Republican Party. Although she never held an elective office, she engaged in party work at every level from the precinct to the National Committee. She retired as Republican National Committeewoman in 1964.

Mrs. Gulling's oral history includes memories of her pioneer grandmother and her mother; accounts of school days in Franktown and Reno; descriptions of Reno buildings and streets at the turn of the century; biographical material on her sister, Dr. Alice Thompson; discussions of Reno social and cultural activities; observations on Reno politics; narratives of participation in national Republican politics; the excitement of being named Nevada's "Mother of the Year"; and a philosophical conclusion.

Claire Hofer Hewes, the daughter of Theodore R. Hofer and Flora Kingsley Hofer, pioneers of western Nevada, was born in 1898. Theodore Hofer arrived in Nevada to take a position as messenger boy for the U.S. Mint at Carson City. He later became director of the mint. Meanwhile, he pursued many business and social interests with various members of the community. Flora Kingsley Hofer, who traveled west on a wagon train, arrived in the capital city in the early days of Nevada's statehood. With T. R. Hofer, she raised a family of six children. The Hofers were all well-known members of Carson City society. Mrs. Hewes's interview is especially interesting for the sociological information it contains, as the Hofers were leaders in the social group to which they belonged.

James E. Hickey has lived nearly all his life in Carson Valley, Nevada, where he was born in the famous hard winter of 1890. He received his education at the Mottsville school, worked on the family ranch, and became active in local business and politics. As justice of the peace in Gardnerville, Mr. Hickey was a famous figure, for many persons found it convenient to be married in the little western Nevada town. In addition, Mr. Hickey spent a great part of his life observing and researching the history of the mills on the Carson River, which served the Comstock area during and after the boom days there.

The memoir recorded by James E. Hickey includes information on his Irish immigrant parents and their early life in Carson Valley; descriptions of the area's little villages; character sketches of local figures; information about local politics and his own activities as justice of the peace; material about the Indians of Carson Valley; and the results of his research on the Carson River mills.

Emigration to the United States from Greece was chiefly a movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During these decades Greece waged a crusade for the union of Crete, Macedonia, and the Aegean Islands, yet despite the local nationalism, thousands of enterprising peasants despaired of life on the land and made their way to seaports from which they sailed for the United States. The straightforward and unadorned story of Ioannis Lougaris typifies the peasant exodus and the Greek experience in the New World.

Mr. Lougaris was born in 1887 in a rural community in Greece. An immigrant to the United States in 1907, he, like millions of others before him, discovered in America a completely different life-style than that to which he was accustomed. He worked at a number of jobs in New York, Chicago, across the continent and on the Pacific coast; served in the United States Army during the First World War; and arrived finally in Nevada in 1920. Through diligence and hard work, Lougaris studied for and passed the bar examination in Nevada. He then became an attorney, with a thriving practice in Reno. Active in civic affairs, he was important in obtaining legislation for the Veterans Administration Hospital at Reno.

This reminiscence by Ioannis A. Lougaris covers his life as a new immigrant in the United States; activities in the San Francisco Bay area; World War I experiences; business and civic affairs at Carson City and Reno; and a philosophical conclusion.

Stanley R. Marean was born in Washington, D.C., in 1885. He attended the schools of the area, becoming particularly interested in scientific subjects. When he began to consider a career, Marean was offered an opportunity to work at the Newlands Reclamation Project in western Nevada. Arriving in Nevada in 1906, he immediately began his first work in western reclamation, first as a laborer and later as the water master on the Newlands Project. In pursuing his career in the management of land and water, Marean also worked on the construction of the Rye Patch Dam near Lovelock, Nevada, and on the Minidoka Reclamation Project on the Snake River in Idaho. Retired in 1949 from the Minidoka Project, Marean and his wife returned to Reno where they enjoyed many interesting years. Stanley Marean died in Reno in the summer of 1966.

The reminiscence recorded by Stanley Marean includes a resume of his early life; accounts of his work on the Newlands Project, the Rye Patch Dams and the Minidoka Project; observations on the towns where he lived; and a discussion of the problems of retirement.

Thomas W. Miller was born in 1886 in Wilmington, Delaware, a member of one of that state's political families. Miller's own career in politics began when he was still a very young man, and has continued to the present time. Through a combination of opportunity and ability, Thomas W. Miller has had a rare opportunity to serve his fellow man in careers spanning more than a half-century of public service, and in city as well as in state and national governments.

His political career began in 1913 when he was selected to become secretary of state of Delaware. The choice was unusual in that his father, at the same time, began serving a term as governor of that state. The following year Miller was elected to the House of Representatives from Delaware and there served a single term from 1915 to 1917.

Another phase of Mr. Miller's career began in 1917, when he entered the United States Army. From July to November of 1918, Miller participated in many of the important battles on the Western Front and, at the war's end, had risen to the rank of colonel. The friendships and contacts made during the war led him to an active interest in veterans affairs, particularly in the role that the veteran might play in post-war years. As a result of this interest, he took part in the formation of the American Legion and has continued to the present day as one of the most active voices of that organization on both the state and the national levels.

Colonel Miller returned to politics and became engaged in the presidential campaign of 1920 as one of the campaign managers for General Leonard Wood in the latter's fight for the Republican nomination. Miller attracted enough attention in that role to win an appointment as Alien Property Custodian from the Harding administration. Unfortunately, his activities in that office involved him in the Harding scandals and ultimately in a prison sentence served at the federal penitentiary at Atlanta, Georgia. One of the real achievements in the career of Thomas W. Miller has been the manner in which he recovered from this incident and went on to build a new career of public service. After receiving a full pardon from President Herbert Hoover, Colonel Miller established permanent residence in the state of Nevada. His interest in Nevada dated back to the early 1900s, when as a youth he had visited the state with his father. At that time his father was involved financially in the development of Tonopah, a silver camp which soon became the center of Nevada's second great mining boom.

Colonel Miller began his career in Nevada in a series of federal positions. Later he was appointed chairman of the Nevada State Park Commission, and during the Second World War he served on the Nevada Defense Council. More recently he was named chairman of the Reno Park and Horticultural Commission. In addition, he has served his community for over thirty years in many less official, although not less important, capacities. Since 1933, Colonel Miller has been an active and influential participant in nearly every local and state election. His remarks about the behind-the-scenes maneuvering in the various political campaigns in Nevada and his analysis of issues and participants will be invaluable to historians and political scientists.

Earl Wooster, born in Oregon in 1893, spent his early years in California. He attended the University of Nevada and prepared himself to become a teacher. Wooster's educational career, which began in Fallon, Nevada, spanned more than forty years.

Wooster, from his high school days to the end of his career, was never one to follow the beaten path. He was much more interested in making his own path or changing the old one. As a high school student at Fresno, California, he attacked the local school trustees for inadequate fire escapes on a building used for school assemblies. Because of his extreme language, the trustees asked Wooster to retract his statement, but since he considered the statement true, he refused to change his position. The controversy wound up in the courts of California. Wooster was refused a diploma. Later, the school board rescinded its action, granting him his diploma, upon which he entered the University of Nevada.

Earl Wooster began his public school career under principal George McCracken in Churchill County High School at Fallon, Nevada, in January of 1922. From 1922 to 1959 his interest in public education continued, and from 1959 to 1965 he served as executive secretary of the Nevada State Educational Association.

Mr. Wooster was not an armchair administrator, nor was he concerned with following the rules as set down in a book. Always more interested in the individual child and in the individual teacher than in the educational machine of school administration and organization, Wooster made his machine adjust to provide the most adequate preparation for life's work for each child in his system.

His rise in educational administration from the principalship of the Dayton High School in 1924 to that of school superintendent in 1955 is in some respects a history of public school administration in Nevada. At Dayton there were three teachers and fifteen students; in Washoe County there were about one thousand teachers and twenty thousand pupils when he retired.

From Dayton, Wooster went to more responsible positions—first to Wells, Nevada, as principal of its high school, then to Humboldt County High School at Winnemucca, and next to Reno High School as its principal. When the superintendency of the Reno School District Number Ten was vacated in 1944, Wooster was selected to fill the spot. With the reorganization of the school system in 1955, he became Washoe County's first school superintendent, a position he held until he retired in 1959. His account deals with many of the leading educators of Nevada since 1920.

A native of Redlands, California, Florence M. Boyer was born in 1890 to Charles P. and Delphine Anderson Squires. When the builders of the San Pedro-Los Angeles-Salt Lake railroad began their promotion of Las Vegas, Nevada, as a stopping place on their road, Charles P. Squires moved his family to the new townsite. There, he became one of the mainstays of Clark County, engaging in business as a hotel keeper, businessman, and newspaper editor. His wife became a civic leader, clubwoman, and feature writer for local newspapers. Florence Boyer thus knew of the development of southern Nevada almost from its beginning. She aided in that development as a housewife, teacher, newspaperwoman, and county clerk from 1921 to 1927.

The memoir recorded by Mrs. Boyer includes a history of the Squires family, reminiscences of early settlers in Clark County, details of everyday life in southern Nevada, accounts of her careers, sketches of various local figures, and a philosophical conclusion.

Erma O. Godbey was born in 1905 in Colorado, and she spent her early years in the Colorado mining camp of Silverton. After her marriage to Thomas Godbey, she lived in a number of other mining towns, arriving finally in Boulder City, Nevada. At that time, the Boulder Canyon Project was just getting underway, and the Godbeys became identified with the area as a pioneering family. Mrs. Godbey was the first permanent woman resident of the new town of Boulder City. She thus had the unique position of observing Boulder City's development from its beginning.

Erma Godbey's memoir contains accounts of life in Colorado; the growth and development of Boulder City, Nevada; anecdotes of public service work in the southern Nevada area; and a discussion of Thomas Godbey's political activities as a Nevada legislator.

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.

Always interested in and friendly with the local Washoe Indians, Mr. Hawkins has observed their activities closely throughout his eighty-plus years. Mr. Hawkins's oral history is a valuable source on the history of the meeting of two dissimilar cultures and peoples—the Washoe Indians and the white settlers of the 1850s and 1860s. His narrative provides specific case histories of Indian-white contacts and relationships. For example, we hear of instances of the Indians learning of new tools, foods, and ways of working from the whites. And we see the whites learning about foods, tools, and ways of coping with the sparse ecology of the Desert West from the Indians.

We also see other aspects of Indian-white relations which were as important as the economic relations. That is, the beliefs, attitudes and expectations—stereotypes in short—which the whites held or believed about the Indians. We see also, though less clearly, some of the beliefs, attitudes and expectations which the Indians held about the whites. The heritage of these stereotypes continues to affect Indian-white relations to the present day.

There are other topics that Mr. Hawkins discusses in his oral history. He describes the history of a relatively small geographical area--Douglas County, Nevada, and Alpine County, California. He discusses incidents and anecdotes of early Carson Valley and Alpine County history, problems of law enforcement, folklore, and details of primitive rural life of the Douglas-Alpine area. Yet in reading Mr. Hawkins's narrative, one is caught by a sense of a broader perspective. One sees in microcosm the history of the settlement of the West; the history of miners and ranchers and farmers and their struggles with the land, the Indians, and with each other. It is an absorbing story.

Katharine Riegelhuth was born in Germany in 1876. She was taken to the United States when still an infant by her mother, arriving in Eureka, Nevada, during its boom days. There, she grew to young womanhood, attended school, and observed the life of the town. Frank Riegelhuth, her father, was a leader in the cultural life of Eureka, where he organized the Eureka Star Band, gave music lessons, and conducted a dancing school. His wife, Katharina, began to help with the care of the sick in the village. With the decline of Eureka, the Riegelhuth family moved to Reno. Frank Riegelhuth died soon after, however, and his widow and child found new ways of earning a livelihood.

Katharina Riegelhuth, who had willingly helped in caring for afflicted people in Eureka, became a professional nurse. In this capacity, she opened and operated the first maternity home in Reno, and became almost an institution in the community.

Meanwhile, Katharine Riegelhuth entered the University of Nevada and prepared to become a teacher. After this training she became an instructor at the university, where she served for many years. She was not only a respected teacher, but also an active participant in faculty affairs.

The memoir includes accounts and anecdotes of life in Eureka, Nevada; activities in Reno, Nevada, from the 1890s; work at the University of Nevada from 1905; a reminiscence about her mother, and a brief conclusion.

Charles H. Russell was born in Lovelock in 1903. He recounts the details of an active political life in Nevada. He has served Nevada as a member of both houses of the state legislature, a congressman, and a two-term governor. Russell has been a member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Economic Cooperation, which played a role in implementing the Marshall Plan, and has directed an Agency for International Development project in Paraguay.

In this oral history, Russell tells of many of the events of his life, including his childhood on a ranch at Deeth, nearly two decades as a newspaperman at Ely, and his long public career. He also gives important information about the legislature, campaigning for office, and other individuals who have figured prominently in the state's life during the last four decades.

Hugh A. Shamberger was born in Idaho in 1900. He attended schools in the Payette region and graduated from Stanford University with an engineering degree. He worked at surveying and engineering jobs in California, and when Hoover Dam was in the planning stages, he decided to make a home in Nevada. Arriving in Las Vegas early in 1929, Shamberger began a new phase of his career, working at mining and engineering in the developing community.

One of Shamberger's new friends in Las Vegas was Alfred Merritt Smith, who became the state engineer of Nevada. Under Smith's sponsorship, Shamberger also entered the state service, first in the State Highway Department, and then in the office of the state engineer. While in this office Shamberger pioneered several techniques of studying the water resources of his adopted state, and wrote of his researches in several monographs that are widely used. As state engineer, he was instrumental in aiding Nevada's cause in the Colorado River litigation, Arizona v. California, in the 1950s.

As the duties of the state engineer's office became more complex, Shamberger designed and pressed to completion a reordering of several state offices concerned with state resources, and the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was created. This office contained the office of the state engineer, the Division of Water Resources, the Division of Forestry, the Division of Oil and Gas, and the Division of State Land. Hugh Shamberger became the first director of the new office.

He was the head of the state's Civilian Defense organization during World War II, and he served two terms as a county commissioner of Ormsby County (Carson City). During his term as county commissioner, Shamberger organized, and became the first president of, the State Association of County Commissioners.

After his retirement, Shamberger became director of the Center for Water Resources Research, a division of the Desert Research Institute at the University of Nevada. Under his leadership, it has become nationally known and respected for pioneering studies of water problems.

The memoir includes reminiscences of early days in Idaho and California, an account of Shamberger's work in the Las Vegas Valley in the early 1930s, a discussion of water and land problems in Nevada, impressions of the Colorado River adjudication, information about the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and discussions of political and civic affairs.

Tate Williams, a son of pioneer Cornish immigrants, was born in Eureka, Nevada, in 1893. The famous Cornish-Welsh "Cousin Jack" miners contributed much to the colorful life of the western mining camps, forming singing or other musical groups wherever they went. This activity was characteristic of the Williams family of this central Nevada mining town.

Williams grew to young manhood in the Eureka-Ruby Hill area, moving in 1910 to Reno, where he entered business. As a leader in Reno's retail trade, Williams was invited in 1932 to become the first secretary-manager of the Nevada Retail Merchants Association. He accepted the position, and held it through the life of the Association, until 1966. The work of the Association required that he become familiar with a variety of business practices and community activities, and he held offices in many civic, charitable, and service organizations.

Williams chronicles his life in Eureka, the functioning of the Nevada Retail Merchants Association, lobbying activities for the Association, and the work of Reno civic and charitable organizations. He gives a philosophical conclusion.

Norman H. Biltz was born in Connecticut in 1902. Moving west as a young man, he worked at a number of jobs before finding a profession in real estate promotion and development in California and Nevada, and an avocation in state and national politics.

Mr. Biltz played an important role in Nevada economic and political circles for more than four decades. He was active in selling ranches throughout Nevada from the 1930s on, in developing what he believes to be the first housing tract in the state and various high-income housing areas in southwest Reno, and in starting several other businesses. He was influential in bringing a number of millionaires to Nevada to enjoy its tax advantages.

Politically, he was involved in the Wingfield "bipartisan machine" which allegedly dominated the state's politics for decades. When this group became transformed into what he preferred to call the McCarran organization, Biltz provided a link between the two groups and expanded his political activities. As one of Senator Patrick McCarran's friends and advisors and as a skilled and diligent participant in legislative politics within the state, he achieved such prominence that his name became associated with the word machine.

Mr. Biltz's oral history includes accounts of his early life in the East and the trip west, discussions of economic developments at Lake Tahoe and in Nevada, recounting of work with Nevada tax legislation, anecdotes and information about the activities of Nevada and national politicians, the amusing tale of attempts by popular writers to tell the "Biltz story," an appraisal of problems raised by Nevada's gambling industry, and a philosophical conclusion.

Minnie P. (Nichols) Blair was born in California in 1886. She spent her early years in Folsom and Placerville. She arrived in Nevada in 1909, the bride of Ernest W. Blair, a banker in Goldfield. The Blairs lived in Goldfield for nine years, then moved to Tonopah, where they resided at the time of the Divide Boom in 1919. Following the decline of the camp, the family moved to Fallon in 1924, where they bought a farm, and Mr. Blair continued his banking career in association with George Wingfield, owner of a chain of Nevada banks. The farm, named the Atlasta Ranch, became the center of one of Fallon's most important industries, ultimately becoming nationally known.

Mrs. Blair began raising poultry, at first on a small scale. Finally, her work made the distribution of Fallon turkeys an important business. The Fallon birds were shipped all over the country, and the birds' marketability, fine quality, and excellent flavor made Fallon, Nevada, and the Atlasta Ranch significant factors in the state's economy. At the same time, Mrs. Blair supervised a truck garden and eight hundred laying chickens.

When she retired from the poultry business, Mrs. Blair opened a small coffee shop in Fallon, and with other family members, started to serve her own food creations. This led to a new interest, and it was only a short time until the "sandwich queen," as Helen Blair Millward (Mrs. Blair's daughter) became known, had received a national restaurateurs' award for the "Atlasta good beef sandwich."

Mrs. Blair's careers are only a part of her story. She was always extremely active in civic, charitable, and political affairs in every community where she lived. These activities gained her the widest possible acquaintance over her adopted state. At more than eighty years of age, she was still supervising the restaurant in Fallon. She was named a Distinguished Nevadan by the University of Nevada in 1967.

The Minnie P. Blair memoir contains her reminiscences about her early days in California; accounts of social, economic, and political affairs in Goldfield and Tonopah; descriptions of ranch work and other activities in Fallon; and a philosophical conclusion.

Born in 1907 into one of the first families to settle in eastern Nevada, Elbert Edwards constitutes a link with a little-known phase of the pioneer past of southern Nevada. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he conveys an impression of the dedication and the industry of that segment of society. Mr. Edwards has been sensitive to his surroundings and perceptive of his evaluations of them. When he was a youth in Panaca, pioneer agricultural and domestic practices were still common. While there are a number of studies of Mormon community life, this account offers a fresh insight on that subject.

Mr. Edwards was a student at the University of Nevada in the late 1920s, and he became a schoolteacher in Las Vegas at the beginning of the Depression, just as the city and the adjacent area were beginning the remarkable expansion that accompanied the building of Hoover Dam. As a teacher and later as an educational administrator in Boulder City, he was a modern pioneer. Edwards gives an invaluable account of the community and educational problems of southern Nevada a third-of-a-century ago.

Elbert Edwards gives reminiscences of his family's Mormon pioneers; memories of family and everyday life in southern Nevada; a description of his mother's ranch life; accounts of water distribution processes in the Panaca area; remembrances of his training for, and pursuance of a career in education; a perspective on the modern LDS church; the account of a peculiar experience in sighting an unidentified flying object; and a philosophical conclusion. The period and communities in which he lived are among the least known and the least well described in the literature on Nevada, and this memoir will prove important for future researchers on southern and eastern Nevada.

George Hardman, a native of Oregon, was born near Prairie City in 1890. The son of a farmer, Mr. Hardman studied for a career in agriculture, receiving a master's degree from Oregon Agricultural College (later Oregon State College) in 1916. From 1918 to 1934, he was employed by the University of Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station, working in Reno or Las Vegas, and also as a member of the faculty at the university. Interests in soil conservation led to appointments as state coordinator for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in Nevada, and in 1942, as State Conservationist. From June 1957 until 1967, Mr. Hardman was assistant director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. He retired in 1967, recognized as one of the region's outstanding authorities in conservation. He is the author and coauthor of several studies on irrigation and soil amendment.

The memoir recorded by George Hardman includes accounts of his work with the Experiment Station farms at Reno and Las Vegas, teaching experiences at the University of Nevada College of Agriculture, work with the Soil Conservation Service and his role in establishing Soil Conservation Districts in Nevada, observations on various agricultural problems, and a philosophical conclusion.

Lester J. Hilp was born in White Pine County, Nevada, in 1891. His father, Sol Hilp, was a pioneer of the region, serving Mineral City, Ely, Ward, and Taylor, Nevada, as merchant, stage and freight line operator, postmaster, and political leader. The family moved to Reno, Nevada, in 1900. There, Lester Hilp studied for a career in pharmacy, and entered the profession as a young man. He practiced in several Nevada communities, and in 1915 he bought a drugstore in Reno, where he has been engaged in business ever since. In addition to becoming a prominent businessman of Reno, Mr. Hilp has also been an active civic leader, and is especially well known for his activities in connection with the Shrine Circus.

Mr. Hilp's memoir includes reminiscences about Sol Hilp, discussion of the practices of medicine and pharmacy in Reno, accounts of Reno civic life, and a philosophical conclusion.

Peter B. Merialdo was born in Eureka, Nevada, in 1899. The son of an immigrant Italian who established his home in Eureka in the 1870s, Mr. Merialdo grew up in that small central Nevada mining town. Once bustling with activity, Eureka declined as the mines ceased being productive; by the time he graduated from high school, he was the valedictorian and salutatorian, and delivered the farewell address and the welcome to the new class—because he was the only person to graduate that year.

Mr. Merialdo soon began a long political career by winning election as recorder and auditor of Eureka County. He was continuously reelected to that position from the early 1920s until 1950, when he was elected state controller. Reelected in 1954, he was defeated when he ran a third time in 1958.

A Republican who had many Democratic friends and attracted votes from members of that party, Mr. Merialdo has known many of the important political leaders of Nevada during the last few decades, including George Wingfield, Senator Patrick McCarran, and Governor Paul Laxalt. Although retired from public office for many years, in 1964 and 1966 he campaigned vigorously for Laxalt in the small counties.

This oral history provides a record of the life of a colorful and prominent Nevada politician. Through several decades of public life and activity in real estate and insurance, Peter Merialdo helped many people and won many friends.

Charles W. Aplin arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1905, a young man of eighteen years. At that time, Las Vegas existed mainly as a tent city; the Los Angeles-San Pedro-Salt Lake Railroad had only recently established the site as a station on its route. Aplin quickly associated himself with the growth of the town, serving as a teamster or drayman, as an odd-jobs worker, and finally as a carpenter and painter. He convinced his parents to move to the new city from California, and thus they also became pioneers in southern Nevada.

The family members were builders of southern Nevada in the most basic sense. In his middle years, Aplin gave up his painting and carpentry contracting business to take a position with the Nevada state highway department—a career he followed for twenty years, retiring in 1962 at the age of seventy-five.

Through all of his adult life, Charles Aplin found pleasure and satisfaction in membership in a number of fraternal orders, particularly the Eagles lodge. He was always an active participant in the organizations, holding offices and, in later years, he was awarded life memberships in recognition of long years of service. He also served a term as city councilman and ran unsuccessfully for mayor of North Las Vegas.

Everett White Harris was born in Carson City, Nevada, in 1903. He has called western Nevada his home throughout his life. In his early years, Dr. Harris became interested in mathematics and engineering; he received a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Nevada, followed by graduate study and a master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California. His professional career took him to positions with the General Electric Company at Schenectady, New York; Stone and Webster Company at Boston, Massachusetts, and Beaumont, Texas; the United States Navy; and the Nevada State Highway Department. His longest and best-known work was as professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Nevada in Reno, where he taught from 1938 until 1967. Following his retirement, he continued—as professor emeritus—to teach part-time at the university. He also actively followed hobbies in microphotography as a marker of historic trails.

In his memoirs, Dr. Harris was especially enthusiastic in recounting details of his early life in Reno, and in telling some of the background of University of Nevada politics.

H. Clyde Mathews, Jr., was born in California in 1924. He received his education in public schools in California, San Jose State College, and the Berkeley Baptist Divinity School. Mr. Mathews's work and professional experiences range from a job as storekeeper in a small town in California to a position as head of the Office of Economic Opportunity for the state of Nevada. For ten years, Mr. Mathews was missionary to the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. In 1968 he was a Republican candidate for Congress from Nevada. He was been active in community affairs in Nevada for the entire period of his residence in the state.

Clyde Mathews is known to many people in Reno and throughout Nevada with reference to different facets of his varied career—as a minister, an educator, a political candidate, and an administrator of social services. To most of us, however, he will be remembered as an indefatigable advocate of the interests of minority members of the local community during a period of Nevada history when few citizens concerned themselves with such matters. He is one of those who cared, and whose life orientation is to involvement and service—often with regard to issues which are unpopular to the majority.

In his memoir, Clyde Mathews reveals himself as a child of the Great Depression, the son of an itinerant churchman from the Midwest, whose early life was spent among the small communities of southern and central California where his parents carried out their missions. It was in the context of the intensive poverty and labor struggles of the 1930s and 1940s, in the period when the "Okies" were the vanguard of the tide of migration into California, that he recalls the earliest formation of those values and concerns which were to guide his later choices in work.

The circumstances of his coming to Reno in the 1950s, and the first years of his ministry at Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, will be of special interest to all who have actively participated in the improvement of Indian and white relations in this community. Clyde Mathews's honest and uncomplicated recollection of those years, and his often ingenuous anecdotes, will provide a moving—and, in some instances disturbing—experience to those who may be familiar, but not so intimately involved, with the problems which existed.

A significant portion of the autobiography deals with the period in which Mathews emerged into active political advocacy, first on behalf of the Indian community where he had his mission, and then as a dedicated participant in the incipient civil rights movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s in Nevada. He provides a frank appraisal of this period—a chronicle of events seen from the inside and a sympathetic, though uncompromising, recording of impressions of legislative behavior and the role of political figures. Mathews's warm, personal tributes to John Dressler of the Inter-Tribal Council and to Eddie Scott of the NAACP and Race Relations Center affirm the fact that involvement, dedication to major social issues, and participation in mutually significant social tasks are the fundamental conditions for the resolution of the serious problems of human relations in our society.

Leon Halliday Rockwell, a native of New York, was born in 1888. He received a grammar school education near Elmira, New York, and then was forced to begin his career. As a very young man, he started west, working at a variety of jobs from railroad laborer to cowboy and milk-hand. Shortly after the town was founded, he arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he spent most of the rest of his life. Mr. Rockwell became a prominent citizen of Las Vegas. He describes his work at the telephone and power companies, how he helped found the Las Vegas Volunteer Fire Department, and his involvement in real estate trading.

Gordon Alexander Sampson, a native of Canada, was born in 1888. He received his early education and training in the schools of Toronto. Following his formal education, he entered business first as a banker and later as a business analyst and accountant. A member of one of Canada's most famous infantry regiments, the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, Major Sampson saw active service in Europe during World War I. Continuing his business career after the war, he toured the United States and settled there.

Major Sampson became an auditor for Columbia Pictures Corporation during the heyday of the movies, a public accountant in California, and the first tax administrator for the Washoe County Fair and Recreation Board. A large portion of his discussion is dedicated to the development and operation of the V & T Railroad, of which he was general manager for a number of years. Major Sampson also held a number of other positions in his chosen city and state. Always an active participant in, and observer of, his environment, he became influential in business and civic affairs of western Nevada.

Over the last eight decades, Mr. Sampson has seen many changes in society. He recalls the time of wooden-block pavements, wooden curbs and sidewalks, gas street lamps, carbon-electric lights, boulevards shaded with spreading chestnut trees, and horse-drawn street cars. He offers his philosophy on changing social mores and compares contemporary lifestyles with an age when there was domestic tranquility, simple living, and a sense of true values and high moral standards.

Alice Edmunds Sauer, a native Nevadan and member of a pioneer western family, was born in 1877. Mrs. Sauer's parents lived and worked in Virginia City, her father as a mining engineer, her mother as a schoolteacher. She remembers a number of events of the post-boom days on the Comstock, and recounts them with obvious relish.

The memoir includes her reminiscences of childhood life in Virginia City, Nevada, an account of student days at the University of Nevada at Reno, her subsequent teaching career in Nevada and Montana schools, and biographical sketches of her children.

William F. Sauer's father, Andrew Sauer, was an immigrant from Germany. He took up land for a ranch in Washoe Valley, Nevada, and, with his German wife, raised a large family there. William Sauer was the ninth child, born in 1878. Part of the ranch was still in the Sauer family in 1966, at the time of Mr. Sauer's interview. The immigrant background of this family has remained of intense interest to the children; the memoir is sprinkled with references to ethnic groups.

William Sauer was regarded by his family and others as a good source of the history of Washoe Valley. Mr. Sauer gives biographical information about his parents and other pioneers of Washoe Valley, accounts of business and social affairs of the area, and an autobiographical account of his years as a resident there.

Harry Hunt Atkinson was raised in the Salt Lake City area where he was born in 1881. He had fond memories of surveying the Utah desert and of his excellent schooling in the gentile schools of that preponderantly Mormon city. Mr. Atkinson later went to Stanford, where he obtained his legal education, and he was an observer of the San Francisco fire and earthquake of 1906. On hearing of the rich ore strike in Tonopah, Neva