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.