Pahranagat Valley

Lincoln County

***NOTE*** I have some really old photos that I've taken of many old Pahranagat Valley relics and agricultural buildings, tucked way back off the beaten path. I have searched everywhere and can't find them. Which makes me sick. If I come up with them, they will be posted here immediately.

Meaning "Valley of Shining Water" or "Feet Sticking in Water" in the native Paiute language. The Pahranagat Valley was one of the first places that grabbed my interest when I started exploring Nevada historical sites. We used to spend a lot of time in Eagle Valley, Sunnyside and Nesbitt. About ten of us still go on an annual fishing trip to Sunnyside every year. We've done it every year since we got out of high school almost 30 years ago. The area from south of Alamo up beyond Hiko, is considered the Pahranagat Valley. More than 25 years ago, we went up over the top of the Sheep Mountains and down into the Pahranagat in a snowstorm. It was one of the coolest AND scariest trips I've ever done. As a driving age teenager, I bought the book "Ghosts of the Glory Trail" by Nell Murbarger. I believe it to be the greatest book ever written. Murbarger's writing style is second to none. Chapter 26 'Cattle Rustlers and Rolling Rocks' is dedicated to the rusting and violence that occurred in the Pahranagat Valley. From the 1860's forward, it was a cattle rustler's paradise. The area was filled with rough and violent individuals. They say that at one time, you could find over 350 different brands of rustled cattle from Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Murbarger: "Conceived in violence and suckled in sin, Hiko was a frontier fleshpot of the first skimming... Attracted by the plentiful grass and abundant water of the Pahranagat Valley- and especially by the region's paucity of law enforcement officers- cattle rustlers of three states seemed drawn irresistibly toward this 30,000- acre bedding ground cradled between the rugged Hiko Range and the Silver Canyon Mountains." This chapter in her book also speaks about the formation of the "601" Committee, as well as the many vigilante hangings that took place in the area. Men like L.B. Vail, Tempiute Bill and Moquitch were known outlaws and murderers. Each of these individuals was tried in a frontier manner, convicted by partisans, and swiftly hanged afterward. Buy the book. It's well worth it! ... As the legend goes, the County Sheriff once had to ride through the Pahranagat Valley in apprehension of a fugitive. Upon return, he was asked if he got his man. He replied that he hadn't. But since he made it through the Pahranagat without being shot, he considered it a victory. This area has an outstanding, yet often overlooked history. It is definitely worth reading up on. It is frontier Nevada through and through. Pahranagat today is a major cattle ranching area. There are some very beautiful and historic ranches all through this valley.

Post Office: March 25, 1867 to June 24, 1867 (at Pah Ranagat).