7-23-2020 Winnemucca, NV

There are beetles here.  Thousands and millions of big, black beetles.  They are enormous, the size of frogs.  The only one I have seen that is larger is Paul McCartney.  The really big ones are wearing masks.  They don’t eat much and they’re probably supposed to be a good thing but truth be told, I can live without bugs.  Any bugs.  And certainly without bugs that are the size of a Pontiac.

Chief Winnemucca

Sarah Winnemucca

Winnemucca began as a small village back in the late 1800s.  In fact, even the name has a history.  When he was little, the chief of the Paiute Indians encountered a bunch of white pioneer travelers and he was wearing only one shoe, actually a moccasin.  They nicknamed him, “wan-na-muc-cha,” which was a bit of a bastardization of English and Paiute for, “one moccasin.”  He liked his nickname so much that he started going by it exclusively.  It eventually morphed into the word, “Winnemucca.”  His daughter, Sarah, became a very significant figure in this area.  She was well-read and smart.  She traveled long distances between pueblos to communicate and teach her people.  You can still see some of the trails she walked between the villages.  She worked with the feds to aid her struggling people and in DC, she met with folks such as President Rutherford B Hayes in 1880.  Sarah Winnemucca was the first American Indian woman to write a book, her autobiography, in 1883, “Life Among the Piutes.”  Sarah’s statue is in Statuary Hall in the DC Capitol.  So far, anyway.

Mining, agriculture and ranching played a major part in the formation of this community.  When the Central Pacific Railroad came through the area in 1868 on its way east, the railroad and the Humboldt River locked Winnemucca in as a significant crossroad of commerce.  As far as ranching goes, the Basque sheepherders seemed to like it here and now, the percentage of Basque folks is the largest, 4.2%, in the nation.  Here’s a little detail I learned about the Basque.  They came from a small strip in the Pyrenees between France and Spain and had their own culture and their own language, it’s true.  But more than that, their heritage goes deeper than culture and language.  Blood-wise, the Basque people make up 25% of the RH-negative and 55% of the Type O people in all of Europe.  I don’t know how this fits into all of humanity but it helps me to get all the lamb dishes I want at their restaurants.

Front of the Martin Hotel, est. 1898

Upstairs at the Martin Hotel
standing by room # 16

One very well-known restaurant here in Winnemucca is the Martin Hotel and Restaurant where we were provided with a wonderful Basque dinner.  They seated us at a long table where others could possibly join us.  Our dinner began with mushroom soup and their signature fresh made bread.  Then, salad, a bean dish and a bowl of chunks of chicken simmered in a spicy tomato sauce.  This was followed by French fries, corn on the cob, garlic mashed potatoes and lamb shank that was slow-cooked for hours until the meat fell off the bone.  A dessert of bread pudding was next.  All of this and a carafe of wine were inclusive.  The waitress just kept bringing plates of food!  As for the Martin’s history:  Although it is said to have been established in 1898, some history and a lithograph suggest that it was a house of “soiled doves” as early as 1881.  The grand opening of the hotel took place on Christmas Day, 1915.  In 1919, a fire destroyed a big part of the building and the Martins gave up and moved to San Francisco.  The hotel was restored by the new owner, Charles Weikel, by 1920 and he added on 25 rooms.  The restaurant and rooming house were always a favorite place for the ranchers and sheepherders as well as new Basque immigrants to hang their hats.  The hotel is no longer available for occupancy but the kind waitress allowed us to go to the upper floor to snoop around.  The restaurant is still considered the best place in Nevada to experience an authentic family-style Basque dinner.

Reinhart House built in 1909 while the
Reinharts vacationed in Europe.
Considered one of the most upscale houses
in town.

Rogers House 1901
They say this house was built with
"square nails."  Never heard of it!

Many other old buildings still stand intact in Winnemucca and date back as far as the mid-1800s.  With help from a map and descriptions of these old structures we were able to spend a few pleasant hours drifting around the town and absorbing the town’s history and culture.

This is the oldest house we found, the
W C Record Home, built in 1874
and still mostly original.