11-16-2020 St. Thomas, NV

Echo Bay International Airport

 On our way to today’s explorations, we couldn’t resist jumping off the road to have a quick look at Echo Bay International Airport, accessible by a rough, gravel road.  Not much activity going on at the airport, though.  I’m not sure what a round-trip ticket might cost since we didn’t find a terminal where we could make inquiries.

The runway

 St. Thomas was settled by the Mormons in 1865 on the banks of the confluence of the Muddy and Virgin Rivers where the soil was very fertile for farming.  When the government came along (It’s always somethin,’ Jane.  Usually, the government.), they finalized the state boundary line between Utah and Nevada, moving it east just enough to situate St. Thomas in Nevada instead of Utah.  As a consequence of this, the damned government told the people that they owed Nevada six years of back taxes.  The Mormons asked Brigham Young what they should do.  He advised the citizens to take a vote and all but two people  (out of 45 families) voted to say, “Fuck you,” and abandon St. Thomas for parts further into Utah.  As a parting shot, they engaged the “scorched earth policy” and destroyed the town with fire.

The white part is what NV
looked like then.  The blue
part is what they called
the new boundary.

Rob and a deep cistern

  

A pioneer woman drawing water
from the cistern

Other settlers moved into St. Thomas later and developed a fairly prosperous settlement.  Trains came along and delivered supplies and ice to the folks and they were thriving quite well.  They had cisterns for water that they dipped by the barrelful out of the river.  Ashes, charcoal and sand were thrown into the water and acted as a natural filter.  “Refrigerators” consisted of wooden boxes wrapped in burlap.  The burlap was soaked in water and the wind kept the boxes cool.  They were raised up on stilts and the stilts were sitting in glasses of water to keep the ants out.

This is what is left of St. Thomas, NV

Lindy and the foundations of a home
in St. Thomas

 In 1928, along came President Coolidge and the concept of Hoover Dam.  By 1935, the dam was a reality, it was dedicated by FDR, gates were closed by 1936 and the water began to rise.  St. Thomas was a distant memory and flooded under 70 feet of Lake Mead by 1938.  In recent decades, receding water has revealed what is left of St. Thomas:  just the foundations of a ghost town.  We found the trail head of a 2.5 mile hike to the ruins of the settlement.  Being as old as we are, it took an afternoon for us to make the hike, stopping along the way to catch our breath, take a chug of water and examine placards and foundations. 

 Along our way, we encountered sheep, wild horses, burros and one lone coyote howling up on a ridge.  A very interesting, fun day!