Nevada History Critique Essay

Since ages I have been firmly stood and evidenced several phases of history and have witnessed          numerous mysterious and strange phases that are still unrevealed. I am huge, graceful and well known Battle Mountain. My homeland is Nevada, which is a state of USA and is situated in its West. It’s surrounded by California, Ogre, Idaho, Utah and Arizona. Though it is larger than these states but has lesser population. But, it has always been a point of attraction for the visitors because of the beautiful places like me, the great Battle Mountain. Nevada is a Spanish word which means “snow clad”. Much about primeval Nevada remains vague but there is sign of human commotion in the area for at least 12,000 years.

Almost 30 thousand years ago, Nevada was passing through the Ice Age along with the rest of the west. This was the time when I used to be covered with ice and my valleys were full of glaciers. Gradually, with the melting of ice in the course of centuries the mountains crept further away. (Elliot 1987)

Anasazis 8000-18000 B.C.:

I kept watching when all of this water reserved the region that is now a desert enclosed with abundant plantation. In this initial metamorphous period some famous ice age animals came into being such as musk ox, caribou and the mammoth. With the constant melting of ice the temperature began to rise and mammals moved northwards in search of new meadows. The title of first Nevadans went to Anasazi means “The Ancient Ones”. None of their remains like bones etc have been discovered yet except a few animal art works.  The archeologists and geologists have hypothesized that these ancient people might have lived during 8000 to 18000 B. C. (Elliot, 1987).

The Basket Makers 1500 B. C.

The next Nevadan civilization is referred to as “The Basket Makers” in the history, as the finely made baskets are the only evidence of them instead of any pots or artwork. Use of spears, sticks and darts is evident but no arrows and bows. They existed near 1500B. C.

 Several hundreds years later the first white people came around with the bows and arrows. In the same time in south the basket makers started to cultivate maize and Indian corn and they also began to use the arrows and bows. Sometime later they learnt to make pottery and with these continued facilities they gradually proceeded towards civilization. Their homes were dug outs or pits. (Rusco 1975)

The Lost City:

After another episode of five hundred years the Pueblo Indians arrived at Moapa Valley region, from northern Arizona. They brought not only the better residential techniques but also started the agriculture of squashes, cotton and beans.

 The Pueblo blended with the Basket Makers, but it’s unrevealed that whether any of them was a captor or it was a peaceable join.  The ultimate outcome was, however the formation of “Pueblo Grande de Nevada” or the renowned Lost City. At its climax, the Lost City extended for several miles.  It comprised agricultural fields and human settlements scattered all over the valley. It included farm lands, outlying small dwellings and villages scattered through the valley for miles. (Rusco 1975)

The first Whiteman: As, I trace back my memory Nevada was the last region of the coterminous United States to be discovered. The history of Nevada took a turn when the first Whiteman, though, not American reached there in 1776. He was Fray Fransico Garces and a swift development started taking place. (Glass 1981)

During the same year, Franciscan missionaries may have got into the farthest southern part whilst in search of a route to join the Spanish towns of New Mexico with settlements of California. Further adventure was commenced after fifty years, by British and American fur merchants and trappers. The courageous trader Peter Skene Ogden, who belonged to Hudson’s Bay Company, went across the present northern boundary of the state in the middle of 1820.

Ogden discovered the Humboldt River in 1828 during his second exploring trip. Approximately at the same time, in 1826, the American traveler and trader Jedediah Smith came into southern Nevada on a march to California. In 1827 he went across Sierra, advanced by way of mid Nevada, and came back to the Great Salt Lake region. Jeddediah Smith is known as the first American in the region.

A group of trappers, under the command of Joseph Walker traveled to California in 1833, through Humboldt and Carson rivers. After a decade he directed explorers over almost the similar path, setting up a good element of the track used by primitive tourists on their way to California. After the discovery of gold in California in 1848, several explorers went across Nevada on their direction to the Pacific Coast. In the interim, as a consequence of his scientific journeys during 1843and1844 and 1845and1846, John Charles Fremont accomplished a geographic perceptive of the area.

After probing through the barren extensions of Nevada for the legendary River Buenaventura, which was supposed to flow towards west to the Pacific Ocean, Fremont assumed that this was an area of internal drainage, and he declared Nevada to be section of his well known “Great Basin.”(Stewart 1983)

I also evidenced the period of territorial days and early statehood. The region from which Nevada was shaped was obtained from Mexico by the Agreement of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. I still remember the days, it was 1849 when in Carson valley, and the first European American settlement was established which was later named as Genoa. Nevada became a section of Utah in 1850 when Utah and new California were recognized as territories. In 1859 silver was discovered in Comstock Lode, which followed a great influx of people to Nevada. Then it was declared as a separate territory in 1861.

After almost three years when President Lincoln looked for the support of an antislavery state, Nevada turned to statehood. It was October 31, 1864, which is celebrated as Nevada’s birthday every year. In the initial years of statehood mining proved to be as a vital economic factor.  Cultivators and ranchers engaged the majority available farming lands. The mining growth began to diminish in l873. It was the time when silver’s prices started to fall because of being demonetized. However overtiredness of the mines was a causal issue. Consequently the state’s population was reduced by almost 1/3 by the beginning of 1900. (Elliot 1987)

Up till now Nevada has undergone remarkable revolutions and now it does hit a high target in US tourism. More than 50 million tourists visit Nevada every year producing an awesome amount of $ 40 billion for the tourism returns. (Nevada Features Stories 2005)

Centuries are passing one after the other and me The Battle Mountain is still stood here to record the unknown further advancement of civilization in my homeland, Nevada.

References

Elliot, Russel R. (1987). History of Nevada. 2nd ed.  University of Neb. Press.

Glass, Mary E. (1981). Nevada’s Turbulent Fifties: Decade of Political and Economic Change.

University of Nev. Press.

Nevada Features Stories. Retrieved April 3, 2008, from

Rusco, Elmer R. (1975). Good Time Coming? Black Nevadans in the Nineteenth Century.

Greenwood Press.

Stewart, George R. (1983). The California Trail. University of Neb. Press.