Montello,
Nevada
This
area is loaded with history. Located on SR 30 at a point 24 miles
northeast of its junction with US 40 (I-80)
Our
thanks to ghost town editor Stanley W. Paher for this excerpt
of history from his book.
"Completion
of the Southern Pacific's Lucin Cutoff across western Utah in
1904 bypassed its division point a t Terrace, Utah. The new engine
terminal was located at Bauvard (or Banvard), about ten miles
into Nevada, and a post office opened there in June 1904. Houses
were shipped on flatcars from Terrace to help start the new town,
and some of the water came from springs to the south at a watering
place and campground long used by the Indians and called by them
Montello, meaning "rest" in their language.
In
1905 the Southern Pacific created the town of Montello, three
miles northeast of Bauvard, as a new division point and soon built
shops and a seven-stall rectangular roundhouse. Here freight trains
changed crews and helper engines were added for the haul over
Pequop summit. The new town acquired stores, saloons, rooming
house, hotel, restaurants and the Bauvard post office which officially
retained that name until early in 1912). Besides housing railroad
personnel and their families, this town of 800 bustled as a shipping
point for big cattle outfits and for the Utah Construction Co.
which maintained a headquarters here.The community built a substantial
high school.
In
the 1920s Montello also served as supply point for the Delano
mines, 36 miles north. Since the population has steadily decreased,
through the town continued to thrive until the advent of Diesel
engines on the Southern Pacific early in the 1950's. Thereafter
helper crews were no longer required, and personnel were transferred
to Ogden and Carlin. Roundhouses and shops were removed a few
years later and now Montello is a sleepy town of about 150 to
200 people"
Today Montello has a new school,
and many of the old original railroad tie buildings are still
around.
This
area is home to some of the best deer hunting area around. Be
sure to check your boundaries. The Utah/Idaho boarders can be
hard to find in the mountains.
This
Elk was taken by Randy Blackwell of Sparks, Nevada. It was taken
with a Muzzeloader in Sept. 1999. It scored 404 4/8 in Boone &
Crockett.
The
photo was submitted by the Cowboy Bar in Montello. Our thanks
to them for sharing this picture.
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