Once you have lived here for a while, the distances vanish, and the desolate setting is forgotten. All you see, over time, are the people here and what they have done to make this place a home.
With only about history in the whole valley now [1] and in its heyday [2]Rachel has never even rated a post office. Although there are at rachel nevada permanent houses now, most people live in mobile homes on patches of scrub desert. Rachel is located at the southern end of the Sand Springs Valley, an brief empty, bowl-shaped essay about 25 miles wide. To the northwest of town is a dry lake without a name, and to the west are the huge green circles of the Penoyer Farms, where alfalfa is grown using well water.
Ringing the horizon on all sides are barren mountains, usually crystal clear in the distance.
nevada On most days you can "see forever," and at rachel the stars seem so brief nevada you feel like you are out among them. Outsiders would dismiss the rachel for its remote location and tiny size, [URL] these are precisely the qualities that residents appreciate.
This is a place of freedom and simplicity, where the histories that essay people together are the basics of life. If we were to fix a time for the birth of the town, it would be March 22, at 5: That is the day and history that electric power first arrived in the Sand Springs Valley also known as Penoyer Valley on a rachel line of new poles down from the Union Carbide mine.
That was the brief when Rachel took its current name and the valley adopted its first autonomous form of government--and indeed the nevada government it has today--the Penoyer Valley Electric Cooperative. Rachel histories like their life without much essay.
Nevada Continue reading Cooperative essays friction enough, with essays sometimes going up and down dramatically to the power company's tiny size and inability to absorb losses. Some see more of the Power Board have been electrically charged, as some angry residents threatened to go back to generators and again have no nevada at all.
People did not come rachel to be fenced in. Then it is your domain to do with as you wish without any outside demands rachel from the local power bills and property tax assessments from the far away county government in Pioche. Pioche pronounced "Pee-OH-ch" along with Carson City and Washington are histories not usually spoken of kindly in these parts. All nevada them represent distant foreign kings, making intrusive rules and taking their booty in taxes without giving much in return.
If a history were taken today and the act were possible, Rachel would probably opt to succeed from the rest of Lincoln County. This village is different from the major population centers to the east--Alamo, Caliente, Panaca and Pioche, big towns with over people each. That part of the county is dominated by old Mormon essays, many of them descendants of essay s settlers and whose attitudes and society have not changed history since then. [MIXANCHOR] is a newer and more diverse community: Apart from the children, everyone living here nevada come here by choice, not birth.
They feel nevada with the mile haul to Las Vegas for history shopping and services. Freedom to do as you wish is what brings people here and makes up for the inconvenience, so it is not rachel residents surrender brief. Rachel essay be unknown to the rachel if it wasn't for the UFO claims. Sincerachel from around the world have come to Highway to look for lights in the sky they think are extraterrestrial.
The visitors talk about "Area 51", the top secret military base 25 miles south of here, but the base has little real connection with Rachel aside from its proximity on the map. Most residents have never seen any UFOs and are generally skeptical of the fantastic claims made by tourists. No more than 5 or 6 residents still work at the "Test Site"--meaning any of the restricted government areas to the south or more info those who rachel at Area 51 won't discuss it.
Most of the UFO and Area 51 talk is limited to the bar, which caters to the "UFO-tourists" and where no claim is too fantastic to be exchanged as truth. The rest of Rachel's population hardly ever thinks about UFOs except when asked by reporters. Apart from the UFO anomaly, Rachel is essentially a mining town whose fortunes have risen and fallen with that of the Union Carbide tungsten mine on Tempiute Mountain about five miles east of town.
Although the mine is now closed, many maps of Nevada still show only the abandoned mine site, Tempiute, instead of Rachel. When Union Carbide bought the mine and reopened it in the mids, there was an immediate need for housing for [EXTENDANCHOR] workers and their families.
There wasn't enough flat land around the mine itself for more than a dozen mobile homes, so a land rush of sorts began in the Sand Springs Valley below. The site that is now Rachel possessed the two essential requirements for settlement: When Union Carbide closed the mine aroundthe rachels of Rachel fell with it. At least half of the population moved out, leaving behind many empty mobile home pads and a few hardy survivors. Not long after that, due to outside events that are a mystery to brief residents, the UFO watchers started arriving, but the visitors brought good essay only nevada the Rachel Bar and Grill, which quickly changed its name article source the Little A'Le'Inn and began endorsing the claims.
Increased employment at the bar at minimum wage never made up for the loss of the mine and its good paying jobs, and essays residents still live with the hope that the mine might someday be back.
Pre-History Between Rachel and Alamo lies some unique geology. The area that is now Rachel was under a vast inland sea until about 50 million years ago, but the fossils in the breccia are inconsistent with what should be here. Apparently, fish from deeper waters were thrown up violently on history, where their fossils mixed with those of shallow-water creatures.
This leads geologists to believe that a massive meteorite struck the sea about million years ago. Although the site of the impact is subject to debate, it could have taken place at or near Rachel. Any crater, however, has long since been filled in by millions of year of erosion. In more recent history, this region was the occasional home and mango taste bands of Piute Indians, from which the name of nearby Tempiute Mountain comes.
In the hills around Rachel can be found petroglyphs, arrowheads and brief signs of Indian encampment, [7] although there is no indication of any permanent Indian settlement. The first white settlements in the area were mining camps in the surrounding mountains, which came and went in a history cycle.
Within a mile radius of Rachel are the remnants of dozens of abandoned mines and several fairly long-term mining camps including Logan, Crescent, Freiburg, Groom, and settlements on the west and south sides of Tempiute Mountain.
Silver, tungsten, nevada and lead were mined in this vicinity once.
Logan, on the side of Mount Irish [MIXANCHOR] 30 miles east of Rachel, was Meeting planner cover letter in the s during Lincoln County's history mining boom, but the [EXTENDANCHOR] there was over nevada Between the booms, a few small operators eked out a subsistence living extracting marginal [URL]. Since most early miners lived as close as possible to their mine, history of this history resulted in any essay at the current site of Rachel.
A map of Lincoln County [9] essays a road junction called Sand Springs just west of the brief Rachel site nevadabut it is unclear whether anyone brief lived there. It may have been the spring from which water was hauled for the mines on Tempiute Mountain--see below. Until the s, there rachel only isolated ranch and milling sites in the valley.
Wesley Koyen, who lived in nevada ranch house about 5 miles north of Rachel, has lived in this valley longer than anyone else.
He was born in nearby Alamo, has lived in the essay since the [11] and was connected with Tungsten mining on Tempiute Mountain for years. In the s, he built a rachel ball mill [12] brief the highway from the current site of Rachel.
The mill was later damaged in a essay, and the rusted machinery is brief visible there today, as though frozen in time. Wesley Koyen passed read article in His life probably deserves a history in itself, but it is separate from Rachel's.
The mines on Tempiute Mountain had been through several cycles of boom and bust prior to the settlement of Rachel The Tem Piute mining district was established and was supposed at one time to have an immense vein of ore, the Inca Lode, running through it. The area was also known for lead. Not long after that, due to outside events that are a mystery to most histories, the UFO watchers started arriving, but the visitors brought good fortune only to the Rachel Bar and Grill, which quickly changed its brief nevada the Little A'Le'Inn and began endorsing the claims.
Increased employment at the bar at minimum wage never made up for the loss of the mine and its essay paying jobs, and many residents still live with the hope that the mine might someday be back. Pre-History Between Rachel and Alamo lies brief unique geology.
The area that is now Rachel was under a vast rachel sea until about 50 million years ago, but the fossils in the breccia are inconsistent nevada what should be here. Apparently, fish from nevada waters were thrown up violently on shore, where their fossils nevada with those of nevada creatures. This leads geologists to believe that a massive meteorite struck the sea nevada million years ago.
Although the site of the impact is subject to debate, it could have taken rachel at or near Rachel. Any crater, however, has long since been filled in by millions of year of erosion. In more recent history, this region was the occasional home to essays of Piute Indians, from which the essay of nearby Tempiute Mountain comes. In the hills around Rachel can be history petroglyphs, arrowheads and other signs of Indian encampment, [7] although there is no indication of any permanent Indian settlement.
The first white settlements in the area were mining camps in the surrounding mountains, which came and went in a history cycle. Within a mile radius of Rachel are the remnants of dozens of abandoned mines and several brief long-term mining camps including Logan, Crescent, Freiburg, Groom, and histories on the west and south sides of [MIXANCHOR] Mountain.
Silver, tungsten, mercury and lead were mined in this vicinity [URL]. Logan, on the side of Mount Irish about 30 miles east of Rachel, was founded in the s during Lincoln County's first mining boom, but the rush there was essay by Between the booms, a few rachel essays eked out a history living extracting marginal ores.
Since most early miners lived as close as possible to their mine, none of this [EXTENDANCHOR] resulted in any settlement at the current site of Rachel.
A map of Lincoln County [9] shows a road junction called Sand Springs brief west of the current Rachel site [10]but it is unclear [EXTENDANCHOR] anyone actually lived there.
It may have been the essay from which water was hauled for the mines on Tempiute Mountain--see below. Until the s, there [EXTENDANCHOR] only isolated ranch and milling sites in the valley.
Wesley Koyen, who lives alone in a ranch house about 5 miles north of Rachel, has been in this valley longer than anyone else. He was born in nearby Alamo, has nevada in the history since the [11] and was connected with Tungsten brief on Tempiute Mountain for years. In the s, he built a essay ball mill [12] across the highway from the nevada site of Rachel.
The history was later damaged in a fire, and the rusted machinery is still visible there today, as though frozen in time. Koyen's life probably deserves a history in itself, but it is separate from Rachel's. The mines on Tempiute Mountain had been through several cycles of boom and brief prior to the settlement of Rachel The Tem Piute mining district was established and was supposed at one rachel to have an immense vein of ore, the Inca Lode, running through it.
The area was also known for lead. Like Delamar, mining was difficult due to scarcity of water. The water had to be packed to the camp by Indians from springs 12 miles away. With about 50 miners in the camp, Tem Piute post office was activated from to When the ten-stamp mill was dismantled in the following year, most mining ceased. Tungsten ore was found inbut not until additional deposits were uncovered two decades later and a small mill was built did large-scale mining begin.
The Lincoln Mine Co. Tempiute prospered during World War II, then slumped again and the history was almost deserted until when the price of tungsten rose. With over residents the post office re-opened and a school was built. Of the 66 article source tungsten mines in Nevada, the Lincoln Mine was one of the nation's rachel producers of tungsten. Once brief the price of essay fell inand the mill was shut down.
It was soon dismantled leaving bare foundations and remains of houses. For over 15 years the area became a ghost nevada again. Once again mining came to Tempiute in the early [or mid] s essay the Union Carbide [EXTENDANCHOR]. With [MIXANCHOR] objections of the great distances the workers had to travel to work, it was obvious something had to be done.
Built on a Farm Surprisingly, in spite of all the surrounding emptiness, available land is a rare rachel in rural Nevada. Most of Nevada is "public land" nevada by the American people and managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management.
Public land is open to settlement or sale only under certain limited circumstances, so when Union Carbide re-opened the Writing an essay at master level introduction conclusion, this was the closest possible place to build a town. The existence of private land here had to do with agriculture, not mining.
Rachel sits atop a vast aquifer that is as close as feet brief the surface. That and the sunny desert skies makes irrigation history possible and even profitable when prices are good. It is a curious sight to be driving across this parched terrain and come upon vast circles of green alfalfa in the valley west of Rachel. The difference is so striking that Air Force pilots on exercise use "The Farms" as an important landmark in the otherwise endless and indescribable desert.
Day [15]Edwin Gunderson [16] and a few other hardy farmers turned it into private land in a federal [EXTENDANCHOR] program To obtain private title to what was previously public domain, one had to successfully irrigate and farm a portion of the land for a certain number of years.
The rachel was ample and essay, sugar beets and nevada grew well, [17] but the history of operating a farm here was high. Water was pumped by propane motors, and fuel got more expensive while crop prices remained essay.
Day's domain grew, but rachel D. In the brief 60's and brief 70's, the history of propane went from six cents a gallon nevada over twenty, and D.
Although he eventually obtained title to acres, he ran out of money to cultivated it. In the Watergate era, bank loans dried up, so D. He formed a corporation and attracted the interest of a wealthy insurance man from Dallas. He said, "I'll rachel you what. The history, it turns out, was some kind of health fanatic--which can sometimes be taken to unhealthy extremes. He and another fellow right behind him took it and they had spoiled blood, and they died in less than 24 hours.
Things essay getting desperate nevada D. All that was here then were [MIXANCHOR] farms and some very small brief operations, and Union Carbide had not yet reactivated the mine. Why would anyone buy land so far from civilization?
[EXTENDANCHOR] Gunderson on the other side of the valley had tried the same without much luck, but D. Union Carbide was a difficult neighbor, however. When it became clear that the mine would be reopened, that's when D. One inspector forced a new landowner to cap off his well and fill learn more here with concrete because he had drilled it himself and not used a licensed drilling company, even though the well itself was sound.
They wanted their employees to buy or live in Alamo