Chief Tecopa: Peacemaker of the Paiutes

Tecopa — the name means "wildcat" — led the Southern Paiute bands of the Pahrump and Ash Meadows country through the hardest century they would know. As a young man he fought the newcomers, clashing with Frémont's party at Resting Springs; as an older one he judged that his people's survival lay in peace, and spent the rest of a long life keeping it. Grateful miners are said to have kept him in a red braided coat and silk hat. He is buried here in Pahrump Valley, in the cemetery that carries his name.

What the plaque says

Chief Tecopa was a young man when the first white man came to Southern Nevada. As the leader of the Southern Paiute Tribes, he fought with vigor to save their land and traditional way of life. He soon realized, however, that if his people were to survive and prosper, he would have to establish peace, and learn to live in harmony with the foreigners. During his life-span, which covered almost the entire 19th century, his energy and time were devoted to the betterment of his people. Chief Tecopa is honored for the peaceful relations he maintained between the Southern Paiute Indians and the white men who came to live among them.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mount Charleston & the Spring Mountains — 21 mi
  A nearly 12,000-foot sky island 35 miles from the Strip — alpine forest above the Mojave