Fish Lake Valley

Amid all the gold and silver fever, this valley's wealth was water and grass. Settlement followed the 1866 Palmetto strike, and there was a borax flurry in the 1870s, but Fish Lake Valley made its lasting living as ranch country—fed by streams off the White Mountains, with Nevada's highest peak rising just to the west. Local ranches supplied beef and hay to the freight teams and the mining camps that came and went around it. The state marker even honors a local character, Harrell, "the Irrepressible." Dyer still farms alfalfa here.

What the plaque says

This valley was settled when the Palmetto Mining District was discovered in 1866. In the 1870's the Griffing and Wyman's, as well as the Pacific Borax Works, were extracting borax at Fish Lake. The Carson and Columbus Stage Line ran northward to Aurora and Carson City, making connections with Log Springs in the Sylvania District and Lida. Several local ranches supplied food to the freight industry and mining communities. A post office was opened in Fish Lake Valley in 1881. This marker commemorated the life and times of W. O. Harrell, known as "Harrell, the Irrepressible," citizen extraordinaire of Fish Valley in the 1870's.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Blair — 26 mi
• Palmetto — 28 mi
• Silver Peak — 28 mi