Marklee's Cabin Site

Jacob Marklee staked 160 acres here in September 1861, then recorded the claim the following June in Douglas County, Nevada Territory. A boundary survey moved the line rather than the land, and his ground turned out to be California. He built a toll bridge over the creek and sold lots in the town that took his name. Whether the half-interest he sold covered the land or only the tolls was the quarrel that killed him in 1863. Nothing state-cast marks the site; the courthouse bronze is a Clampers plaque from 2016.

What the plaque says

Jacob Markley On September 12, 1861, Jacob Markley staked out a land claim of 160 acres, a parcel that included this site. Markley erected a 16 by 20 foot log cabin somewhere near this plaque, covering it with shakes made from local sugar pine. He also built a bridge over nearby Markleeville Creek and began collecting tolls from the mule teams and foot traffic headed south over the bridge to Silver Mountain. Over the next year and a half, Markley began selling off lots in his new town of "Markleyville" and took in a partner, selling a half-interest in his land claim to Henry W. Tuttle. The tiny settlement blossomed from a few small shanties and wagon tops into a bustling new town with 168 buildings. On May 14, 1863, Markley was shot outside the front door of his cabin during a dispute with his partner. Tuttle claimed the shooting was in self-defense. The jury agreed with him, exonerating Tuttle of the murder. Markley's body was carried to a hill overlooking the town that bears his name — likely becoming the first burial in today's Markleeville cemetery. Dedicated on April 9, 2016 (6021) by the Snowshoe Thompson Chapter #1827 of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus 60th anniversary

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Genoa — 22 mi
  Nevada's oldest town—a California Trail trading post and Carson Valley ranch country that came eight years before the silver and quietly outlasted it
• Emerald Bay State Park — 25 mi
  A glacial fjord on Tahoe's west shore with the lake's only island and a Scandinavian house at the water.
• Cave Rock / De'ek Wadapush — 26 mi
  One of the most sacred places of the Wašiw—the Standing Gray Rock, a worn volcano the highway was blasted through and climbers bolted for sport, now closed and quiet again after the Washoe's long fight to protect it

More markers nearby

• Pony Express Remount Station at Woodfords — 6.2 mi
• Ebbetts Pass Route — 11 mi
• Kit Carson Marker — 11 mi
• Memorial to Pioneer Odd Fellows — 11 mi