Where are you from? What Nevada places, or experiences, have helped to make you who you are? Answer that question in Nevada Narratives first poetry contest. As you know, Nevada Narratives is all about stories grounded in Nevada. Stories take … Continue reading Nevada Narratives’ First Poetry Contest
By Doresa Banning 1947-1979 “Neat appearing girls from 21 to 25 to shill and learn to deal games at Rolo Casino, 14 E. Commercial Row,” read a Help Wanted ad in Nevada’s Reno Evening Gazette (June 6, 1947). A shill, as later defined by the Nevada gaming authorities, is: “an employee engaged and financed by the [gambling] licensee as a player for the purpose of starting and/or maintaining a sufficient number of players in a card game” (Regulation 23). Another type of decoy is a proposition player — “a person paid a fixed sum by the licensee for the … Continue reading GAMBLING DECOYS: SHILLS, PROPOSITION PLAYERS
Poetry by James Dilworth Newlands Park by James Dilworth Another Saturday — A day before Summer comes in: Some singing birds above brown finches and red robins in old, spiky, evergreen trees, a couple crows commenting … Continue reading A Poet’s Impression of Reno
by MaiLynn Stormon-Trinh MaiLynn wrote about her experience with the many winds she’s known after visiting Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. I’m pleased to be able to share this post from her blog with you. I have known many winds. I have known the Santa Anas – the eerie stillness that precedes them, the way they arrive and warp the human psyche to bring about unrest at best, violence at worst. I have known the hot sticky air that blasts through the Southern Californian concrete like a devil blowing his horn. The blonde, blue-eyed beauties seek … Continue reading I Have Known Many Winds
By Ken Adams The cemetery in Dayton, Nevada is the center of the universe for my family. Dayton and its cemetery is the place our collective identity began. My mother was born in Dayton, her mother was born there and her grandmother came as a small child. She came with her father, mother, brothers and sisters in 1867. Her mother and baby sister both died soon after; the mother and daughter were buried in the cemetery overlooking the town and the valley. Six generations of my family are buried in that primitive, pioneer graveyard. My great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother lived … Continue reading Dayton, Nevada Home Of Footraces, Snowshoe Rescues And Ghostly Encounters
The story that follows is the first piece of fiction to appear on Nevada Narratives. It occurs to me that many of you may not know the story of Wovoka and the Ghost Dance and that references to this story may confuse you. You can find out more about Wovoka by clicking this link. I hope you enjoy this story. Part of the story is based on an experience I had at the Overland. You can guess which parts are true and which are purely fiction. Have fun. Ghost Dance by Suzanne Stormon On a clear 1889 morning … Continue reading Ghost Dance
by Jeanne Marie Olin As I walked down the aisle of Saint Mary’s in the Mountains on August 19, 1972, I carried a white bible with a single white orchid. I felt a mixture of anticipation and nervousness. My dad was proudly walking next to me. I felt we were a unit as Nevada, the local organ player Jim and I had hired for $50, was playing the wedding music. Pat, my maid of honor, was walking in front of me. Her hands were really shaking. I saw Jim standing in front of the beautiful altar with his best man, … Continue reading A Virginia City Wedding
by Suzanne Stormon I met Bonnie in the spring of 1972, at the employee orientation meeting for new hires at the Overland Casino in Reno. We were hired the same week and we would start on swing shift together as change girls the next day. I sat next to her at the conference table in the H.R. office, learning the rules and other information about the job. She looked easy to talk to, about my age of 22, not so beautiful as to be intimidating. I smiled at her as they handed out the forms for us to sign. She … Continue reading Making Friends And Change At The Overland
by Suzanne Stormon A Paiute legend tells of Pyramid Lake’s origin. The father and mother of all the Indians had children who fought constantly. The father finally decided to separate the children. He sent a boy and a girl west and another pair to the east. The other children stayed with their mother near the place that would become known as Pyramid Lake. The mother was overcome with grief and loneliness for her missing children. She sat down in the desert and began to cry. She cried enough to fill the lake and sat there until she turned to stone. … Continue reading Adventures at Pyramid Lake
WILDCAT AT DAWN The wildcat emerged from his lair to be greeted by the dawn, with the Sun just peeking above Mount Tobin, two mountain ranges away, and forty miles distant. Mount Tobin was as far as he could see, the extent of his vision being limited only by the curvature of the Earth. The nearly total transparency of the dry Nevada desert air would allow him to see forever if not for our planetary geometry. The wildcat peered down on Buena Vista Valley, a high desert valley whose lowest point was still more than four thousand feet above sea … Continue reading LIFE ON BUFFALO MOUNTAIN (An Online Series by Mark Stormon) Episode 1