The Stokes' Family's Unusual Summer Castle

   One of the oddest structures in rural Nevada is the stone tower near Austin known as Stokes Castle. Built of native rock and wood, the tower is a three-story square-shaped building overlooking the Reese River Valley that was erected by wealthy businessman Anson Phelps Stokes for his son, John Graham Phelps Stokes (often referred to as J.G. Phelps Stokes), who was managing his mining and railroad operations in the area.

   The elder Stokes, part of the wealth Dodge Phelps clan, had made a fortune as an East Coast merchant and in banking, land development, mining and railroads. During that time, informally known as the Gilded Age, the Stokes family was part of the “Four Hundred,” a list of the cream of New York society.

   Befitting their wealth, the family owned a compound of three mansions (lived in by different family members) on Madison Avenue and 37th Street in Manhattan. The three brownstones were later purchased by banker J.P. Morgan.

   Anson Stokes first invested in Central Nevada with his acquisition of the unbuilt Nevada Central Railroad (NCRR) in 1879. Under Stokes guidance, the railroad, which ran between Battle Mountain and Austin, was completed in 1880.

   During the next few years, Anson Stokes and his son, J.G. Phelps Stokes invested heavily in mining properties in Austin and other parts of the state.

   Unfortunately for the NCRR, Austin’s silver production began to decline within a few years after the railroad line opened. By 1887, most the mines closed, although there were periodic revivals in later years.

   Despite the declining profitability of the NCRR, J.G. Phelps Stokes assumed the role of president of the railroad in 1898.

   A year earlier was when Anson Stokes decided to build the structure that would be known as Stokes Castle. In April 1897, work began on grading a 2,900-foot-long road to the site of the castle, on a flat part of the mountain overlooking the Reese River Valley.

   According to records, work on the building started in late April and completed in mid-June. The structure, originally only two-stories, was built using some 800-tons of locally-quarried granite and mortar.

   Construction was largely done by a local master stonemason named John C. Worley, who also worked on St. George’s Episcopal Church in Austin (completed in 1878) and the main house of the O’Toole Ranch in the Reese River Valley (in about 1904).

   Upon visiting the castle for the first time in late June 1897, Anson Stokes decided to add a third story to the structure, which was completed shortly after. Each story in the castle was a single room with a fireplace and small windows.

   Wooden balconies supported by iron railroad supports were constructed on the second and third floors and an awning was stretched over the roof. Entry was via a single doorway on the first floor.

   Stokes, who designed the tower himself, based it on a painting of a tower in the Roman Campagna (the countryside around Rome) that hung in the library of his New York home.

   By all accounts, Anson Stokes built the castle as a summer home for his son to use when visiting the area. J.G. Phelps Stokes and a handful of his friends apparently only stayed at the castle on a handful of occasions in late 1897 and 1898.

   Unfortunately for the Stokes family, in 1898, they discovered that one of their Nevada business associates had embezzled $300,000 from them, which caused them to sell off their Austin mining properties including the castle.

   From the turn of the century until the 1950s, the castle was largely neglected. In the late 1950s, apparently a Las Vegas promoter attempted to purchase the structure to move it to Las Vegas but those plans were foiled when a prominent local rancher/political figure, Molly Flagg Knudtsen (she was the first female member of the University of Nevada Board of Regents) purchased it so it would remain in place and be preserved.

   In 2003, Stokes Castle was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is currently owned and maintained by an Austin-area resident. While the tower itself is fenced-off, visitors today can still visit to admire the workmanship and enjoy the fantastic views.

   For more information about Stokes Castle, go to: https://travelnevada.com/historical-interests/stokes-castle/.

The Amargosa Valley Sand Dunes are a World of Their Own

   It’s easy to see why the Amargosa Dunes might seem like they’re located at the end of the world. Lying about 100 miles north of Las Vegas, the barren sandy mound of sand, which is more than a mile and a half long, appears at first glance to be almost devoid of life.

   But, like many places in Nevada, that initial impression doesn’t reveal the whole story.

   The Amargosa Dunes, in fact, are one of Nevada’s most unique ecosystems. The area, also known as Big Dune, rises to more than 300 feet at its highest point. And, like Sand Mountain near Fallon and Crescent Dunes near Tonopah, Big Dune “sings.”

   Scientists believe there are only about 30 dunes in the world that emit sound—and Nevada has three such locations. The noise, which some have compared to the low rumbling of an aircraft engine, is produced when the grains rub against each other, usually when cascading down the dune or in response to wind (it can also manifest as a loud booming noise).

   Big Dune is also home to four rare species of beetles, including the Giuliani’s Big Dune Scarab Beetle, the Large Aegialian Scarab Beetle, the Rulien’s Miloderes Weevil and the Big Dune Aphodius Scarab Beetle. To survive, the beetles rely on sand (which they burrow into) and native vegetation, which includes creosote bush, sandpaper plant, prickly poppy and astragalus. 

   The entire site, which spreads over about five miles (the sand dunes are consistently migrating) is known as the Amargosa Big Dune Recreation Area and is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

   Big Dune is also considered a sacred place for the Southern Paiute and Numic-speaking people that lived in the Mojave Desert, and is the subject of several of their legends.

   The origins of Big Dune can be traced to the presence of the Amargosa River in the region (which actually flows underground and under the dune today). Wind would blow excess small rock particles from a bend in the river, which over a great amount of time began to form into a mound.

   Archaeological evidence indicates that humans have been in the region for more than 10,000 years. The first non-native visitors to reach the valley most likely occurred in the 1830s, when, according to historian Richard Lingenfelter, eastern California horse thieves used it as a shortcut to link to the Old Spanish Trail.

   During the mid-to-late 1900s, the Amargosa area was largely a place traveled through by wagon trains (including an infamous 1849 party that named nearby Death Valley), prospectors, and surveying teams.

   During the late 19th century, Amargosa was largely the domain of small cattle operations (particularly in the Ash Meadows area). The first nearby settlements began to appear in the early 20th century following the completion of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad and the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad.

   More recently, Big Dune has become a popular recreation site for off-road vehicles. Because of the presence of the rare beetle species, drivers are encouraged to stick to established routes.

   Big Dune lies at the northern part of Amargosa Valley, about 10 miles south of Beatty. Turn south at the Amargosa Farm sign and continue for about 2.5 miles. There is a parking turnout here where you can park and avoid getting stuck in the sand. Bring water and food (and sunscreen!) because the area has no services in the immediate area.

   For more information, go to: www.blm.gov/visit/big-dune-0 or https://travelnevada.com/off-roading/amargosa-big-dune/.

Exploring Pyramid Lake's Tufa Formations

  One of the aspects that helps to make Pyramid Lake so special is its tufa rock formations. In fact, the lake’s namesake 500-foot high Pyramid Rock is made of the material.

  The 125,000-acre lake, located 33 miles north of Reno, has long been a sacred place for the native Northern Paiute people, who have inhabited its shores for tens of thousands of years. The lake is the central part of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribes Reservation.

  According to tribal histories, the distinctive pyramid rock at the lake’s southeastern shore represents the spearhead of the Great Father, who thrust it upward to ward off a long drought.

  But the pyramid-shaped mound is only one of a number of unusual stone shapes formed from tufa rock, which is a reminder of the area’s volcanic origins. Tufa rock, in fact, is created when calcium-filled springs gurgle up through salty, carbonate water. The chemical bonding of the two results in the creation of a limestone-like substance.

  Formations, such as those found around Pyramid Lake, are the result of a build-up of this tufa material while it is underwater. Once the water recedes and exposes the formations, they cease to grow.

  As if to put an accent on its fiery, geological roots, boiling water from natural hot springs pour from cracks in the pyramid at an estimated rate of two hundred gallons per minute. Additionally, hot springs around the lake (not open to the public) are another reflection of the area’s geothermal origin.

  The pyramid isn't the only unusual formation found on the southeast end of the lake. Nearly adjacent to the triangular rock, on the shore, are an extensive series of tufa forms that truly give the lake an otherworldly ambience.

  These include several tufa "bubbles," which are giant mushroom-shaped rocks that are hollow in the center, as if they collapsed when exposed to air.

  Additionally, just south of the bubble formations is "Great Stone Mother and Basket," a remarkable tufa rock mound that resembles a hooded Indian woman seated with an open basket lying next to her.

  One legend about the "Stone Mother" is that she was so filled with remorse when some of her children were driven away by her more-evil siblings, that she began to cry and filled the lake with her tears. Her basket remains empty, awaiting their return.

  The tufa formations on the eastern shore of Pyramid Lake, such as Stone Mother and the tufa bubbles, are closed to the public due to past vandalism and concerns about environmental degradation. But they can be viewed from a distance.

  A few of the tufa rocks that are open to the public include Popcorn Rock at the lake’s southern tip and Indian Head Rock on the southwestern shore.

  The lake is a popular recreation area for fishing, boating, jet-skiing, swimming, picnicking and camping. All of those activities require a tribal permit, so make certain to pick one up at the Ranger Station in Sutcliffe (https://pyramidlake.us/permits).

  A good place to learn about Pyramid Lake and the Paiute people is the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Museum and Visitors Center, located at 709 State Street in Nixon, just south of the lake. The museum is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

  For more information about Pyramid Lake go to http://www.pyramidlake.us/.

Permanent Wave Society Brings Amusing Art to Great Basin Visitors

  Anyone traveling on State Route 488, the road that leads from the tiny eastern Nevada town of Baker to Great Basin National Park, will quickly notice something peculiar along the way.

  In several spots beside the fence along the road are rustic forms of art, some with identifying signs. These unusual pieces are the work of a handful of local artisans who, collectively, are known as the Permanent Wave Society.

  

  The dozen or so displays—most built using discarded materials or junk—range from the ridiculous to the sublime. Many, such as the rusting hulk of a 1930s automobile called “Horse with No Name,” have tongue-in-cheek titles.

  The inspiration for this outdoor gallery was the late “Doc” Sherman, a Baker resident, who, in about 1997, attached an old glove to a fence post, where it appeared to wave to passing cars—hence the society’s name.

  “There was a fence post . . . there was the glove . . . and one thing led to another,” Sherman told Nevada writer/historian David W. Toll several years ago. “If you could put them all over the country you’d eliminate road rage. Everyone would be smiling, even on the LA freeways.”

  The project was said to be therapeutic for Sherman, who had been partially paralyzed by a stroke, but still desired to follow his artistic muse.

  Sherman soon added additional creations and was joined by other Baker residents, many of which were (and are) working artists. They, in turn, created their own works along the fence posts.

  Now known—with tongue-in-cheek—as “Post Impression Art,” the works include:

  • “Too Tall Tommy,” a faux gravesite that features two mannequin legs, gird with cowboy boots, protruding from the grave.

  • “Barb and Bob Wire,” two human-like stick figures made of barbed wire and wearing clothes.

  • “Anywhere But Here,” an unusual human-like figure made using a variety of plastic pipes and sporting a discarded George Forman Mean Lean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine for a head.

  • A visual pun—a wooden figure of a man who appears to be scrubbing a 2,000-pound weight. Its title is “Washington.”

  • A striking celestial painting with punched out round holes (not sure what it all means, but the holes allow the wind to pass through so the painting doesn’t get knocked over).

  • Several alien-like figures, including one sitting in a wheel chair and wearing a pith helmet.

  At one time there were more examples of this whimsical artwork along the road but in 2016, the Nevada Department of Transportation removed some of the larger pieces that were closer to the roadway because they were within the highway’s legal “clear zone,” an unobstructed area just off the pavement where a motorist can pull over.

  Despite the action, several of the works remain and continue to amuse passing drivers.

  Of course, the main attraction in the area is Great Basin National Park, which boasts Lehman Caves, groves of ancient Bristlecone Pines, and spectacular scenery. The town of Baker had gained a reputation in recent years for its dining, boasting four quality eateries including Sugar, Salt, and Malt, 487 Grill, Sandra’s Mexican Food and the Great Basin Café.

  For more information about the Permanent Wave Society, go to: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/permanent-wave-society. For more information about Baker and Great Basin National Park, go to: https://travelnevada.com/cities/baker/.

More Frontier Fake News! Historic Tall Tales About Walker Lake's Giant Sea Serpents

 

   The idea that giant monster serpents reside in the waters of Walker Lake is an old one. One of the earliest mentions of some kind of strange Loch Ness-type creature plying the waters of Walker Lake appeared in the Walker Lake Bulletin in August 1883.

   Beneath the headline, “The Sea Serpent in Walker Lake,” the paper noted that “in former times” the native Paiute people traditionally suspended their dead on pliable willow boughs that were placed on the lake’s shoreline.

   However, after the settlement of the town of Hawthorne by white settlers, the dead began to mysteriously disappear. “It was thought to be the work of the encroaching and barbarous pale faces,” the article noted.

   But about a year ago, two tribal members were fishing at the north end of Walker Lake when they “were startled at seeing an immense sea serpent, with the regulation saucer-shaped eyes and barrel-shaped head, rising out of the water, and after lashing its tail in sport until the water for miles around was turned into a sea of seething foam, suddenly, with a loud hissing sound, disappear.”

   The story continued that the next morning another group of Paiutes camping in the forest at the end of the lake were unexpectedly awakened by a “horrible, soul-shrinking screech.” The members of the party looked out into the lake and witnessed two large serpent-like creatures apparently fighting over the body of a deceased child who had been placed on boughs along the lake.

   The creatures fought for some time and when it ended, one of them was badly injured and the other snatched the body and disappeared into the lake. The wounded creature tried to crawl away but was killed by the arrows of the Paiutes.

   The native people then took the remains and gave them to a man named Charley Kimball, a local businessman who owned several enterprises including a saloon (The Capitol) and a local cabinet of curiosities or oddities museum. It added that because the serpents appear to enjoy consuming the dead, the Paiutes would in the future burn or bury their deceased.

   As for Kimball, the story said he turned down an offer from a rival businessman for the serpent’s skeleton, which, it claimed “measures just exactly seventy-nine feet, seven inches in length.” It concluded by nothing that Kimball was going to head out to Walker Lake with a pair of local Paiutes to try to capture the other serpent.

   Sightings of the Walker Lake sea serpents seemed to fade away for several decades before resurfacing in 1907. In a newspaper story that appeared in the Sacramento Bee in July (as well as in several other papers around the country), a Goldfield miner named Dan Cornelison claimed that he and a companion, John McCorry, were fishing in the lake when they sighted a “monster sea serpent” near the north shore.

   Cornelison said he initially thought the object was a capsized boat but upon rowing closer he saw it was a creature that measured about thirty feet in length and six-feet across the back.

   The story also cited a third man, named Peters, who said he had come upon the creature “reposing in shallow water near the shore and on being aroused disappeared in deeper water.”

   About a month later, in August 1907, the Reno Reveille reported that the president of Stanford University, David Star Jordan, who was considered the foremost expert on prehistoric fish, would be mounting an expedition to try to capture the mysterious creature in order to present it to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

   While nothing apparently came of this, the sea monster was back in the news two years later with additional sightings that were reported in the Reno Evening Gazette.

   In 1914, however, the Gazette published an article about Alf McCarthy, brother of Dennis McCarthy, onetime owner of Virginia City’s Territorial Enterprise and the longtime owner of the Walker River Bulletin, that appeared to blow the lid off the sea serpent sightings.

   In the story, Frank J. Kinghorn, a former Assembly member from Mineral County and friend of McCarthy’s said, “Alf McCarthy is the greatest bunch of contradiction ever assembled in a human frame.

   “As publisher of facts and reputed facts, he is absolutely truthful and fearless,” Kinghorn continued. “As the originator of the Walker Lake sea serpent story, he is the most colossal faker that ever crossed the pike.”

   Not wanting to let the story—regardless of whether it was true or not—go away, in 1918 the Gazette shared a story from the Tonopah Daily Times claiming the serpent had been seen again.

   “Every once in a while, some fisherman or Indian tells a tale of having seen the monster, until it has now become the stock yarn of the natives of the vicinity,” the Gazette added. “The best fire-water legends have it that there is a subterranean channel from Walker Lake to the ocean through which this monster travels to throw scares into unfortunate fishermen.”

   More than a decade later, in August 1929, the Nevada State Journal added its own skepticism to the story. In a short article about prohibition agents raiding a brewery in Hawthorne, the paper said with more than a little snideness, “To see the serpent now one will have to carry his own vision-inducing liquids with him when visiting the lake.”

   Harsh.

Wovoka and the Ghost Dance

 

   One of the most fascinating figures in Nevada history was a Paiute man, who was born and grew up near Yerington, who was known as Wovoka (or by his white name, Jack Wilson). Newspapers of the time also referred to him as the “Indian Messiah.”

   Wovoka became widely known in the late 1880s and early 1890s, after he reported having a divine experience while cutting trees in the nearby Pine Nut Mountains. He said he heard a loud noise, went to see the source, and was suddenly struck by some kind of energy.

   As he lay on the ground unable to move, he later said he had an out-of-body experience that took him to a beautiful place that he knew was heaven. He said he spoke to God, who told him to instruct the Native American people to be good to others, stop stealing and to try to get along with the whites.

   The deity apparently also told him to spread the word about his teachings and tell the native people to perform what Wovoka called the Ghost Dance. In return, they would be reunited with their deceased loved ones, remain forever young and would be freed from sickness and death.

   Additionally, he preached that by performing the dance all of the white people would soon leave native lands.

   Within a short time, word of Wovoka’s teachings began to rapidly spread among the native people throughout the country.

   According to historian David Thompson, who has written about the Ghost Dance movement, the teachings were “eagerly accepted by a people who had recently suffered ruinous cultural problems—military defeats, the destruction of buffalo, confinement on Indian reservations, and epidemics of strange and frequently fatal diseases.”

   Wovoka chose to remain in the Schurz/Walker Lake area where he shared his teachings with all who came to learn about the Ghost Dance. Soon, representatives from more than a dozen Native American tribes traveled to Nevada to meet Wovoka and hear his words.

   Among those who journeyed in 1889 to meet Wovoka was Porcupine, a Cheyenne Chief and Medicine Man. After the meeting, Porcupine became convinced Wovoka was the messiah who would help save the tribes and remove white people from North America.

   He returned to the Cheyenne people and began baptizing converts into the new religion.

   On July 18, 1890, the San Francisco Chronicle reprinted a Yakima Herald story that called Porcupine the “Apostle” of the new Messiah. The story recounted how Porcupine, who had earlier been arrested, met with military officials who wanted a better understanding of the new religion.

   “The chief rose, and stretching forth his hands, prayed in silence for nearly five minutes. He placed his hands on the top of his head and on his stomach, and his chest rose and fell with deep sighs. Suddenly his face lit up and he seemed filled with a holy spirit,” the newspaper said.

   “He claimed Christ was on earth and in the flesh at Walker Lake, Nev., and that he had seen him and talked with him face to face, and that Christ had sent him abroad to preach his gospel to all who would hear.”

   While Wovoka’s (and Porcupine’s) teachings were heavily influenced by Christianity and were peaceful in intent, they took on new and different meanings when they spread to other tribes. Other so-called “messiahs” began cropping up on reservations around the country—some not even Native American.

   “The police have arrested the Indian Messiah. He was found in Red Cloud’s camp,” noted the Topeka State Journal on December 23, 1890. “When they pulled the white blanket off they found an intelligent but harmless crank, A.C. Hopkins by name, from Ashaqua, Iowa.”

   A stack of headlines above the story said, “The Messiah a White Man Named Hopkins. He Turns Out to Be a Crank From Iowa. He Says the Indians Misinterpreted His Message.”

   When the teachings reached the Sioux people, they resulted in a series of unfortunate and tragic events. Military officials and other white leaders were alarmed when the Sioux practiced the Ghost Dance, which often involved frenzied dancing.

   Some whites believed the dancing was a prelude to hostilities and urged authorities to ban the practice. This misunderstanding ultimately led to the horrific massacre at Wounded Knee, when some 300 Native American men, women and children were murdered by panicked U.S. Army soldiers. Among those killed was the famed Hunkpapa Lakota Chief, Sitting Bull.

   The events at Wounded Knee largely ended the Ghost Dance movement, as U.S. authorities made it illegal for native people to perform the dance.

   Wovoka, who had always preached a message of peaceful co-existence, however, remained an important religious figure in Nevada until his death in 1932. He is buried in the Schurz Cemetery, located about 24 miles east of his hometown of Yerington.

   A good source of information about Wovoka and the Ghost Dance movement is Michael Hittman’s book, “Wovoka and the Ghost Dance,” published by Bison Books.

The Story of Lake Tahoe's Fabulous Tallac Historic Site

  Anyone who has been watching HBO’s popular show, The Gilded Age, knows that in the late 19th and early 20th century, America’s richest residents often built sprawling estates in places like Long Island’s Gold Coast in New York, Newport, Rhode Island, and, in the case of some of California’s wealthiest citizens, Lake Tahoe.

  Some of these homes—then simply considered elaborate summer cottages—can still be found at what is now called the Tallac Historic Site on Route 89, north of Camp Richardson. While many of the structures have disappeared over the years—victims of neglect and progress—a few have been preserved and are now managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

  One of the best ways to see and experience these homes is via a scenic two-and-a-half-mile-long bicycle and hiking path winds through the historic area.

  Traveling through the historic grounds is an opportunity to pretend that you’ve gone back to a time before automobiles and airplanes, when only the super-rich could afford to build seasonal homes in such a once remote but spectacularly scenic place like Lake Tahoe.

  The setting is remarkably peaceful and beautiful. The trail is lined with tall pine trees filled with chattering birds and, as you ride along, provides glimpses of the clear, blue waters of the lake.

  While the main path is paved, there are several dirt tributaries that snake through the reserve and lead to small, hidden beaches or particularly scenic tree groves.

  Development of the Tallac area started in the 1870s, when a man named Yank Clement opened the Tallac Point House on the south shore to accommodate visitors. Yank’s Inn also offered steamboat rides, a saloon and dancing.

  In 1880, "Yank's" was sold to Elias "Lucky" Baldwin, a California entrepreneur and professional gambler. Baldwin transformed the sleepy lakeside inn into a 250-room resort that included a casino, ballroom, four bowling alleys, sun parlors and billiards rooms.

  Meanwhile, in 1894, George Tallant, son of one of the founders of California’s Crocker Bank, built a rustic summer lodge adjacent to the Baldwin property.

  Five years later, Tallant’s sold his lodge to millionaire Lloyd Tevis, who expanded and renovated it, making it the largest and most luxurious in the area. Tevis added servants’ quarters, a dairy, stables and a shaded, garden with Japanese tea house and arched bridges.

  In 1923, Tevis sold the compound to George Pope Jr., a San Francisco lumber and shipping magnate. To reflect Pope’s ecumenical name, the estate was nicknamed the "Vatican Lodge."

  Also in 1923, another prominent businessman, Walter Heller purchased the land south of the Pope estate. Heller began construction of what would become perhaps the greatest of the Tallac mansions, an impressive stone and wood lodge named "Valhalla."

  The early 1920s marked the heyday of the magnificent Tallac homes but was also the end of "Lucky" Baldwin’s resort. In 1920, Baldwin's daughter, Anita, closed the casino-hotel and demolished the buildings.

  Later that same year, Dextra Baldwin McGonagle, Baldwin’s granddaughter, constructed a beautiful single-story home on the family property.

  For the next four decades, the three estates were private, lakeside vacation homes for their respective owners. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, the large homes proved to be too expensive to maintain and were turned over to the Forest Service (generally for tax considerations).

  All three are classic examples of the early 20th century "Tahoe" architecture, which utilized native stone and wood in order to blend with the pastoral surrounding.

  The Tallac museum, located on the grounds of the former Baldwin estate, offers original furnishings, a small gift shop as well as changing art exhibits and an informative Washo tribe display (before the homes were built, the area was inhabited by the native Washo Indians).

  The Washo exhibit includes a garden filled with various plants on which the tribe subsisted as well as examples of traditional Washo shelters, including a “galis daigal” or winter lodge made of bark and pine poles, and a “gadu” or summer home, built of sagebrush and branches.

  The Pope estate is the largest of the three areas and includes the greatest number of surviving buildings. Volunteer efforts are ongoing to maintain and restore the historic structures.

  Nearby Valhalla is perhaps the most impressive of the estates with its massive main hall that features a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace. The main house is used for special events.

  The 2,000-acre Tallac Historic Site also has picnic tables and several public beaches including Kiva Beach and Baldwin Beach.

  The Tallac Historic Site is open between Memorial Day and the end of September. Tours of many of the buildings are also available during the open season. For more information, go to: https://www.thegreatbasininstitute.org/tallac-historic-site/.