Transcript of interview with Dorothy Kelsey by James M. Greene, January 20, 1975

UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey i An Interview with Dorothy Kelsey An Oral History Conducted by James Greene Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas Special Collections and Archives Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2019 UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey iii The Oral History Research Center (OHRC) was formally established by the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada System in September 2003 as an entity of the UNLV University Libraries’ Special Collections Division. The OHRC conducts oral interviews with individuals who are selected for their ability to provide first-hand observations on a variety of historical topics in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. The OHRC is also home to legacy oral history interviews conducted prior to its establishment including many conducted by UNLV History Professor Ralph Roske and his students. This legacy interview transcript received minimal editing, such as the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. The interviewee/narrator was not involved in the editing process. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey iv Abstract On January 20, 1975, collector James M. Greene interviewed housewife, Dorothy Kelsey (born May 28, 1916 in Kingman, Arizona) in her home in Nelson, Nevada. This interview covers the early days of Nelson, Searchlight, and Las Vegas, as Mrs. Kelsey offers an in-depth personal narrative on the life of a local old-timer. The interview concludes with a discussion on hotels and casinos. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 1 (Audio begins midsentence)—Nelson, Nevada, in Decem—or January rather—20th, 1975. Mrs. Kelsey is a longtime native of the Nelson, Searchlight, Las Vegas area; having been born in Kingman, and moved different times for the business of her father and located the family. Mrs. Kelsey’s tapes will be for her own personal use, the use of her heirs, the use of serious researchers in history, and will repose in the special collections section of Nevada History in the Dickenson Library, at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Mrs. Kelsey, well, you note that you were born in Kingman, what is your first recollection of Searchlight? We— Rather may I say, Nelson—because Nelson came before Searchlight, did it not? We came to Searchlight in 1923. Okay. And we lived there and then we came to Nelson in ’26. In ’26? Nineteen twenty-six. Mm-hmm. And was that your first recollection of Nelson? Yes. Because— Ah—schooling here? Mm-hmm. Went to school here. My mother got them to open the school. Because there were—enough children lived here. And she—and the other mother cleaned the schoolhouse out. I see. And. What was her name? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 2 (Unintelligible) opened the school. Mrs. Lund was the other— Mrs. Lund? Yes. Who did mother have to apply to, to open the school here? And— She went to Las Vegas. To Las Vegas? You know to—to get it. Mm-hmm. And I believe there had to be seven children— Uh-huh. To open. I see. And then, five to continue. Now there—had been a school here before. Yes. Would you have any idea how old it was when you started schooling here? No. I wouldn’t. (Unintelligible) Uh-huh. And what grade were you in when you started at Nelson? In Nelson? I was in the sixth grade. Uh-huh. In Nelson and there were two of us in the class. Two in sixth grade? And this was the highest class. We were the top. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 3 (Laughs) How many—? Do you have any idea how many there were in the—all of the grades? There were seven of us all total. Seven? And your teacher was—? Nevada School field. Nevada School field? The young teacher, I think this was her first school. Mm-hmm. She came from Utah. Oh, in Utah. And she stayed probably till half the term was up. And then, her boyfriend came to see her. I see. And she left. She (unintelligible). She moved with my grandmother, see. And she was so lonesome, she told her she was gonna go home. And so my mother taught until we could get another teacher. And your mother’s name, Mrs. Douglas? Dora Douglas. Dora Douglas. She taught us and then my aunt, (unintelligible) and finished the term. To finish the term. And they were fall and spring terms just about nine months (unintelligible). Now, at this time, probably early spring, maybe May or June, you got out of school. Did you reside in Nelson that summer? Yes. We stayed down here. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 4 And what where some of your activities in the—that summer? Oh. Here you are—really active young lady, you know— Well. What do you remember fondly, you know, of some of your— Well, the thing that we used to—I think that we used to do mostly, that I mean, that I remember that we enjoyed, was we used to get these big pieces of tin, and slide down those big (unintelligible) Big tailing? Mine tailing? Dumps they had down there. They had two of them and we—we had (unintelligible) we would just sail down there. Were they as smooth then as they are now? Those tailings? Oh yes. They were—it was just poured out in a big cone and stood on the— Why did the tailings—why were the tailings smooth rather than rocky? Because (unintelligible) The cyanide process? Yes. It’s ground down till it’s—you know, there are no rocks in it. Okay. Then they was carried by water in the (unintelligible) or something—? We’d just— Until. Flowed down. Flowed down. And when you slid down on the piece of tin, were they hard? (Laughs) UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 5 Or were they soft or slippery or wet? Well—the tin would slide and you’d just zip to the bottom, see. Yes. But then this would all fly up and get in your hair and get you dirty and we only do this, when around the other side my mother couldn’t see us but she always knew it. Because— (Laughs) Because of your condition. You know, we were coated. When you came home. Huh? We would get in trouble for that. And then we used to go up there to their pool hall. And go in there. The pool hall? And go in there. Because, they must have just locked that up when we closed the mine, you know. Locked the pool hall? ‘Cause everything was in there. And we would sneak in there and shoot a little pool. Yes. You mean the mines weren’t operating this summer? No. But I— This first summer or every summer? The mine was operating but it was—this crew this, there was only one (unintelligible) They were at work rather than—? There was only about seven men worked there. I see. And they didn’t have this pool hall open. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 6 I see. It was from a prior group, I guess. I see. Yes. Who owned and operated that pool hall? I don’t know, because it never operated while we were there. It was closed down. I see. (Unintelligible) Did you enjoy playing pool? Yes. It was one of the (unintelligible) (Laughs) Find any interesting things around there? Yes. They had a cigarette machine and they had they ran, I guess, some kind of a game bet. Uh-huh. That they played. We think we were playing it. I don’t know. How old were you and your friends about that time? Oh, I was ten. Ten? Ten. And you—did you get pretty good at playing pool? (Laughs) Well, I don’t think we got—we didn’t really know what we were doing. But we tore up the top of the pool table. We tore a hole in the (unintelligible) accidently, you know. Of course. Did you ever hear about that? Oh yes. My father just got right after us (unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 7 Well, how did they—how did they know who did it? Because we were the only children there—who lived there. (Laughs) The other two that were there when school opened, they’re (unintelligible) How did you get in the building? We got in the window. (Laughs) (Laughs) Well, certainly ten years old, you’ll find a way. And then, my brother was only—he was fifteen months younger than I was. Uh-huh. (Unintelligible) Did you—? We used to go over to that old tent house, where Mrs. Douglas would—Indian creole (unintelligible) Mrs. Douglas. Yes. We used to go over there. And we’d open that old trunk in there and— Ah. And go through the things that were in it, you know, and get spooked. Yes. What was in it? There were clothing and pictures and— Real interesting. That was her belongings. Oh, you’d visit that quite often, I imagine. (Unintelligible) over there. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 8 How far away was that? Oh, it was—(unintelligible) Uh-huh. You lived in Nelson then? And that was down there closer to Techatticup? No that—we lived at the Techatticup. Oh, you lived there then? That’s where all this was. Uh-huh. We never lived here. We always lived at the mine. And. And then, we’d walk here, too. Mrs. Douglas’s home was, you say, a quarter mile away. Was that downhill or on the same side of the road as—? No. It was just across on a little (unintelligible). Just across from the— Cross from the mine? From the mine. Uh-huh. Over there. I see. There was about four little (unintelligible) and each one had a tent house on them. And she lived in the first one. Was her husband a miner? I guess. I don’t know. This was before we were there. I see. You know. I see. Mm-hmm. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 9 But—I guess the Indian (unintelligible) was looking for food. And— Probably. He got in her desert cooler. And she heard the rattling. Probably surprised her, yes. And went in. She surprised him, yes. Some other activities of your young lady hood, during the summer might’ve been the river? Yes. Or wildflowers? Yes. Or? To go the river. My hobbies—sometimes we’d walk down there. Oh. That was a long way. That was a long haul. And it was the river then. It was all muddy, you know. Was it a gravel road or paved? Oh, gravel. Gravel? Just the two, you know, for two tires was all. Surely. And then, sometimes my father would take us down here on picnics, and take us fishing, and that. There’s many trees down there or mostly just—? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 10 No. They were just (unintelligible) (Unintelligible) and tamarisks or what? Just tamarisks. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. It was. Was it cooler or warmer down? I can’t remember. I think it was warmer. You know, the reason I asked that— I don’t remember. Was because of people in Boulder City constructing the dam complained of intense heat. You know, down on the riverbed. Or as it wasn’t quite so, you know, warm, up in Boulder City. Mm-hmm. I wonder if the same thing applied down here at Nelson. Was it humid or was it still dry down there? Just— No. It was dry, it was just hot. But (unintelligible), huh? Just hot. Hot. Hot desert wind. Do you remember any animals that might have interested you, then? We used to see the mountain sheep, once in a while, and the coyote, now and then, flocks. Mm-hmm. Rabbits. I think the thing that we—used to interest us was, we used to catch these little lizards. Uh-huh. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 11 And play with them. Had to be fast to do that, didn’t you? Well, there’s one type that’s sort of like people. Really? You know, they like to be around, yes. There’s a little—I don’t know what kind it is, but (unintelligible) Did their tails come off, like the story? (Unintelligible) No. I don’t—I don’t think they did unless you’d throw rocks at ‘em or something. Or there is some kind of a lizard—that you can catch, and if you catch it by the tail, it will just disjoint. It won’t hurt the animal. But it will regrow you know. Mm. The balance of that tail again. I just wondered if that ever happened to you? No. Not to my knowledge. We used to (unintelligible)? Ah. (Laughs) Have ‘em like pets, for a little while. Would you bring ‘em home? Turn ‘em loose. Oh sure, we got ‘em right there by the—not in the house, no. But outside. Mother wouldn’t allow that. No, not really. And then, there was an old gentleman down there, Charlie Cooper that worked there, and he wanted us to— What did he do at the mine? He was a miner. Oh, I see. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 12 And he brought some potatoes, all quartered. And he got us to plan and you know our ground was nothing. And it was— Yes. (Unintelligible) And he’d carry a bucket of water for us, every day, and they got free, and they sprouted, and that. Oh. And (unintelligible) he said— Bet you were proud of those, weren’t you? One day, he said, “I think it’s time for you to dig your potatoes.” So while we had come over to town, he put a lot of potatoes into the ground. And we really thought we grew ‘em. (Laughs) (Laughs) But one thing about those little, miners in there, they were real nice to the children. They were gentle people, weren’t they? Yes. They were. Really? They’d do things for you. Can you remember some of your neighbors? Oh, yes. Con and Daisy Hodgins, went down there. And— They were miners, too? Mining family? He was a miner, yes. Everyone that was there worked in the mines. Earl Sanger and his wife were there. And. My father ran the mill for it. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 13 How big a mill was that, Mrs. Kelsey? (Unintelligible) Okay. But it processed all of the—all of the ore that came out? No. they had two big concentrated tables. Uh-huh. Where he used to catch the—they make a lot of noise? (Unintelligible) Yes. Belts flying and— I see. Real noisy. Did it run from gasoline power? Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. And it used to be these big soup bowls with this (unintelligible) Yes. They used to get it out at the end of the table, you know. Uh-huh. And who was your grocery man? Who ran the grocery store? The little grocery store was run by Clark Alvord here. Clark Alvord? Yes. (Unintelligible) post office and— (Unintelligible)? (Unintelligible) Mm-hmm. Did he have a family? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 14 No. He was—alone. And he was scared to death of (unintelligible) and he’d send his dog into the store first, and go all around. And then, when he closed the store, and he’d go home. And send Barney into the house– Yes. First. To see if it was alright. (Unintelligible) He was— To see if there was no one there. He was afraid of that. And that (unintelligible) of the store was so full. Everything in there. The store was full of everything. Everything. All kinds of harness stuff and—you know, tubs and— Washtubs, you mean? Yes. Mining gear? Everything. Everything. And he used to— Clothing and all? Yes. Just a regular market (unintelligible) And a little—and a post office in the back of it. And he used to make lemon pop. He made it? He made it. And there was a terrible (unintelligible) Out of what? I don’t know what he made it out of. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 15 (Laughs) But he—he would put it in these brown beer bottles. Uh-huh. And just put it in the desert cooler, you know. Yes. And once in while my father would buy (unintelligible) And it was horrible? It was a barrel. And he had blackjack chewing gum, and it was so old. I remember that. When you chewed it, it would just crumble. Licorice, yes. It would just crumble it was so old. Dried out. Yes. Terrible. But Dad Black bought most—he bought this place where the mine was. What was Dad Black’s proper name? His first name? Gee, I don’t remember. Well, anyway to you he was probably— He was Dad Black. Mr. Black or Dad Black. Uh-huh. He was the link between Vegas. He was the transportation. Did he have one truck or more? One big truck. How many trips a week did he make? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 16 One. One trip. One trip? And that would provide you with what? Fresh meats and vegetables? Yes and ice. Or of course, we’d go to Mr. Alvord, or he would order it. But could individual citizens order? Oh, we all ordered. From Mr. Black. Mm-hmm. He brought the supplies right to the mine, right there. He brought our groceries and he brought— Did he have a—? (Unintelligible) Regular day to go up to Vegas? Yes. And when? When you had your list made out and gave it to him. I see. Then he would shop and brought it back next week. I was thinking on the way down here. Did you have a big candy jar in Alvord’s store? No. Now what—? I can’t, I don’t— Hard candies, you know? The only thing I remember he had was the— UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 17 Licorice? Chewing gum. Blackjack gum. And that horrible (unintelligible) (Laughs) Did you like to go in there and explore? Oh yes. We liked to go in. It was a little place. It wasn’t very big. We only got to go in there when our parents went in. Really? Yes. We didn’t go to the store unless they were with us. And— Well, why was that? I mean you roamed all over the hills. Yes. (Laughs) And slid down the tailings. (Laughs) And went to the river. But we weren’t allowed to go into the store then. That was a rule of the family. Just—just to go on in. Just to go in if we didn’t have any business in there. Yes. You know, if my mother wanted a loaf of bread when we were coming home from school, we could stop and pick that up. But just to go in there and (unintelligible) She didn’t have to bake her own bread. No. How ‘bout milk? That came in about that, Mr. Black? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 18 Oh, we had dry milk and canned milk. I guess. Because you had no way to keep it. Yes. See. We kept all our groceries—our perishables, in the tunnel. And it was across from the house, we had to go over there and—when you—we wanted any mom to send us over to take it out of the cooler. Ha. Do you have any way of securing it? Or protecting against theft? No. There wasn’t anyone that would take it. Oh. In those days. I see. But you had to have this desert cooler to keep the animals and that from getting in. What do you mean as keep the animals? Well, you keep mice or (unintelligible) The cooler would keep? Keep ‘em from. Because it was in cans of water, well, the legs were. Oh, the cooler was in cans? Mm-hmm. Yes. I see. See. And ants and so forth would—? Ants. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 19 I see. But it was cool. It kept cool from that cool air from the top. We’d go over there and one day we (unintelligible) and I saw two rattle snakes. In, in— Just in— Where you kept your supplies? In the tunnel? (Unintelligible) Rocks for your—rocks on each side of the tunnel (unintelligible) Were they in the shade? They were coiled up in rocks. Oh. (Unintelligible) Did you hear your—was he rattling? No. They were quiet (unintelligible) and I ran back home, told my mother and (unintelligible) How many brothers and sisters did you have? And what were their names? I had one brother, Bill, and sister, Nell. Sister Nell? Yes. Was—was she older or younger? Younger. I was the oldest child. And Bill was (unintelligible) Bill was fifteen months younger than I was. (Unintelligible) But we all went to school and Nell was in the first grade. So she can hardly remember much about it. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 20 I see. I—did you have any encounters with animals? I know most desert animals are either nocturnal creatures, like a coyote, or the kangaroo rat. Was there a desert tortoise—was a daytime creature. Would you ever have one as a pet? No. turtles (unintelligible) Surely. Yes. Great big old turtles. Mm-hmm. They are big. And then, when we used to go up the river, fishing, sometimes you’d catch those water turtles. Oh yes. Those were softshell. Mm-hmm. I think. Yes. And much smaller than— What kind of a fish did you catch in the river? Catfish. Uh-huh. (Unintelligible) Yes. What’d you use for bait? Gee, I don’t remember, whatever my dad had. (Laughs) Yes. I don’t know. It’s alright. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 21 Of course, we didn’t have worms. Was there much water in the river, or was it shallow? Well. This would be summertime, of course. It varied. Sometimes—sometimes the channel would be on this side. And sometimes it would be further over. Depending on how much water was running through. It was—it was always that muddy—looked like a (unintelligible) Of course, a rain a hundred miles away would be here tomorrow. And you’d get a mud bath. But you didn’t mind that to swim in, did you? No. Well, we weren’t allowed to—unless my father was right there, you know, to get in the water. Because you didn’t know where the holes were and, or anything. I heard a lot of (unintelligible) about water. I know there’s very little here, and wells were not successful in producing drinking water. Well, I’ve heard people of—of people living on the river, letting the river water settle out. Then pouring off the clear water. Did they have to bowl it after that in order to make it (unintelligible)? Gosh, I don’t know. We never used the river water. Well, where did you get your water? We got—well, they had the houses all (unintelligible) so if it rained any, they caught it all. We had a big tank and it was full of rain water and then they’d go up, just, up in the top (unintelligible) at the mine, and bring out some water from there. Was the mine—? This came from the mine? But we drank the rainwater. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 22 So it was—was it rain water, from the mine? No. It was water that had been there. Ground water? Uh-huh. We (unintelligible) and we’d get it. It was drinking water? It wasn’t too good. I would think it’d be— But we used it. Highly mineralized. We used it, you know, for dishes and washing. Mm-hmm. (Unintelligible) But the—the rain water is what we had to drink. And sometimes it would rain, you know, and get quite a bit of water. Uh-huh. Because they caught every drop. Of course. I would think it would take season after season to get enough water to support a family. We just didn’t waste it (unintelligible) (Laughs) Oh, I know. But—yes, of course. But when I think how seldom it rains in Nelson. I think it rained more than—really. Course you were in the mountains here, too. Because we had so many wild flowers then, yes. How was—did you have them in the summer, or just in the spring? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 23 Oh. In the spring and— Yes. It would be after—(unintelligible) school would be going on. Uh-huh. In the spring. It was just— Because come May and June, it gets very, very warm. Well, when we’d walk back over in the hills, they were just beautiful—out in the back of the Techatticup. Yes. And Grand Canyon, there’d be some beautiful flowers. Had more shade there, I guess. And their— Uh-huh. Their soil was better. Soil better. Did you have a dog as a pet? No. Not really. Only down here we didn’t have a dog. My mother had chickens. Uh-huh. We used to— Course the garden was impossible and— Just those potatoes. And you wouldn’t use the water except for growing your potatoes. Yes. (Laughs) UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 24 And we had— That was an experiment. I don’t imagine it went on the second year, did it? No. That’s all. But we really thought we raised those. (Laughs) (Unintelligible) (Laughs) You laugh. We did not, for years. It’s alright. Did you have a second and third year in school here at Nelson? No. No, we went that one year and then we moved up to Searchlight. And you entered school there in the seventh grade? My dad stayed here and then moved. I went to school there, too, before we came down here. Uh-huh. Who was your seventh grade teacher in Searchlight? Oh gee. I remember the first teacher was a Mrs. Smith from Chicago. From Chicago, of all places. When I—when we first came to Searchlight. Mm-hmm. And I went to school. Can you recall some of your playmates, or the names of some of the families? And what year was this that you went to seventh grade in Searchlight? Oh (unintelligible) Twenty-eight? Twenty-seven. After we were here. You—you remember your teacher’s name, you say? Or you can’t remember her? No. I can’t remember. But your neighbors. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 25 Well. Families that lived with you? Yes, families. And friends? Callahan and Fred and Carol Callahan went to school there, and George Scott went to school there, and the Hodgins boys’. All their parents were—? Charles and Darrin. In mining? Mm-hmm. Engaged with mining. There was—I think the teacher had about thirty children. Thirty children. It was about double at Nelson was, maybe three times? Oh. I guess we had seven. Seven here, nine here. Oh yes. And she had all the little ones on one side. And was (unintelligible) Yes. She did. She’d start over there and they’d recite, the first graders. Uh-huh. And then, the second graders. And she went straight across, and then she’d start over again. How—how did you heat your buildings during the winter? Now both at home and school? (Unintelligible) It was those little stones that get red hot, those— Were they wood? Or coal? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 26 Round (unintelligible) wood, wood. Wood? Mm-hmm. And that’s what the school (unintelligible) was heated with (unintelligible) Uh-huh. I wonder where their wood came from. Down on the river, maybe? I have an idea. My father went out and gathered wood. Gathered wood? We used to go on picnics and (unintelligible). I see. (Unintelligible) She had to get up early and light the fires (unintelligible) for the children. I understand their contracts were that they had to be the janitor, too. Yes. She did. The children used to help. (Laughs) (Laughs) Of course, I imagine she— (Unintelligible) Goodness! Well, how big was Searchlight in that time? Do you—? I don’t imagine you were much aware of, you know, population and things, but I was just thinking, where, what’s—did it impress you as being a pretty good side place in comparison to Nelson? Oh yes. It was larger, Nelson (unintelligible) was— That was it? Much larger. And they had a big post office, and two hotels, at that time. Can you remember some of those operators, say the postmaster and who ran the store? Mr. Wrigley ran the—the Johnny Wheatley ran the post office. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 27 Yes. And Ella Knowles had the general store. Oleos? Knowles. Knowles, had the general store. (Unintelligible) And Ella Colburn had one of the hotels. Okay. And— How many rooms would you think that would be? Oh gee, that must’ve been— Just a guess. That was big upstairs, I—I have no idea. I see. It was a two-story? Cause it was a big two-story. And the other one, Mrs. Nellis ran this—oh, she probably had twenty (unintelligible) I made a (unintelligible) Oh, were the—did Mr. Black, service the Searchlight store like he did the Nelson store, going to Las Vegas once a week? I don’t think he serviced the store and that. But the people, he did. He would just— I see. Went, sort of from house to house. I see. You know? And when we lived in Searchlight, he brought our groceries and our ice. The railroad was there then, was it not? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 28 The railroad—I was there when the railroad made its last trip. What was the name of that railroad? (Unintelligible) I see. Remember we went down and watched the train and everything. It was a sad thing to see the last train, wasn’t it? (Unintelligible) Because, you know, as a youngster, whistling a train, coming into town, it meant bustling activity. And it was sort of quite a thing. What with those two hotels, did you have a restaurant? Yes. There was a restaurant. Were they in the hotels? It was in the hotels, uh-huh. I see. These were two elderly ladies. Each one ran (unintelligible) I remember one on the Westside, on the Nipton side of Highway 95, and Searchlight, and I had forgotten its name. Do you remember the name of that there? Of what Nipton? No, no. Oh. On the Nipton Road in Searchlight, what was the name of that hotel in Searchlight? Well, one was the Nellis Hotel and the other one was the— Nellis? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 29 Great Northern. It was the Northern—is the—is the old, old one. The Northern Hotel? (Unintelligible) And the Mrs. Oleos—uh, was that her name? Mrs. Knowles. Knowles—that ran that one? Ella Knowles, she ran the grocery store. The general store. Okay. And who operated that hotel? Ella Colburn. Colburn. Did she have gambling there, then? No. (Unintelligible) No gambling at that time? I see. There were a couple of bars. But I don’t—which I wasn’t allowed in. No. Course not. (Unintelligible) Do you remember a lot of traffic on the road, highway? Well, there used to be when we’d go—no, there wasn’t much traffic. Because sometimes my dad would go to Las Vegas to pick up everything for the community. Oh, your dad did? Me and my dad, so. I see. When he worked for Harvey Cashman there at the garage. That was— The garage in Searchlight, huh? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 30 Yes. Searchlight. He had a garage there. Then he’d go in and—oh, he’d buy like, embroidery thread for some lady and— Uh-huh. A big case of ice. Because that’s all they had. Well, how would he be paid, Mrs. Kelsey? Well, I guess he just— So much a mile? Or? No. He worked probably so much a month. Because he worked for Harvey Cashman, and sometimes he carried the mail from Nipton, you know. Uh-huh. And ran the mail routes up. Sometimes he went to Vegas and got the supplies. Well, he was always on the move then. Mm-hmm. I see. Yes. He was. He’s on a salary then, rather than (unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Mm-hmm. Do you remember what kind of a car he drove? It was a— Or was it a truck? A big touring car that he used to go over to Las Vegas in. But the mail, they had a truck. They had a truck? UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 31 Mm-hmm. To pick up the mail in. He’d go over to Nipton and the train would throw the bags off there and then, Mr. Treehorn would sort the mail, at the Nipton— At the Nipton Post Office? Post Office. And then. Uh-huh. Bring it to people (unintelligible) That was probably the Los Angeles, Salt Lake, or San Pedro Railroad, going through Nipton, yes. They just throw those bags off. Just throw ‘em off. Throw ‘em off as they— Never stop? No. They don’t stop. That was after the railroad stopped running up to Searchlight, huh? Oh yes. Uh-huh. The railroad stopped running up to Searchlight just shortly after we were there. Just—it did? Oh yes. That’s right. I remember you mentioning that. And everything came—sometimes they would go to Needles to pick things up, and sometimes to Las Vegas. In the automobile? That was an all-day trip. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 32 It was. Either to Needles or Las Vegas was all-day. And sometimes when my father would go in the big truck, get a big load of stuff, out there when he come by the dry lake, maybe there would be, oh, six hobos. Really? And then, and he would always pick them up. Sometimes— Yes? He would take them all in back of the truck. How would he hold them all? (Laughs) With all his supplies? Hmm? Oh, on the truck, there. Yes. Uh-huh. In the back. Uh-huh. And then he—and then he’d call ‘em on over. But. But today you wouldn’t pick up one, would you? (Laughs) Oh no, I should say not. I have to—hobo’s dad would bring home? They’d come home with him. Uh-huh. Do some little job. And then mother would come home. To—what grade did you go in Searchlight school? How many grades did they have? They had eight but from the time I got to the eighth grade we were down in Arizona again. UNLV University Libraries Dorothy Kelsey 33 Where—Atman or Kingman? No. No. El Verde is where I went to the eighth grade. El Verde? You went to eighth grade there? Mm-hmm. That was quite an experience. He was at a mine called Tonopah Belmont. Tonopah Belmont? Yes. I was—if you don’t mind going back just a second. Could you recall, some of the names in Searchlight and then we can come back to Arizona? You mean people who lived there? No. The names