Gresh, Bertha M., 1883-1975

Bertha Gresh resided in Nelson, Nevada for over 60 years, and was its longest living resident at the time she passed away at age 92 in 1975.

Bertha Gresh was born to Bertrand Eduart and Berta Heinrich in Cedarburg, Wisconsin on August 29, 1883. The Heinrichs were immigrants from the Black Forest region of Germany. Bertha survived pneumonia when she was nineteen, a sickness that lasted for a year. She worked as a beautician in Wisconsin before traveling by train to Los Angeles, California. Her first trip to Nevada was in 1913, where she met Cyrus Gresh, who owned the Rand mine and other mining claims in the Eldorado Canyon area of southern Nevada. She returned to Los Angeles, living there until she and Cyrus Gresh married in 1918.

After her husband passed away in 1955, Gresh held on to his claims and stayed in Nelson, Nevada. Very popular in the community, she was known as the “Queen Mother of Eldorado Canyon.” Bertha Gresh died in 1975 and was buried in Boulder City, Nevada.

Sources:

”An Era Ends.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, December 21, 1975.

Vincent, Bill. ”Queen Mother of Eldorado Canyon.” The Nevadan, July 1, 1973.