State park’s Pioneer Day a look at history’s homesteaders
A cluster of small, old sandstone cabins sits at the southeast foot of the Spring Mountains within the borders of Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.
The cabins, built around 1876, before the arrival of the first homesteaders, belonged to grain merchants from Ivanpah, Calif.
They play host to the park's annual Pioneer Day, with this year's celebration of all things Wild West scheduled for Saturday.
According to park interpreter Mandy Keefer, approximately 30 volunteers dressed in period costumes will demonstrate how early settlers of Southern Nevada lived.
"We want to bring people back to a pioneer way of life," Keefer said. "There will be clothes washing and weaving; kids can make their own candles; and some of the re-enactors will fire black powder rifles."
Mark Hall-Patton, administrator of the Clark County museum system, said that for the last half of the 19th century, there were not many people here.
"(Southern Nevada) was a very isolated area in the West," he said. "Most (pioneers) came in the 20th century, after the railroad was established."
People such as the early Spring Mountains grain sellers, he added, probably did business with the miners in Eldorado Canyon.
"They had a good source of water out there (at the base of the Spring Mountains)," Hall-Patton said. "That's what helped contribute to the ranch's rich history."
The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the only admission cost is the standard $7 park entrance fee.
Around 300 visitors are expected for Pioneer Day, Keefer said.
The park plans to offer pioneer activities throughout the day, including candle dipping, needlework and dancing. Fiddlers also are scheduled to perform.
"We take pioneer ways of life ... and let people experience it," she said. "Everything is meant to re-create that feeling."
The park is off state Route 159, roughly 10 miles west of the Las Vegas Beltway on West Charleston Boulevard.
For more information, call 875-4141 or visit parks.nv.gov.
Contact Paradise/Downtown View reporter Nolan Lister at nlister@viewnews.com or 383-0492.
