Mark Twain in Unionville, Nevada

by Peggy Jones
In the middle of a driving snowstorm in the winter of 1861, a ragtag bunch of prospectors arrived in Unionville, Nevada. They built a rough shelter into the side of the Humboldt Mountain and topped it with a canvas roof leaving an opening to allow for the escape of the smoking sagebrush they burned for warmth, when they could get it. It was an effective system, fueled by Indians hiking past the primitive structure laden with brush, which they generously shared.
The efficiency of the system was only called into question when a stray cow or mule would tumble through the opening me...