History of the Great Basin National Heritage Area
12,000 - 9,000 B.C.
Sites have been found indicating Paleo-Indian habitation within the Great Basin in the form of small hunting groups following the mammoth, bison, camel, and horse herds
9,000 B.C. - 400 A.D.
Implements like milling stones found in this area from the Great Basin Desert Archaic Period
3,000 B.C.
Lives of the oldest bristlecone pine trees in the Great Basin National Park began
500 - 800 A.D.
Fremont Culture emerged, leaving behind well-preserved sites indicating agricultural activity as well as hunting and gathering
1300s
Numic-speaking peoples entered the Great Basin, ancestors of present day Western Shoshone and the Southern and Northern Paiute
1776
Escalante-Dominguez party passes through Pahvant Valley near Delta, Utah
1826
Jedediah S. Smith expedition crosses Great Basin through present-day Millard County on its way to California in search of beaver pelts, returned across Nevada in Summer 1827 through White River, Spring and Snake Valleys
1842 - 1845
U.S. Army Captain John C. Fremont expedition encircled the area and reported the internally draining basin as "truly a great basin"
1849
Howard Egan first brought livestock into the Snake Range
1851
Governor Brigham Young designates Fillmore as the capital of Utah
1852
Construction of Fillmore Statehouse begins
1853
- Eight members of an exploration team led by Captain John W. Gunnison killed at Gunnison Massacre site west of Delta
- Mount Wheeler named Jefferson Davis Peak by Lieutenant Colonel Edward J. Steptoe
- Martial law declared at Fillmore Fort due to conflicts with Indians which became known as the Walker War
1855
First wing of Fillmore Statehouse completed
1855
Brigham Young sent a group of elders to establish a mission and plant crops in "Grease Wood Valley" (present-day Snake Valley near Garrison, Utah), Ezra Granger Williams was first to climb to the top of Mt. Wheeler
1858
Utah capitol moved from Fillmore to Salt Lake City
1858
White Mountain Expedition explores Snake Range (including Wheeler Peak) and other mountain ranges, mission established near present-day Panaca, Nevada
1859
Captain James H. Simpson passes through White Pine County near what would become Schellbourne Station, called Mt. Wheeler Union Peak
1859
Overland Stage and Mail station built at Schellbourne, Virginia City rush begins, Thomas Robinson discovers ore that will become Robinson Mining District
1860
Wildens establish Fort Willden at Cove Creek, Pony Express begins using Schellbourne Station
1861
Pony Express service terminated, first settlers arrive in Snake Valley
1863
Treaty between U.S. and Goshute Shoshone Indians defines boundaries of the Goshute Reservation, telegraph runs through Schellbourne Station
1865
Wildens abandon Fort Willden at Cove Creek, Fort Deseret constructed
1867
Deseret Telegraph establishes office at abandoned Fort Willden, Cove Fort settlers arrive at Cove Creek
1869
Lieutenant George M. Wheeler began comprehensive survey of southwest starting with Mt. Wheeler which now bears his name, Mineral City (Lane City) established
1870
Absolom S. Lehman and Olive S. Lehman settle at 600-acre ranch near Lehman Creek
1871
Aurum Mining District (silver) established east of Schellbourne, Leamington, Utah settled
1872
Gold-bearing quartz rock belt found in Osceola District
1875
Absolom Lehman's younger brother Benjamin S. Lehman and his wife Mary started a ranch at what is now Baker, Nevada
1878
Naturalist John Muir explored Nevada and climbed Mt. Wheeler
1881
Absolom S. Lehman believed to have found and explored Lehman Caves, heliotrope station on Mt. Wheeler by U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
1887
White Pine County seat moved from Hamilton to Ely, Nevada
1890s
Town of Baker, Nevada established
1903
Town of Delta, Utah settled
1904
Nevada Consolidated Copper Co. begins underground mining in the Robinson District
1906 (September 29)
First trains arrive in Ely, Nevada
1909
Theodore Roosevelt designates Nevada National Forest including land that is now Great Basin National Park, White Pine County Courthouse construction completed
1914
Veteran underground mine in Robinson District closes
1920
Millard County Courthouse built
1922
President Warren G. Harding issued presidential proclamation establishing Lehman Caves National Monument
1924
American Indian Citizenship Act--granted full U.S. citizenship to America's indigenous peoples
1930
Ely Shoshone Indian Reservation created, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers re-open the Territorial Statehouse in Fillmore, Utah as a museum
1940
Duckwater Indian Reservation created
1942 - 1945
Topaz Relocation Camp near Delta, Utah holds more than 8,300 Japanese-Americans behind barbed wire
1947
Utah State Legislature returns to Fillmore Territorial Statehouse for one session to commemorate the centennial
1958
Kennecott Copper Corporation acquires full ownership of Robinson District mining operations
1961 (November 5)
Fort Ruby receives designation from the Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark
1975
Indian Self-determination and Education Assistance Act—began the evolution of tribal self governance
1979
Kennecott Copper Corporation ceases operations in White Pine County
1986 (October 27)
President Ronald Reagan signed the Great Basin National Park Act
1991
Magma Nevada Mining, Co. purchases Robinson District mining operations from Kennecott Copper
1996
BHP Billiton merges with Magma Nevada Mining, Co. to become new owners of Robinson District mining operations
1999
Ely Renaissance Society forms and begins transforming downtown area with murals, sculptures, and historic renovation projects, BHP Billiton ceases operations in Robinson Mining District
2005
Great Basin Visitor Center is completed near Baker, NV to provide an interpretive center for the entire Great Basin region, Ely Renaissance Society purchases Geraghty Property near downtown Ely, NV and begins renovation of area now known as Renaissance Village
2006 (September 20)
Nevada Northern Railway - East Ely Yards receive designation from Department of the Interior as National Historic Landmark
2006 (September 29)
Nevada Northern Railway celebrates 100th anniversary of railroad reaching Ely
2006
Highway 50 from Millard County, Utah through White Pine County, Nevada receives national designation as Great Basin National Heritage Route
2007 (March 29)
Central Utah Relocation Center (Topaz) receives designation from Department of the Interior as National Historic Landmark
