Archive - Quintus Hopper of Nevada of To Live and Let Die

When Samuel Langhorne Clemens became the storied Mark Twain

'Quintus Hopper of Nevada' series: Before he rose to fame as a writer and lecturer, he tried out a number of things. When prospecting didn't work out…

Mar 29 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

The perilous lives of frontier newspapermen (includes exclusive chapter)

Frontier newspapering was dangerous – quite a few newspapermen died by violent means and most of them, as they went about their work, had a revolver in…

Mar 1 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

January 2025

The fires of San Francisco (includes exclusive chapter)

Every boomtown, put together in days and weeks with nothing but canvas and timber, had its share of fires - but none more so than San Francisco.

Jan 26 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

The plight of American Indians after the California gold rush

Three 1850s articles offer a sense of the horrific conditions for American Indians - and how frontier newspapers often distorted the truth to suit white…

Jan 1 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

September 2024

The Transcontinental Railroad (includes exclusive chapter)

1869 was a landmark year for frontier America. The completion of the railroad was seen as more important than the gold and silver rushes. They were…

Sep 22, 2024 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

The California Gold Rush went viral because of Thomas O Larkin's 'gold letters'

The famed Gold Rush was a local matter, until Larkin's 'gold letters' to the New York Herald announced it to the world - and brought the world to…

Sep 1, 2024 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

August 2024

The Mountain Meadows massacre (includes exclusive chapter)

Nevada in general, and Las Vegas in particular, might look entirely different today - if not for Mormon fears and actions in 1857.

Aug 13, 2024 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

July 2024

The life and death of William 'Lucky Bill' Thorington

A largely forgotten man played a key role in early Nevada history - he was free-spirited, he was lawless, he was industrious and wealthy - and he was…

Jul 27, 2024 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

May 2024

The Hoover Dam: Built into the heart of American Indian country

From the first surveyors, to the inauguration of the dam by President Roosevelt, fourteen years went by and when all was said and done, the future had…

May 18, 2024 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

April 2024

Mysterious murder in Eldorado Canyon: Woman Killed with Shotgun

In late January of 1919, a woman named Maude Douglas was found murdered in the family’s tent in Nelson, Eldorado Canyon. Once again, the elusive and…

Apr 13, 2024 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

February 2024

Nevada: The beautiful desert of buried hopes

Mining had given rise to Nevada in the early years. But many mines had gone from boom to bust in the time before WWI. When the U.S. declared war on the…

Feb 3, 2024 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

December 2023

Hunting the elusive Queho ... and a murder victim that comes back alive and well

'Quintus Hopper of Nevada' series: After supposedly committing several murders, posses unsuccessfully hunted for the elusive renegade. And a murder…

Dec 30, 2023 •

Daniel Martin Eckhart

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