Wild West History: Tragic Origin of Nelson, Nevada

You might have heard about the gold mine down at Nelson, Nevada. With a population of 37 according to the 2010 census, Nelson is one of the oldest towns in Southern Nevada.
There have been no businesses there since the 1970s. Originally named Eldorado, the area was settled in 1775 by Spanish explorers; gold finds over the decades led to one of the biggest mining booms in the state. How the town got its name is a tragic story revolving around an American Indian named Ahvote.
Ahvote was a young Paiute warrior who in 1890 had to track down and kill his own brother when the latter had turned renegade and murdered a U.S. Mails carrier. This was the outcome of a working agreement between the American Indians and settlers: If the tribe executed its own renegades, the Paiutes would have nothing to fear from the law or the U.S. military.
After being forced to kill his brother, Ahvote’s mental health began to decline and he became an alcoholic. In 1897, Ahvote’s wife left him due to his mental health.
Ahvote blamed two local teamsters for luring his wife away, and on May 12, 1897, he aired his grievance with gunfire. When the smoke cleared, the town had the bodies of the two suspected teamsters plus those of four innocent by-standers. However, the old "working agreement" was still in force and his father carried out the deed of killing Ahvote, his own son.
Charles Nelson was among those murdered by Ahvote. It was him who the town is named after. Today, much of Nelson is a ghost town. The tragic story of Ahvote and Charles Nelson has been long forgotten as the town was lost to the sands of time.
#wildwest #history

[@mojo.adventures]

Great little video on the history of Nelson!👍 Just subscribed to your channel, keep up the frontier history 🤠

[@LessTraveledDiscovery]

This is a great video. I'm out there almost everyday. I'm also a native american this was a Greta story to hear.

[@Hualapai702]

I am Native American Indigenous My father is YUMAN HUALAPAI TRIBE & 🇺🇸 & my mother TOHONO OODHAM🇺🇸 & First Nations🇺🇸 Yuman Hualapai tribe we are from this area..

[@YavapaiApache323]

I am related to AHVOTE

[@katiesioux7757]

💔