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Nevada Isn't Just Gambling And Whores
Jul. 31st, 2006 12:12 amIf you look very hard, it also has learning.
After nearly ten years of going to Tahoe and Reno and failing to go to the old mint in Carson City, I finally made it this weekend. Of course, it isn't a mint anymore; it is now the Nevada State Museum. It's not very big and I can only be impressed by the wholesome woven basketry of the hardworking natives of Nevada so many times, but that's only about half of what they've got. However, in the pre-Whitey section of the museum, the exhibit on the archeaology of Spirit Cave got my eye, specifically the layering of deposits and what it said about Nevada's climate. Nevada seems to have a nasty millennial temperature/precipitation cycle that has been getting progressively more arid.
Considering the multitude of post silver and copper boom ghost towns and the state's climate, there is plenty of historical stuff to loot for the Whitey Era. They had a neat mock up of a mine, taking into account the variety of construction tothe approaches for the different ores. Reminded me a lot of the Great War trench walkthrough at the Imperial War Museum (another retasked space, it was formerly Bedlam Asylum).
By far the winner, even more than the original Carson City Press No. 1, was the gun collection. They had a Gatling gun I could touch! And then I learned something I didn't know. One of the rifles on display was a Sharps Model 1861 rifle, supposedly from the US Cavalry contingent formerly stationed in Virginia City. Once upon a time, the this particular rifle was the weapon of choice for the two regiments of snipers recruited and trained especially by the wealthy inventor, now Colonel, Hiram Berdan, wielding the rifle he helped design and that was manufactured by the Sharps Manufacturing Company (which he formerly worked for, very Halliburton). Compared to the muzzle loading minie ball rifles they were put up against, the Sharps rifle had a higher rate of fire, longer range, and far better accuracy.
Berdan's regiments were so good that the Confederates and their fellow Union soldiers decided to denigrate them. It couldn't be that they were better trained or just the best goddamn crack shots the North had to offer, goodness no. It had to be the rifle they used, not the man holding it. Eventually, the derogatory term became one of pride and in fact became the regiment name:
"Sharpshooters"
The term is now disconnected from the weapon and the time that gave it birth, but it's always fun to learn things.
After nearly ten years of going to Tahoe and Reno and failing to go to the old mint in Carson City, I finally made it this weekend. Of course, it isn't a mint anymore; it is now the Nevada State Museum. It's not very big and I can only be impressed by the wholesome woven basketry of the hardworking natives of Nevada so many times, but that's only about half of what they've got. However, in the pre-Whitey section of the museum, the exhibit on the archeaology of Spirit Cave got my eye, specifically the layering of deposits and what it said about Nevada's climate. Nevada seems to have a nasty millennial temperature/precipitation cycle that has been getting progressively more arid.
Considering the multitude of post silver and copper boom ghost towns and the state's climate, there is plenty of historical stuff to loot for the Whitey Era. They had a neat mock up of a mine, taking into account the variety of construction tothe approaches for the different ores. Reminded me a lot of the Great War trench walkthrough at the Imperial War Museum (another retasked space, it was formerly Bedlam Asylum).
By far the winner, even more than the original Carson City Press No. 1, was the gun collection. They had a Gatling gun I could touch! And then I learned something I didn't know. One of the rifles on display was a Sharps Model 1861 rifle, supposedly from the US Cavalry contingent formerly stationed in Virginia City. Once upon a time, the this particular rifle was the weapon of choice for the two regiments of snipers recruited and trained especially by the wealthy inventor, now Colonel, Hiram Berdan, wielding the rifle he helped design and that was manufactured by the Sharps Manufacturing Company (which he formerly worked for, very Halliburton). Compared to the muzzle loading minie ball rifles they were put up against, the Sharps rifle had a higher rate of fire, longer range, and far better accuracy.
Berdan's regiments were so good that the Confederates and their fellow Union soldiers decided to denigrate them. It couldn't be that they were better trained or just the best goddamn crack shots the North had to offer, goodness no. It had to be the rifle they used, not the man holding it. Eventually, the derogatory term became one of pride and in fact became the regiment name:
"Sharpshooters"
The term is now disconnected from the weapon and the time that gave it birth, but it's always fun to learn things.
