A Short History of Carson City

A Short History of Carson City is an engaging, comprehensive account of the city's colorful, often turbulent past. Long a winter home to the region's Washoe Indians, the area was first settled by Euro-Americans as a mid-nineteenth-century Mormon trading post and transit point to the nearby Comstock mining district. It later became the territorial and then state capital. With an economy first based on ranching and provisioning travelers heading to California and miners on the Comstock, Carson City became the political center and power locus of Nevada, and one of the nation's most appealing small cities.

Richard Moreno's entertaining account introduces colorful characters like Hank Monk, the legendary stagecoach driver, and Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) who began his western career in Carson City. Here also are the land speculators, hard-working merchants, and families who influenced the city's growth, and the political leaders whose decisions shaped the state and the nation. Moreno considers the character of the city, its small-town charm and civility, its energy and ambition, and its climate, which can be as capricious as its politics. This story of Carson City's evolution from rough frontier outpost to vibrant twenty-first-century city is rich in fascinating anecdotes and lavishly illustrated with historic photographs.