Clover
Valley
Located
south of Wells, Nevada off Hwy 93, this area is primarily a ranching
community. Also the main Hwy 93 is the main route from Jackpot,
Nevada to the Hoover Dam.
"Rancher
Albert Haws established the Warm Creek Ranch in 1858. Haws was
an unsavory character. People believed that he had a special bond
with local Indians, and that he encouraged and helped them to
attack and rob immigrants traveling on the California trail. Eventually
Haws got his comeuppance. In August 1869, with no provocation,
he murdered another Clover Valley rancher, Thomas Dunn. Haws then
fled to Utah, where he killed a Utah deputy U.S. marshal and wounded
Elko County Deputy Sheriff J.F. Corrigan. A Tooele County posse
finally cornered him, shot him seven times, and killed him. Shortly
afterwards, his ranch was sold for $26.79 to satisfy back taxes.
Horace Agee made the ranch part of this empire in 1901, when he
purchased it from C.H. Ballard. Agee and his wife, Etta, also
operated a roadhouse for Ely-bound travelers and offered meals
for fifty cents. A post office operated at the ranch from October
24, 1907, to November 15, 1909. The postmaster was Flora Bebee.
Mining
became big news at Warm Creek in 1912 when T.J. Franks, M.E.Reed,
and B. Woolverton discovered the Polar Star mine in March. The
Bluedale, the Tribrook, the Mammoth, and the Tiger mines had limited
production in the mid-1880s. In June L.N. Morrison, owner of many
claims in the Mud Sprigs Mining District, bought the property
and organized the Polar Star Mining Company. He hired ten men
to develop and work the mine. They found some silver and lead,
but the mine's major mineral was zinc. In December 1915 the Clover
Mining Company formed to work some nearby claims, which later
became the Echo mine. Also in 1915 Morrison sold the Polar Star
mine to the Nevada Zinc Mining Company but stayed on as general
manager."
Our thanks
to ghost town and mining camp author Shawn Hall for this bit of
history on Clover Valley, Nevada.
Be sure
to stop and enjoy the spectacular views of the Ruby Mountains
from this area. Wildlife is plentiful and the views, well check
them out for yourself.
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to Elko County Main
