A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

i

United

States

Department of

Agriculture

Natural

Resources

Conservation

Service

Reno, Nevada

A History of Soil

Survey in Nevada

— from a Report of Bureau of Soils, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1923
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

ii

A History of Soil Survey

in Nevada

A Compilation of Short Stories

Commemorating the 100th Anniversary

of the Soil Survey Program

Compiled by

Paul W. Blackburn, Resource Soil Scientist

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Nevada

Publication available on the Internet

http://www.nv.nrcs.usda.gov
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

iii

Preface

Welcome to the first edition of A History of Soil Survey in Nevada. In

developing this History, we have tried to capture a picture of what it was

and islike to work hard and love it, to get your hands dirty and your back

sweaty analyzing soils in the most remote areas of this great state, and to

describe those soils and their respective vegetative communities, so that

current and future generations can benefit from this knowledge.

We have attempted to recognize all of the people who have contributed to

the soil survey program in Nevada since it began in 1909. However,

historical records are scarce or nonexistent, so we relied on the memories of

those contacted. We know that many people were missed, and there are

many more stories that could be shared. If you have worked on the soil

survey in Nevada, if you know of someone weve missed, you find an error,

or if youd like to contribute to this History, please let us know so that we

can maintain a current, historical record of the efforts and accomplishments

of so many hardworking individuals over the past 100 years.

We have divided this document into 5 eras. We began with the first soil

survey of the Fallon Area published in 1909, when the first work was done

with a plane table and a compass. Work during the second era, 1938 to

1950, started with the plane table, then evolved with the initial use of aerial

photos. These surveys were recognized as Physical Surveys and Surveys for

Better Land Use.

The third era, 1950 to 1970, had better photography and more effort was

focused on interpretations. Mapping was initiated with connotative symbols

and reflected the development of soil taxonomy. These surveys were mostly

in key agricultural areas and intended for agronomic uses. However, we

made our first efforts to meet urban needs with the Soil Survey for the Las

Vegas and Eldorado Valleys Area.

The fourth era, 1970 to 1978, was a brief transitional period of time, which

saw the completion of the soil surveys of key agricultural areas and those

intended for urban uses. During this brief era a new relationship was forged

between the U.S. Department of Interiors Bureau of Land Management and

the Soil Conservation Service. This relationship paved the way for the rapid

acceleration of the soil survey program in the fifth era.

The fifth era, 1978 to 2000, saw the rapid acceleration of the soil survey

with major input of both time and money by the U.S. Department of

Interiors Bureau of Land Management. During this period, we needed to

cover large amounts of country in a short period of time but still provide the

quality of range interpretations needed to protect the resources. The
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

iv

information was being used as fast as it was generated and, using the

feedback received, Order 3 surveys, with soil/site/landscape relationships,

developed.

Presently, we are working to make the data more user-friendly and accessible.

We are doing this by Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) so that the

information provides continuous coverage that is uniform for the entire area.

We are making a major effort to get our data into the National Soils

Information System and to make all of the data available to our customers in

digital form.

Because no documents on soil surveys have been found prior to 1909 or

from 1923 to 1938, the early eras of soil survey discussed in this History are

estimates. The dates and the range of time exist as a result of actual dates on

soil survey publications. Some surveys and efforts, including the

Reconnaissance Soil Survey, do not fit exactly into the eras identified in this

History and were included where we felt most appropriate. Also, certain

individuals assisted with mapping portions of a progressive soil survey

many years before the survey was completed. As a result, these surveys

overlap the eras identified in this document. A complete list of soil surveys

produced in Nevada and their date of publication is included in the

appendix.

If you wish to contribute to this History, please contact Paul W. Blackburn,

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Elko Field Office, 2002

Idaho St., Elko, NV 89801; phone (775) 738-8431, Ext. 18; or send an

e-mail message to Paul.Blackburn@nv.usda.gov.

William E. Dollarhide Paul W. Blackburn

MLRA Leader/State Soil Scientist Resource Soil Scientist
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

v

Dedication

We dedicate the first edition of A History of Soil Survey in Nevada to

Edmund (Ed) A. Naphan, former state soil scientist. Ed mapped soils in

Nevada in the 1940s and served as state soil scientist for the U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, in Nevada from 1950

to 1984. He provided active direction during

more than one third of the soil survey history in

the state. As we look at the soil surveys around

the state, at the soil survey areas to see the

contributions of the project leader, and within

us all, we can still see Eds mark and feel his

presence.

To list the contributions Ed made to soil survey

work would be a history book by itself. His

involvement and guidance in the development

of soil taxonomy, to assure the soils in Nevada

could be grouped to meet the interpretative

needs of the state, has had monumental

significance. Ed was instrumental in defining

the different orders of survey to meet the different intensities of management

needs. He recognized the need to place all components on the landscape at

the higher orders of survey. He encouraged Dr. Fred Peterson to write

Landforms of the Basin and Range Province Defined for Soil Survey, which

served as a backbone during the accelerated soil survey in Nevada. Eds

foresight to have two of Nevadas soil surveys included in a digitizing pilot

in the 70s, and to start compiling on orthophotography, has put Nevada in a

position to have all of the published, and soon to be published, soil surveys

digitized, Soil Survey Geographical Database (SSURGO) Certified, and

available to the public by 2001.

With his vast technical knowledge of the soils in the state, and after running

the program for more than 30 years, it would have been easy to follow a

pattern or get in a rut. I assure you, this was not the case with Ed. The day

he retired, he was still suggesting new things to try. When computer-assisted

writing (CAW) was being developed, we quickly started using it. However,

after the first few drafts of manuscripts came in, Ed suggested we stop using

CAW. When I asked why, his explanation was simple, It allows soil

scientists not to think, and we cant have soil scientists doing anything

without thinking.

Ed always empowered soil scientists to do their job and somewhat insisted

they accept this empowerment. As a result, we were all willing to take risks.

Whether our decision was right or wrong, Ed would be behind us and

support us. Ed liked to push all people to their potential or limit, and he
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

vi

dearly loved to tease. When he was teasing, there was no difference in his

voice tone or his eyes. Only when you saw his left hand go up to scratch his

head and a smile, ever so slight, cross his face, did you know you had been

had.

Ed, when we are digging a pit in the shadscale overlooking the playa and

the temperature is in the 100s, or walking down a ridge line with the north

wind pelting snow on our ears, we can all hear you say, Thats just the way

I like it.

And, as we proudly look over the first 100 years of the soil survey program

in Nevada, we say, Thank you, Ed.

William E. Dollarhide

MLRA Leader/State Soil Scientist
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

vii

Acknowledgments

In this document, we have attempted to capture the history of soil survey

efforts and accomplishments in Nevada during the past 100 years, to identify

the projects and the people who worked on them. We want to acknowledge

the assistance and support of others who have contributed to this success.

The regional correlators from Berkeley, Calif., the Soils Section at the West

National Technical Service Center, the National Cartographic Center, the

National Soil Survey Center, the Director of Soil Survey, and all of their

staff members, have had a profound effect on the program, providing

technical guidance and support. We acknowledge and appreciate the

managerial support we have received from state conservationists, state

directors, district managers, and other line officers who have supported the

soil survey program in Nevada, as well as the administrative support we

have received.

We want to acknowledge every soil scientist who turned over a sharpshooter

of soil, range scientist who identified a plant or plant community, engineer

who assisted with an interpretation, and all the users who provided feedback

so we could create a better product. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the

effort made by Paul Blackburn who chaired this project, by Rose Santos for

getting this on the web, and by Liz Warner for a fine job of editing.

William E. Dollarhide

MLRA Leader/State Soil Scientist
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

viii

Table of Contents

Preface ............................................................................ iii

Dedication....................................................................... v

Acknowledgements ........................................................ vii

The First Era, 1909 to 1923 .......................................... 1

Letter of Transmittal ............................................................... 1

INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THE NEVADA SOIL SURVEY PROGRAM

FROM 1909 TO 1923 .................................................................... 2

Bureau of Soils ......................................................................................... 2

The Second Era, 1938 to 1950 ...................................... 3

The Way It Was by Grant Kennedy ............................................ 5

Soil Surveys at Walker and Pyramid Lake Indian

Reservations by Grant Kennedy............................................ 16

Detail to Elko, Nevada by Grant Kennedy ................................ 24

INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THE NEVADA SOIL SURVEY PROGRAM

FROM 1938 TO 1950 .................................................................... 26

USDA Soil Conservation Service ............................................................ 26

Soil Survey Technical Support ................................................................. 27

The Third Era, 1950 to 1970 ........................................................ 29

INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THE NEVADA SOIL SURVEY PROGRAM

FROM 1950 TO 1970 .................................................................... 32

USDA Soil Conservation Service ............................................................ 32

University of Nevada, Reno ..................................................................... 35

USDI Bureau of Land Management......................................................... 35

Soil Survey Technical Support ................................................................. 35

Soil Survey Program Direction and Management .................................... 35

The Fourth Era, 1970 to 1978 ...................................................... 37

Lasting Friendships by Carole Jett ............................................ 37

INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THE NEVADA SOIL SURVEY PROGRAM

FROM 1970 TO 1978 .................................................................... 38

USDA Soil Conservation Service ............................................................ 38

USDA Forest Service ............................................................................... 40

Private ...................................................................................................... 40

Soil Survey Technical Support ................................................................. 40

Soil Survey Program Direction and Management .................................... 41
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

ix

The Fifth Era, 1978 to 2000 ........................................... 43

Working Together by William E. Dollarhide.... ................................ 43

Kamikaze Cow by Warren Archer .................................................... 45

Twilight Zone by Warren Archer ...................................................... 46

Stuck in the Mud by Warren Archer ................................................. 47

Lessons Learned the Hard Way by Paul W. Blackburn..................... 48

Stranded by Alan Wasner .................................................................. 50

The Wrong Stuff by Warren Archer .................................................. 53

Quick Thinking by John L. Swenson ................................................ 54

HelicoptersAn Indispensable Tool

by Paul W. Blackburn................................................................... 55

Backhoes by Paul W. Blackburn ....................................................... 57

Fearless by Alan Wasner ................................................................... 59

Field Living Accommodations by Paul W. Blackburn...................... 60

Man Hunt by Alan Wasner ................................................................ 62

Personal Hygiene by Alan Wasner .................................................... 63

Field Crews by John L. Swenson ...................................................... 64

Trials, Tribulations, and Absolution by George Borst ...................... 65

Contribution of the Laboratory to the Nevada Soil Survey

Program by W. D. Nettleton ......................................................... 67

Accelerated Soil Surveys by Paul W. Blackburn .............................. 71

Making of a Soil Correlator by George J. Staidl .............................. 74

Discovery by Douglas J. Merkler ..................................................... 78

INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THE NEVADA SOIL SURVEY PROGRAM

FROM 1978 TO 2000 ........................................................................... 80

Soil Conservation Service/Natural Resources Cons. Service .................... 80

Private ........................................................................................................ 87

USDI Bureau of Land Management ........................................................... 90

USDA Forest Service ................................................................................. 91

Soil Survey Technical Support ................................................................... 92

Soil Survey Program Direction and Management ...................................... 95

Contributing Authors ..................................................... 96

Appreciation.................................................................... 97

Selected References ........................................................ 98

Soil Survey Research ...................................................... 99

Appendix ........................................................................ 102

Nevada Soil Surveys (Published) ........................................... 102

Nevada Soil Surveys (Unpublished) ...................................... 103

Special Reports ...................................................................... 103

Index ............................................................................... 104
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

1

The First Era, 1909 to 1923

U. S. Department of Agriculture

Bureau of Soils

Washington, D. C.

 February 9, 1911

SIR: An important project of this Bureau carried to completion during the

field season of 1909 was the survey, on a scale of 2 inches to the mile, of

the first unit (Fallon Area) of the Truckee-Carson irrigation district in

Nevada. This work was undertaken at the request of the U. S. Reclamation

Service, which cooperated with the Bureau to the extent of supplying an

accurate and detailed base map.

The results of this work should be of great service to settlers in this part of

Nevada, which is as yet practically undeveloped agriculturally, and I have

the honor to recommend that this be published as advance sheets of the

Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils for 1909, as authorized by law.

Very respectively,

Milton Whitney Hon. James Wilson

Chief of Bureau Secretary of Agriculture

Letter of Transmittal 1/

1/ Soil Survey of the Fallon Area, Nevada: United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Soils, Washington Government

Printing Office, 1911
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

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Soil survey in Nevada had begun! (Report of Bureau of Soils. U. S. Department of

Agriculture, 1923)

Individuals Involved in the

Nevada Soil Survey Program

from 1909 to 1923

Bureau of Soils

Carpenter, E. J.

Soil Survey of Las Vegas Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Moapa Valley Area, Nevada

Strahorn, A. T.

Soil Survey of the Fallon Area, Nevada

Van Duyne, Cornelius

Soil Survey of the Fallon Area, Nevada

Youngs, F. O.

Soil Survey of Las Vegas Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Moapa Valley Area, Nevada
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

3

The Second Era, 1938 to 1950

If there were some standardized, simple remedy for the ills of the land that

could be applied indiscriminately, the job of soil conservation would be

comparatively easy. But there is about as much variety in soil, in erosion,

and in the performance of water and wind and plants, as in the landscape

of the country.  H. H. Bennett 2/

In 1938, many of the conservation districts in Nevada were organized at the request

of local ranchers and farmers. Supervisors of these conservation districts requested

that the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), now the Natural Resources Conservation

Service (NRCS), make a physical survey because they recognized the need to

procure soil, vegetative, and land use capability data that would be applicable to

district planning and detailed farm planning. 3/ Ten of these physical surveys were

completed in Nevada by 1940, most of which were in the western and southern

parts of the state. Aerial photography was available for some of these surveys.

In 1940, the regional office of the SCS was located in Berkeley, Calif. Stan Cosby

was the regional soil scientist and Henry Fox was Nevadas state soil scientist. Ed

Naphan, who would become state soil scientist for Nevada in 1950, left a position

with the SCS in California prior to joining the service in World War II. George Borst

filled the position vacated by Ed. George would have lost his position if Ed had

decided to return to California after World War II. Ed decided instead to take a

position as a soil scientist in Elko, Nevada, in 1946.

In 1948, Lou Langan began work for SCS in Nevada as a student-trainee at the state

office in Reno. Henry Fox was his boss. Lou related that mobile soil survey crews

headquartered in Elko during the summer would head south during the winter to

Overton and Mesquite and then back to Elko during the summer.

John Swenson was part of the mobile survey in 1943. Swensons duty station was

Yerington where John McCormick was party leader. Swenson was sent to Ely during the

summer of 1943 where he completed mapping on ranches in the Ely area and in the

Ruby Valley of Elko County.

The soil mapping during this time consisted of conservation planning surveys of

individual farms and ranches. Langan and Swenson related that, when surveying in

remote locations, they would stay in the bunkhouse on the farm or ranch they were

surveying. The ranch also provided meals. Both men commented on the quantity

and quality of the meals they were fed on the ranches. Farms and ranches that were

close to their duty station were driven to on a daily basis. While mapping the

Cleveland Ranch in Spring Valley, Swenson said fishing was excellent in the creek

that ran through the ranch. The ranch manager told him that no one had fished that

stream for many years during World War II.

2/ Better Land Use in the Meadow Valley Soil Conservation District, U. S. Department of

Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Region 7, Caliente, Nevada, 1946.

3/ Report of the Physical Survey of the Mason Valley Soil Conservation District, Nevada; U. S.

Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Pacific Southwest Region, August, 1940.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

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According to John, being precise and accurate in the field using a plane table

was a challenge. However, John McCormick, Swensons boss, was very

talented at using the plane table and his work was precise. Mr. McCormick

provided critical training to John on establishing a starting point on the plane

table. This training consisted of using a 100-foot tape and laying out a

distance of 1,320 feet usually along a fence line. Once the starting point was

established, all other points on the map were located accurately by

triangulation. A stadis rod was used to obtain distance.

John Swenson and John McCormick dry camped in tents while mapping near

Baker, Nevada. Each had a truck assigned to them for fieldwork. On the

morning of their last day at camp, Swenson had his truck warming up and

pointed downhill. Both men finished loading their trucks with their gear and

McCormick left first for Ely. When Swenson was ready to leave, he killed

the engine when he tried to back up. His battery was dead and he had a long

walk to get help. When he finally made it back to Ely, he gave McCormick a

piece of his mind for not waiting for him.

Lou said that the Elko office had the first Jeep in the state. The lowest

hanging part on this Jeep was the brake master cylinder. The surveyors went

to the field daily with brakes and returned home in the afternoon with no

brakes. This problem was eventually solved after a skid plate was installed to

protect the master cylinder. The Elko Field Office has on file most, if not all,

of the original work that was completed during this period. Fieldwork was

done by plane table until 1949, which is the date of the first aerial

photography for Elko County. These aerial photos were strip photos that

were taken in flight lines but only of individual farms and ranches.

Field mapping techniques included general observations of surface and

subsurface texture, restrictive layers or bedrock, slope, and, to some extent,

percent of soil lost to erosion which, unless obvious according to George

Borst, was impossible to predict. Detailed descriptions of soil profiles were

nonexistent. Connotative map unit symbols were used for these surveys.

These symbols were not always consistent in their use from field office to

field office.

George Borst relates that the conservation planning surveys were very

detailed and considered excellent work. However, in the early 1950s,

Charlie Kellogg deemed the conservation surveys unsuitable and they

were subsequently replaced by popular surveys that used taxonomy. These

conservation planning surveys remained an actively used product in this state

until the mid-1960s and even into the late 1970s in those areas that had not

been mapped as part of modern surveys.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

5

The Way It Was

Grant Kennedy

During the fall of 1937, I was back in Reno for my senior year at the

University and graduated in May of 1938. I had some good professors

and, looking back, wished I had taken more advantage of the fine

opportunities that were offered, but such is the way with youth.

My botany professor, Dr. Lehenbauer, mentioned a job opening starting

early in May. It was a position with the

Department of Interior under the Taylor

Grazing Acttoday this would be with the

Bureau of Land Management, U. S.

Department of the Interior. He must have

put in a good word for several out of his

class were immediately hired when we

applied. The job entailed working as a

member of one of several survey parties making a soil and vegetation

reconnaissance survey of Elko County, Nevada. This was to be a

cooperative survey. Other government agencies involved included the

Department of Interior, the Forest Service, the Soil Conservation

Service, and several other Federal departments.

Mr. Martineau, who apparently was in charge of the project with

headquarters in Reno, picked up some of us graduates and took us to

Wells, Nevada. It was early in May and before graduation services were

to be held at the University. The work was to get off to an early start to

maximize the number of favorable field days before cold weather set in

come fall. We were introduced to Speed Agee who was in charge of

our party of seven, including him. The pay was to be $105 per month

with $1.60 per diem. There were also several other crews that would be

working in other parts of Elko County.

Speed drove a government station wagona Ford V8 of the woody

varietyand hauled our gear and us to a campsite south of Wells. The

exact location escapes me, but when I found an old photo, I see it was

Warm Springs. Our home was to consist of two large wall tents. One

was for sleeping where we rolled out our sleeping bags on folding camp

cots. The second was the cook tent and office. It held a long table with

two benches placed on one side and at the opposite end was the cook

stovea rectangular piece of metal covering a trench in the ground

fueled by the nearest source of wood, which was often sagebrush. The

The job entailed working as

a member of one of several

survey parties making a soil and

vegetation reconnaissance survey

of Elko County, Nevada.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

6

Coleman gas lantern was the source of light. We had a camp cook and

members of the crew chipped in to pay his wages and the cost of

groceries. Our crew at this time consisted of Charlie York, Chester

Jacobsen, Fred Galloway, and myself from the University of Nevada;

Otis Orton and Mark Shipley from Idaho and Utah, respectively; Speed,

the party chief; and Harrison, the camp cook.

The next day, we were driven out to a corral, which contained some

saddle horses. Speed assigned numbers to each horse, and we drew lots

to see which one we would be assigned. We each took our horse and

saddled up to try out our new companion. The saddles were strictly GI

(Government Issue)they were McClellan saddles such as the Cavalry

used during Civil War times and thereafter. We were to ride off some

distance and get the feel of riding this particular horse, dismounting

several times in the process. My horse seemed a bit spooky at first but

reasonably manageable. Now, although I was raised on a ranch, I was

never aboard a saddle horse but only a few times. Finally, I pulled up on

the reins and dismounted. I walked a short distance and decided to get

back in the saddle. As I was almost in the saddle, the horse made a fast

movement to his right dumping me off to land in a thorny greasewood

(Sarcobatus) bush. I held on to the reins and he dragged me several feet

and stopped. Then I stood up and dusted myself off and got back on, this

time being more prepared for any sudden action by the horse. I had no

trouble thereafter with this horse, which I called Sarcobatus. He would

sometimes be a little spirited when out in flat

country, but when the going was tough, he would

rub his nose on my shoulder and want to be my best

buddy.

The method used in making this survey was to run

transects along section lines, traversing in either an

east-west or north-south direction. At set intervals,

the people running transects would scribe a circle

having an area of one hundred square feet. Then,

they would identify and record the vegetation and its percentage of cover

in relation to the plot. The soil was identified in broad terms, such as

landforms, and changes in vegetation and soil boundaries along the

transect were to be shown on a small-scale base map. In some places,

there was reasonably good correlation between the vegetation and the

soils. For example, uniform stands of low sage on alluvial fans seemed to

have soils underlain with a caliche layer (hardpan) usually overlain with

clay subsoil. Badger holes, although a hazard for your mounts legs, were

welcome as inspection of the mounds around the hole gave some insight

into underlying soil properties. We were given a foresters compass and

The soil was identified in broad

terms, such as landforms, and

changes in vegetation and soil

boundaries along the transect were

to be shown on a small-scale base

map.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

7

Jacob Staff (pole about the size of a broom handle), the latter used for

sticking the point in the ground and mounting the compass for sighting.

For outlining our plots of 100 square feet that we were to take at set

intervals, we had a chain and pin set, the chain being about 5 1/2 feet in

length attached to two metal stakes about two feet in length. A device

about the size of a stop watch, which we called tally whacker, was

used to record the number of paces taken as distances were estimated by

paces taken by either horse or man. At the offset, we traversed known

distances by foot and horseback to determine the average length of

paces. A small short-handled pick was issued to examine some soil

properties. A 10- by 12-inch aluminum binder for maps and vegetation

write-ups completed our list of equipment. Section corners that could be

located were used to lay out transects. The best corner locations were

the iron pipe variety, but they were found mostly when encountering

rangeland owned by the Utah Construction Company, such lands having,

at the time, been recently surveyed. The others were post markers from

the original land survey and they werent very plentiful. The original

survey may have been the contract type where they used a horse and

buggy, with the revolutions of the buggys wheel to measure distances. I

suppose it was an extreme case but one of the fellows asked a

sheepherder if he knew of any section markers. He replied that he knew

of someusually when he found one he moved the post to higher

ground if possible so it was easy to see.

This job only lasted a few months but it still fills my mind with so many

unusual experiences, more than which can be recalled from later years in

my career. About the first of June, we arose one morning to find about a

foot of snow on the ground. For several weeks after, I was wishing I had

some long underwear like several other fellows

wore, as it was bitter cold and my heavy wool

coat was inadequate. But, it finally warmed up

before I could obtain more clothing. Early on, we

visited the camp of another crew working nearest

us. Some had left school before graduation also

and were having an impressive ceremony

receiving a symbolic diploma while standing in a

pile of horse manure. This wasnt the usual 9 to 5

job and we didnt expect it to be so. We arose

early, had breakfast, and headed out in the station wagon, oft times down

some dusty or graveled washboard road leaving camp about seven in the

morning. Our horses were usually situated near a portable manger near

some road where we all had assembled at the end of the previous day.

The horses were watered and grain fed. We saddled up and were each on

We saddled up and were each

on our way to our starting

point from where we were to

proceed as closely as was

possible along section lines in

the same direction spaced a

mile apart.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

8

our way to our starting point from where we were to proceed as closely

as was possible along section lines in the same direction spaced a mile

apart. At some place, usually within 10 to 15 miles in distance, we would

assemble again at a given place accessible by road and Speed would

bring feed and water for the horses. Then, we would go back to camp.

By the time we got there and ate, it was usually quite late because of

distances and difficulties encountered in our daily travels. Oft times we

arrived in camp looking almost ghostlike from a generous covering of

silty road dust. On one of these particularly dusty rides, someone

remarked, Your eyes look like a couple of holes burnt in a blanket. We

had ravenous appetites, as all we carried for lunch in our saddlebags was

a can of tomato or fruit juice.

Rocky Mountain Fever was a concern in those days and we all got our

first shot for our protection when we went to work. Ticks were plentiful.

I was up in some mountainous area in early June. Light flurries of snow

were falling and I stopped and sat under a Juniper tree for shelter as I

worked on my map and write-ups. That evening, I pulled about 14 ticks

off my woolen coat. Before turning in, we always held tick inspection

examining each others backs looking for any undetected creatures.

When ticks were dug into our skin, we would place a burning cigarette

near the tick and most of the time they would back out. Otherwise, if one

pulled them off, they left part of their anatomy buried

in your skin, which could cause a sore spot. During the

days ride, I would look under the horses belly and scrape

bloated ticks off with a stick.

As we started to work, we set up our compass and

picked out a distant prominent object in our direct line

of site. Then we went in that direction and extended

the line of sight as needed during the day. This worked well where we

could see long distances as in a valley but was difficult in some rough

terrain. It was often most difficult to follow a straight-line direction

because of downed timber, thick patches of brush, cliffs, rim rock,

beaver ponds, and other obstacles. When these were encountered, one

detoured to the left or right and then hoped to get on line after the

obstacle was bypassed. One time, toward the end of the day, I was riding

through an open stand of juniper and happened to look to my left. There

in an open area was Lew Leifer (a fellow crew member at that time)

riding parallel to me about a third of a mile away. He rode over to meet

me and we figured we should be close to the point where we all would

meet Speed. It started to rain and we couldnt see any sign of the road

near our spot to be picked up or the station wagon or anyone else. We rode

We came to a steep

downward slope....After that

experience, I learned to take a

few tips from my horse.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

9

together another quarter of a mile and suddenly my horse began to

whinny. About 100 feet ahead, we came to a steep downward slope. There,

way below us, was the station wagon, several of our horses, and part of

our crew around a blazing fire. After that experience, I learned to take a

few tips from my horse.

For a time, our transects had us crossing the Pequop range west of

Wendover. Some of us had come in unusually late and related that it was

because of the difficult terrain. Speed decided to try it himself to see

why we were having difficulties. He had one of the crew take his place

and took this persons horse and started out on one of the lines. My

transect was several miles from his. I had no difficulty ascending the

east slope. Then, as I started down the west slope, I ran into a sizable

dense growth of mountain mahogany. In detouring around it, I found

myself in the streambed of a boxlike canyon. For some reason, I had

switched horses and was riding a gray mare. Ahead of me, the streambed

sloped sharply downward and was quite stony.

The mare stopped even though I urged her forward. I decided to get off

and lead her. She wouldnt budge, no matter how hard I pulled on the

reins. I decided to try to get back on and give it another try urging her in

a more forceful fashion. When I did so, she started forward but fell

about half way down the obstacle course. She was on her side and my

left leg was pinned beneath her. I thought I could visualize the buzzards

circlinghere I am miles from anywhere and would be hard to find.

Somehow, I managed to remove enough loose stones to free my leg. I

got up and then the horse was able to stand. Neither of us was hurt and

she let me lead her to a spot where the route ahead seemed to offer fewer

hazards. I was a little late to finish at days end but not the last to show

up. Speed was the last and latest. He told how, while on a narrow trail,

his horse slipped and then fell about ten feet into a small pine tree. His

shirt was torn and the horse had a deep scratch on his flank. The upshot

of this was that Speed decided we should finish the remainder of the

Pequop crossings on foot. We made several crossings that way and I still

remember the first.

I started fresh, going eastward, and, by eleven, I thought the crest lie

ahead and finished the last of my meager water supply from an army

canteen. When I reached what I earlier thought was the summit, I

discovered a lot more uphill work ahead of me. I later passed a pool of

water and, though extremely thirsty, chose not to drink from it. With all

the various animal tracks around, I could see it was well used. Around

four-thirty, I struggled to the top and could look down on a long valley. I

could see a road in the valley below me and in the far distance, the dust
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

10

from a car on the road. I got renewed strength and headed downhill as

fast as my weary legs could travel. The car was Speed coming to pick us

up. In a while, I came to the road. I would guess we hiked some 10 to 12

miles but it felt like more. Needless to say, we were glad to get the

horses back.

We moved camp in June to a place called Jasper Well. To get there, we

left the highway and traveled eastward crossing an old lakebed (playa)

somewhat paralleling a railroad. The camp was situated at the site of a

well and corral at the foot slope of some adjacent hills. There had to be a

den of rattlesnakes nearby as we killed something like twenty in and near

our camp. We always hung our boots up at night in case we had to go out

suddenly. We got the Fourth of July off and I went home to Lovelock.

But I came down sickpossibly with the flu. I probably went back to

work too soon but I thought I was okay. It had rained hard in the area

where we were working. The dry lakebed where the road crossed to our

camp at Jasper Well was under several inches of water. We met Speed in

Wells and, as we went back, he drove into a sea of water and we

wondered if a long detour that was possible by another road would be a

better option to get to camp. Speed had inquired and found out the other

road had some almost impassable stretches. But the surface of many

lakebeds in Nevada is almost like concrete. We crossed at a slow speed and

only got stopped once, so the passengers got out, gave a push, and we were

on our way again.

We were working north and west of this camp on the day the Joe

LouisMax Schmelling fight was to be broadcast. Speed had a good

radio in his personal car and his wife was to drive out to camp. We

planned to start work early and get done in time to get back and hear the

broadcast. Interest was high because Schmelling was a German and

Hitler was flaunting his power and, also, because of his snub of Jesse

Owens, the great sprinter, during the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin. We

got done as planned and Speed was driving us back. We were on the

opposite side of the railroad some three miles from camp. The nearest

crossing was possibly six miles to the west and to go there and then

double back would make us late for the broadcast. It was decided that

the station wagon could cross the tracks if it was driven at an angle. It

worked, but, in the process, there was a loud noise. When Speed was

across and on the road leading to camp, he stopped and shut the motor

off to examine the car. The problem was soon obvious. Cars in those

days had the battery mounted under the floorboards. The battery had

struck one of the rails and was broken. Speeds wife must have seen our

dust as we approached the railroad as she was soon driving out to meet
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

11

us. However, by the time she arrived, the fight had just ended and Louis

won in the second round.

Saturday was a workday. We worked all through one weekend and on

the following went in to Wells. Everyone checked in at the McDonald

Hotel and got a bath the first thing. Then, we headed to the barbershop

for a shave and haircut. There wasnt much to do in Wells but we

enjoyed eating at the hotel for a change. One time, one of the fellows

from another crew had a car and took several of us to a country-dance at

Lamoille, some 30 miles distant, that was held in an old school- house.

The only other country-dance that I ever went to was back in Lovelock

about the summer of 1934. It also was held in a schoolhouse. No one

dare bring liquor into the schoolhouse so some would hide their bottle

outside nearby. I discovered that a thirsty drinking man found his bottle

by grabbing a handful of small gravel, tossing it in the air and listening

for the tinkle of glass. These dances would go till dawn so we wound up

back in Wells about the time that we would get ready to leave for camp.

I was in Elko several times. It was the county seat and, of course, Speed

and other supervisory people went there on business. Elko, at the time,

had a population of four thousandthere must be seven or eight times

more people at presentthe increase fueled in part by gold mining. In

June, I went there to take a Civil Service exam for a Junior Soil

Surveyor. The reason I did was because my brother was then working on

a similar job in New Mexico with the recently formed Soil Conservation

Service. At that time, he was working on the Navajo Indian Reservation.

He had informed me that this test was being held. As I was going up the

steps of the Post Office, where the test was to be given, Speed

introduced me to two people from the Soil Conservation Service

Regional Office which was in Berkeley at the time. The two were Stan

Cosby and Leonard Wohletz, both whom later would play an important

part in my career. They wished me good lucklittle did I know that I

would run into them later.

Our second tick shot was due soon after the Fourth of July. When we

were getting our shots, the doctor examined me and put me in the

hospital in Elko. Evidently my flu, or whatever it might have been that I

had over the Fourth of July, was flaring up again and the doctor didnt

think camp life would furnish the proper environment for recovery.

Speed was a good person to have for Party Chief. He was raised on a

ranch in the county, knew the area well, and was acquainted with some

of the ranchers and people in Wells. Therefore, things went more

smoothly for us. He was always there to pick us up at night and seemed
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

12

to have a good game plan for the days transect. Other crews reported

having members lost or out overnight. There was only one time we had a

problem and it wasnt Speeds fault. He had to be gone on business and

Harrison, the cook, offered to go to town and pick up the groceries and

then come pick us up in late afternoon. We all reached the pick-up spot

on time and had our horses unsaddled. We were not too far from a road

and were standing around a fire since we were damp from a recent rain

shower. Soon we saw a car coming and it was the station wagon.

Everyone thought Harrison could see us but he drove on and disappeared

over the hill. We waited some time until it was apparent he wasnt

coming back. At that time we were closer to camp than usualabout 7

miles. There was nothing else we could do but saddle up and ride back to

camp. Cooks in those days took those camp jobs in order to dry out

because of a drinking problem. Harrison must have quenched his thirst

while getting the groceries. Anyway, we soon had a new cook who

turned out to be much better although, except for this incident, Harrison

had done a reasonably good job.

One day, near dark, we were some 15 miles south of Oasis. It was time

to head back to camp and we were crossing an old playa with only very

sparse vegetation, when one of the rear wheels hit an unseen pot hole

and a rear spring was broken in the process. The fender rested on the

rear tire and the vehicle was disabled. Someone suggested we could jack

the car up and place something underneath to keep the fender off the tire.

There was nothing we could use on this barren stretch. Then, one of the

fellows remembered passing a lone post about a half-mile away. Two

fellows hiked back and got the post and put it in place under the car

fastened with baling wire. By then, darkness had set in and Speed

discovered the lights wouldnt work. There was some moonlight and we

all looked out the windows helping the driver find the road. Fortunately

the terrain was flat and the road reasonably straight. We made it to Oasis

and had the lights fixed at the service station. Then, we drove down the

highway into Wells with the post still wired to the frame. It demonstrated

something I was to use throughout my careertry every option possible

before you start walking.

Another time, we were miles from anywhere and were using Henry

Foxs SCS Chevrolet sedan to locate section corners. The car was

boiling and we had no spare water. Nearby was a charcoa small

depression constructed on rangeland to collect runoff. The water was

muddytoo thick to drink and too thin to plow. We found a container in

the trunk and debated momentarily about putting this liquid in the

radiator. Then we thought of the alternative and went ahead and filled

the radiator. We got the car back to Henry. The next time he saw us, he
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

13

wanted to know what we did to his car, but finally dropped the subject

knowing full well that he would have had to do the same thing.

We were making an inventory of the flora but I might mention a little

about the fauna. In our travels, we would run into mustangs or wild

horses. There was one band we encountered a few times that ranged

south of Wells. When we were fortunate to get close to them, our horses

would seem excited and, when given a free rein, would take off on a

gallop after them. Someone said that some of our horses had been used

to round up mustangs. The herd would take off, their tails flying in the

wind, and soon you could see their dust cloud as they sped down the

valley in the direction of Spruce Mountain. Now and then, we would

come upon a coyote. Several times I chased them on horseback. A horse

could catch up with them, but they didnt get the name wily for

nothing. You soon found the coyotes picking a route of their choice,

such as sand dunes or rock outcrops where it was rough going for your

horse, or, if the sun was low on the horizon, they would run into the sun

so you were half blinded and then suddenly disappear, ducking behind

some clump of brush. I saw what I thought were mountain lion tracks

but never spotted one. Deer sightings were frequent in some areas. More

than once, I came upon a big muletail buck and both of us were startled.

We spotted sagehen near some springs we drove by regularly for a time.

The only fishing I ever did was on a trip into some badlandsa series

of volcanic breakslava bedsthrough which the Little Salmon

flows toward Idaho. The stream was somewhat entrenched where we

came to it, and to get down into a boxlike canyon, my fellow crew

member Charlie York and I took a steep trail where our horses had their

front feet forward and their rear next to the ground as we slid

downwards. We camped there overnight. My partner had brought string

and fish hooks. We each cut a willow for a pole. Using bacon for bait,

we soon had six big trout and quit, as that was enough for supper. Never

again did I see such good fishing.

A days ride covered enough territory so one saw or heard a number of

rattlers. Often it was your horse that would suddenly detour to one side

or halt quickly and there was a rattler ahead. In some lava bed areas, a

series of flows formed stair steps with rimrock 10 to 15 feet in height.

When riding close to these, sometimes you could hear rattling but never

see the snakes in the rocky crevices.

Beaver ponds were common on some streams where there were quaking

aspen groves growing along the watercourse. Sometimes you had to ford

the stream and, because of the beaver dam, the water would be up to

your stirrups.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

14

This particular summer, Elko and the adjacent Humboldt County were

plagued with Mormon crickets. They descended in droves like the

biblical locust and devastated all within their path. I never was caught in

such a position but observed the slippery mess where they crossed a

highway and were a hazard to traffic. One of our crews had them come

through their camp ruining most everything they had. Effective

pesticides were not developed yet. The only means of trying to eliminate

them was to dig a long trench across the path they might come and erect

a corrugated tin barrier on the far side. When the crickets fell in the trench

they were sprayed with oil and then set on fire.

It seemed that summer there were more thunderstorms in late June and

July than usual. Some occurred on our days ride. We would run into a

shower, get wet, and usually dry off as the day wore on. These showers

always brought out the almost pungent odor of sagebrush. A few times

the lightning was menacing. I was on top of a mountain range when a

storm struck. It began to rain and, out of the corner of my eye, I could

see several bolts of lightning strike nearby prominent rocky points. I

headed the horse downhill as he walked sideways with his rear to the

driving rain. I pulled my hat down, almost over my eyes, and hoped for

the best. Another time we had moved our camp, and the tents were

situated between a large corral and a large outcropping of rocks. I was

the only one in camp and was left to tend the horses. I was sitting on my

bunk looking out when I saw a bolt of lightning split overhead, one part

hitting the rocks and the other striking a 15-foot-high pole in the corral. I

reached up and closed the tent flap and made no other observations until

the storm passed.

By mid-July, I felt comfortable in the saddledidnt have any more

saddle sores, at least. I even rode 50 miles in one daytaking my horse

back to a ranch and returning with another. Late in August we moved

camp again, and I think it was in the vicinity of ONeil. It was a nice

spot with a creek nearby. The night temperatures were fairly cold. I

believe we were at about 6,000 feet in elevation. We got up in the

mornings always finding a skiff of ice on the wash basin water. We

began working in an area between the road to Jarbridge and the highway

to Idaho that passes through Contact. I have several vivid recollections

of this period. One afternoon my progress had been slowed and darkness

descended before I got back to the road where we were to meet. I was

coming down what appeared to be a stock trail along side of a creek and

could scarcely see anything. Finally, I lay low in the saddle to avoid tree

branches and let my horse go forward as he chose. He was old, reliable,

and followed the path until we came out at the road I was seeking. The

other time, it was about dusk when I was heading to the road to find the
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

15

station wagon. Suddenly, I came to a barbed wire fence and could see no

gate anywhere in sight. I got off my horse and managed to pry the

staples loose that were holding the wire at the nearest post. I managed to

get the wire down to the ground; then, I held the wire down with one

foot while trying to lead my horse across. Things were going well but, as

his last hind foot crossed, one strand of wire caught on his shoe. At first,

he started to pull the wire and I was afraid we were in for a real mess.

Somehow, I managed to calm him and was able to free the wire. It was

now very dark but I could see what appeared to be headlights about a

half-mile in the distance and rode in that direction. It proved to be our

station wagon and I was home free.

It was the middle of October when everyone took several days off and

two of us were left in camp on the weekend to tend to the horses. We

drove out to the area where the horses were grazing. The horses were

hobbled and it was decided that they had moved a considerable distance

and we would move them down to a corral and feed them some grain. I

volunteered to herd them as soon as we took off the hobbles. There were

no saddles or bridles in the station wagon so I just put a halter rope on

the nearest horse and got on bareback. I got the other horses where we

wanted them and then tried to get this horse to go in the opposite

direction to the station wagon. He started that way and suddenly decided

to turn abruptly to follow the others. I lost my balance and slid off,

landing on my feet, but the horse was moving at a gallop and the

momentum caused me to fall. Somehow, I hit my left elbow on some

stones. It hurt and I thought it was sprained. When we got back to camp

I put my arm in a sling rigged from a flour sack. When Speed came back

the next morning, he looked at my arm. By now it was badly swollen.

He thought I should see a doctor and get x-rays. So, it was back to Elko

about 90 miles in distance. The arm was broken but in such a way that

by holding my left hand under my chin, the doctor could tape it up and,

this way, with a sling, the arm would heal in a month. Thus ended my

horseback days in Elko County.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

16

Soil Surveys at Walker and Pyramid

Lake Indian Reservations

Grant Kennedy

The SCS transferred me from Georgia to Berkeley, California. About

February 15, 1940, I reported to the Regional Office for California and

Nevada, then located on Fulton Ave. close to the University of California

campus. The building had the appearance of having been a bank building,

the front having several large columns as in Greek architecture. I was

ushered into Stan Cosbys office and met him and his assistant, Leonard

Wohletz. I was informed that I was to report to the area office in Yerington,

Nevada, and would be making a soil survey on the Walker Lake Indian

Reservation. I was given a brief orientation and one of the secretaries

assisted me with completing the necessary paperwork. I left Berkeley after

lunch and drove to Yerington, Nevada.

Yerington lies southeast of Reno about 90 miles. It was a small town much

like Lovelock and, besides being the county seat of Lyon County, was the

nearest shopping center for the ranches and others nearby. I checked in at

the area office and was turned over to Clarence Olds, a soil surveyor

formerly from Oregon, with whom I would be working. My immediate need

was some kind of housing. Since these forays were of short duration, I

always had to look for a furnished place and I almost had to take the first

thing available, not having time to shop around. The big copper deposit at

Weed Heights nearby hadnt yet been discovered or, at least, there was no

mining activity there at the time, so there was little demand for rentals and

what I wanted was hard to come by. Finally, there was a fellow at the office

who said he had a place with a spare bedroom and he would be willing to let

me stay there and we could share the kitchen and bathroom. It isnt much,

he said, but it might get you settled until you find something better. He

had come down from Alaska and this was a temporary assignment. His wife

was already somewhere in California where he expected to go soon. His

appraisal of the place was accurate. It was a small place upstairs over a

service station and garage close to downtown.

I went to work then after getting settled. I believe Ralph Smith was the

equivalent of an area soil scientist and had some input as I got started. Some

soil series were being mapped and had some descriptions that were

somewhat brief as compared to later standards. Clarence met me at the

office the next morning and we went to Schurz, about 25 miles east of

Yerington. Schurz is the headquarters for the Walker Lake Indian

Reservation. The reservation is located just north of Walker Lake close to

where the Walker River empties into the lake. Walker Lake is one of those

slowly declining remnant lakes in the Great Basin formed after the Ice Age.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

17

At one time, this lake contained numerous cutthroat trout unique to parts of

Nevada. Many were large for trout and often were of trophy size. In 1940,

this lake was a popular spot for sport fishing.

Clarence and another person had been making a soil survey of parts of the

reservation before I came aboard. They had already mapped the better land

around Schurz and now were mapping some of the rangeland. A plane table

was used to make the base map and to delineate the soil boundaries. It was

the last of February so the weather wasnt the best. It would snow but never

enough to hardly cover the ground. We would get the plane table out, do our

procedures, and, before long, our fingers were blue and our feet were icy.

We had a telescopic alidade and I was the rod man when we measured

distances. Clarence drove a pickup, which, thankfully, had a heaternot all

government cars were so equipped at that time. It also was equipped with a

big spare gas tank. He would leave the truck idling and, when it got too

uncomfortable outside, we got in the cab to thaw out. On one of these days,

about noon, a few flakes were falling and we heard the weirdest sound. It

came from some coyotes howling their best from the ridge of a nearby sand

dune. I had heard coyotes howling before but never out in broad daylight.

Things were winding up at Walker Lake so I was to be sent to work on the

Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation some 50 miles from Reno by road and

situated north east of Reno. About the same time, my wife had to have an

appendix operation and, upon her release from the hospital in Reno, I took

her to Lovelock to stay with my parents until such time as we could get

situated at Pyramid Lake. The reservation headquarters was at Nixon. Paul

(Pat) Pattengale, a range surveyor, was in charge and I was to work with

him. We left Yerington with a GMC pickup that had come from South

Dakota. It had about 15,000 miles on the odometer, came equipped with

large tires, a spare gas and water tank, and had a governor that limited our

speed to 45 miles per hour. We both brought sleeping bags as we knew we

would have to spend a number of days out on the job. The first place we

picked for temporary quarters was at Sutcliffe, the location of a dude ranch.

It was a place where we could park our personal cars or the government car

when necessary. We could get a meal at Sutcliffe and make a phone call in

an emergency. Our assignment was to make a range and soil survey on the

reservation. Our mapping was to be done using a plane table to make a

small scale base map. This was sure an abrupt turnabout for me after

delineating soils on aerial photos in Louisiana and Georgia.

Some of the roads were graveled but were so rough that they felt like the

washboard surface would quickly tear a car apart. My Oldsmobile was

relatively new, so, rather than subject it to this treatment, I bought a Model

A Ford sedan for this duty. I purchased it in Lovelock for $65 and it served

me well traveling back and forth on some weekends. I even towed a

relatively new car that was stranded on the highway some 15 miles into
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

18

Lovelock with this vehicle. When I left later for California, I told my father

to sell it and he didfor the $65 I originally paid.

At the start of what was to be our soil and range survey on the reservation,

the SCS conducted what we later would call an Initial Field Review.

Leonard Wohletz represented the Berkeley office, Ray Roberts was the soil

correlator out of Berkeley, and Ralph Smith came out from Yerington.

Together we examined parts of the area looking at the soils and vegetation

and deciding what features should be mapped. We examined some of the

soils and Ray came up with several established series names for observed

soils and assigned tentative names for some others. My main recollection of

that week in the field was that it was bitter cold and the troops on Friday night

welcomed the warm confines of Reno and the Golden Hotel. On Saturday

morning, we had a brief meeting in the hotel lobby and the people from

Berkeley walked the half block to the Reno Depot and caught a train back

home.

We started out working areas accessible from the road to get started. Then

we would drive cross-country on some stretches using the pickup like a

four-wheel-drive vehicle of today. Of course, we got stuck a lot where we

would hit small sand dunes and even the big tires, although helpful, couldnt

prevent our problem. Finally, we got several jacks and a long tarp. When

stuck, we would jack up the rear wheels, pull the tarp underneath, and tie

the end to the tailgate. This would give us enough traction to get started.

Generally we would hit a hard surface in a short distance. We dragged the

tarp behind us until such a spot was reached. Once we had more difficulty

than usual, as the governor on the pickup restricted the power necessary to

move forward. Thats when we broke the seal and deactivated it so we could

rev up the motor. Somebody behind a desk thought this speed deterrent was

a good thing but he never was faced with the specter of a long hike or being

hung out to dry when passing another vehicle.

Our pickup was equipped with boxes for our equipment and we always

carried some food items. When the days work ended, we found some spot

to spread our sleeping bags out and fix something to eat. We had to stick to

canned goods and things like ham and salami. I particularly liked salami

but, after this job, it was a long time before I could eat it again. The Trading

Post was at Nixon and was run by Snuffy Smith. Prices were reasonable,

particularly for meat. All cuts were $.20 a pound be it the best steak, stew

meat, center cut of ham, salami, or whatever you wanted.

We started in the southwest part of the reservation and worked our way

northward. We got up to Sand Pass and out onto the Smoke Creek Desert.

The desert part did not require much time to map where we were, as it was

one big playa almost devoid of any vegetation. We camped briefly at the

lower reaches of a canyon to the east. The road approaching this place was
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

19

just a couple of ruts and consequently, the sidewalls of our big tires took a

beating. While we were working in this location, our supervisors drove up

from Berkeley to spend time with us but never did find us nor did we know

they were coming. Somewhere north of the lake, there was a range riders

cabin, which we had permission to use. It wasnt fabulous but at least it was

a roof overhead. We found a couple of old tired bedsteads on which to roll

out our sleeping bags. There was a watering trough nearby fed by a

windmill. We had a tank for water on the truck but we saved that for

drinking and emergencies.

I remember two things about this place. Pat had to go to Reno and, for some

reason, I stayed there. He left on Saturday morning supposedly to return

that night. He didnt show up until Monday morning. It was solitude for

sureI could hear the coyotes at night, the footsteps of a pack rat, and the

constant tapping of something dangling in the breeze on the outside cabin

wall. I had two Time magazines and I had almost memorized every article

before Pat showed up. Time magazine was filled with happenings related to

the start of World War II.

The other incident occurred a few days later. I was driving and came to a

spot where there was a dip in the road and a rock near the center of the road

that stuck up some and might cause us a problem. Pat got out to give me

guidance, and I steered the pickup according to his directions. Having eased

the vehicle to a certain point, he called out, Give her hell. I stepped on the

gas and, as the car moved forward, heard a loud crunch. We crossed the dip

but, in doing so, had bent the tie rods so that one wheel appeared to be at

about thirty degrees out of line. It wasnt too far to the cabin and we

managed to drive there. Pat had some mechanical ability and we had a few

basic tools. We jacked the front end up and he took off the tie rod and

straightened it as best he could, pounding out the bend with the rod lying on

an old railroad tie. It wasnt exactly Mr. Goodwrenchs Wheel Alignment

but it got us back to civilization.

Pat was an outgoing person and a good man for the job. He had fudged his

age and joined the army before he finished high school and, no doubt, some

of his army experience rubbed off on him. He didnt have a high school

diploma but applied for entrance to U.C. Berkeley. They let him take a test

for entrance and he passed and went on to get his degree. Soon after the

high center incident, we got the pickup into Reno for repairs on a

Saturday. It was late afternoon before we got everything in order. We were

walking by the Palace on the corner of Commercial Row and Center Street

in the downtown area. Pat had a little loose change that was burning a hole

in his pocket. He went in and put it in slot machine and won about $15. He

said to me, Ill tell you what, Grant. I will buy your dinner. We will go to

the Columbo Hotel to eat. Then he went to the nearest phone and I could

hear him making reservations for two, sounding like we were two important
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

20

people. The Columbo was only a block away. We appeared before the

maitre d at the appointed time, dressed in our field clothes because thats all

we had, and were escorted to a nice table. In those days, $15 would cover a

good dinner for two, assuming that was all you had. Pat seemed

knowledgeable about wine and had the waiter bring a special vintage he

named. We had a leisurely dinner, and then the dance band began to play. It

was about a five-piece orchestra with a vocalist. Pretty soon, Pat was up

chatting with the leader and making several requests. The music was good

and, I guess, we were an appreciative audience. Finally, intermission came

and Pat went up and invited the whole group down to our table for drinks.

We had cashed our paychecks earlier and the $15 was long gone and I was

adding some of my money along with his. As soon as the group finished the

intermission and started to play once more, I told Pat to stay if he so desired

but I was going to get us a hotel room. I went to the Golden Hotel and

registered for both of us. Several hours later he came dragging in, poorer

but, perhaps, wiser.

A few roads were on the east side of the lake so we opted to use horses. Pat

managed to rent some, and we each had a packhorse. I had never used a

pack animal, but Pat seemed to know how to make a proper hitch on the

horse and secure all our gear. He even showed up with a young fellow who

was to be our wrangler but that only lasted overnight. He showed up dressed

for the job along with a big guitar. Finally, Pat decided he wanted a working

cowboy, not someone to croon Back In the Saddle Again, as Pat could see

it wasnt going to work out. One day, we met one of the Indian range riders.

He invited us to come up to what was known as Hells Kitchen. They had

some wild horses they had rounded up in a corral and were going to do

some roping. We could leave the packhorses at a nearby corral. We agreed

to follow him, as we wanted to look at the area ourselves. Off we went, up

this steep mountain trail rising high above the lake. Once over the crest, the

terrain was less sloping and we soon arrived at the destination where three

other Indians were at work. Inside the corral they would rope the wild

horses and manage to get them down and short hobble them, that is, tie a

rope from one hind leg to the opposite front leg. Tied in this manner, the

horse could walk but couldnt run, and they would be able to lead them

down to their headquarters. The four of them were doing real well and

finally roped the last onea big buckskin stallion. They managed to get him

roped and hobbled and were starting out the gate with him when he broke

loose somehow. Several of the riders were already on their horses. After

him, after him! they shouted as the stallion neared our position. We just

froze in our saddles as it would mean taking off on a downhill slope among

a bunch of rock outcrops pure suicide for the amateurso all we could

do was wanly wave an arm. But those two Indians took off in a gallop and

roped that horse out there in the open. It exceeded any exhibition you could

see in a rodeo.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

21

We left the northern part of the lake heading along the east side edge of the

lake, eventually working our way to Nixon. There was one place where the

only trail was a narrow path along what was almost a cliff and it seemed

like several hundred feet almost straight down to the lake shore. I was

hoping my horse was surefooted, which he was, but the pack animal I was

leading had one hind foot slipping over the edge and, if I had not pulled

hard on the lead rope, I think we would have lost him. Fortunately, this

hazardous section was only over a short distance. That afternoon, we

stopped to spend the night where the Indians had another corral and a small

stack of hay. When we got ready to put our sleeping bags on the ground for

the night, Pat had the bright idea to get some of the hay and put it under our

bed to make it more comfortable. It sounded good to me so we did that and

turned in. In the morning as we got up, both of us were itching something

fierce and soon discovered the cause. There were little minute critters

crawling everywherechicken mites! A bunch of chickens had nested in

the hay before it was hauled to the site. We went down to the lake and

jumped in, clothes and all, and then took off the duds and hung them over

the brush to dry. I wore a Stetson western hat, which I liked. Taking it off, I

could see those minute forms racing around inside my hat. I tried to rid

them by holding the hat over the flames of our campfire. I killed the mites

but, sadly, ruined my hat.

Later, down near the lakeshore, we ran into some very young coyote pups. I

thought I would try to catch one. I had my jacket off and ready to put over

the pup, but that little fellow could just keep out of my reach and, finally, I

gave up the chase. I dont really know what I was doing this for other than

the challenge.

Finally, we managed to get the pickup out to our work location. We tied the

horses up to the pickup and one horse managed to kick out a headlight.

Then, one horse got loose and stole away in the night. Fortunately for us,

the horse headed straight for home and was there when we checked with the

owner. It was unusual though since he had to cross two cattle guards in the

process.

It was now about the first of June and we found quarters in Nixon. We had

an old house, a two-story affair, which had been made into several

apartments. At one time, it served as the residence of the Bureau of Indian

Affairs administrator for the reservation. I was able to bring my wife down

from Lovelock as we were done with our campouts. She had never been

around any Native Americans so it was a novelty to her. She noticed,

particularly, the babies in their traditional Papoose Carrier. Pat even

bought one to take home to his wife. I often wondered if they ever used it.

Every year there was a big rodeo in Winnemucca around the Fourth of July

and the local tribe was practicing their ceremonial dance during some of the
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

22

evenings. It sounded so strange at first but we got used to the sounds. There

was a cemetery about a half block back of the house and some of the

headstones dated back to the Civil War period. It was odd that I was to read

in the Sacramento Bee newspaper around 1985 that, in doing some

excavation work around this cemetery, they uncovered some gold coins

dating back to the 1860s.

Now that we had a kitchen, we took advantage of the Trading Post offerings

and had a number of good steaks and other good cuts of meat. Pat had

checked a book out of the University of Nevada Library regarding Pyramid

Lake. It was about the findings of an Army group sent out to make a

reconnaissance survey and search for an outlet from what is now the Great

Basin to the Pacific Ocean. This was done around 1860 or so, I think.

Anyway, it had good sketches of the so-called pyramids and other

prominent features, descriptions of vegetation, locations of water sources,

and an analysis of some of the water from springs. It mentioned that

Fremont had passed by the lake at an earlier date and the lake level at that

time. We thought we passed near the same spot but the lake level was many

feet lower than when Fremont made his observations.

It must have been the year of the rabbit. Traveling from Wadsworth to Nixon

after dark was almost sickening. So many rabbits raced across the road

under the glare of your headlights only to hit the bumper and wind up as

road kill. This abundance of rabbits no doubt increased the coyote

population and probably was followed by a disease, which decimated the

rabbit world.

We were busy trying to catch up with some map compilation in the office

at Nixon. It was almost the last of June. Suddenly, Pat got a telegram telling

us to take all of our equipment and leave the reservation and come to

Berkeley immediately. We had to be off of the reservation before the first of

July. We didnt know the reason for the sudden exodus but orders were

orders. We took the pickup back to Yerington and got an earful about the

condition of the vehicle but those in the know realized that this was to be

expected if you were to do much fieldwork. They wanted me to take another

vehicle to Berkeley, so Judy and I went in it and I reported to Stan Cosby at

the Regional Office. He explained the reason for our quick getaway from

the reservation. Harold Ickes was then the Secretary of Interior and, of

course, Indian lands were under the Department of Interior. He could be a

feisty person at times and he must have gotten into a squabble with someone

in the Department of Agriculture of which the SCS was a part. Perhaps it

was with Henry Wallace, the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

Anyway, he told the SCS head to get its men and equipment off of Interior

lands before July 1 or he would see that men and equipment were

transferred to the Interior.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

23

We stayed in Berkeley a few days and then found out I was to be transferred

to Escondido, Calif. Judy and I caught the train at the Berkeley Depot and

went back to Nevada to get our automobile and then would drive to

Southern California.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

24

Detail to Elko, Nevada

Grant Kennedy

During World War II, they discontinued Mobile Soil Surveys; at least they

didnt have them in the Region where I was working. The Regional Office

had been moved to Portland and served California, Nevada, Oregon,

Washington, Idaho, and Utah. Then, State Offices came into being and we

got most of our orders from this office. Someone, however, thought up the

idea of a detail, which in itself was a temporary assignment. In about May

of 1947, I was asked to go to Alaska. I balked a bit because I had recently

spent a year overseas in the Army and did not want to be away from my

family so soon. Then, in 1948, I was asked to go on a detail to Nevada to

which I agreed as it was to be of short duration. I was living at Escondido,

California at the time, making Conservation Soil Surveys for farms and

ranches in San Diego County.

I left Escondido in my government pickup on the 13th of July, 1948. I drove

via Hwy. 395, which crossed the Mojave Desert, to Bishop and into Reno,

Nevada. I was driving a Chevrolet pickup equipped with a spare gas tank

and another tank for water. This vehicle also had boxes on either side of the

bed where we could store some equipment and food items. On the 14th, I

reported for duty at the State Office in Reno. George Hardman was the state

conservationist at the time and Henry Fox was the state soil scientist. I was

sent to Elko to report to Royce Hermanson, then the area conservationist,

and was told that I would be working under the guidance of Ed Naphan, soil

scientist working out of Elko at the time. I knew Ed as we worked on a soil

survey together at Julian, California, in 1942. Lou Langan had recently

come to work with the SCS and he would be working with me during this

short assignment.

At this time, the SCS soils personnel were making Conservation Surveys. I

suppose this was to be a method of speeding up the process of getting soils

information for planning on individual farms at a time when the number of

Soil Conservation Districts was rapidly expanding. Farms and ranches were

done as needed for planning and these were usually mostly scattered rather

than in blocks resulting in what we used to call spot surveys. A National

and Regional Soil Survey Guide was issued indicating the procedures to be

followed. Soil differences were delineated and soil legends had provisions

for a code symbol that indicated the depth, texture, permeability, and other

features of each soil delineated. The soil symbol itself supposedly described

most of the information for the planners needs. Soil series were not

mapped and there was no correlation between soils with like symbols.

These surveys served an immediate need but, after a few years, they went

by the wayside as legends were lost and, in most cases, it would be hard to

determine some properties of delineated soils. It seemed to be the best step

at the time, since they were used in uncharted waters, where nothing had

been done previously in the way of soil surveys.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

25

We were using a plane table to make the base map and delineate the soils.

Aerial photos were not available at the time, which was understandable.

Ranches were widely scattered and interspersed with rangeland. The cost of

flying the area was then beyond budget allocations. Photos would have been

nice where soil boundaries were intricate or not obvious at ground level.

Lou Langan and I alternated at operating the plane table and being the

rodman or flagging needed points on the landscape. We carried our sleeping

bags and some food, mostly canned items, and stayed out in the field all

week sometimes, staying in a bunkhouse and taking meals at the ranch where

we were working.

We surveyed several ranches that were a reasonable distance of Mountain

City, north of Elko near the Idaho line. We stayed in Mountain City at the

hotel when doing this work. Neither of us was acquainted with the hotel

when we first registered at the desk. We climbed the stairs and found our

room. It was a bare bones situation of an aging hotel. There sat an ancient

double bed with those fine woven springs of yesteryear that, when

occupied, sagged and assumed the shape of a hammock. Somehow, we

hadnt asked anything about the room and I guess we expected to find two

bunks in the room. We decided that our camp cots would be better, providing

the stern landlady at the desk would permit us to use them in the room. Down

to the desk we went, and Lou, carefully selecting his words, asked if we could

use our camp cots in the room. We thought we might offend her and she

would give us the old heave-ho. It was the only place around and we could

get meals there. Besides, down the hall were facilities that included a shower,

a highly desirable item after tramping around in the sagebrush all day.

Perhaps customers werent too plentiful and she agreed to our proposal, so we

lugged our things upstairs.

The weekends were spent in Elko. We felt luxurious in our modest motel

our employers at that time werent overly generous with per diem and some

even seemed to feel that since you were roughing it, you didnt need much.

This was to change for the better, probably, in the sixties. So we cut a few

corners to make out. Lou and I got together with Ed and laid out our

strategy for the week ahead. On Sunday morning, we always went to a cafe

near downtown and had steak and eggs for our breakfast. Sometimes we

made a safari to the Commercial or the Stockmans Hotel. We liked the fare

at the Star Hotel that served the Basque meals and had some of our meals at

this establishment when we were in town. Bing Crosby owned a ranch in

Elko County at the time, and he and his sons were supposedly in and out of

town that particular summer. The weekends seemed all too short, and, on

Monday mornings, we headed out for the week. We were usually faced with

the 90-mile drive to Mountain City, with the Dinner Station being the only

potential stop along the route.

The time flew, and soon the 60-day detail came to an end. I drove to Reno,

leaving there on the 13th of September and arrived in Escondido on the

14th.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

26

Individuals Involved in the

Nevada Soil Survey Program

from 1938 to 1950

USDA Soil Conservation Service

Barber, H. N.

Better Land Use in the White Pine Soil Conservation District, Nevada

Eckholm, Oke

Soil Survey of the South Fork Purchase Tract, Lee, Nevada

Goff, Arthur M.

Soil Survey of the South Fork Purchase Tract, Lee, Nevada

Graham, Fred U.

Soil Survey of the Walker Indian Reservation, Schurz, Nevada

Holmgren, George

Conservation Planning Surveys, Washoe County, Nevada

Houghton, Haley F.

Soil Survey of the South Fork Purchase Tract, Lee, Nevada

Johnson, Cale C.

Soil Survey of the Virgin Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Soil Survey of the Moapa Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Koch, Edward C.

Soil Survey of the Mason Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Soil Survey of the Carson Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Soil Survey of the Smith Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Langan, Lou N.

Conservation Planning Surveys, Elko County, Nevada

Leifer, Lewis G.

Soil Survey of Bottom Lands of the Meadow Valley Conservation District,

Lincoln County, Nevada

McCormick, John A.

Soil Survey of the Mason Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Soil Survey of the Carson Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Soil Survey of the Smith Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Better Land Use in the Moapa Valley, Nevada

Better Land Use, Fernley, Nevada

Naphan, Ed

Humboldt East (Paradise Valley), Nevada

Conservation Planning Surveys, Elko County, Nevada
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

27

Olds, Clarence R.

Soil Survey of Walker River Indian Reservation, Schurz, Nevada

Pattengale, Paul S.

Soil Survey of Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, Nixon, Washoe County,

Nevada

Soil Survey of Walker River Indian Reservation, Schurz, Nevada

Reveal, Jack L.

Soil Survey of the South Fork Purchase Tract, Lee, Nevada

Smith, Ralph T.

Soil Survey of the Mason Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Soil Survey of the Carson Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Soil Survey of the Smith Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Swenson, John

Conservation Planning Surveys, White Pine and Elko Counties, Nevada

Taylor, William D.

Soil Survey of the Virgin Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Soil Survey of the Moapa Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Soil Survey of the Pahranagat Valley Conservation District, Nevada

Wallace, Atwell M.

Soil Survey of Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, Nixon, Washoe County,

Nevada

Soil Survey of Walker River Indian Reservation, Schurz, Nevada

Soil Survey Technical Support

USDA Soil Conservation Service

Cosby, Stan

Regional Soil Scientist

Berkeley, California

Fox, Henry

State Soil Scientist

Nevada State Office

Roberts, Ray

Soil Correlator

Berkeley, Calif.

Wohletz, Leonard

Berkeley, Calif.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

28

U. S. Department of the Interior

Galloway, Fred

Northeastern Nevada Cooperative Land Use Study

Jacobsen, Chester

Northeastern Nevada Cooperative Land Use Study

Kennedy, Grant M.

Soil Survey of Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, Nixon, Washoe County,

Nevada

Soil Survey of Walker River Indian Reservation, Schurz, Nevada

Conservation Planning Surveys, Elko County, Nevada

Northeastern Nevada Cooperative Land Use Study, Nevada

Orton, Otis L.

Better Land Use in the White Pine Soil Conservation District, Nevada

Northeastern Nevada Cooperative Land Use Study, Nevada

Shipley, Mark

Northeastern Nevada Cooperative Land Use Study

York, Charlie

Northeastern Nevada Cooperative Land Use Study
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

29

The Third Era, 1950 to 1970

Field parties produced many Order 2 soil surveys during this time period. The first

of these detailed surveys was the Las Vegas and Eldorado Valleys Area, which was

completed in 1957. The possibility of developing land for agricultural uses was the

driving force behind starting this survey.

According to Lou Langan, this soil survey had as much utility, if not more, for

engineering potential interpretations as for agricultural land potential. Urban

development placed increased importance on identifying soils with petrocalcic

horizons so that excavation contractors would not lose their shirt planning and

installing pipelines across soils with these hardpans.

Jackhammers were first used in 1955 to dig through the extremely hard, indurated

petrocalcic and duripan horizons. A backhoe was first used in Nevada a year later to

accurately describe soil profiles of soil pits. Ed Naphan and Lou Langan were

instrumental in showing the genetic relationships of petrocalcic horizons, and of

duripans and their separation. Before using this equipment, these layers were

considered equivalent to bedrock. Prior to the late 1970s, Nevada owned and

operated its own backhoe. After that time, ownership policy changed and backhoes

were rented from that time forward.

The Las Vegas and Eldorado Valleys Area Survey explained why homes had been

destroyed because of swelling soils. Salts in the soil became deliquescent at air

temperatures of 41 to 45 degrees F. Upon becoming deliquescent, the salts (sodium

sulfate) in the soils took on 10 molecules of water in the atmosphere. In so doing,

the soil would swell, resulting in a maximum displacement of the house roof as

much as 18 inches, and concrete slab floors rose as much as 3 feet. These swelling

salts were found in the Land Series. The definition of the Salic horizon in taxonomy

started with the Land Series.

Lou Langan was the soil correlator in the Nevada State Office during the latter

1950s. During this time, the third and fourth approximation definitions of soil

taxonomy were being tested. Once or twice a year, Lou would travel to the regional

office in Berkeley, California, as Lou says fully prepared, and meet with Guy

Smith and representatives of other western states to discuss needed criteria for

taxonomic separations. Taxonomic placement problems derived from field mapping

in Nevada, such as soil horizons with high temporary water tables and high in salt,

were proposed and discussed resulting in a salic horizon. A major accomplishment

took place during testing of the third approximation in Berkeley when it was decided

that there would be ten Soil Orders. These defined clear-cut separations between

soils in the eastern part of the country from soils in the western part. A major

accomplishment of the fourth approximation was defining soil families. Soil

temperature regimes were also discussed and defined. Spit and polish of the aquic

soil moisture regime were applied at these sessions, as well. This provided better

representation of the wet soils in Nevada, which are on the dry end of the aquic

spectrum.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

30

The need to recognize very fine and fine textural families came as a result of the

final field review for the Lovelock Area. Guy Smith, Lou Langan, Ed Naphan, Bill

Johnson, Jack McClelland, and George Harper attended this final field review.

Separation of the Humboldt Series and the Ryepatch Series was based on percent

clay in the control section. The Ryepatch Series has in excess of 60 percent clay

and is placed in a very fine family; the Humboldt Series has 40 to 60 percent clay

and is placed in a fine family. Lou is thankful for a molybdenum study conducted

by Joe Kubota. The Lovelock Series, which had been determined by field textural

analysis to be a silt loam, actually had 70 percent clay, much of which was

diatomaceous earth and volcanic ash.

During this time, Ed Naphan was offered a job in Washington, D.C., but declined

and stayed in Nevada as state soil scientist. Lou Langan relates that Ed Naphan did

more for the soil survey program in Nevada than anyone else did. Lou is thankful

for his association with Ed. However, Lou says that when camped in the field, you

did not let Ed cook because, if he did, he would fry garlic and that is what you

would eat. Also, when Ed chose the campsite, he found the highest, rockiest,

driest, windiest place he could find. According to Les McKenzie, Ed said you

needed to do that to keep the mosquitoes away.

Conservation planning surveys were still actively being done until the mid-1950s.

Les McKenzie was involved with this mapping in Elko County. As range

conservationist, Les completed conservation surveys on ranch areas that were

dominated by native range. Les indicates that he mapped at a rate of about 1,500 to

2,000 acres per day. Range condition was established by whether the plant

community was dominated by increasers or decreasers. Some clipping work was

completed to verify range production estimates. It was generally assumed that

there were 4 acres per cow per month (AUM) on a typical sagebrush-grass plant

community. It wasnt until the mid-1950s before range conservationists in Nevada

started to develop range sites.

Les McKenzie remembers, We started identifying range sites and writing up some

kind of description for them in the early 1950s. They had names like Upland

Loam, Stony Claypan, Steep South Facing Slopes, etc., that kind of generally

described their position and maybe the textures of soil they might occur on. The

early site guides were loosely tied to the fractional soil symbols and each had a list

of species we thought might occur in them, together with about how much of each

would be counted toward the condition rating score. It was more of a consensus

thing, developed in a meeting of all the soil scientists, range conservationists, soil

conservationists, work unit conservationists, and others that were working with

them. Later, we started doing clippings to more closely tie them down. The real

scientific approach wasnt started until modern soil surveys, such as Tuscarora

Mountain, were begun.

In the 1960s, water use-planning money became available and Ed Naphan

pursued reconnaissance soil surveys, as the amount of money available was

insufficient to conduct Order 2 soil surveys, said Dr. Fred Peterson. The funds
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

31

that were available for these water-use planning surveys were required to go through

the University of Nevada, and this is the reason I was hired at UNR.

Major field work for the Tuscarora Mountain Soil Survey was completed from 1960

to 1966. According to Eddie Spencer, this survey was one of three pilot surveys in

the United States that was a cooperative effort with the Bureau of Land

Management (BLM). The BLM began evaluating the utility of soil surveys for its

programs in Nevada in 1961. In that year, the Elko District assigned a range

conservationist to work with the SCS soil survey party in the Tuscarora Mountains

to evaluate the correlation of soils with potential vegetation relationships, and to

determine if soil surveys would facilitate the BLM range inventories. The pilot

survey led to the Bureaus policy, issued in November 1964, that soil surveys were

not needed for the Bureaus resource management programs. This policy lasted until

1973 when cooperation with the SCS resumed with an interagency agreement for a

soil survey of part of the Ely District. 4/

4/ Pemerening, James A.; The Soil Survey Program of the Bureau of Land Management Past,

Present and Future; United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management;

October, 1980.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

32

Individuals Involved in the

Nevada Soil Survey Program

from 1950 to 1970

USDA Soil Conservation Service

Alexander, Earl

Reconnaissance Surveys of Railroad and Dixie Valleys, Nevada

Archer, Warren M.

Soil Survey of Diamond Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Tuscarora Mountain Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Fort McDermitt, Part of Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Badura, George

Soil Survey of Surprise Valley-Home Camp Area, California and Nevada

Bagley, Donald G.

Conservation Planning Surveys, Elko County, Nevada

Soil Survey of Virgin River Area, Nevada and Arizona

Soil Survey of Meadow Valley Area, Nevada and Utah

Soil Survey of Surprise Valley-Home Camp Area, California and Nevada

Borup, Harry J.

Soil Survey of Meadow Valley Area, Nevada and Utah

Soil Survey of Carson Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Pahranagat-Penoyer Areas, Nevada

Candland, David M.

Soil Survey of Tuscarora Mountain Area, Nevada

Cole, E.

Soil Survey of Lovelock Area, Nevada

Davis, Elmer

Conservation Planning Surveys, Eureka and White Pine Counties, Nevada

Dimick, Edwin G.

Soil Survey of Tuscarora Mountain Area, Nevada

Dollarhide, William E.

Soil Survey of Fallon-Fernley Area, Nevada
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

33

Downs, Joseph

Soil Survey of Las Vegas Valley Area, Nevada

Endo, A.

Soil Survey of Carson Valley Area, Nevada

Garlick, Glen W.

Soil Survey of Carson Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Tahoe Basin Area, California and Nevada

Soil Survey of Big Smoky Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Virgin River, Area, Nevada and Arizona

Conservation Planning Surveys, White Pine County, Nevada

George, C. J.

Soil Survey of Las Vegas and Eldorado Valleys Area, Nevada

Harper, W. G.

Soil Survey of the University of Nevada Valley Road Farm, Nevada

Kennedy, Grant M.

Soil Survey of Tahoe Basin Area, California and Nevada

Langan, Lou N.

Soil Survey of Las Vegas and Eldorado Valleys Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Pahranagat-Penoyer Areas, Nevada

Soil Survey of Carson Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of the University of Nevada Valley Road Farm, Nevada

Soil Survey of Lovelock Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Fallon-Fernley Area, Nevada

Hawthorne Naval Ammunition Depot, Nevada

Fallon Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Nevada

Conservation Planning Surveys, Mason Valley, Smith Valley, and Truckee Meadows, Nevada

Larsen, Leland I.

Soil Survey of Las Vegas and Eldorado Valleys Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Tahoe Basin Area, California and Nevada

Conservation Planning Surveys, Elko, White Pine, and Humboldt Counties, Nevada

Levitt, Dee

Conservation Planning Surveys, Eureka County

Link, Victor

Conservation Planning Surveys, Elko County
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

34

Malchow, R.

Soil Survey of Surprise Valley-Home Camp Area, California and Nevada

Mayhugh, R.

Soil Survey of Lovelock Area, Nevada

Porter, M. K.

Conservation Planning Surveys, Elko and Humboldt Counties, Nevada

Rogers, John H.

Soil Survey of Carson Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Tahoe Basin Area, California and Nevada

Rooke, Lloyd

Soil Survey of Pahranagat-Penoyer Areas, Nevada

Soil Survey of Diamond Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Las Vegas and Eldorado Valleys Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Meadow Valley Area, Nevada and Utah

Spencer, Eddie L.

Soil Survey of Tuscarora Mountain Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Strong, Richard D.

Soil Survey of Tuscarora Mountain Area, Nevada

Summerfield, Harry B.

Soil Survey of Surprise ValleyHome Camp Area, Nevada

Railroad Valley Area, Nevada

Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada, Central Parts of Eureka, Lander, and Nye

Counties

Townsend, M.

Soil Survey of Carson Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of the University of Nevada Valley Road Farm, Nevada

Railroad Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of FallonFernley Area, Nevada

Wilde, Russel

Soil Survey of Surprise ValleyHome Camp Area, California and Nevada

Soil Survey of Lyon County Area, Nevada

Williams, Les

Soil Survey of Surprise ValleyHome Camp Area, California and Nevada

Yamamoto, Leo

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

35

University of Nevada, Reno

Peterson, Frederick F.

Program Leader, Agricultural Experiment Station

Railroad Valley Area, Nevada

Author, Landforms of the Basin and Range Province Defined for Soil Survey

USDI Bureau of Land Management

Luscher, Charles W.

Soil Survey of Tuscarora Mountain Area, Nevada

Soil Survey Technical Support

USDA Soil Conservation Service

Campsey, Leland, Range Conservationist

Dimick, Ed, Range Conservationist

Halliday, Blaine, Range Conservationist

Harmer, Renee, Secretary (~1956-1985)

Hatch, Sumner, Area Conservationist, Reno

Hugie, Vern, Soil Scientist

Kimsey, Dwight, Range Conservationist

Langan, L. N., Soil Correlator (1950-1969)

Lysne, Luella, Secretary (1956-1986)

McKenzie, Les, Range Conservationist

Mullins, Gene, Range Conservationist

Palmquist, Dale, Backhoe Operator

Passey, Howard, Range Conservationist

Summerfield, Nancy (Harris), Cartographic Technician (1966-1977)

USDI Geological Survey

Morrison, Roger, Geologist

Soil Survey Program Direction and Management

USDA Soil Conservation Service

Naphan, Ed, State Soil Scientist, Nevada State Office
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

36

The Fourth Era, 1970 to 1978

Lasting Friendships

Carole Jett

I will never forget when I first met Lou Langan. It was at Soil Mechanics in

Portland, Oregon, where he was one of the instructors. It was about 1976

and I was a newly promoted GS-7. I was arrogant as hell. Lou really kept

riding me about Nevada and asking me questions in detail about the textural

triangle and aerial photos and blisters and going to the bathroom in the field.

I was, of course, irritated at this. I kept answering his questions and he kept

pressing me until I blew up. When I tore into him, he started laughing like

only Lou could do and said to me, Thats the exact same look you gave me

when I fouled you out of your basketball games at Swope Junior High

School!!! It all came flooding into my memory. When I was in the 8th-12th

grades in Reno, I played basketball. Lou was a very picky referee and I

fouled out more than once. What a surprise to discover this former

acquaintance. We became friends and I never blew up at him again, no

matter how he pressed. What a guy. So I came into the soil survey with a

friend.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

37

Individuals Involved in the

Nevada Soil Survey Program

from 1970 to 1978

USDA Soil Conservation Service

Anderson, Jon (USDA, Student Trainee)

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part

Archer, Warren

Soil Survey of Storey County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Lyon County Area, Nevada

Baumer, Otto W.

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, North Part

Blackburn, Paul W.

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Douglas County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Blake, Edward W.

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part

Candland, David M.

Soil Survey of Carson City Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Douglas County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Big Smoky Valley Area, Nevada

Chadek, Ronald (USDA, Student)

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part

Dollarhide, William E.

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Fallon-Fernley Area, Nevada

Dougherty, Brian

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Duckworth, William

Soil Survey of Lyon County Area, Nevada

DuRousseau, Joseph

Soil Survey of Lyon County Area, Nevada

Fisher, John B.

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

38

Gorham, John (USDA, Student Trainee)

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part

Jett, Carole E.

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part

Larsen, Leland I.

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Leavett, Verr Dee

Soil Survey of Virgin River Area, Nevada

Lunden, Eugene

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Lyon County, Nevada

Mayfield, George

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part

McKay, Thomas R.

Soil Survey of Las Valley Area, Nevada

Mitchell, James

Soil Survey of Lyon County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Carson City Area, Nevada

Slusser, Steve

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Smith, Robert

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Staidl, George J.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Soil Survey of Tuscarora Mountain Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Eureka County, Area, Nevada

Summerfield, Harry

Soil Survey of Surprise ValleyHome Camp Area, California and Nevada

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Humboldt National Forest Area, Nevada, Parts of Elko and White Pine

Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada, Central Parts of Lincoln, Nye and White Pine

Soil Survey of Mineral County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Esmeralda County Area, Nevada
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

39

Woodruff, G.

Soil Survey of Virgin River Area, Nevada

USDA Forest Service

Bare, Norm

River Basin Survey

Private

Cox, Dellon N.

Soil Inventory of Tonopah Range Environmental Impact Statement Area, Nye

County, Nevada

Gibson, T. Scott

Soil Inventory of Tonopah Range Environmental Impact Statement Area, Nye

County, Nevada

Knecht, Arnold

Sevenmile Wash Area, Nye County, Nevada

Monitor Area, Nye County, Nevada

Soil Survey Technical Support

USDA Soil Conservation Service

Arnold, Harlan, Range Conservationist, Eastern and Southern Nevada

Campsey, Leland, Range Conservationist, Northern Nevada

Chamrad, Dean, State Range Conservationist, Nevada State Office

Fitzjames, Barry, Cartographic Technician, Nevada State Office (1977-1979)

Harmer, Renee, Secretary, Elko Field Office (1956-1985)

Kimsey, Dwight, Range Conservationist, Northwestern Nevada (1969-1972)

Lysne, Luella, Secretary, Nevada State Office (1956-1986)

McLain, John, Range Conservationist, Western Nevada

Mullins, Gene, State Range Conservationist, Nevada State Office

Palmquist, Dale, Backhoe Operator

Reil, John, Range Conservationist, Northern Nevada (1967-1978)

Spencer, Eddie L., Soil Correlator, Nevada State Office (1969-1976)

Staidl, George, Soil Correlator, Nevada State Office (1976-1988)

Sterns, (first name unknown) Range Conservationist, Winnemucca Field Office

(1973-1975)
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

40

Summerfield, Nancy (Harris), Cartographic Technician, Nevada State

Office (1966-1977)

Yeager, Bob, Range Conservationist, Western Nevada (1972-1975)

Soil Survey Program Direction and Management

USDA Soil Conservation Service

Bagley, Don, Assistant State Soil Scientist, Nevada State Office

(1950-1976)

Dollarhide, William E., Assistant State Soil Scientist, Nevada State

Office (1976-1990)

Naphan, Ed, State Soil Scientist, Nevada State Office (1950-1984)

Price, Boyd, State Range Conservationist, Nevada State Office

USDI Bureau of Land Management

Evatz, Ed, Chief of Resources, Nevada State Office

Linnel, Lyle, State Soil Scientist, Nevada State Office

Spang, Ed, State Director, Nevada State Office (1975-1986)

USDA Agriculture Research Service

Evans, Ray, State Director, Reno

Young, James, Nevada Range Research, Reno (1970-present)

University of Nevada, Reno

Dunn, Larry, Research

Peterson, F. F., Research

Young, Ralph (1969-1975)
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

41

Working Together

William E. Dollarhide

The 1978 to 2000 era of soil survey in Nevada began with a 1977 court

ruling. The National Cooperative Soil Survey in Nevada was about to make a

drastic shift. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was faced with

gathering soils information on more than 50 million acres in a relatively

short period. This was a major dilemma with many debates as to how to

accomplish this task. At that time, the BLM had no field soil scientists,

relatively few private consultants available, and lots of questions about

bringing in crews for only short periods who were not familiar with the area,

but still requiring quality work from them. The SCS had a history and a

reputation for the quality needed, but there was no history of mapping at a

rate that could get the job done. The initial attempt was through contract,

however, in new country, with new soils, new range sites, and no real

provisions for quality control, things were difficult.

With the next attempts, BLM solicited SCS for the quality control. This again

was difficult, costly, and a learning curve for all, but a glimmer of hope

prevailed. In 1977, Chet Connard, district manager at Winnemucca, hired the

first BLM field soil scientist with the intent of mapping soils. The

negotiations with SCS had been ongoing. If SCS were to do the job, it would

require a great increase in personnel, more vehicles, and equipment. To do

this would require a long-term (10-year) commitment. There was still doubt:

Could SCS map at the rate needed?

Informally, the agencies agreed to use the Lahontan Environmental

Statement Area as a test. It consisted of 2.2 million acres and the data was

needed in 2 years. SCS assigned a range conservationist and two project

leaders to the task, placing three soil scientists on each of their staffs. The

BLM provided a soil survey office, hired a clerk, provided a soil scientist to

work on the crew, and assigned a range conservationist to assist. A new

chapter in cooperation of the National Cooperative Soil Survey had begun.

The Winnemucca BLM District had a crew of soil scientists and a range

conservationist with a project leader working in the Owyhee Desert area.

Crews consisting of various combinations of SCS and BLM soil scientists

and range conservationists were scattered around the state. At a peak point,

The Fifth Era, 1978 to 2000
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

42

SCS had 31 field soil scientists and BLM had 13 soil scientists, supported

by 10 range conservationists between the two agencies, all mapping soils.

With major participation from two disciplines from two agencies, and

without an exact pattern to follow, there were many debates. Sometimes, the

tension was great, but professionalism prevailed, and we all learned from

each other.

During this same period, the Order 3 soil survey was being defined and

tested. The previous low intensity surveys were not meeting management

needs, and soil/site correlations were not consistent. There was a need to

delineate relatively broad landscapes so the survey could be completed in an

economical and rapid fashion. There was a need to

have a hierarchy of landscapes with major

physiographic parts and major landforms to relate

and distinguish map units with each other

throughout a survey area. Component landforms,

landform elements, and slope components were

needed to place each soil component and inclusion

within each map unit and to do it in a consistent

manner. In 1981, Dr. Frederick F. Peterson

published Landforms of the Basin and Range

Province Defined for Soil Survey. This publication provided a

communication link and allowed range specialists to see the landscapes in a

similar manner as soil scientists. It also provided the means for soil

scientists and range specialists to begin to see the relationships of

landforms/soils/plant communities.

To meet the customer needs, it took effort and learning from everyone

involved in the process, and his or her efforts are truly appreciated.

However, without the publication from Dr. Peterson, and the special effort

by Gary Brackley, state range conservationist, NRCS, to learn the soil-plant

(site) relationship and provide the technical leadership to other range

conservationists, the quality of the product would not be what it is today.

There was a need to have a

hierarchy of landscapes with

major physiographic parts

and major landforms to relate

and distinguish map units

with each other throughout a

survey area.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

43

Kamikaze Cow

Warren Archer

One day, as I was driving up a dry wash in the Pine Grove Hills, a cow fell

from the sky, missing my truck by just a few inches. I thought this was

rather strange so I investigated to see if I could find out where the critter

came from. Apparently what had happened was the

hapless cow had been grazing too close to the edge

of a very steep slope. Presumably, the cow got

nervous or excited because it hadnt seen a truck

before, lost its footing, rolled to the edge of the

cliff, and fell over. What an interesting accident

report that would have made had the cows aim been a little better. When I

came back down later on, it was still twitching so I put it out of its misery

with a pick handle. It belonged to Baron Hilton of the Hilton Hotels. Its loss

didnt cause the collapse of his hotel empire.

. . . a cow fell from the sky,

missing my truck by just a

few inches.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

44

The Twilight Zone

Warren Archer

Some days you seem to pass into another dimension. Up until noon, all had

been routine while working on the Conservation Needs Inventory. I had

finished the job I had to do on the Quinn Canyon Range in east central Nevada

and stopped to eat lunch on one of the peaks. I wanted to get back to Tonopah as

quickly as possible to work on the report.

The trip was well over a hundred miles of poor roads to go back the way I

came. Having no map of the area, I decided to navigate by dead reckoning,

taking a road that headed in the right general direction. The road looked good

starting out, but as most unimproved tracks seem to do, it began to get

narrower and less traveled. Ahead of me, there was a steep gravely down

grade that I wouldnt be able to climb out of even with four-wheel-drive

truck. Over I went, committed to whatever lay before me. It wasnt too bad

for the first mile or two, and then the road began to disappear. I had to build

the road as I went, filling gullies, moving rocks, etc. The road finally started

getting better and it eventually broke out of the canyon onto an alluvial fan in

a large valley. Where on Earth was I? The road began veering in the wrong

direction; having no choice I had to follow it. Off in the distance, I could see

a cloud of dust from another vehicle. Good, I thought. Ill soon be able to ask

someone how to get back to Tonopah. When I finally got to the vehicle, it

was a pickup driven by a woman, with six or so dogs in the cab with her and

at least twice that many in back. She stopped and began frantically chasing

the dogs, trying to keep them from running away. She said she was in a hurry,

she had to fix a water trough so her cattle could get a drink. I asked her how

to get back to Tonopah. She asked if I wanted to go the long way or the short

way. The short way would be best, of course, or so I thought.

So, following her directions, another part of this debacle began. It wasnt

long before I noticed some A-6 attack planes flying maneuvers off to the left.

Suddenly, they came right at me and began buzzing

the truck, one right after the other. After awhile,

they tired of their little game and flew away. A short

time later, an F-16 came straight for me about 10

feet off the ground. It about blew my ears off when

it went over! Then, the A-6s were back with their

antics along with some more F-16s. It seems the dog lady neglected to tell

me that the short cut went across the Air Forces Nellis Bombing and

Gunnery Range. They probably thought, Heres a live one. Lets have some

fun.

The dog lady is probably still chuckling.

. . . they came right at me

and began buzzing the truck,

one right after the other.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

45

Stuck in the Mud

Warren Archer

One of the hazards associated with this job is getting ones vehicle stuck in

the mud, sand, snow, or having a mechanical failure. Since we had to drive

off of the road much of the time, dealing with these problems added a little

color to our lives. Many times we would have to walk many miles to get

help if we couldnt extract the truck or fix the problem.

One scenario, in particular, remains in my mind. It happened first thing one

morning in Steptoe Valley, about 30 miles north of Ely. It seems that a layer

of stable soil overlaid a thick layer of saturated lacustrine sediments with no

bearing strength. Without my realizing it, the stable surface soil got

progressively thinner as I traveled down the slope.

Suddenly, all four wheels of the truck broke through the

thin surface at the same time.

After a couple of hours of cutting brush to put under the

wheels, shoveling, and trying to lift the truck with a jack

to no avail, I decided to seek help. I walked to a ranch 4

or 5 miles away and asked to get pulled out. They

agreed and took their truck to the rescue. They didnt get

within 200 yards of my truck before they were in the same predicament. Off

we went back to the ranch for the tractor. The same process was repeated

with it. Again we returned to the ranch to get the Caterpillar tractor this

time. Yes, we got it stuck, too! Finally, we walked back again, got a flat bed

truck, loaded it with chains and railroad ties, and then returned to the scene

of our tribulation. After carrying the ties to the Cat and chaining them to the

tracks, we were able to get it up out of the mud. By laying the ties in front

of the Cat, we were able to pull the other vehicles to solid ground. Upon

leaving the unhappy ranchers with my profuse apologies, I finally returned

to Ely at about 9:00 p.m.

After a couple of hours of

cutting brush to put under the

wheels, shoveling, and trying

to lift the truck with a jack to

no avail, I decided to seek

help.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

46

Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Paul W. Blackburn

My first experience with government vehicles was at the Winnemucca Field

Office when I started as a student trainee. Lee Larsen, the party leader, and I

were going to make a long day trip to the east side of the Bilk Creek

Mountains. The vehicle of the day was an International 4X4 pickup with a

Giddings Augar mounted in the bed. This truck was a gas hog. Lee and I left

Winnemucca with a full tank of gas and two full five gallon gas cans,

thinking this would be plenty of gas to complete our planned trip. The gas

gauge of the truck was on empty while still in the Bilk Creek Mountains so

we emptied the gas cans, completed our days mapping and headed home.

About 3 miles from Winnemucca, the International coasted to a stop. Lee

and I hitched a ride into town where we filled one can and

returned with a friend of Lees to the International. A long

day had finally ended.

While scouting areas to be mapped during the spring of

1980, Terry Bowerman and I learned one of the cardinal

rules of back road travel: Never go down a road you cant

get back up! Terry and I were traveling roads in the Tuscarora Mountains

which were very passable except for the occasional residual snow drift that

covered some of the trails on north or east slopes. I was driving down a road

that was adjacent to a small stream that was full with spring runoff. The

stream, for some reason, had left its natural channel and had captured the

right wheel rut for its new streambed. As this diversion was only for what

appeared to be a short distance, I attempted to straddle the right wheel rut

that contained the stream. This attempt eventually failed as I became mired

in the mud on the right side. As the vehicle was pointed downhill and the

distance left to go before the stream left the road and went back to its

natural channel was not far, neither Terry nor I were too concerned. We went

through the usual inconvenience of digging the vehicle out and were soon

back on dry ground. Our real trouble lay ahead as we could not get back up

the short distance to where we had come from. All roads that were available

to travel from this point on were either washed out or were covered with a

snowdrift. Terry and I finally had no choice but to exit the mountains crosscountry and traverse the flooded meadows at the south end of Independence

Valley. Our mistake had cost us an extra 3 or 4 hours. One other cardinal

rule was learned this day: Never take unnecessary chances late in the day.

Fire was always a problem to be dealt with while in the field. The source of

the fire was the catalytic converter on the field rigs. Each vehicle had its

own level of fire hazard depending on the make of the vehicle, ground

clearance, and location of converter in relation to skid plates protecting the

. . . one of the cardinal rules

of back road travel: Never go

down a road you can’t get

back up!
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

47

transfer case. Other variables consisted of the type of country you were

mapping; whether there was access to roads with no brush or brush with

limited height; whether or not it had been a wet year with good herbaceous

growth; or simply the time of day or year. There were days that would get

bad enough that we had to clean the glowing embers from the area adjacent

to the converter many times a day. Without this diligence, Im sure we

would have started a few range fires.

Twice I have had a nice blazing fire underneath my vehicle while in the

field. The first time I had pulled my vehicle into the wind and stopped to

discuss a mapping concept. Smelling smoke, I made the usual check and

discovered the fire. Informing the passengers that the vehicle was on fire,

they immediately bailed out. Adding to the urgency of the fire was that the

fire had melted the fuel line, which was plastic, and we had dripping gas

adding to the flames. I learned proper use of a fire extinguisher this day,

also. Holding the extinguisher in my left hand I could not pull the pin from

the handle to activate the spray mechanism. I handed the inoperable

extinguisher to Roy Kaiser, the range conservationist and also a volunteer

fireman. Roy quickly pulled the pin and put out the fire. In my excitement, I

had squeezed the handle so tightly that I could not remove the pin. Needless

to say, I felt pretty stupid!

The other fire I extinguished under my field rig was on Connors Pass in

White Pine County. The vehicle I was using this day was notorious for

smelling of smoke due to the muffler that would get coated with oils from

sagebrush and these oils would slowly smoke off. On this particular

occasion, when I smelled smoke, I thought this was just going to be another

smoke-off, but I decided I better stop just as always and make sure.

Fortunately I did, as there was quite a fire going. Most of what was on fire

was very difficult to get at as it was trapped in tight areas adjacent to the

frame. I lay under the vehicle for about an hour and a half digging out the

embers until I was satisfied I would not leave a burning trail the rest of the

way to Ely.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

48

Stranded

Alan Wasner

The summer of 1980 was very hot. Terry Bowerman and I were staying

alone at the camp, but one evening, Terry had not returned. He had spent

that day in the field with Range Conservationist Gary Brackley. Since it was

around 7:30 p.m., I drove out to where they were working as fast as I could

to beat the encroaching darkness. As I drove down one of the large roads

near Tuscarora, I saw a lone figure up ahead in the road. As I approached,

the figure dropped to his knees in the roadway! It was Gary! This did not

bode well and many thoughts went through my mind like, What has

happened? Where is Terry? Are they injured? It turned out that Gary

was fine, just very thirsty. The walk out was longer and hotter than it

appeared, and he had graciously left most of the water with Terry, who had

decided to stay with the truck, knowing I would come to get them. Gary led

me to where Terry was and we all made it back to camp by midnight.

Later one evening, after Soil Scientist Rod Douglass had joined the crew,

both Terry and Rod failed to return to camp. I raced out to where I knew

Terry was working, as he was closest. There was Terrys Jeep standing on its

nose at about a 75-degree angle with its rear wheels five feet off the ground

right in the middle of the road. The road was a typical flat dirt road that

appeared totally dry. But Terry had driven into a spot, where, just below the

dry surface of the soil, a spring had opened up, saturating the substratum.

Terry had driven over this spot many times before. It had come as a rather

abrupt shock when the road had opened up and the truck had plunged

straight down. Terry told me, Put a chain on this and pull me out. I said,

We cant! We have to find Rod before it gets dark! (He was amazed that

two of us would become stuck on the same day.) So, we raced out to where

Rod was - a full hour away in the darkening desert. As we came around a

bend, there was Rods truck with the hood up. The Jeep

J-10 he had was notorious for breaking rotors and Rod

had already used the only spare. We could see where he

had attempted to tape together a replacement. But there

was no sign of Rod. We started driving slowly back the

way we had come, honking the horn, and after about 8

miles, there was Rod in the road. He said, Hey, you

guys drove right by me. I said, How could we do that? He said, Well,

that was because I was so tired, I laid down beside the road to rest and fell

asleep. Fortunately, both of my searches were successful and no one was

hurt.

Another time when Rod did not show up at the designated meeting place,

Terry and I went looking for him. We found him out in the middle of the

We realized the “blue box”

was the bed of his truck

standing perfectly straight up

in the field.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

49

Marys River floodplain standing next to a large blue box. We could not

figure out what this odd box was standing up in the middle of the field until

we got closer. We realized the blue box was the bed of his truck standing

perfectly straight up in the field. Rod had accidentally driven it into a huge

gully that had been camouflaged by tall grass. He wasnt injured but was

very embarrassed.

The only time I really got badly stuck was trying to get into the extreme

northeastern part of Elko County where it meets Idaho and Utah. This area

is very rugged with a lot of streams. The only way I could get into this area

was across a very muddy creek that had very eroded banks. I had to go in

there to map this area so I spent several hours with a shovel working on the

banks so I could get across. But my best-laid plans failed me because when I

tried to cross the stream, I became stuck in the middle with water up to the

windows all the way around the rear half of the truck.

The front end was part way up the far embankment but I

could not get enough traction to get up, and it was just

far enough out of the water to not stall. What I had to do

to get out of this was jack the rear of the vehicle up and

put stones and boards under the rear wheels. This

meant, standing in chest deep mucky water, I had to

reach down and place a large flat piece of plywood under the handyman

jack. We carried wood just for such emergencies. Then I was able to jack the

rear of the vehicle up enough to get stuff under the rear wheels. It was really

hard because the jack was all wet and muddy and kept slipping while I was

behind the truck in the stream, and I had to put the jack at an angle. I had to

be careful. It took almost all day to find and put enough rocks under the rear

wheels to finally get out. But then, of course, I was inside this hard-to-get-to

area, completely covered with mud from head to toe. Im glad no one saw

me. I ended up spending another day working on the mud hole crossing,

diverting water, and draining it. I also spent time trying to find another way

out of there but the two other roads were even worse. To walk out of this

place would have been over a 50-mile trek. I should have waited a few

weeks until things dried out more, but we were so gung-ho in those days,

with large acreage goals, that usually we didnt let ANYTHING stop us. I

ended up spending several workweeks in this area mapping.

While trying to find another way out of this area, I had to skirt around a

large mud hole in the middle of the road by slowly driving through the basin

big sagebrush. I had done this many times and never had a problem; you just

had to take it slow so as not to damage the truck. Well, I hit a stump of

sagebrush just right and it pulled off the right front brake line. I immediately

realized what had happened, as the brakes became mushy. I found a flat

rock and pounded about 6 inches of the brake line flat and then folded it

back on itself to stop the flow of leaking fluid. Then, I put the can of brake

. . . you just had to take it

slow so as not to damage

the truck.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

50

fluid I carried into the system, but it still was not full as I had lost a lot of

fluid. This was not as bad as it sounds as I was in a very powerful truck with

a manual transmission so I could use engine braking. But some of the

mountains were very steep and coming out of there, I had some very tense

moments with mushy brakes. By the time I got back to the office, a 5-hour

drive, the brakes were pretty much gone. When I reached the GSA shop, I

had to stop by just dropping the clutch while in second gear, which made

the GSA mechanic come out and ask if I needed lessons in how to drive a

manual transmission. He calmed down when I explained what had

happened.

Another time, while straddling a deep gully in the middle of the road, I slid

into it with the right side of the vehicle. With a handyman jack, this was

usually a simple problem to fix. However, in this predicament, I had to jack

the vehicle up almost to the top notch on the jack. While I was carefully

putting stones under the jacked up wheel, the truck suddenly fell off the

jack. I was fine, as I always stayed clear of the vehicle in case it fell, but the

jack was gone! It was not under the vehicle. I looked around and, to my

amazement, it was about 12 feet behind me in the road. It had come off the

truck with such force that it had flown right past me and landed in the road.

Once during the monsoon season, we actually had flash floods in Elko

County. Roy Kaiser, Dennis Worrel, and I went out to the main road to find

it missing. A flood had come down a canyon and completely washed the

road away, leaving a gully about 30 feet deep and 100 yards across. Luckily,

the banks were gentle enough and the material solid enough that we just

drove right across this devastated area. But, we did have to chain up all four

wheels and we had Roy drive as he had the most experience driving under

such extreme conditions.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

51

The Wrong Stuff

Warren Archer

We were working on a survey of the mountain range east of Pyramid Lake,

using a helicopter to get around. We came in for a refueling stop, then as we

took off and got up a couple of hundred feet or so, the engine began

popping and the helicopter began shaking violently. The pilot was able to

make a successful forced landing, but the repairs that had to be made came

to about $40,000. It seems that the fuel truck had been given a load of jet

fuel instead of av-gas. Normally we used the Bell Jet Ranger, but we

happened to be using the old model 47 Bell on this particular job, and the

fuel person at Reno Flying Service made a mistake. Bill Dollarhide and his

partner had been stranded up on the hill overnight that night. We found

them the next morning, cold and in bad spirits, but otherwise OK.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

52

Quick Thinking

John L. Swenson

One time we were working up north of the Petan Ranch nearly to the Idaho

border. The pilot of the helicopter picked me up about 3:30 p.m. urging me

to hurry. We flew back to where we had parked the supply truck. It seems

that the pilot had forgotten to bring his pump to refuel the helicopter from

his gasoline barrel. Richard Trenholme, a member of the party, was still out

a considerable distance and the pilot did not have enough fuel in the

helicopter tank to go get him. We were concerned because Richard was

faced with the prospect of spending the night out in the desert. It was early

October and the nights were cold, near freezing. There were three of us at

the helicopter: the pilot, Les Beardall; another crew member; and me.

Fortunately there was a siphon hose in the truck, which we decided we

could use if we could get the truck on high ground with the helicopter below

it. We remembered a road cut down the road a short distance. The pilot flew

to the cut, which fortunately was wide enough to accommodate the rotors.

Then, we got the truck up on the bank above it. We had to waste some

gasoline, as we could not lift the barrel up on the cab of the truck when it

was full. We were all overjoyed when we finally got the siphon going. The

sun was just touching the western horizon when the pilot concluded that he

had enough fuel to go get Richard and still get to our camp at the VN

Ranch.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

53

HelicoptersAn Indispensable Tool

Paul W. Blackburn

In 1978, Dave Candland, the party leader for the Douglas County soil

survey, contracted with Pine Belt Helicopters to complete mapping in areas

of the Pinenut Mountains. To effectively use the helicopter, Dave

established several teams composed of both a range conservationist and a

soil scientist that would be moved from place to place in a leapfrog fashion.

This was my first experience with helicopter soil survey but was definitely

not the last. We also used helicopters to lift us to inaccessible areas of the

Pinenut Mountains and Wellington Hills. The helicopter available for this

was the B1 with the large bubble windshield. This helicopter could only

carry one of us at a time. To gain enough lift to carry us to the top of the

steep east face of the Pinenuts, the pilot would make a series of loops in a

cork screw fashion flying close to the mountain accessing up-slope drafts.

On one occasion, the preselected landing site was heavy with basin big

sagebrush in a small intermountain valley surrounded by Pinyon-Juniper

woodland. To land safely, the pilot directed me to hang my head out the

door and ensure that the tail rotor was clear of the sagebrush as he carefully

landed. Once we were dropped off, we would map our way off of the

mountain winding up at our vehicles that we had spotted earlier in the day.

Since 1980, all surveys in Elko and White Pine Counties at some time used

helicopters to complete mapping in mountainous areas. In northeast

Nevada, September was the month of choice to do helicopter survey, as the

helicopter was finished with the BLM fire contract and the weather in

September is usually clear and calm. Not only was it considered undesirable

to fly in stormy weather, but also, it was rather uncomfortable to wait at a

drop site, which was usually on a ridge top, while a thunderstorm developed

overhead.

When working in Lander County, we engaged in a helicopter survey in

November. While in the field, the weather had changed and the afternoon

was getting rather windy. The helicopter being used was a B1. Since it was

cool, the machine could carry two of us. Karl Scheetz and I were dropped

off on a ridge top where we were to descend a steep north slope and meet

the helicopter at the bottom of a deep canyon. When we met the helicopter

at the bottom, the pilot told us he didnt know if we were going to be able to

get out of the canyon as the winds had picked up considerably. Fortunately,

the pilot lifted off and managed to exit the canyon even though we were

buffeted around quite a bit.

In the early 1980s, most of us either received formal or informal training in

helicopter safety and etiquette, such as getting the nod from the pilot that it
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

54

was either OK to get out of the helicopter or to approach the helicopter at a

drop site. Everyone took these issues seriously and no accidents ever

occurred.

About this time, we were required to wear flight suits, helmets, lace-up

leather boots and all cotton clothing during all flights. I do not always wear

gloves because they inhibited the shuffle of aerial photos that were

necessary to select the next drop site.

Since we were using helicopters to help map the most inaccessible and

remote areas, we would do a lot of preliminary work in advance. Then the

helicopters would get us into those difficult areas to verify what we

predicted would be present. The two crews in Elko were commonly

combined into teams, which maximized the area mapped as well as

minimized downtime for the helicopter. The leapfrog manner of moving the

teams was utilized as before in Douglas County, which proved to be very

efficient.

Exciting times on helicopters for me have included flying in a bird with

no doors; standing at a predetermined spot to guide the pilot back to the

exact spot he had dropped us off so that the tail rotor would clear the basin

big sagebrush found on the landing site; and, last, but not least, assisting

with a power check. While doing helicopter work in White Pine County in

1987, Gary Brackley and I were picked up from the last drop site of the day.

After we were airborne, the pilot handed me a small note pad and pencil and

informed us that he was about to perform a power check. He brought the

machine to a hover several thousand feet off of Steptoe Valley and brought

the torque on the rotors to 100 percent. As he did this, I recorded the

numbers he was reading from the gauges. The test was over quickly and I

handed the note pad back to the pilot. However, it was now stained with

mud from my hand, which was rather sweaty from the anxiety I felt during

the power check.

In their successful attempt to obtain a representative description needed to

establish the Eganroc Series in White Pine County, Ian Reid and Leon Lato

had to exit the helicopter while it hovered over a narrow rock outcrop

ridgetop that was not suitable for landing. Im not sure how or where they

were picked up.

Helicopters were an absolutely indispensable tool for the timely completion

of soil survey mapping of the mountains of Nevada.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

55

Backhoes

Paul W. Blackburn

Backhoes were as indispensable as helicopters to the timely completion of

soil surveys in Nevada. Why? They can dig pits quite rapidly, exposing the

soil profiles so that they can be accurately described to the prescribed

depth. Backhoes were obtained from two sources. These sources were BLM

and the private sector, which included local heavy equipment operators or

local farmers or ranchers. When not tied up for fire season, the BLM

Unimogs were available for our use in the field to dig pits. These machines

had a backhoe attachment that was used to mount a backhoe. This

arrangement was very cost effective as we were using government

equipment supplied to us by BLM. An added benefit was that the machines,

along with the operator who dug the pits, could go back to these holes and

backfill them once we gave the OK to do so. The disadvantage to this

arrangement was that the Unimogs were unavailable for the better part of

the mapping season because of the fire season. When the Unimogs were

unavailable, we resorted to contracting with the private sector, which

usually was a local farmer or rancher who had a backhoe and the means and

willingness to move it and operate it in remote areas.

Of all the operators we had, Marvin Jesson and Bob Burton were the most

dependable and enjoyable to work with. They were very accommodating

with our desires on pit placement, depth, and location even after they had

bounced over miles of dusty road during very hot days or during some

pretty intense thunderstorms. Like helicopters, we utilized backhoes to dig

pits in soils that we already had a pretty good idea what they were from our

small hand dug mapping holes. This maximized efficiency. Using the

backhoe as a mapping tool was discouraged, as it was rather expensive.

There was also the added hazard of muddling series concepts with an

excessive amount of unnecessary detail from too many descriptions.

In about 1983, while working on the Elko Northeast Soil Survey, I arranged

to meet a backhoe operator that we had contracted to do some work in an

area of Shores Siding. I met the operator along Highway 93 where he had

pulled his semi off of the highway. However, as it turns out, he was stuck

and could not pull back onto the highway. It was during the spring and the

shoulder of the highway was muddy. Without any discussion of how best to

handle this situation, the operator climbed into the cab of the backhoe,

started it up and proceeded to maneuver the backhoe sideways on the

trailer. He extended the arm of the backhoe into the northbound lane of
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

56

Highway 93, which sent me scurrying to stop oncoming vehicles. Deftly

using the arm and the front bucket, the operator lowered the backhoe to the

pavement and we went to work.

As interesting as it was to watch this fellow unload the backhoe, he had an

equally hazardous method of loading the backhoe that took place at another

location. To get the backhoe up on the trailer of the semi, this man

employed a ramp fashioned from two tree stumps and two railroad ties. The

stumps were placed equidistant from the end of the trailer and the railroad

ties were placed on top of the stumps and angled against the rear edge of the

trailer. As he attempted the impossible, the backhoe rolled off of the ramp

and landed on its side. This man was smart enough, or he had done it

before, but he stayed in his seat and held onto the steering wheel as the

backhoe hit the ground. This fellow had already lost one leg in some kind of

prior accident.

The only real down side to using backhoes was the time necessary to

accompany them for backfilling operations if you could not get the same

guy who dug the pits. This was very frustrating and, indeed, there are pits

still open today that were never backfilled.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

57

Fearless

Alan Wasner

The crew at this time consisted of Paul Blackburn, Leon Lato, Dave Pickel,

Ian Reid, and me. We were mapping near Currie, Nevada, and Paul got a

backhoe contract with a local rancher. I soon got to meet the ranchs only

hand, a young fellow who was in his twenties. My first experience with him

was when he took the backhoe out to the work site on an ancient flatbed

truck. He had no way to get it off the back of the truck, no ramps or boards,

so he just drove it off the back of the truck promptly tipping it over on its

side. To my surprise, he got it upright and we were able to do our job, for

awhile. Then he ran out of gas and had no reserve. Several times during the

work, he tipped the backhoe over or operated it in an unsafe manner. I

chided him and tried to get him to be more careful, and he did try.

He was a very interesting person and friendly. I found out one time, when I

had to have him sign a statement of the hours he had worked, that he could

not read or write. He looked at the statement for the longest time, studying

it intently. Then he asked me where he was to sign, and I showed him. He

then, with the greatest deliberation, signed a great big X. He had me come

by and meet his girlfriend at the ranch one time. They lived together in a

one-room house made out of railroad ties with a dirt floor and no windows.

I found out that all they had to eat were fish from the alfalfa irrigation

ditches and crab apples from an old tree. I started bringing them food each

week after that. We worked on and off a lot that summer together. I heard he

had later been killed in a train versus car accident in Oregon.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

58

Field Living Accommodations

Paul W. Blackburn

Regardless of when you worked on soil surveys, 80 years ago or today, it

becomes a way of life. Most of us involved in soils mapping in Nevada

have spent the majority of time either camped out in the field or checked

into some motel near the survey area. Camping out on surveys in Elko

County consisted of pulling a BLM supplied travel trailer to some remote

location centered within the area to be mapped. In this respect, life in the

field had not changed that much from Grant Kennedys accounts of field

living arrangements in 1938. Camp trailers were placed in Midas, Currie,

and a few other choice locations, some of which were quite beautiful.

However, most of the time there was a motel, located in some small

community that was not too far from the area to be mapped, for the whole

survey crew. Motel accommodations were preferred as not only could one

get reasonably cleaned up with a hot shower but also there was usually a

restaurant somewhere close to the motel. Having someone cook your meals

was a luxury that was not taken for granted, even when the food selection

and variety were not that good.

Working out of a camp trailer also required an extra time commitment on

weekends. Groceries had to be purchased on Sunday, properly packed and

cooled for the upcoming week. All necessary camping gear, propane for the

trailer, extra gasoline for the vehicle, etc., required a lot of extra time on

Monday mornings. Having to face cooking your own meal after 10 hours in

the field, day after day, week after week, was just not something I looked

forward to doing.

In the summer of 1980, five of us on Terry Bowermans crew dry camped

at the Falls below the outlet of Wilson Reservoir. We were at this location

while we were mapping the Elko County Northwest Soil Survey. We each

used our own camping equipment, if we had any, or some of us, like

myself, just unrolled a sleeping bag and slept in the back of a Jeep

Wagoneer. Other than the good company of the party and the banter around

the evening campfire, this was a miserable summer. Many days were very

hot with temperatures hovering near the 100-degree mark. The ice that we

brought with us to the field was usually melted by Tuesday night or, at best,

Wednesday morning. The water in our canteens and coolers warmed by

Wednesday afternoon. Hot showers were eagerly anticipated by Thursday

morning, as we would head back to town on Thursday afternoon. It was an

absolute treat to stop at Jack Creek Resort on the way home and purchase a

real cup of brewed coffee.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

59

A few people preferred to camp in the field where they ended the day

mapping as they did not like to drive any distance at all back to the trailer or

motel location. This was not an option for me. For the most part, variety and

quality of food served in restaurants at field locations was fair, at best. An

exception to this was summers that we stayed at Wendover while mapping

either Elko Northeast or Elko Southeast. The casinos that provided our

lodging had very good restaurants. Reds Café in Montello, without

question, had the best and coldest beer of any place I have ever stayed.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

60

Man Hunt

Alan Wasner

During the period that the soil survey crew was mapping the Owyhee Desert

and adjacent areas, a large manhunt was in progress. Claude Dallas, a selfstyled mountain man, had murdered two Idaho Fish and Game wardens who

were trying to arrest him for poaching. Claude was well known in these

areas of Nevada. He had vowed not to be taken alive. And here the soil

survey crew was wandering around in the desert in very obvious

government vehicles. Several times, Terry Bowerman and I would spend

time in the evenings, after dark, looking out across the desert with

binoculars, looking for campfires or other signs of Dallas whereabouts. We

were all relieved when he was finally captured. During this period, we spent

time in the small Nevada town of Midas. The crew, Paul Blackburn, Terry

Bowerman, Rod Douglass, and I, stayed behind the Midas bar (where there

were snapshots of many people on the walls, including Claude Dallas) in a

small camp trailer provide by BLM. The town had only one source of

electrical power, an old one-stroke generator. This generator was noisy with

a loud boom boom boom at each stroke of the engine. Wed lie there

in the trailer trying to sleep, listening to that thing until about 10 p.m. when

finally it would shut down for the night. That does not seem too late until you

realize we had to get up at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. and dig holes by hand all day in

the heat.

The summer of 1980 was extremely hot. Paul, Terry, a person who is no

longer in soils named Mike Richter, and I were staying in the Jack Creek

campground of the USDA Forest Service along a perennial stream. We had a

lot of concern about safety during this period of triple digit daytime

temperatures in areas of rigid duripans, skeletal soils, and lots of clay. One

evening, Terry and I became concerned when Paul did not return by 7 p.m.

We were just mounting up to go find him when, thankfully, here he came. I

watched with concern as Paul rolled into camp, got out of the vehicle,

walked around to the back of his Jeep Cherokee, opened the back, pulled

out most of the shovels and equipment, crawled in, and curled up in a ball,

immediately falling fast asleep in the back of the dusty truck. He was

obviously very tired. About 10 p.m., Terry and I were going to go to sleep,

and I was concerned about Paul as he still had his boots on and no blanket

or anything. So I went over and quietly said, Paul? Are you OK? at which

point he woke up, said, Yeah, Im fine. I really didnt want to bother him

so I left him alone. But I watched as he got out a tall cold drink, a can of

corn which he ate, a bunch of Rolaids, took his boots off, and then went

right back to sleep.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

61

Personal Hygiene

Alan Wasner

While mapping Elko County Northwest, Central, Northeast, and Southeast,

as well as White Pine West, I spent a lot of time camping out as did many of

the other soil scientists. We had two crews in Elko during part of this time,

one led by Terry Bowerman and one led by Dennis Worrel. Terrys crew

was the one that camped out while Dennis crew stayed in close enough to

commute.

Camping out was, for the most part, a lot of fun and not a hardship at all.

But cleanliness was difficult. There were so few places with water, and

almost no streams or lakes where you could swim. Often we would swim in

cow ponds of dubious water quality or even take a dip in a water

trough. I only saw one hot spring the entire time I mapped in Elko County

and it was at a rolling boil. We would spend all week working with a pick

and shovel in holes in the ground so by Thursday night it was an

understatement to say we smelled very bad and looked even worse.

During one period, we all had to park our vehicles away from the office due

to lack of parking space, so we would car pool down and back to the trucks.

One time, Terrys field crew just happened to be there at the same time as

Dennis Worrel so we all piled into one truck to drive back to the office.

Dennis started to get in the back and I said, No, Dennis, you want to sit up

front. He assumed I was just being nice because he was a project leader

and I was a new employee. After he got into the vehicle, he turned around

and started to say something like, Gee, thanks Al . . . but that was about

as far as he got. He spent the rest of the trip back to the office hanging out

the window saying, You guys stink!
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

62

Field Crews

John L. Swenson

The crew arrived at the campsite, about 80 miles north of Elko, Nevada,

with their trailer houses ready for a summer of interesting work. Each of the

men brought their wives, no one knowing just what the living conditions

would be. Even though all the married people were past 60 years old, we all

soon learned to cope without any of the modern facilities. Even though the

Owyhee Desert Survey was made under contract with the BLM, the crew

members doing the survey were mainly former Soil Conservation Service

people.

During the final field review, I was given an opportunity to defend my

classification of a soil. I had called it a Natrargid. It had good columnar or

prismatic structure in the upper Argillic, with a pH of about 8.0, and 6 to 8

inches thick. Below this was what I was calling a B3ca horizon. It had clay

films on the peds, a fairly strong blocky structure, very little decrease in

clay, a pH of 9.0 or higher, and exchangeable sodium in excess of 30

percent. My argument was that this horizon was part of the Argillic and

therefore qualified it as a Natric horizon. George Staidl would not have any

part of it. He insisted that even though there were clay films and at least

moderate structure, it was not a part of the Argillic. We had been discussing

this for some time, when I looked around and most of the party was just

standing around looking bored. I suggested that I would drop my claims so

that we could get on with the review and not keep everyone waiting. Upon

which George said, Let them wait. We are going to settle this. In the end,

it went Georges way.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

63

Trials, Tribulations, and Absolution

George Borst

My contribution to soil survey in Nevada was relatively modest, and was

confined to mapping in North Smoky, Ione, and Upper Reese River Valley

under BLM contract awarded to Woodward-Clyde Consultants of Denver.

When I arrived in Eureka, I found Arnold Knecht working with four

Woodward-Clyde laborers trying to develop a legend for the survey of BLM

lands south of Eureka. None of these men had any previous experience in

soil survey and were assigned simply to dig holes for Arnold. They had

spent several months in the area with very little progress.

Rather than contribute further to the confusion, I decided to proceed with

the work in the other three portions of the Woodward-Clyde contract.

Initially, I established a base at Frontier, at the northern end of Smoky

Valley. This was an area of Entisols and weakly developed Aridisols that

formed in sandy alluvium on the valley floor and gently sloping fans of the

Toiyabe Range. These included soil that had weak durinodes which, at that

time, had recently stirred a flurry of excitement in the soil fraternity. Bob

Zimmerman of the Reno SCS State Office was assigned to provide technical

supervision for these surveys and was very helpful to me on many details. I

recall, on one occasion, he showed me a strongly developed argillic horizon

in an Aridisol under a desert pavement of gravels and cobbles that I had

assumed to be no more than bedrocka real surprise to me in central

Nevada!

With the arrival of Thanksgiving and the first flurries of snow, I retreated to

California for the winter, and then returned the following March.

Woodward-Clyde then provided me with a small camper, which I located in

a trailer park in Austin. This was a great improvement over the facilities at

Frontier! John Asktin joined me soon after. John had mapped with me before

and had a good knowledge of soil surveys and taxonomy. This was the time

of the cold war and someone in the Defense Department had developed a

scheme to mount a missile launching system on a large circular track in

Reese Valley. This would extend under the mountains to the east of the

valley that included reservation lands. The local Indians were highly

suspicious of this scheme and had concluded that my soil mapping effort

was involved with this plan. It was only after I had convinced the Chief that

I was not involved in this scheme that the Indians in Reese Valley would

communicate with me.

Shortly after meeting with the Chief, I had the misfortune of losing the

coolant from the radiator of my pickup as I was coming in one evening.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

64

After pulling off the road and contemplating my steaming radiator, an Indian

woman and her young son stopped to offer me help. She had a jug of water

in her car which she kindly poured in my radiator while her son protested,

Mommy, Im thirsty! After she poured in the last of the water, I knew the

Indians had absolved me.

Those were the days of the Sagebrush Rebellion when many of the

ranchers in Reese and Smoky Valley were resentful of the Federal

bureaucracy efforts to control livestock numbers on public lands. It was

therefore difficult to gain access to some private land, but I succeeded in

convincing most of them that I was wholly disinterested in this problem and

that it was in their interest to have good information on the nature and

extent of their soils.

We ate breakfast and packed lunches in our trailer, but we ate most of our

dinners at an eating place on a corner of what had been the leading general

store in Austin, run by Carol Givens, wife of a retired rancher. She served

magnificent meals of prime rib or steaks with a glass of burgundy to wash it

down. We missed these dinners after we moved the trailer to a Forest

Service ranger station in the southern end of Reese Valley, to be nearer to

our survey areas. Mapping proceeded rapidly that spring. As I was about to

wrap up the work and deliver the field sheets and mapping unit descriptions

to Bob Zimmerman, we discovered to our horror that portions of an entire

township included in the Woodward-Clyde contract had been omitted from

the map of the survey furnished us by BLM. To resolve this dilemma, Bob

worked with me over the weekend to extend the delineations into this area.

We were careful not to recognize any additional mapping units in this

township!
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

65

Contribution of the Laboratory to the

Nevada Soil Survey Program

W. D. Nettleton

As far as this young man knows, the first sampling of Nevada soils was by

C.F. Marbut, who sampled a Gray Desert soil about 12 miles south of Ely,

Nevada. The USDA, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils Laboratory at

Beltsville, Maryland, analyzed the samples. This was the only data reported

for the Soils of Nevada in the Atlas of American Agriculture (Marbut,

1935). Nikiforoff included Nevada in his paper on the general trends of the

desert type of soil formation published in 1937, but it was not supported by

soil characterization data. Harper, in his paper on Calcisols in 1957,

included Nevada soils in the field study, but did not include laboratory data

on them.

Laboratory attention increased after the USDA Soil Conservation Service

established the Riverside Soil Survey Laboratory in the early 1950s. By

this time, Eddie Naphan was state soil scientist in Nevada. He saw to it that

his surveyors had the data needed to guide interpretations for irrigation

agriculture. They got the data from the Riverside Soil Survey Laboratory

located on the U. S. Salinity Laboratory grounds at Riverside, California.

George Harper, soil correlator for Nevada and Arizona; Rueben Nelson,

head of the laboratory; and a staff of four were located in an old building at

the foot of Mount Rubidoux.

The staff was small with Cliff Henry and Leo Klameth, who were chemists

like Rueben. Lothair Grant guided sample preparation, did the particle size

analysis, and analyzed for Wakley Black organic carbon and Kjeldahl

nitrogen. George Holmgren, after a brief career as a soil surveyor in

Nevada, joined the Riverside staff as a chemist before transferring to the

Lincoln Soil Survey Laboratory. The laboratory staff all had graduate

degrees and some analytical experience. They had the new laboratory up

and running in a short time. The laboratory and soil survey in general

benefited greatly from the salinity methods and experience gained from

scientists next door at the U. S. Salinity Laboratory.

To sample, after correlation and Washington approval, a couple of members

of the staff would drive out from Riverside. Many discoveries were made.

For example, in analyzing the Fang Soils they had collected in Penoyer

Valley in 1959, they found large quantities of nitrate. Dr. Nelson continued

to search out the distribution of nitrate in Nevada soils throughout the rest

of his career.

Speaking of experience, George Harper had a few. He may be one of the

few soil scientists hired, fired, and later rehired by Charles E. Kellogg. Not
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

66

surprisingly, it was over a difference of opinion about soils. In the interim,

George worked in Central America. George was the Desert Fox. Water is

the daytime drink in desert areas. George kept his supply in the car. Upon

returning to the car for refreshment, he found to his dismay that the canteen

had been contaminated by an oily sardine taste. It seems that no one was off

limits for practical joking in Nevada.

Eddie Naphan was a Berkeley graduate and had a good understanding of the

value of a balanced field and laboratory approach to soil survey. He was

appreciative of the research of Max Springer on the desert pavement and the

geomorphic studies of Roger Morrison on Lake Levels of Ancient Lake

Lahontan and the relationship of these features to soils. The geomorphicsoils relationships were later extended by the thesis work of University of

Illinois graduate students John Hawley and W. E. Wilson. Eddie Naphan

involved Joe Kubota from the U. S. Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory,

Soil Survey Investigations, SCS, USDA at Cornell University, in a study of

selenium and molybdenum toxicities. Eddie also supported study of

mirabolite, the sodium sulfate mineral that was so destructive to some

housing developments in Las Vegas.

The need for background soils data for the development of Soil Taxonomy

sent the Riverside soil scientists to Nevada again and again. Ahead of that

was one of Guy D. Smiths visits. The morning field trip grew long and

noon approached with no restaurant in sight. The great mans comments

grew short. One more stop had been planned. It was at a series of dunes.

They all were relieved when the party leader dug steak and potatoes out of

the sand. Nevada always prepared well!

Dr. Klaus Flach, Benny Brasher, and I were the ones making most of the

trips as Soil Taxonomy developed. Although desert soils were intensively

studied at the Desert Project in New Mexico by field scientists and by the

Lincoln Laboratory, it became apparent that the project lacked examples of

desert soils that were influenced by volcanic ash. Furthermore, though both

states had deserts, the deserts in New Mexico received precipitation in the

summer whereas those in Nevada more commonly received precipitation in

the winter as snow. Klaus Flach and his staff, as a result, provided the data

to characterize soils (xerollic subgroups) that were found suitable for

increasing range production by replacement of sagebrush by crested

wheatgrass. They also did the analysis of soils cemented by silica. This

work was guided by the detailed descriptions of the soils by Lou Langan,

Eddie Spencer, and Eddie Naphan. Eventually, criteria were written to

differentiate between soils cemented by calcite and those cemented by

silica.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

67

The University of Nevada at Reno hired Fred Peterson in the late 1960s

and, in so doing, greatly benefited soil research there. Fred had been part of

the Desert Project in New Mexico and a professor at the University of

California, Riverside, before coming to Reno. One of the first things he did

was to define and illustrate Landforms of the Basin and Range Province

Defined for Soil Survey. Soon, work to obtain moisture and temperature

data on mountains, ranges, and the deserts was also underway. This was

important in a state with few areas having a surplus of water and a great

area of soils having a moisture deficit. Otto Baumer participated in these

studies as he completed his masters degree there at Reno. Fred Peterson

also intensively studied desert A horizon morphology, which in some of its

forms has a very low water infiltration rate. He also brought to Nevada the

orderly system he had helped develop for describing soils cemented by

carbonate. He had a large part in defining orders for soil survey. Above all,

he was a teacher that added much to our problem solving techniques.

I must also mention the impact of Harry Summerfield on the soils program

of Nevada. He was Fred Petersons graduate student and became one of the

leading soil scientists in Nevada. He had a good understanding of plants and

animals as well as of soils. He eventually became part of a team of

scientists working in these three fields of science. It was through his help

that Dewayne Mays and I got to Table Mountain. There the USDA Forest

Service hoped to increase range production enough to support both the

cowherds normally taken there and to also support the elk that hunters

wanted to introduce there. Trouble struck upon our saddling up for the ride

to the mountain. A group of ichthyologists was also leaving for the

mountain. They had a fish shocker on a long pole and expected it to be

carried up the mountain by one of the docile pack mules. Well, that docile

animal was spooked by the long contraption and began bucking and

jumping. The packhorse Harry had loaded with the eggs packed for us then

got involved. Soon the eggs were running down the sides of our packhorse.

Harry was mad! Upon cooling down, he repacked all their train and we

could see that here was a cowboy as well as a scientist.

On the mountain, each of us shared in the food preparation. My part was to

get the fire going in the morning. Those were cold times; some snow fell

while we were there. The tent and sleeping bag were tough to leave in the

morning, but it had to be done. Impatience is dangerous when a fire is slow

to catch. The gas can helped greatly, except for one time. That time, the

stream of gas to the fire served as path for the fire to reach the can. Reacting

to that, I threw the can far across the camp to the sagebrush beyond. Now

that was a good toss, but it did not end the problem. As the can hit the

ground, the fire carried to the bushes setting the can fire free. I quickly

retrieved the can and began on the brush fire. But I was not the only one
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

68

now fighting the fire in the brush. The fiery comet across the opening of the

tent had Harry and Dewayne on the scene now, too. Saddle sore, frightened,

but well fed; camping with Harry was such fun! Down off the mountain

with a little time left, I took Dewayne around to see the Sierras. Table

Mountain, by the way, became part of Dewaynes thesis on Mollisols.

We helped with another thesis study encouraged by Eddie Naphan. This

time it was for Oliver Chadwick from the University of Arizona. It was on

duripans. Olivers major professor was David Hendrix, a careful analyst

with experience in chemistry and mineralogy. We characterized the soils;

they did the mineralogy. They found the cement in duripans to be opal-A

and opal-CT. The covalent nature of monosilicic acid drives it into the soil

matrix where it bonds to soil particles as opal. This is in contrast to calcite,

which as a result of its ionic nature, fills in the pores. Calcite is the more

soluble of the two kinds of minerals, so redissolves and moves deeper in

the soil tending, thus, to leave the opal higher in the profile. The tendency

for opal to occur above carbonate makes recognition of duripans easier in

soils that also contain carbonate.

We were involved with Oliver and George Staidl in a study of a transect of

soils in Lamoille Canyon on the north side of the Ruby Mountains. Besides

adding soil experience, George also identified the plants at the sites. The

study used soil properties to show that over the 150,000 years of the history

of the soils, effective moisture averaged 2 to 4 centimeters per year greater

than at present. During glacial times, effective moisture was 7 to 9

centimeters per year greater. Over the long term, desert loess increased the

water holding capacity of the soils by 25 percent. Drying at the end of the

Pleistocene decreased the depth of leaching by 150 centimeters.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

69

Accelerated Soil Surveys

Paul W. Blackburn

I was introduced to the soil survey party in the summer of 1976 as a student

trainee in Winnemucca, Nevada. The party consisted of Lee Larsen, who

was the party leader; Steve Slusser, who was on detail from his duty station

in Elko; and Jim Mitchell, who was on detail from Yerington. I believe John

Fisher also spent some time on this survey during this summer, as well as

Bob Smith from Elko. It was a fantastic summer as I had the opportunity to

work with several people on the party and learn the ways of a soil scientist

in the field. The area being mapped was the Bilk Creek Mountains and we

were staying at the motel in Denio. During this time, most field parties

consisted of the party leader and maybe one additional soil scientist who

may have been a trainee. This was the case for Dave Candland, in Douglas

County, who was the party until I showed up in the summer of 1977 as a

second year student trainee. In 1978, I began work in Minden for Dave as a

GS-5 entry-level soil scientist. In 1979, we completed the mapping in

Douglas County and I was informed I was going to be transferred to Battle

Mountain, Nevada, because of a realignment of priorities. This realignment

of priorities was fueled by the acceleration of mapping on BLM

administered lands.

Many soil scientist and party leader positions were filled all across the state.

This increase in manpower accelerated the rate of mapping production. I

spent only three months in Battle Mountain and was transferred to one of

the two soil parties located at the Elko Field Office. One of these parties had

been in Elko for some time concentrating their work on the area that would

become the Elko County, Nevada, Central Part Soil Survey. The other party

was new and was assigned to complete mapping in the Elko County,

Nevada, Northwest Part. I was assigned to this crew. There was also a party

leader/quality control position established in Elko at this time to work with

Goodson and Associates who had contracted with BLM to map the Owyhee

Desert. Priorities established by BLM requested that our field mapping

begin in the Wilson Reservoir area and in the Tuscarora Mountains. It was

customary to check with the Bureau and, as much as possible, coordinate

our area of mapping with their priority areas.

In the spring of 1980, the two parties, consisting of 10 soil scientists from

both agencies, moved out of the field office and into BLM provided office

space in the upstairs of the Vitality House, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation

center. Entering this building on the main drag of Elko on Thursday

afternoons, after spending the week dry-camped, created some interesting

community reaction. Quite often, we had to straighten out misconceptions
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

70

of some people, who were unaware of the government office space upstairs

and thought we were entering the building all grubby and dirty after a few

too many drinks.

Approval was given at this time for a 10-hour workday, which everyone was

excited about. The work schedule was from 0630 to 1700 Monday through

Thursday. Being in the office during the winter and early spring made for

some extremely long days, especially since we had to endure the cooking

odors that permeated the building in the morning and midafternoon from

the kitchen that fed the residents of the Vitality House.

Supervisory control of our soil survey office rested with the soil correlators

in the state office as we were removed from local affiliation with the SCS

field office. This management structure slowly eroded over time and we

were eventually recombined and moved back to the field office in 1982.

Progress field reviews that took place during this time seemed to draw

numerous people not only from our agency but also from the BLM.

Everyone wanted a chance to go to the field and find out what the state of

the art was relative to soil series concepts and interpretations as well as

newly identified range sites. Most of the field reviews required long days,

as there were many new series to be reviewed and long distances between

pit locations. George Staidl, the correlator for

this area, was extremely thorough in his

examination of the draft field descriptions

and took every opportunity possible to

provide instruction on the fine points of soil

genesis, formation, and classification. Most days, we did not arrive back

until 8 or 9 p.m. These field reviews were critical, however, as they gave

each of us a chance to observe what other party members had been mapping

which enhanced the consistency of our soil-range correlations. By the

spring of 1985, field operations in the Elko Central, Elko Northwest, and

Elko Northeast Soil Survey areas had been completed. The summer of 1985

saw the initial field review for the last remaining survey area in Elko

County. This survey required only one soil party leader and his party of five

soil scientists. Soil survey work on this area was interrupted in 1987. We

were reassigned to upgrade and remap 3.2 million acres of the Western

White Pine County Soil Survey Area. Corrections to the original mapping of

this survey centered on revisions to soil series and range site concepts and

correlations. Work on the Elko Southeast Soil Survey was recommenced in

the summer of 1988 with the winter of 87/88 and 88/89 utilized for

completion of the Western White Pine draft manuscript.

Everyone wanted a chance to go to

the field . . .
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

71

Field safety had always been a concern with many people scattered over the

half million acres that was typical for a soil survey party to be working on in

the summer. It was customary for each of us to inform others where we

were working so if we did not show in the evening or by the next morning,

someone could launch a search for us. One evening, Dave Pickel had not

shown up at the trailer in Currie by 9:00 p.m. so a search was begun. We

knew Dave was working in Goshute Valley so we divided up into two

vehicles and started our search north from Alternate Highway 93.

Thunderstorms that afternoon had centered on this area and the lakeplain

soils were rather slick. Goshute Valley is a large valley but I never realized

how large until I experienced it on a pitch-black night with a million stars

overhead. We finally located Dave stuck in the mud resulting from a high

intensity thunderstorm. We dug him out and were glad that we could find

someone under these conditions.

By 1992, the soil survey party in Elko had dwindled to a party leader and a

field soil scientist, as mapping in Elko Southeast ground to completion. By

1993, only the party leader left was in Elko completing the manuscript. In

1993, the BLM District Office in Ely decided it was time to recommence

mapping in the White Pine County, Nevada, East Part, so a party leader was

hired by the SCS headquartered in Ely. Gary Medlyn was party leader and

was assigned a trainee field soil scientist. Progressive work was conducted

in this survey area until 1995 when reimbursable funding for the survey area

was terminated.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

72

Making of a Soil Correlator

George J. Staidl

To do this justice, one has to look back over time. From my point of view, it

then becomes an interesting review of the steps taken and events that

transpired on the road toward a career as a soil scientist or, more notably, a

soil correlator. To put it differently, How does one ultimately become a soil

correlator in the formerly called Soil Conservation Service (SCS), now the

Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)? I can imagine it happens

a number of different ways. Each individuals story is uniquely different.

This is my tale.

The making of this soil correlator cannot be devoted entirely to my career in

Nevada. It also involved a number of individuals and circumstances outside

the state that influenced my direction. It started with my first soils course at

the University of Wisconsin resulting in a change of majors from Forestry to

Soils. At that point, interest in soils developed into a challenge and a career

was launched.

Upon graduation in 1963, my first position with SCS was at Woodland,

California, as a soil mapper in the Yolo County Soil Survey Area. This is

where I was to first meet Grant Kennedy. (Where did I hear that name

before, Nevada?) Grant was the area soil scientist at that time. He had a

major influence in improving my technical expertise with the soils in the

area. This was at a time when we were in transition from the 7th

Approximation to Soil Taxonomy. The preliminary criteria to be

incorporated into Soil Taxonomy were available to all soil scientists for

testing. With Grants guidance, identifying, describing, and placement of

soils for the soil survey area was a challenge and unique experience.

To put things in perspective, the soil survey area was in the northern part of

the Sacramento Valley. It encompassed part of the agricultural valley and

annual range of the coast range. Interspersed with my duties were details to

the adjoining Solano County SSA, Suisun Bay portion. This is a marshy

wetland area that provided an opportunity to test proposed Soil Taxonomy

criteria for identification and separation of organic soils. The experience

gained in testing the proposed criteria provided me with ground floor

learning and a challenge to work in new areas.

Transferring to Grass Valley, California, to work in the Nevada County Soil

Survey Area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, allowed me to broaden my

soils background. This was an opportunity to gain experience in climate and

elevation changes of soils and vegetation. The area ranged from the annual

oak-grass zone to mature coniferous forests along with a multitude of
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

73

landscape and geologic changes. During my 5 years in California, I am

indebted to the patient guidance provided by many well-qualified soil

conservationists, engineers, range conservationists, and foresters. They

influenced my development and appreciation for soil-plant-animal

interrelationships.

The fall of 1968 found me in Battle Mountain, Nevada, as a soil survey

party leader for the Lander County Area. By this time, I thought I knew it

all, at least until I brought up the first bucket auger of soil in a greasewood

flat. Not sure what I was looking at, I continued on to a shadscale

community. Same problem, but a different soil. Frustration set in as I went

back to the preliminary criteria for classifying soils. To make matters worse,

I had no idea what the plants were in the area. I just knew they were

different. E. A. (Ed) Naphan, state soil scientist, let me flounder around for

a couple of months before he sent help. At the time, I did not appreciate his

methods, but, in retrospect, it was one of the best things he ever did for me.

Ed had a way of bringing the best out of you.

Ultimately, Eddie Spencer, state soil correlator, was sent to bring me

around. Eddie went over and clarified a number of items dealing with

Aridisols, Entisols, and Inceptisols. Then, it was off to the field. We first

stopped at a borrow pit to examine a desert soil profile. Field examination

revealed a number of cylindrical and round looking things. Eddie said, The

dog-dropping-looking things are durinodes. On comes the light, a lesson

never forgotten. This event was to follow me, as I was called Mr.

Durinode by some colleagues for my ability to find durinodes in various

soil profiles. Eddie also provided a lesson in determining the various

degrees of silica pan cementation. It was a good week and finally set me on

the right path.

Leland Campsey and John Riel, range conservationists, arrived shortly

thereafter to help put me on track with desert plant identification and

Nevada range site concepts. Great Basin Landforms was being developed

by F. F. (Fred) Peterson, at the University of Nevada, Reno. I was fortunate

to work with him a number of times over the years. This allowed me to

incorporate his suggestions and concepts into the soil mapping process.

These concepts were to be one of the final keys to consistency in mapping

Nevada soils.

Transferring to Elko, Nevada, five years later brought on new challenges.

The area was totally different. It is comprised mainly of various sagebrush

and woodland plant communities along with different kinds of landforms.

Trying to figure out the soils, vegetation, geomorphic, and climatic

relationships was quite interesting.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

74

During this time, Steve Slusser and I were detailed to the pine forest part of

Humboldt County. This allowed the two of us to apply our knowledge to a

mix of different landform and vegetative communities.

Not to be outdone by the old timers in soil survey, we would leave the

office on Monday and return on Friday. We camped out at predetermined

locations at the end of the day. One moonlit night, we were awakened by a

flock of bats circling overhead. Fearing a potential rabid bat, we beat a

hasty retreat to the trucks for the remainder of the night.

My promotion to soil correlator occurred in 1978 and I continued in that

position until 1988 when I was assigned to the National Soil-Range Team.

About this time, the Bureau of Land Management was gearing up for soil

survey on public lands. The Nevada SCS Soil Survey Program was to play a

lead role, in addition to our ongoing soil surveys. The workload increased,

but the opportunity to work in almost all parts of the state was exciting.

During my tenure as soil correlator, the one feature I felt most positive

about was the maintenance and refinement of our soil-vegetation-landformclimate concepts. These concepts brought consistency to the soil mapping

process between individuals and across state or soil survey area boundaries.

There are a number of interesting experiences that I recall as a soil

correlator and will share a few with you. One time on a field review in the

Las Vegas area, we were field checking a soil type location. This soil had an

extremely hard and thick petrocalcic horizon. The area was undergoing

development for subdivision. A large crane was dropping a steel ball onto

the petrocalcica horizon exposed in a trench. Continuous pounding was

breaking the petrocalcic horizon into fragments. All I could think of was

something an engineer once said, Given enough time and money, you can

manipulate a soil into anything you want. It is just a matter of economics.

Another time, we were on a field review in northern Elko County. It was a

long trip back to Elko and there was one more soil to examine, as it was a

new soil series. Being late in the day and not wanting to make another the

trip back, we decided to finish the job at hand before heading back.

Everything went well until it was time to check soil colors. By this time, it

was getting a little dark, so the only alternative was to use the truck

headlights to check the colors. Needless to say, I know a soil correlator that

was the butt of a joke for some time.

Helicopters were commonly used on BLM soil surveys and were a boom to

a soil correlator. This is especially so during field reviews and spot checks

of soil mapping. That is, it was fun until a two seat Bell B2 that was flying a

couple of folks the day before I was to fly encountered a problem. It seems
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

75

the helicopter managed to lift about 25 feet when the supercharger quit,

dropping passengers and machine back to the ground. No harm was done to

man or machine, but hearing about the encounter, I was a little apprehensive

after that.

Another time, on a field review in eastern Humboldt County, we stopped at

a soil type location that was coarse-silty and contained durinodes.

Everything was dry and dusty. It happened that there were two, new soil

scientists in the soil pit with me. We were bent over looking at some

durinodes when a clod of soil fell into the pit creating a cloud of dust. We

came up choking and covered with dust.

Last, but not least, this tale probably sums up what it takes to make a soil

correlator. We were completing some soil mapping spot checks in eastern

Elko County. As we drove along the trail, I was holding the soil maps and

the identification legend trying to keep track of mapping as we went. Finally

I spotted something that did not look right and asked the driver to stop. This

got the best of Al Wasner, one of the soil survey party members. He asked,

You have never been here before so how did you know when to stop and

what soil should be here? I replied, If you have a strong interest and a

good handle on soil, vegetation, climate, geomorphic, and landform

concepts, everything comes together and its easy to spot discrepancies.

That means  learn all you can from each discipline and then its just a

matter of putting all the pieces together.

In retrospect, if one had to do it all over again, I would do it again with very

few minor adjustments. This was an exciting time in my life, full of

challenge, and a tremendous opportunity to make good friends and work

with some of the best professional soil scientists available.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

76

Discovery

Douglas J. Merkler

The slightest hint of a wind began to flow up the canyon as the cold morning

air began to warm against the black rock in the late morning sunlight. Ed

Naphan walked to the edge of the narrow canyon, breathed deeply, turned to

me and said, You can almost feel the primordial winds blowing through

this canyon. And then he laughed, lit his

cigarette, and walked with me the 40 or 50 feet

back toward the others gathered around the

shallow soil pit carefully dug on that cobbly

basalt flow. It was 1979 and a preliminary

review of the 2.2 million-acre Lahontan

Environmental Statement area in the Sehoo Mountains southeast of Fallon,

Nevada, was underway. I do not believe I understood then what Ed had

intended with his comment. I do not believe any of us, except for Ed,

understood the adventure we were about to embark on, discovering and

describing soils and vegetation in Nevada.

To meet the demanding objectives required in the newly contracted Order 3

soil surveys, a philosophy that soils should vary in association with

landscapes, and that soil components could be distinguished in the same

manner as climatic and vegetative components as they relate to the

landscape, was promoted. Each region, valley, or mountain range contains a

variety of soils, many of which are also encountered in other regions, but the

distribution of soils will follow a definite repeatable pattern. This concept

was important from both a theoretical and a practical point of view.

Theoretically, soil distribution is often the key to answering many questions

about soil formation. From a practical viewpoint, it is difficult and costly to

prepare detailed maps of soil locations, which can vary in short distances; a

practical tool was needed. Having studied under Dr. Fred Peterson in Reno,

who had been working on his Landforms of the Basin and Range Province

Defined for Soil Survey, it seemed hard to imagine one might take any other

course of action. Freds concepts were put into use even before his work

was published in 1981. The seventh approximation of Soil Taxonomy had

been published in a hardbound book and was in general use providing a

solid taxonomic foundation. It was not until much later that I began to

realize what a wonderful foundation this unique set of circumstances had

provided all of us as we began what would become a career full of discovery

in Nevada.

William Bryant Logan comments in his book, Dirt, The Ecstatic Skin of the

Earth, Horizons are what make some people become soil scientists. They

are that lovely. To describe a variety of soils and their profiles is to begin a

process of developing a vocabulary, not of words or taxonomic categories,

Ed Naphan . . . said, “You can

almost feel the primordial winds

blowing through this canyon.”
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

77

but of fundamental relationships in nature. Hans Jenny has been quoted as

saying, A soil is a body in nature. The opportunity to describe a new

body in nature is not only a scientific privilege; in Nevada, it has been a

requirement. Nevada has been, quite literally, the proving ground for many

areas of soil classification. A flurry of new series concepts began to emerge,

as the complexity of the Great Basin became apparent and observed. It must

have been a similar situation for the biologists during the turn of the 20th

century when C. Hart Merriam sent forth his army of biologists for a

biogeographical reconnaissance of the western United States.

A certain amount of pride develops as one describes the horizons of a soil

where the pebbles on the surface have been staring at the stars long enough

to watch the cycles of precession pass like days, and realize that this is an

undiscovered natural body that you will have to name. You can almost feel

that primordial wind blowing.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

78

Individuals Involved in the

Nevada Soil Survey Program

from 1978 to 2000

Soil Conservation Service/Natural Resources

Conservation Service

Archer, Warren

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, Central Part

Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, Nevada

Yomba Indian Reservation, Nevada

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada

Baumer, Otto

Soil Survey of Washoe County Area, Nevada, South Part

Berogan, Terry

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Blackburn, Paul W.

Soil Survey of Northwest Elko County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of White Pine County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Blake, Edward W.

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Mineral County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, North Part

Great Basin National Park, Nevada

Hawthorne Army Ammunition Plant, Nevada

Borchard, Steve

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Borup, Harry J.

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Southwest Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

79

Bowerman, Terry S.

Soil Survey of Northwest Elko County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Elko County Nevada Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Humboldt County Nevada, East Part

Bowles, Terry

Soil Survey of Pershing County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Pershing County, Nevada, West Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Burlingame, Harold V.

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Candland, David M.

Soil Survey of Storey County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Douglas County Area, Nevada

Christenson, Delbert

Soil Survey of Esmeralda County Area, Nevada

Cleary, Dennis

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Craigg, Terry

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Dahl, Rod

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Davis, Mark

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Northwest Elko County Area, Nevada,

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Denny, David

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of North Lincoln County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Clark County, Nevada

Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada, Central, Parts of Eureka, Lander, and Nye

Counties
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

80

Douglass, Roderick W., Jr.

Soil Survey of Northwest Elko County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

DuRousseau, Joseph

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Esmeralda County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Dyer, Steve

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Eklund, Richard C.

Soil Survey of Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Idaho and Nevada

Fenn, Ed

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada

Fisher, John B.

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Esmeralda County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada, Central, Parts of Eureka, Lander, and Nye

Counties

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part

Foster, Richard A.

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada

Owyhee Desert Area, Nevada

Gary, Shawn

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada

Gondek, Michael A.

Soil Survey of Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Idaho and Nevada

Haberer, John

Soil Survey of Lincoln County Area, Nevada, North Part

Hahn, Thomas W.

Soil Survey of Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Idaho and Nevada

Hall, Leroy

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Harding, Cathy

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

81

Hardman, Jonathon

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada, Central, Parts of Eureka, Lander, and Nye

Counties

Harrington, Keith

Soil Survey of Clark County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Hasty, Carl M.

Soil Survey of Central Washoe Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Mineral County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Hawke, Duane

Storey County Area, Nevada

Jensen, Mark

Humboldt National Forest Area, Nevada, Parts of Elko and White Pine

Counties

Jett, Carole E.

Soil Survey of Central Washoe Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Kaiser, Deborah L.

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Keller, Pamela L.

Soil Survey of Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Idaho and Nevada

Kinlichee, Filbert

Soil Survey of Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Idaho and Nevada

Langersmith, Karen R.

Soil Survey of Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Idaho and Nevada

Larsen, Leland I.

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Lato, Leon L.

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Soil Survey of White Pine County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Clark County Area, Nevada
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

82

Lavalle, Paul

White Pine County, Nevada, East Part

Lentz, Roderick

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part

Leonard, Charles

Soil Survey of Central Washoe Area, Nevada

Lindsay, Bruce A.

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, North Part

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part

Lugo, Jorge

Soil Survey of Clark County Area, Nevada

Matsuura, Albert

Soil Survey of Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Idaho and Nevada

McCluskey, Joe

Western White Pine County, Nevada

McKay, Thomas R.

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Esmeralda County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Mineral County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Churchill County, Area, Nevada

Medlyn, Gary

Soil Survey of White Pine County, Nevada, East Part

Merkler, Douglas J.

Soil Survey of Mineral County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Lincoln County Area, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Lincoln County Area, Nevada, North Part

Soil Survey of Washoe Area, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada

Soil Survey of Churchill County, Nevada

Soil Survey of Clark County, Nevada

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Miller, L. (Student)

Soil Survey of Washoe Central, Nevada

Mitchell, Wayburn

Soil Survey of White Pine County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

83

Nesser, John

Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Neubeiser, Michael J.

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Niebur, Scott

Soil Survey of Lincoln County Area, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Lincoln County Area, Nevada, North Part

Ott, Sally

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Peterson, Michael L.

Soil Survey of Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Idaho and Nevada

Pickel, H. David

Soil Survey of Northwest Elko County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Pickett, Robert

Soil Survey of Big Smoky Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Raushwalbe, Frank

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Reid, Ian

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada

Great Basin National Park, Nevada

Hawthorne Army Ammunition Plant, Nevada

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Richter, Mike

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Rolfes, George A. (Tony)

Soil Survey of Esmeralda County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Ruegger, Jay

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Southwest Part and South Part

Savage, Pat

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

84

Shearer, John

Student Trainee

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County, Nevada

Slusser, Steve

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, North Part

Smith, Tom

Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Spear, James F.

Soil Survey of Central Washoe Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Mineral County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Speck, Robert L.

Soil Survey of Las Vegas Valley Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Clark County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Southwest Part

Staidl, George

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Clark County Area, Nevada

Strickler, Barry J.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Sucik, Mike

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Swearingen, Charlie

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, Central Part

Tallyn, Ed

Soil Survey of White Pine County Area, Nevada

Turner, Georgia L.

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Van Der Noordaa, Hans

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Villareal, Oscar

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Wasner, Alan R.

Soil Survey of Northwest Elko County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northeast Part
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

85

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada

Weyrauch, Reina

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Wenderoth, Jack

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada,

Wilson, Randy

Soil Survey of Lincoln County Area, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Southwest Part

Worrel, Dennis W.

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Central Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Private

Asktin, John

Upper Reese River Area, Nye County, Nevada

Ione Area, Nye County, Nevada

Beardall, Les

Owyhee Desert Area, Nevada

Bloom, P.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

Bocart, John

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada

Bower, Jim

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada

Borst, George

Upper Reese River Area, Nye County, Nevada

Brodahl, M.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

Chadwick, Oliver

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada

Dechert, Tom

Soil Survey of Eureka County, Nevada
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

86

Ebon, B.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Elnagger, H.

Owyhee Desert Area, Nevada

Gibbs, George

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada

Gilbertson, G.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Guernsey, Carl

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada

Hahn, Jeff

Owyhee Desert Area, Nevada

Irvine, Jim

Owyhee Desert Area, Nevada

Keetch, Wesley C.

Owyhee Desert Area, Nevada

Knecht, Arnold

Upper Reese River Area, Nye County, Nevada

Knox, Ellis

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada

Lovell, Burrel

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Lander County Nevada, South Part

Maggio, Gary

Sevenmile Wash Area, Nye County, Nevada

Monitor Area, Nye County, Nevada

McCleod, E.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

McMullen, E.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Nielson, Woodrow

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

87

Norgren, Joel

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada

Parsons, Orville

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

Perkis, B.

Soil Survey of Lander County Area, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Eureka County, Nevada

Sabata, Larry

Sevenmile Wash Area, Nye County, Nevada

Simonson, Conrad

Sevenmile Wash Area, Nye County, Nevada

Monitor Area, Nye County, Nevada

Smith, Peter

Sevenmile Wash Area, Nye County, Nevada

Upper Reese River, Nye County, Nevada

Monitor Area, Nye County, Nevada

Ione Area, Nye County, Nevada

Stoneman, Dean L.

Soil Inventory of Tonopah Range Environmental Impact Statement Area,

Nye County, Nevada

Stout, David

Sevenmile Wash Area, Nye County, Nevada

Monitor Area, Nye County, Nevada

Swenson, John

Owyhee Desert Area, Nevada

Thatcher, Bert

Owyhee Desert Area, Nevada

Trenholme, Richard

Owyhee Desert Area, Nevada

Walters, Alan

Monitor Area, Nye County, Nevada

Wells, R.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part

Williams, M.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

88

USDI Bureau of Land Management

Breitrick, John

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County, Nevada,

Buck, Don

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part

Bybee, Cris Ann

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of White Pine County Area, Nevada, East Part

David, Jim

Soil Survey of White Pine County, Nevada, East Part

Delaureal, James

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Haalck, Janet

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Pershing County, Nevada, East Part

Harkenrider, D.

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, North Part

Hopper, Robert

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Jackson, Michael T.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Soil Survey of Northwest Elko County Area, Nevada

Jossie, Don

Soil Survey of Pershing County, Nevada, West Part

Soil Survey of Pershing County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Kenny, Bruce

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Kiracofe, Steve

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Krist, Wade

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Southwest Part
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

89

Largent, Merrill

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County, Nevada

Mellington, Steven

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Soil Survey of Northwest Elko County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of White Pine County Area, Nevada

Miller, Ken

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

OLeary, Kevin

Southwest Nye County, Nevada, Southwest Part

Pearson, Ron

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Ruegger, Jay

Soil Survey of White Pine County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County, Nevada

Seagraves, Clarence

Soil Survey of Pershing County, Nevada, West Part

Ypsilantis, Bill

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Zielinski, Michael J.

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part

Soil Survey of Northwest Elko County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Pershing County, Nevada, West Part

Soil Survey of Pershing County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

USDA Forest Service

Bare, Scott

Humboldt National Forest, Nevada

Molyneaux, Blaine

Humboldt National Forest, Nevada, Parts of Elko and White Pine

Murry, Don

Humboldt National Forest, Nevada, Parts of Elko and White Pine Counties

Summerfield, Harry

Mineral County Area-Esmeralda County Area, Nevada
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

90

Soil Survey Technical Support

USDA Soil Conservation Service/Natural Resources Conservation Service

Allen, Robert

Range Conservationist

SCS/BLM Liaison Statewide

Arnold, Harlan

Range Conservationist

Eastern Nevada

Barmore, Russel

State Soil Correlator

Nevada State Office (1988-1995)

Barrett, Hugh

Range Conservationist

Western Nevada

Boltz, Stanley

Range Conservationist

Western Nevada

Brackley, Gary

Range Conservationist

State Range Conservationist (1984-

present)

Carlin, Diane

Clerk/Typist

Nevada State Office (1984-1987)

Chiaretti, Joseph

Data Quality Specialist

MLRA State Office

Dollarhide, William E.

Assistant State Soil Scientist

Nevada State Office (1976-1990)

Doughty, Jim

State Range Conservationist

Nevada State Office (1978-1994)

Durham, Gail

Range Conservationist

Western and Central Nevada

Gerhart, Kristin

GIS Specialist

Nevada State Office

Harmer, Renee

Secretary

Elko Field Office (1956-1985)

Hatzler, Robert

Range Conservationist

Hoffmann, Debbie

Range Conservationist

Western and Central Nevada

Kaiser, Roy

Range Conservationist

Northeastern and Eastern Nevada

Kaffer, Dan

Range Conservationist

Elko County

Kelly, Randy

Range Conservationist

Northeastern and Southern Nevada

Larocco, Jack

Range Conservationist

Lopez, Rigo

Range Conservationist

Northeastern Nevada

Lunsford, Norma

Clerk/Typist

Nevada State Office (1978-1991)

Lysne, Luella

Clerk/Typist

Nevada State Office (1970-1985)

McKay, Tom

Assistant State Soil Scientist

Nevada State Office (1991-present)

Metscher, Valerie

Range Conservationist

Miller, Sandy

Cartographic Technician

Nevada State Office (1983-1985)

Monroe, Gary

Soil Scientist/Database Manager

Nevada State Office (1978-1992)

Morris, Anne

Technical Assistant

Nevada State Office (1991-1997)

Murphy, Tim

Range Conservationist

Nesmith, Harvey

Range Conservationist

ODonnell, William

Range Conservationist

Pointel, M.

Range Conservationist

Polk, Dave

Range Conservationist

Southern and Eastern Nevada

Powell, Roy

Walker River Indian Reservation

Plummer, Craig

Range Conservationist

White Pine County

Price, Boyd

State Range Conservationist
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

91

Rathbun, Floyd

Range Conservationist

Sadler, Kurt

Range Conservationist

Elko County

Santos, Rose

Cartographic Technician

Nevada State Office (1979-present)

Saulisberry, Chuck

Range Conservationist

BLM/SCS Liaison

Sealy, T.

Range Conservationist

Sillitoe, Bruce

Range Conservationist

Smith, William

Range Conservationist

Swanson, Dave

Range Conservationist

Wadman, Keith

Range Conservationist

Walker, Steve

Range Conservationist

Weekley, Janine

Editorial Assistant

Nevada State Office (1991-present)

Williams, Erasmus

Range Conservationist

Yeager, Bob

Range Conservationist

Western Nevada

Zimmerman, Bob

State Soil Correlator

Nevada State Office (1979-1985)

USDI Bureau of Land Management

Allard, Philip

Soil Scientist

Las Vegas District (1980)

Barnes, J.

Range Conservationist

Benson, Richard

Range Conservationist

Bodman, Corey

Soil Scientist

Bolton, Bob

Range Conservationist

Elko District

Carlton, Claudia

Soil Scientist

Las Vegas District (1980)

Combs, T.

Range Conservationist

Corey, Carl

Range Conservationist

Colvin, J.

Range Conservationist

Driver, T.

Range Conservationist

Las Vegas

Dyles, R.

Range Conservationist

Gardeto, Jeff

Range Conservationist

Elko District

Garner, Eddie

Soil Scientist

Clark County District

Hardy, R.

Range Conservationist

Kastner, K.

Range Conservationist

Lane, Cheryl

Soil Scientist

Battle Mountain District (1980)

Leonard, Steve

Range Conservationist

Nevada State Office

Leonard, Chuck

Soil Scientist

Battle Mountain

Licata, G.

Range Conservationist

Battle Mountain

Marchio, Carol

Elko District

Main, Mike

Range Conservationist

Ely District

Mayer, C.

Range Conservationist

Mayo, Eddie

Range Conservationist
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

92

McKinlay, Calvin

Soil Scientist

Winnemucca District

Mitchel, Mike

Resources Chief

Battle Mountain District

Nickols, R.

Range Conservationist

Norman, Jack

Soil Scientist

Ely District

OHaver, Brent

Oke, Clint

Range Conservationist

Battle Mountain

Phieffer, J.

Range Conservationist

Potts, David J.

Soil Scientist,

Battle Mountain District (1980)

Rhodes, Trudy

Soil Scientist

Schuler, Rick

Range Conservationist

Carson City

Sayre, R.

Range Conservationist

Schultz, B.

Range Conservationist

Scheetz, Karl

Range Conservationist

Stager, Bob

Range Conservationist

Nevada State Office

Steinmetz, Jeff

Range Conservationist

Elko District

Uchida, Alan

Range Conservationist

Van Derpuy

Wingate, George

Susanville District

Wright, C.

Range Conservationist

USDA Forest Service

Collins, Tom

Regional Office

Farley, Sue

Soil Scientist

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

Ely (1997-present)

Johnson, Kimberly

Soil Correlator

Regional Office

Ragus, Jerry

Soil Correlator

Regional Office

Zamudio, Desi

Soil Scientist

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

(1989-present)

Private

Luebs, Dr. Ralph

Editor
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

93

Soil Survey Program Direction and Management

USDA Soil Conservation Service/Natural Resources Conservation Service

USDI Bureau of Land Management

USDI Bureau of Indian Affairs

Randall, Evert

NRCS, National Soil Survey Lab

Aman, Al

Denver Service Center

Cleary, Rex

District Manager

Susanville District

Connard, Chet

District Manager

Winnemucca District

Calhoun, Tommy

State Soil Scientist

Nevada (1984-1986)

Dollarhide, William E.

State Soil Scientist

Nevada (1991-present)

Naphan, Ed

State Soil Scientist

Nevada (1950-1984)

Rogers, Jack

State Soil Scientist

Nevada (1986-1990)

Evatz, Ed

Resources Chief

Nevada

Foxx, Jim

Hagihara, James

Denver Service Center

Harmon, Jerry

State Soil Scientist

Reno (1979-1985)

Linnel, Lyle

State Soil Scientist

Nevada (1976-1979)

McLaughlin, Jim

State Soil Scientist

Nevada (1985-1995)

Baumer, Otto

Soil Characterization Sampling

   and Interpretation of the Data

Brasher, B. R.

Soil Characterization Sampling

   and Interpretation of the Data

Flach, Klaus

Soil Characterization-Development

of Taxonomy

Grossman, Bob

Soil CharacterizationInterpretation of Data-Temporal

Soil Properties

Kubota, Joe

Soil Nitrate and Heavy Metal

Studies

Mays, Dewayne

Soil Characterization SamplingInterpretation of the Data

Mausbach, Maurice J.

Soil Characterization SamplingInterpretation of the Data

Nettleton, W. D.

Soil Characterization SamplingInterpretation of Data

Nelson, Rueben

Soil Nitrate Studies
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

94

Contributing Authors

Warren Archer

29 S. Eastmoor Dr.

Grantsville, UT 84029

(435) 884-6590

Arch@trilobyte.net

Paul W. Blackburn

NRCS

2002 Idaho St.

Elko, NV 89801

(775) 738-8431

Paul.Blackburn@nv.usda.gov

George Borst

2322 Brooke Road

Fallbrook, CA 92028

(760) 728-6295

William E. Dollarhide

NRCS

5301 Longley Lane

Building F. Suite 201

Reno, NV 89511

(775) 784-5875

Bill.Dollarhide@nv.usda.gov

Carole Jett

NRCS

P.O. Box 2890

Washington, DC 20013

(202) 720-6580

Jettwoman@aol.com

Grant Kennedy

1316 LaSierra Dr.

Sacramento, CA 95864

(916) 482-6887

Les McKenzie

531 Bond Dr.

Spring Creek, NV

(775) 738-9165

Htt@sierra.net

W. D. Nettleton

NRCS National Soil Survey Center

Federal Bldg., Room 152

100 Centennial Mall North

Lincoln, NE 68508-3866

Dr. Fred Peterson

1430 Peavine Rd.

Reno, NV 89503

(775) 747-2364

Ffpeters@scs.unr.edu

George Staidl

P.O. Box 972

Pinedale, WY 82941-0972

(307) 367-6558

John Swenson

330S 800E

Springville, UT 84663

(801) 489-7393

Alan Wasner

NRCS

1601 New Stine Rd., Suite 260

Bakersfield, CA 93309

(661) 861-4133, Ext. 141

Alan.Wasner@ca.usda.gov
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

95

Appreciation

I would like to extend special thanks to the following soil scientists

who assisted with compiling information for this publication:

Ed Blake

NRCS

1528 Highway 395, Suite 100a

Gardnerville, NV 89410

(775) 782-3661

ed.blake@nv.usda.gov

Dave Candland

1091 E 300 N

Provo, UT 84601

(801) 375-3531

John Fisher

NRCS

1201 Terminal Way, Suite 222

Reno, NV 89502

(775) 784-5408

john.fisher@nv.usda.gov

Debbie Kaiser

1704 Rainbow Rd.

Bozeman, MT 59715

(406) 587-6991

Lou Langan

11718 SE 118th Dr.

Clackmas, OR 97015

(503) 698-6244

Leon Lato

NRCS

2357-A Renaissance Drive

Las Vegas, NV 89119

(702) 262-9047

leon.lato@nv.usda.gov

Tom McKay

NRCS

5301 Longley Lane

Bldg. F, Suite 201

Reno, NV 89511

(775) 784-5875

tom.mckay@nv.usda.gov

Doug Merkler

NRCS

2357-A Renaissance Drive

Las Vegas, NV 89119

(702) 262-9047

doug.merkler@nv.usda.gov

Steve Slusser

NRCS

1201 Terminal Way, Suite 222

Reno, NV 89502

(775) 784-5408

steve.slusser@nv.usda.gov

Eddie Spencer

2690 SW Westpoint Ave.

Portland, OR 97225

(503) 292-9796

Harry Summerfield

P.O. Box 204

Lovelock, NV 89419

(775) 273-2240
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

96

Selected References

Alexander, E. B. and W. D. Nettleton. 1977. Post-Mazama Natrargids in Dixie Valley,

Nevada. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 41: 1210-1212.

Chadwick, O. A., D. M. Hendricks, and W. D. Nettleton. 1987. Silica in Duric Soils: I. A

Depositional Model; II. Mineralogy. Soil Sci. Soc. of Am. J. 51: 975-985.

Chadwick, O. A., W. D. Nettleton, and G. J. Staidl. 1995. Soil Polygenesis as A Function of

Quaternary Climate Change, Northern Great Basin, USA. Geoderma 68:1-26.

Eckert, R. E., Jr., F. F. Peterson, M. K. Wood, and W. H. Blackburn. 1977. Properties,

Occurrence, and Management of Soils with Vesicular Surface Horizons. Final Report,

Contract No. 52500-Ct5 (N), USDI Bureau of Land Management and AES, Reno,

Nevada. 116 pp.

Harper, W. G. 1957. Morphology and Genesis of Calcisols. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 21: 420-

424.

Hawley, J. W. and W. E. Wilson III. 1965. Quaternary Geology of the Winnemucca Area,

Nevada. Technical Report No. 5, Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada. 66

pp. , 28 figures and 3 plates.

Kubota, J. 1972. Sampling of Soils for Trace Element Studies. Annals of the New York

Academy of Sciences. 199: 105-117.

Marbut, C. F. 1935. Atlas of American Agriculture. Part 3. Soils of the United States. U. S.

Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 98 pp.

Morrison, R. B. 1961. Lake Lahontan Stratigraphy and History in the Carson Desert (Fallon)

Area, Nevada. U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 424-D, 115-116.

Nettleton, W. D., B. R. Brasher, E. L. Spencer, L. N. Langan, and F. F. Peterson. 1986.

Differentiation of Closely Related Xerolls That Support Different Sagebrush Plant

Communities in Nevada. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 50:1277-1280.

Nettleton, W. D., J. E. Witty, R. E. Nelson, and J. W. Hawley. 1975. Genesis of Argillic

Horizons of Desert Areas. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 39: 919-926.

Nikiforoff, C. C. 1937. General Trends of the Desert Type of Soil Formation. Soil Science

43: 105-131.

Peterson, F. F. 1981. Landforms of the Basin and Range Province Defined for Soil Survey.

Technical Bulletin 28, Nevada AES, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, 52 pp.

Soil Conservation Service 1970. Soil Survey Laboratory Data and Descriptions for Some

Soils of Nevada. Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 23. Soil Conservation Service,

USDA. 219 pp.

Springer, M.E. 1958. Desert Pavement and Vesicular Layer of Some Soils of the Desert of

the Lahontan Basin, Nevada. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 22: 63-66.

Summerfield, H. B. and F. F. Peterson. 1971. Reconnaissance Soil Survey, Railroad Valley

Area, Nevada. AES, University of Nevada, Reno, and the Soil Conservation Service,

USDA. 49 pp.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

97

Soil Survey Research

Alexander, Earl B. (University of Nevada, Reno, Reconnaissance Soil Survey; later USDA

Forest Service Soil Scientist

 Research papers on (1) Formation of Bt in Dixie Valley in Less Than 6,600 Years,

(2) Relation of Iron Oxides to Soil Age in Verdi Area, California.

Baumer, Otto W. (UNR Graduate Research)

 A Method for In Situ Measurement of Soil Profile Hydraulic Conductivity. 1975.

Thesis (MS), University of Nevada, Reno.

Blackburn, Will (UNR Graduate and Program Research)

 Vegetation and Soils of the (Some 12 Different) Watershed. 1968-1972. Wilbert

H. Blackburn, Paul T. Tueller, Richard E. Eckert, Jr., including Crowley Creek,

Coils Creek, Pine Canyon and Mathews Canyon, and Rock Springs watersheds.

 Field Research on Water Infiltration and Sediment Production From Rangeland

Soils.

Bruner, Alan (UNR, USDA)

 Variety of technical fieldwork for rangeland/soils studies programs.

Davis, Barry (UNR)

 Estimating Plant Production From Soil and Floristic Correlates in Hot Creek

Valley, Nevada. 1971. Thesis (MS), University of Nevada, Reno.

Dunn, Larry (UNR)

 Nevada Agricultural Experiment Stations Soil Survey Representative, Circa

19471967.

Eckert, Richard, Jr. (ARS at Nevada Agr. Exp. Sta., UNR)

 Cooperative Studies of Rangeland Grass Seedling Emergence and Establishment

on Crusting Soils.

 Various soils/rangeland studies.

Flach, Klaus (NRCS Soil Survey Lab)

 Soil Characterization Sampling.

Gifford, R. O. (UNR)

 Nevada Soil Temperature Regime Studies; Computer and Statistical-Analyses

Participant with Schmidlen and Peterson.

Hugie, Vern (Soil Conservation Service)

 Co-investigator with H. Passey on Soils, Rangeland Vegetation Studies in

Northern Nevada and Southern Idaho, 1950s and 1960s. Probably first

publication on the Character and Occurrence of Durinodes and Soil Surface

Patterns (Polygons of Crusting Surface).
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

98

Kenny, Bruce (UNR)

 A Test of Soil-Suitability Guide for Rangeland Seedings:

Crested Wheatgrass in Ruby Valley, Nevada. 1987. Thesis

(MS), University of Nevada, Reno.

Kubota, Joe (Soil Conservation Service)

 Molybdenum Toxicity in Livestock  Soil and Vegetative

Sampling of Selected Soils in Nevada.

McLaughlin, Jim (UNR)

 The Survival of Ponderosa Pine Seedlings on the Eastern Sierra

Nevada Under Moisture Stress Conditions. 1974. Thesis (MS),

University of Nevada, Reno.

Miller, Wally (UNR)

 Research on Irrigation Water Use By Crop.

Mooney, Melisa (UNR)

 Masters Thesis Research on Mountain Big Sagebrush and

Soils. Thesis reference not available.

Nettleton, W. D. (NRCS, Soil Survey Lab)

 Soil Characterization Sampling and Coauthor on Major

Aridisols book; chapter with F. F. Peterson, University of

Nevada, Reno.

Peterson, Frederick F. (UNR)

 Nevada Agricultural Experiment Stations Soil Survey

Representative, 1967 to 1990, Soil Survey Reviews, NCSS

Technical Committees, etc.

 Nevada Agr. Exp. Sta. Leader, Coauthor for Early Cooperative

Reconnaissance Soil Surveys in Nevada.

 Contributor to Development of Orders of Soil Survey for NCSS

 Authored Landforms of the Basin and Range Province Defined

for Soil Survey. 1981. Nev. Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bul. 17, for use

with reconnaissance soil surveys.

 Cooperative Studies of Rangeland Grass Seedling Emergence

and Establishment on Crusting of Soils, with R. Eckert.

 Summary of Genesis and Properties of Aridisols. Nettleton, W.

D., and F. F. Peterson. 1983 Aridisols. In Pedogenesis and Soil

Taxonomy II. The Soil Orders, Chapter 5, pp. 165-215.

 Recruitment of Prospective Soil Scientists.

 Cooperative Soil Climate Studies with NRCS.

Robertson, Joe (UNR)

 Early Range/Soils work with Eckert in 1950s.
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

99

Schmidlen, Tom (UNR)

 A Statistical Description of Nevada Soil Temperatures. 1981. Thesis

(MS), University of Nevada, Reno.

Stephens, Jennifer L. (UNR)

 Seedling Emergence on Vascular Crusted Surfaces as Affected By

Artificial and Natural Cattle Trampling. 1980. Thesis (MS), University

of Nevada, Reno.

Summerfield, Harry B. (Soil Conservation Service)

 Pedological Factors Related to the Occurrence of Big and Low

Sagebrush in Northern Washoe County, Nevada. 1969. Thesis (MS),

University of Nevada, Reno.

Thran, Diana (UNR)

 Laboratory work in support of soil survey related research.

Tueller, Paul (UNR)

 Led projects and advised many graduate students on soil/rangeland

studies.

Young, Ralph (UNR)

 Administrative Initiation and Leadership of Early Nevada Cooperative

Reconnaissance Soil Survey Program.

Wood, M. Karl (UNR)

 The Effects of Vesicular Horizons on Emergence of Grasses and

Shrubs. 1976. Thesis (MS), University of Nevada, Reno.

Zamudio, Desi (USDA Forest Service)

 Matching Stream Type to Riparian Subsystem Taxa on Alluvial Reaches

in Northeastern Nevada. 1991. Thesis (MS), University of Nevada,

Reno.

Zamora, Ben (UNR)

 Masters Thesis Research on Low Sagebrush and Related Soils.

(Reference missing.)
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

100

____________________________________

* Out of Print

Appendix

Nevada Soil Surveys

Published

Soil Survey of the Fallon Area, Nevada  1909*

Soil Survey of Las Vegas Area, Nevada  1923*

Soil Survey of the Moapa Valley Area, Nevada  1923*

Better Land Use in the White Pine Soil Conservation District, Nevada  1943*

Better Land Use in the Moapa Valley, Nevada  1944*

Better Land Use, Fernley, Nevada  1945*

Better Land Use in the Meadow Valley, Nevada  1946*

Soil Survey of Las Vegas and Eldorado Valleys Area, Nevada  1957*

Soil Survey of Lovelock Area, Nevada  1958*

Soil Survey of Pahranagat-Penoyer Areas, Nevada  1968*

Soil Survey of Carson Valley Area, Nevada-California  1971*

Soil Survey of Surprise ValleyHome Camp Area, CaliforniaNevada  1974

Soil Survey of Tahoe Basin Area, California and Nevada  1974

Soil Survey of Fallon-FernleyParts of Churchill, Lyon, Storey, and Washoe, Nevada  1975

Soil Survey of Meadow Valley Area, Nevada-Utah  1976

Soil Survey of Carson City Area, Nevada  1979

Soil Survey of Big Smoky Valley Area, Nevada, Part of Nye County  1980

Soil Survey of Diamond Valley, Parts of Elko, Eureka, and White Pine, Nevada  1980

Soil Survey of Tuscarora Mountain Area, Nevada  1980

Soil Survey of Virgin River Area, Nevada-Arizona, Parts of Clark and Lincoln Counties,

Nevada, and Part of Mojave County, Arizona  1980

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, South Part  1983

Soil Survey of Douglas County Area, Nevada  1984

Soil Survey of Lyon County Area, Nevada  1984

Soil Survey of Las Vegas Valley Area, Nevada, Part of Clark County  1985

Soil Survey of Eureka County Area, Nevada  1989

Soil Survey of Storey County Area, Nevada  1990

Soil Survey of Esmeralda County Area, Nevada  1991

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, South Part  1991

Soil Survey of Mineral County Area, Nevada  1991

Soil Survey of Lander County, Nevada, North Part  1992

Soil Survey of Pershing County, Nevada, East Part  1994

Soil Survey of Elko County, Central Part, Nevada  1997

Soil Survey of Northwest Elko County Area, Nevada  1997

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, Central Part  1997

Soil Survey of Pershing County, Nevada, West Part  1998

Soil Survey of Western White Pine County Area, Nevada  1998

Soil Survey of Washoe County, Nevada, North Part  1999
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

101

Unpublished

Soil Survey of Churchill County Area, Nevada

Soil Survey of Elko County, Nevada, Southeast Part

Soil Survey of Energy and Defense Area, Nevada

Soil survey of Hawthorne Ammunition Plant, Nevada

Soil Survey of White Pine County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt County, Nevada, West Part

Soil Survey of Humboldt National Forest Area, Nevada, Parts of Elko and White Pine Counties

Soil Survey of Humboldt National Forest Area, Nevada, Parts of Lincoln, Nye, and White Pine

Counties

Soil Survey of Inyo National Forest, Nevada and California

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, North Part

Soil Survey of Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northeast Part

Soil Survey of Nye County, Nevada, Northwest Part

Soil Survey of Sheldon Antelope Refuge, Nevada

Special Reports

Report of the Physical Survey of the Virgin Valley Soil Conservation District, Nevada  1939

Report of the Physical Survey of the Carson Valley Soil Conservation District, Nevada  1940

Report of the Physical Survey of the Mason Valley Soil Conservation District, Nevada  1940

Report of the Physical Survey of the Moapa Valley Conservation District, Nevada  1940

Report of the Physical Survey of the Pahranagat Valley Soil Conservation District, Nevada  1940

Report of the Physical Survey of the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, Nevada  1940

Report of the Physical Survey of the Smith Valley Soil Conservation District, Nevada  1940

Report of the Physical Survey of the South Fork Purchase Tract Lee, Nevada  1940

Report of the Physical Survey of the Walker River Indian Reservation, Nevada  1940

Report of the Physical Survey of the Bottom Lands of Meadow Valley Soil Conservation District,

Nevada  1941

Soil Survey of the Pahrump-Amargosa Desert, Nevada  1961

Soil Survey of the University of Nevada Newlands Station, Fallon, Nevada  1961

Soil Survey of the University of Nevada Valley Road Farm, Nevada  1961

Soil Survey of the Knoll Creek Field Station, Nevada, Advanced Copy  1964

Interim Soil Survey Report, Fallon Indian Reservation, Churchill County, Nevada  1968

Interim Soil Survey Report, Schroeder Reservoir Watershed, Nevada-Utah  1968

Soils of the Battle Mountain Area, Nevada, Interim Soil Survey Report  1970

Soil Survey of Eden Valley Unit, Humboldt County, Southeast Part, Nevada  1978

Soil Survey of Ione Area, Nye County, Nevada  1980

Soil Survey of Sevenmile Wash Area, Nye County, Nevada  1980

Soil Survey of Upper Reese River Area, Nye County, Nevada  1980

Soil Survey of Owyhee Desert Area, Nevada  1981
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

102

Index

A

Agee, "Speed" 5

Alexander, Earl 32

Allard, Philip 93

Allen, Robert 92

Aman, Al 95

Anderson, Jon 38

Archer, Warren M. 32, 38, 45, 46,

47, 53, 80, 96

Arnold, Harlan 40, 92

Asktin, John 65, 87

B

Badura, George 32

Bagley, Donald G. 32, 41

Barber, H. N. 26

Bare, Norm 40

Bare, Scott 91

Barmore, Russel 92

Barnes, J. 93

Barrett, Hugh 92

Baumer, Otto W. 38, 69, 80, 95

Beardall, Les 87

Bennett, H. H. 3

Benson, Richard 93

Berogan, Terry 80

Blackburn, Paul W. ii, iv, vii, 38,

48, 55, 57, 59, 60, 62, 71,

80, 96

Blake, Edward W. 38, 80, 97

Bloom, P. 87

Bocart, John 87

Bodman, Corey 93

Bolton, Bob 93

Boltz, Stanley 92

Borchard, Steve 80

Borst, George 3, 65, 87, 96

Borup, Harry J. 32, 80

Bower, Jim 87

Bowerman, Terry S.

48, 50, 60, 62, 63, 81

Bowles, Terry 81

Brackley, Gary 44, 50, 56, 92

Brasher, B. R. (Benny) 68, 95

Breitrick, John 90

Brodahl, M. 87

Buck, Don 90

Burlingame, Harold V. 81

Burton, Bob 57

Bybee, Cris Ann 90

C

Calhoun, Tommy 95

Campsey, Leland 35, 40, 75

Candland, David M. 32, 38, 55,

71, 81, 97

Carlin, Diane 92

Carlton, Claudia 93

Carpenter, E. J. 2

Chadek, Ronald 38

Chadwick, Oliver 87

Chamrad, Dean 40

Chiaretti, Joseph 92

Christenson, Delbert 81

Cleary, Dennis 81

Cleary, Rex 95

Cole, E. 32

Collins, Tom 94

Colvin, J. 93

Combs, T. 93

Connard, Chet 43, 95

Corey, Carl 93

Cosby, Stan 3, 11, 16, 22, 27

Cox, Dellon N. 40

Craigg, Terry 81

D

Dahl, Rod 81

David, Jim 90

Davis, Elmer 32

Davis, Mark 81

Dechert, Tom 87

Delaureal, James 90

Denny, David 81

Dimick, Edwin G. 32, 35

Dollarhide, William E. iv, vi, vii,

32, 38, 41, 43, 53, 92, 95,

96

Dougherty, Brian 38

Doughty, Jim 92

Douglass, Roderick W., Jr. 50, 62,

82

Downs, Joseph 33

Driver, T. 93

Duckworth, William 38

Dunn, Larry 41

Durham, Gail 92

DuRousseau, Joseph 38, 82

Dyer, Steve 82

Dyles, R. 93

E

Ebon, B. 88

Eckholm, Oke 26

Eklund, Richard C. 82

Elnagger, H. 88

Endo, A. 33

Evans, Ray 41

Evatz, Ed 41, 95

F

Farley, Sue 94

Fenn, Ed 82

Fisher, John B. 38, 71, 82, 97

Fitzjames, Barry 40

Flach, Klaus 68, 95

Foster, Richard A. 82

Fox, Henry 3, 12, 24, 27

Foxx, Jim 95

G

Galloway, Fred 6, 28

Gardeto, Jeff 93

Garlick, Glen W. 33

Garner, Eddie 93

Gary, Shawn 82

George, C. J. 33

Gerhart, Kristin 92

Gibbs, George 88

Gibson, T. Scott 40

Gilbertson, G. 88

Goff, Arthur M. 26

Gondek, Michael A. 82

Gorham, John 39

Graham, Fred U. 26

Grant, Lothair 67

Grossman, Bob 95

Guernsey, Carl 88

H

Haalck, Janet 90

Haberer, John 82

Hagihara, James 95

Hahn, Jeff 88

Hahn, Thomas W. 82

Hall, Leroy 82

Halliday, Blaine 35

Harding, Cathy 82

Hardman, George 24

Hardman, Jonathon 83
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

103

Hardy, R. 93

Harkenrider, D. 90

Harmer, Renee 35, 40, 92

Harmon, Jerry 95

Harper, George 30, 67

Harper, W. G. 33

Harrington, Keith 83

Hasty, Carl M. 83

Hatch, Sumner 35

Hatzler, Robert 92

Hawke, Duane 83

Henry, Cliff 67

Hermanson, Royce 24

Hoffmann, Debbie 92

Holmgren, George 26, 67

Hopper, Robert 90

Houghton, Haley F. 26

Hugie, Vern 35

I

Ickes, Harold 22

Irvine, Jim 88

J

Jackson, Michael T. 90

Jacobsen, Chester 6, 28

Jensen, Mark 83

Jesson, Marvin 57

Jett, Carole E. 37, 39, 83, 96

Johnson, Bill 30

Johnson, Cale C. 26

Johnson, Kimberly 94

Jossie, Don 90

K

Kaffer, Dan 92

Kaiser, Deborah L. 83, 97

Kaiser, Roy 49, 52, 92

Kastner, K. 93

Keetch, Wesley C. 88

Keller, Pamela L. 83

Kellogg, Charles E. 4, 67

Kelly, Randy 92

Kennedy, Grant M. 5, 16, 24, 28,

33, 60, 74, 96

Kenny, Bruce 90

Kimsey, Dwight 35, 40

Kinlichee, Filbert 83

Kiracofe, Steve 90

Klameth, Leo 67

Knecht, Arnold 40, 65, 88

Knox, Ellis 88

Koch, Edward C. 26

Krist, Wade 90

Kubota, Joe 30, 68, 95

L

Lane, Cheryl 93

Langan, Lou N. 3, 24, 26, 29, 30,

33, 35, 37, 68, 97

Langersmith, Karen R. 83

Largent, Merrill 91

Larocco, Jack 92

Larsen, Leland I. 33, 39, 48, 71,

83

Lato, Leon L. 56, 59, 83, 97

Lavalle, Paul 84

Leavett, Verr Dee 39

Leifer, Lewis G. 8, 26

Lentz, Roderick 84

Leonard, Charles 84, 93

Leonard, Steve 93

Levitt, Dee 33

Licata, G. 93

Lindsay, Bruce A. 84

Link, Victor 33

Linnel, Lyle 41, 95

Lopez, Rigo 92

Lovell, Burrel 88

Luebs, Dr. Ralph 94

Lugo, Jorge 84

Lunden, Eugene 39

Lunsford, Norma 92

Luscher, Charles W. 35

Lysne, Luella 35, 40, 92

M

Maggio, Gary 88

Main, Mike 93

Malchow, R. 34

Marchio, Carol 93

Matsuura, Albert 84

Mausbach, Maurice J. 95

Mayer, C. 93

Mayfield, George 39

Mayhugh, R. 34

Mayo, Eddie 93

Mays, Dewayne 69, 95

McClelland, Jack 30

McCleod, E. 88

McCluskey, Joe 84

McCormick, John A. 3, 26

McKay, Thomas R. 39, 84, 92, 97

McKenzie, Les 30, 35, 96

McKinlay, Calvin 94

McLain, John 40

McLaughlin, Jim 95

McMullen, E. 88

Medlyn, Gary 73, 84

Mellington, Steven 91

Merkler, Douglas J. 78, 84, 97

Metscher, Valerie 92

Miller, Ken 91

Miller, L. 84

Miller, Sandy 92

Mitchel, Mike 94

Mitchell, James 39, 71

Mitchell, Wayburn 84

Molyneaux, Blaine 91

Monroe, Gary 92

Morris, Anne 92

Morrison, Roger 35, 68

Mullins, Gene 35, 40

Murphy, Tim 92

Murry, Don 91

N

Naphan, Edmund A. v, 3, 24, 27,

29, 30, 35, 41, 67, 68, 70,

75, 78, 95

Nelson, Rueben 67, 95

Nesmith, Harvey 92

Nesser, John 85

Nettleton, W. D. 67, 95, 96

Neubeiser, Michael J 85

Nickols, R. 94

Niebur, Scott 85

Nielson, Woodrow 88

Norgren, Joel 89

Norman, Jack 94

O

ODonnell, William 92

OHaver, Brent 94

Oke, Clint 94

Olds, Clarence R. 16, 17, 27

OLeary, Kevin 91

Orton, Otis L. 6, 28

Ott, Sally 85

P

Palmquist, Dale 35, 40

Parsons, Orville 89

Passey, Howard 35

Pattengale, Paul S. 17, 19, 27

Pearson, Ron 91
A History of Soil Survey in Nevada

104

Perkis, B. 89

Peterson, Frederick F. v, 30, 35,

41, 44, 69, 75, 78, 96

Peterson, Michael L. 85

Phieffer, J. 94

Pickel, H. David 59, 73, 85

Pickett, Robert 85

Plummer, Craig 92

Pointel, M. 92

Polk, Dave 92

Porter, M. K. 34

Potts, David J. 94

Powell, Roy 92

Price, Boyd 41, 92

R

Ragus, Jerry 94

Randall, Evert 95

Rathbun, Floyd 93

Raushwalbe, Frank 85

Reid, Ian 56, 59, 85

Reil, John 40, 75

Reveal, Jack L. 27

Rhodes, Trudy 94

Richter, Mike 62, 85

Roberts, Ray 18, 27

Rogers, Jack 95

Rogers, John H. 34

Rolfes, George A. (Tony) 85

Rooke, Lloyd 34

Ruegger, Jay 85, 91

S

Sabata, Larry 89

Sadler, Kurt 93

Santos, Rose vii, 93

Saulisberry, Chuck 93

Savage, Pat 85

Sayre, R. 94

Scheetz, Karl 55, 94

Schuler, R. 94

Schultz, B. 94

Seagraves, Clarence 91

Sealy, T. 93

Shearer, John 86

Shipley, Mark 6, 28

Sillitoe, Bruce 93

Simonson, Conrad 89

Slusser, Steve 39, 71, 76, 86, 97

Smith, Guy D. 29, 68

Smith, Peter 89

Smith, Ralph T. 16, 18, 27

Smith, Robert 39, 71

Smith, Tom 86

Smith, William 93

Spang, Ed 41

Spear, James F. 86

Speck, Robert L. 86

Spencer, Eddie L. 31, 34, 40, 68,

75, 97

Stager, Bob 94

Staidl, George J. 39, 40, 64, 70,

72, 74, 86, 96

Steinmetz, Jeff 94

Sterns, (first name unknown) 40

Stoneman, Dean L. 89

Stout, David 89

Strahorn, A. T. 2

Strickler, Barry J. 86

Strong, Richard D. 34

Sucik, Mike 86

Summerfield, Harry B. 34, 39, 69,

91, 97

Summerfield, Nancy (Harris) 35, 41

Swanson, Dave 93

Swearingen, Charlie 86

Swenson, John L. 3, 27, 54, 64,

89, 96

T

Tallyn, Ed 86

Taylor, William D. 27

Thatcher, Bert 89

Townsend, M. 34

Trenholme, Richard 54, 89

Turner, Georgia L. 86

U

Uchida, Alan 94

V

Van Der Noordaa, Hans 86

Van Derpuy 94

Van Duyne, Cornelius 2

Villareal, Oscar 86

W

Wadman, Keith 93

Walker, Steve 93

Wallace, Atwell M. 27

Wallace, Henry 22

Walters, Alan 89

Warner, Elizabeth A. vii

Wasner, Alan R. 50, 59, 62, 63,

77, 86, 89, 96

Weekley, Janine 93

Wells, R. 89

Wenderoth, Jack 87

Weyrauch, Reina 87

Wilde, Russel 34

Williams, Erasmus 93

Williams, Les 34

Williams, M. 89

Wilson, Randy 87

Wingate, George 94

Wohletz, Leonard 11, 16, 18, 28

Woodruff, G. 40

Worrel, Dennis W. 52, 63, 87

Wright, C. 94

Y

Yamamoto, Leo 34

Yeager, Bob 41, 93

York, Charlie 6, 28

Young, James 41

Young, Ralph 41

Youngs, F. O. 2

Ypsilantis, Bill 91

Z

Zamudio, Desi 94

Zielinski, Michael J. 91

Zimmerman, Bob 65, 66, 93