Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-28
GOLDEN SPIKE
OPENS DESERT
TO THE WORLD
Trains Cross Lands
Once a Waste
Beatty Becomes a Railway, Mining and
Commercial Center of Great Inn
portanee-Celebrat an
Enjoyable One


into the ground at Beatty last Thurs
day the death knell of the frontier was
sounded. With that spike many of the
dangers and hardshlps Of the desert
were abolished forever.
The new line known as the Brock
road" connects the Goldfleld and Bull
frog railroad with Bullfrog.
From all quarters of the great
Nevada desert men and women gath
cred to take pride in what proved to
be one of the most novel celebrations
ever held in the west. They came
down, not as Of old, staging over the
country, many weary miles, but upon
q twentieth century equipped railway
train. Today it is possible to travel
from one end of the great desert to the
other by rail-
When the Beatty special left Los
Angeles there were many on board who
had little idea what the trip had in
store for them. In the party were
men who received their first and
nat will probably be their last of the
wild west. The wild west as it has been
pictured by owen Wister and Bret
Harte will soon be no more.
Engine Goes Dry on Desert
Yesterday the special arrived in Los
= Angeles to convey the people whose
business demanded their return, but by
far the larger part of the excursionists
remained for the celebration of Friday.
The wreck on the line where the Santa
Fe crosses the Salt Lake road delayed
the excursion for twelve hours, and
when the train finally arrived in Las
Vegas it was decided to make a record
breaking run through to Beatty to land
the merrymakers there at 1 o'clock in
the morning. Unfortunately the en-
gineer forgot to give his engine any
water, and it appears that an engine
on the desert can acquire quite as great
thirst as a human, and the big thing
refused to bulge after 1t had gone
twenty miles from Las Vegas. 1t was
far from water tank and there was
nothing left to do but to wait for
train to pull it UP the grade, but when
party is bent on having good time
1t is apt to get it, and that is the way
the Beatty eXcursionists felt
Miners Fire SaIutes
The brass band which accompanied
the train from Los Angeles helped to
enliven the hours to Beatty. Sage
brush bon fires were built around the
train, and some of the more energetic
members of the party forgot that desert
sand is not the best kind of dance
floor imaginable and made good use of
the music.
At o'clock in the morning the train
pulled into Beatty, and from the mines
around the camp welcoming salutes of
dynamite were fired. All night long the
miners had kept watch for the visitors,
and the town was almost as busy as In
the later hours of the day.
Bunting, flags and lanters were
used by the camp decorators with a
lavish hand, the canvas-covered shacks
put forth brave front, and the Mont
gomery hotel, the pride Of the state of
Nevada, was as elaborately decorated
as any metropolitan hotel. Thousands
of carnations sent from Los Angeles
were used, and women of the camp
formed themselves into a decorating
and reception committee to see that
they were used to a good purpose.
Thursday morning was spent in sight
seeing, and autos took the visitors TO
the surrounding mines to Rhyolite and
to the Amargosa river and the Hot
springs, the water of which she is SO
proud.
Delivers Address of Welcome
At 1890 o'clock the Goldfeld special
rolled in, bringing the miners from
Goldfield and Tonopah and the other
camps from that vicinity. The celebra-
tion proper did not begin until the
Rhyolite trains arrived about 430 in the
afternoon. The band met the train, and
o. there was parade through Main street
to the grandstand, where the speeches
were made. Maj. G. S. Walton was the
presiding officer, and the address of
welcome was made by DIR. w. S. Phil
lips. DR.. Phillips turned over the key
of the city to the visitors and invited
them to command them with all their
force of entertainers
o. j. Van Pelt, who represented the
Bullfrog railroad and is one of the we'll
known orators from Tonopah, spoke of
the advantages of the road and what
1t will mean to Beatty and the other
camps. j. +. Heden, general superin-
tendent of transportation of the road
spoke on Transportation" and made
many bright promises which he says
will be filed.
Pioneers of Beatty" was the subject
of the speech by Judge j. A. Johnson,
and few Nevada men are better able 10
speak on the subject than he who has
been through the hardships of the
country.
Drives Golden Spike
Hon. George G. Meklejohn, former
secretary of war, spoke on the re-
sources of the Bullfrog district, speak
ing of the vast hoard of wealth the
treasure vaults which surround the
camps and the water.
The gold spike was driven by William
Beatty, who pitched his tent in the
Amargosa desert twenty years ago at
q time when there was not another
human being within many miles. The |
old pioneer was cheered as the gold |
went into the ground.
A banquet at Miners hall, at which |
400 people were wined and dined, was
the next feature. The members of the |
Commercial club were the hosts and
the Montgomery hotel furnished the |
cuisine e. S. Hoyt was POSTMASTER,
and he gave the history of Bullfrog, |
saying that wherever you could find a
bullfrog sitting there was gold. adding
that you can never tell from the looks
or a frog how far he can jump"
Mr.. Hoyt introduced Douglas White
or the Salt Lake road. During the day
tne Eagles of Beatty kept up a lively |
Nnrtkl