page_title: Battle Mountain, Nevada
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Battle Mountain, Nevada / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of gold and copper deposits in the Battle Mountain Mining District, Nevada.
context_page_description: Battle Mountain is an unincorporated town in and the county seat of Lander County, Nevada, United States. The population was 3,635 at the 2010 census. Its primary economic base is gold mining and to a lesser extent, legalized gaming.
  The town is located on Interstate 80 between Winnemucca and Elko.
context_section_description: The Battle Mountain area was home to the Northern Paiute and Shoshone peoples. The area was noted by fur trappers in the 1820s and '30s. It served as a waypoint for westward-bound travel on the Emigrant Trail along the Humboldt River by 1845. According to local legends the name stems from confrontations between Native Americans and early settlers during the 1850s and '60s.
  When copper ore was discovered in 1866 and mining began, the Central Pacific Railroad started a station to support the mining activity. In 1870 the railroad moved the Argenta station to Battle Mountain and established a townsite to serve the Battle Mountain copper and gold mining district.
  In 1874, the Nevada Legislature overrode the governor's veto and approved a railroad from Austin to Battle Mountain.  The Nevada Central Railroad from Battle Mountain to Austin was completed in 1880. The rail line was constructed to connect the silver mines around Austin to the Central Pacific line at Battle Mountain. The rail line served the Austin area until it was abandoned in 1938.
  Ulysses S. Grant spoke in the town in 1879 during his western speaking tour.
  President Woodrow Wilson established Battle Mountain Indian Colony by executive order (Lander) in 1917.
  In 1919, Nevada's Red Scare Miners held a ten-day strike at the Battle Mountain Copper Mines.
  In a 1979 ruling, the Nevada Supreme Court moved the Lander County seat to Battle Mountain.
  Chiefs Frank Temoke and Frank Brady refused the government's offer of a payoff under the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley at Battle Mountain on December 11, 1992.
  The 2008 Wells, Nevada earthquake of 6.3 magnitude that affected the northeastern part of the state severely damaged one of the city's oldest historical buildings, the Lemaire Building, which was condemned.
caption: Gold and copper mines in the Battle Mountain Mining District. As of 2019, the mines are operated by Newmont Goldcorp as the Phoenix Mine.
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