BATTLE MOUNTAIN - Early on a June morning in 1904, nearly 100 Austin residents boarded a special train bound for Battle Mountain. Charted by Lander County Commissioner W.H. Ingham, the Nevada Central began chugging north toward a day of festivities.
The fastest way to travel between Austin and Battle Mountain around the turn of the 20th century, the train took over four hours to travel up the Reese River Valley. During that time, the happy party-goers entertained themselves with singing and 12 gallons of iced lemonade stirred up by Mrs. Ella Merrigan.
When the festive group arrived, according to the Austin reporter, the train was met by "a large number of ladies and gentlemen who extended the hand of welcome and gave greeting to all in good old Battle Mountain style."
The Battle Mountain hosts whisked their guests to a sumptuous picnic on the beautiful lawn of the home of Aaron and Mary Layton. Shaded by large locust and fruit trees, lunch was served at tables artfully arranged in the yard where, noted the Battle Mountain reporter, "nothing was pretentious or toney, but everything was delightful." It had all been under the graceful supervision of several Battle Mountain ladies, such as Mrs. Libbie Ganser, Mrs. Sophy Scott, and Miss Hettie Woolcock.
Then most every wagon and buggy in town, including some from Edith Jenkins, Robert Blossom, and Lawrence Kendricks, were mustered to transport the guests to the Humboldt River about a mile away. Battle Mountain folks proudly showed the Austinites that "a stream ten-fold the size of the Reese flows by miles of waving grass."
Although the afternoon was unusually warm, Lemaire's Hall was opened for a social dance with musicians hired by Lawrence Kendricks and Nelson Bartoo for the occasion. Couples probably stepped out to the long-popular waltz and polka, but the latest dance craze, the cakewalk, might have reached Battle Mountain by then.
Mrs. Elinor Horton and her daughter Mrs. Marjorie Henderson also served cake and ice cream at an open house to greet old friends from their former home in Austin.
In early evening, the Austin party-goers reluctantly returned to the Nevada Central depot to begin the long train ride home, and nearly all of Battle Mountain turned out to bid their visitors goodbye with handshakes and hugs. "This excursion," exclaimed Battle Mountain's newspaper, "is one that will long be held in pleasant memory by all."
Dana Bennett has been commissioned by the Lander County Historical Society to write a history of Battle Mountain. The book is expected to be available by July 4, 2014.[[In-content Ad]]
