It’s an everyday scene near Lovelock’s golden arches. Drivers unload delivery trucks. Nearby, a motorist waits at a railroad crossing.
There’s no trace of Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) or the Pershing Hotel. Briefly connected, both came to mysterious and sad ends.
According to longtime Lovelock resident Pat Rowe, “The Pershing Hotel was across the railroad tracks facing Broadway where the weigh station and McDonald’s truck parking now stand.”
Earhart loved and loathed the Pitcairn PCA-2 autogyro, a precursor to the helicopter. She’d undertaken a transcontinental trip to assess its commercial practicality. On the plus side, it cruised at 80 mph and could land on a dime.
The gyro had two stub wings. A revolving blade kept it in the air and made it relatively simple to fly. Some hoped it would one day replace the automobile.
“The windmill plane” had already carried Earhart and Eddie McVaugh, a mechanic from the autogyro factory, a long way. On June 5, 1931, they’d left Salt Lake City at 8:30 a.m., and touched down in Wendover. At noon, a crowd of fans met them in Elko, with all eyes on the auburn-haired aviator.
At 2 p.m. they took off for Reno, briefly touching down in Battle Mountain. It all went like clockwork until it didn’t.
“This ship carries only enough fuel to last for two hours, so I am never certain when I hit a storm whether I have enough gas to go over it and find a landing field,” said Earhart.
At about 3 p.m., thunder and lightning forced Earhart to land 21 miles east of Lovelock. She brought the plane down in an emergency field near the Quicksilver and Montgomery mines.
The Quicksilver’s surveyor, Bob Anderson, witnessed the landing and drove over to see if the pilot needed help.
When the electrical storm abated, Earhart wanted to take to the sky again. But the wind kicked up a dust storm as violent as any she’d ever seen. Since the plane had only about two gallons of gas left, she decided to call it a night. She and McVaugh tied down the plane.
Anderson drove the pilot to Lovelock while the mechanic stayed with the gyroplane. Earhart settled into one of the Pershing Hotel’s 40 rooms. No doubt, she tried to get some sleep.
Eager to continue her flight, the pilot woke at 4 a.m., and flew out of the Lovelock area, landing in Reno at 8:10 a.m. Later, she thanked hotel staff for their hospitality.
Leland S. Young, a former Lovelock mayor, and W.H. Goodin built the Pershing Hotel in 1916. The Nevada State Journal described its Oct. 23, 1919, opening.
“The crowd was so great that all the downstairs part of the hotel, including lobby, dining-room and soft drink parlor had to be utilized, especially after dancing commenced,” the Journal said.
The Sixth Judicial Court met on the ground floor. A casino, restaurant, bar, office space, dry cleaner’s business and guest rooms filled the rest of the two-story brick building. Over time, it became a Lovelock landmark.
Six years after Earhart’s unplanned Lovelock stay, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, vanished. Earhart was flying a Lockheed Model 10-E Electra around the globe.
Did she run out of fuel and crash into the ocean? Did Japanese soldiers capture Earhart and Noonan as prisoners of war? Could they have struggled and died as castaways on a Pacific Island? Their fates remain a mystery. It’s not the only one.
On Sunday, Dec. 31, 1967, fire gutted the Pershing Hotel. Flames leaped 75 feet in the air. Fifty to sixty persons were in the building, including 15 -20 employees. They escaped unharmed, with only the clothes on their backs.
It took the 20-man Lovelock Volunteer Fire Department 12 hours to contain the fire. Officials suspected, but never proved, arson.
“We have pinpointed where the fire started,” said LVFD Chief Joe Eyeraud. “But I don’t think we’ll ever be able to tell what started it.”
Sources:
Cafferata: Amelia Earhart’s landings in Nevada; June 9, 2014, Reno Gazette Journal
Nevada State Journal; Jan. 11, 1968, Pershing hotel fire may net Lovelock paid firemen
Reno Evening Gazette; June 6, 1931, Sand and wind halt flight for time
