Transportation and Exploration

Howard W. Cannon and Deregulation

Nevada has played a crucial role in the creation of modern commercial aviation. In 1978, United States Senator Howard W. Cannon successfully sponsored the first bill deregulating the commercial airline industry, changing forever the face of aviation as we know it.

In 1934, Cannon became interested in flying while working on a law degree from the University of Arizona. In World War II, he served as a second lieutenant with the 440th Troop Carrier Group. After the war, Cannon continued to serve in the reserves, and retired as a major general.

Highway 50: LeBeau Graves

Approximately twenty-five miles east of Fallon, Nevada, U.S. Highway 50 crosses a barren, alkali-crusted, dry lake bed known as the Four Mile Flat. Along this windblown stretch of the Loneliest Highway in America, a hundred or so yards north toward the wavering dunes of Sand Mountain, is a small, weathered looking picket fence that surrounds a five-foot-square pile of rocks topped by a whitewashed wooden cross. Local folklore maintains this is either gravesite or a memorial.

Highway 50: Carroll Station

Carroll Station is located in Lander County along Nevada State Route 722 near the Churchill County line. The town site of Carroll was a mining boom town, purportedly named after the miner Charlie Carroll who made the original discovery at the site in 1911. The stage road over Carroll Summit passed nearby. Though the town was short-lived, it survives in that it has given its name to Carroll Summit and Carroll Station—a Texaco Service Station that was a respite stop for Highway 50 motorists.

Geiger Grade

An early wagon road dating to the 1850s ascended north from Dayton along Gold Canyon, eventually reaching Virginia City. After 1859, another road descended east from Virginia City along Six Mile Canyon to the Carson Valley. Because teamsters used it to haul ore to the Carson River for processing, the road was named Mill Street. To the west, Jumbo Grade and Ophir Grade gave access to mills along the shore of Washoe Lake.

Wells

Located in Elko County, Wells became a natural rest area for emigrants heading west because of its open meadows and natural well water. The first written report of the area came from a pioneer's journal in 1845. Because the springs, (or "wells") are the source of the Humboldt River, the area was originally dubbed Humboldt Wells. By the 1850s and 1860s, hundreds of covered wagons passed through Humboldt Wells every year.

West Wendover

West Wendover, which sits on the eastern edge of Nevada, is a flourishing community, and a testament to the powerful lure of the gaming industry. The city is an offshoot of Wendover, Utah, which was established by officials of the Western Pacific Railroad as a watering station in 1907.

Casino Shuttle Airlines

One part of commercial aviation history unique to Nevada is the gambling shuttle airline. Originally created to fill hotel rooms and gaming floors, this type of airline later changed through the use of individual chartered flights and "high roller" aircraft.

Captain James Hervey Simpson and Highway 50

Captain James Hervey Simpson of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers laid out the Great Basin portion of modern U.S. 50 as part of a wagon road. Simpson, a West Point graduate (1832), became the Army's chief topographical engineer in Utah in 1858. He came to the assignment with experience in surveying and constructing roads in the West. Simpson was certain that a shorter route through the Great Basin to California was possible.

Bonanza Airlines

The first all-jet powered airline in the United States was Las Vegas-based Bonanza Air Lines. Though the milestone was not reached until 1960, the airline began as part of an experiment in post-World War II commercial aviation service.

Western Air Express

The first and, for many years, the largest commercial airline to serve Las Vegas, Western Air Express was instrumental in putting Las Vegas on the commercial airlines map. Las Vegas had the good fortune to lie on a natural air route between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City.

In 1925, the federal Kelly Act spurred the growth of U.S. air travel by creating a national network of airmail routes to be operated by private couriers.

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