Washoe Valley's Early Days
New Washoe City is a relatively new community at the north end of Washoe Valley. The valley has played an important part in Nevada history. Before the arrival of European settlers, Native Americans were already thriving in the area. Three main tribes called this area home and still do today, the Numa or Numu (Northern Paiute), the Washeshu (Washoe), and the Newe (Shoshone). Each of these names translates as: "the People." To learn more about the three tribes, go to the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony website, https://www.rsic.org/.
Mormons from the Utah Territory were some of the first settlers in the valley. After silver was discovered in the Comstock, they were joined by prospectors and farmers from California who raised cattle. According to a historian from 1886, the Mormons who settled in the valley were “good citizens and their efforts to uphold the law and preserve order when the wild rush came in 1860 will ever be recorded in their favor.”
Image:
Washoe Indians – The Chief’s Family. Source: Lawrence & Houseworth Publisher. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
