By Slagg Ditch(The writer was raised in McGill. He has economics and law degrees.)Film documentarian Ken Burns calls our national parks “America’s Best Idea.” Judging by the increasing growth in crowds visiting the parks, the public overwhelmingly agrees.In 2023, the last year for which figures are readily available, Great Basin National Park had 143,000 visitors who … [Read more...] about A Cascade of Consequences: Tales of Nevada
Tales of Nevada
Amputation: A Horror Story
The writer was raised in McGill. His book—The Fatal Affair in Convict Canyon—has been adapted by screen writers into a screenplay. This is a chapter in a spin off. A lawman has been ambushed by men who had robbed an express train near Reno. He has been shot in the knee by a highpowered rifle. This is a description of an actual leg amputation in Carson City in November 1870. … [Read more...] about Amputation: A Horror Story
Bad Bad Sammy Brown Tales of Nevada
Slagg Ditch was raised in McGill next to a notorious waterway. He’s also a WPHS graduate. Sam Brown was a true badman of the Old West stripe, maybe the baddest of them all. Like the reputed escapades of Billy the Kid and Jesse James, Sam’s have taken on a mythic quality, leaving the whole truth lost in the mist of time. First there’s the oft-told legend-generating … [Read more...] about Bad Bad Sammy Brown Tales of Nevada
The town with a dual personality
Tales of Nevada By Slagg Ditch, a McGill Native “Did you vote in the Nevada election just now?” “Yes, I did. I voted a straight Union ticket.” “Okay then, let’s go have a whiskey and play some stud.” “Good idea, but I first have to step right here next door and vote in the California election.” Odd as it may seem, that conversation could well have happened in … [Read more...] about The town with a dual personality