Located in Fallon, Nevada, sixty miles east of Reno or Carson City on highway 50, Lattin Farms is a bit farther away than your normal excursion from Tahoe. It is a fully operational farm for the bulk of the year, but every fall owners Rick and B.Ann Lattin convert the farm into a festival grounds. They welcome visitors of all ages from around the globe.
Not only did they serve as a sturdy pack animal and often the miner's only companion for months at a time, they occasionally led their masters to fortune and fame. Such is the legacy of the little town of Tonopah, midway between Reno and Las Vegas, and approximately 300 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe.
Bodie was called the "most lawless, wildest and toughest mining camp the far west has ever known." It is said that murders were an almost daily occurrence, as were robberies, stage holdups, and street fights.
One hundred and sixty-three years ago this week, members of the Donner Party were slowly making their way westward out of the Truckee Meadows (Reno) area.