Boyer Ranch, Gilbert's Root Cellar, 44 miles east of Fallon, on U.S. Highway 50, Fallon

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS NEV,1-FALL.V,1-B-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The atone cellar was erected by the Gilbert Brothers ca. I860 - Hevada Place flames 3tates that Dixie Valley was settled by southern sympathizers in and in that same year the second gold strike in the territory was made in Cottonwood Canyon. The mining town of Bolivia was quickly established in the Canyon about three miles northwest of this structure. At about the same time an above ground building of similar construction was built about 41 feet to the north. While not the work of a master builder they are examples of vernacular architecture and I embody distinctive characteristics of a type, period, and method of construction. Modifications and rehabilitation without regard for accepted standards have diminished their integrity but they still convey the essence of their historic past.

Description: The earth-sheltered structure has interior dimensions of 10' 10" by with walls extending six feet above a compacted earth floor. The walls were made of dry-laid rubble from the alluvial fan on which the structure is located. Mud plaster coated the walls which was then painted white. The roof is supported by a single cottonwood log resting on the door lintel and the back wall. Cottonwood vj gas then spanned from side walls to the central beam. Maximum height to the ceiling is Hooked rugs, rags, and newspapers were added to plug gaps left by the vigas and soil was then used to cover the roof. A board vent penetrated the roof and extended to a height of above the soil cover. The original door and hinges have been replaced with more modern types. Mr.

Lamb also repaired the roof after he acquired the property. He replaced the broken center beam and a few of the vigas. I The cellar was built by digging a hole approximately four feet deep, erecting the walls and roof, then backfill t BOYEH RANCH (Lamb Ranch) , GILBERT'S SOOT CELLAB HABS Ho. (Page *2) leaving a mound about four feet high. HISTORY: Sheldon Lamb states that the root cellar and it'3 associated atone building were built in by the Gilbert brothers as a base camp fop a mine they were working in the Stillwater Range about five miles north of the ranch. Lamb claims that they were built in op Meither date nor construction by the Gilbert's has been confirmed. The earliest record for the property is December 23, when the Governor signed the patent.

The patent was recorded on Movember 27, in the name of Alva Boyer. The BLM office in Carson City has no records of the property before Desert Land Entry in or prior to statehood when control of the land was transferred to the state. There is no evidence of anyone associated with the ranch having had a significant role in the history of Nevada. The Lamb's purchased the ranch in and the 0. S. Havy purchased it in December under a program to buy property from those owners wishing to relocate from under the Havy's Supersonic Operations Area. Future plans call for abandoning the t SOOBCES: structures and issuing agricultural outieases on the land. Mr.

& Sheldon Lamb northern Nevada Title Company, Fallon, Sevada Bureau of Land Management, Carson City, Hevada Sevada Place Homes History of Mevada, reproduced by Thompson and West in HISTORIAN tf. S. Frazier, Public Works Department, Haval Air Station, Fallon, Nevada I Historic American Buildings Survey Boy er Ranch (Lamb Ranch) , Gilbart'a Root Cellar HA33 Ho. (Page #3) o Q ^ s. .Floor lev*' hi 1 - ,* ' CO 7 t o<* i/ y'o* r u 10 to L Top of vent to soil cover - 7' 4" Top of vent to bottan of vent - 9' 6'' Height of interior walls - 6' Height of roof at the peak - 7' 4" I Cancer of vent of Root Cellar bears N53 53' feet from the West corner between sections 7 and IS, T24 H 3/ - Historic American Buildings Survey Boyer Ranch (Lamb Ranch) , Gilbert's Root Cellar HA33 No. (Page #4} t t