Lyon County
Wedged in between historic Carson City and the agriculture king of Churchill, some Nevadans tend to forget about Lyon County. Why? It's a good question, but here in Nevada, you just don't hear a lot about it. It might be because its people are so self-sufficient in a part of the state that is pretty urban. Encompassing over 2,000 square miles with only three major communities, Lyon is an independant county within the state. It writes its own rules because the rest of Nevada forgets to. It's people like their open spaces and robust terrain, a unique combination of urban closeness and remoteness that bring it strangely together. This is pretty eminent once you leave Carson City on US 50. The highway wastes no time in forgetting about Tahoe, scanting eastward onto open flats and arid plains. On occasion, a small mountain is crossed, but like I said... that's only on occasion.
Lyon County was named after Gen. Nathaniel Lyon killed, at the battle of Wilson's Creek near Springfield, MO. Why this particular individual's name was chosen to represent a Nevada county, history still isn't sure. Nevertheless, Lyon is a unique one in Nevada, although you probably won't readily see it at first glance. It takes awhile to see its secrets. Perhaps that's due to the county's unique variety in population density. The county's largest community, technically Dayton, still retains its small-town atmosphere despite a fast growing population. It's here that many people from Carson City, Washoe Valley and that other state to the west have found new homes. And they say Fernley (on the extreme northern tip of the county) is a saving grace for relatively-poor Lyon County, by providing it with a steady and reliable income... catering to traffic along Interstate 80. The town seems to be doing well and just recently became a bedroom community to Sparks where Reno people find refuge in cheaper Lyon taxes and make the daily commute everyday to work. Yerington, the county seat is sort of an oddball in Nevada. Yerington is the only county seat that you have to FIND, set well away from the 'main crowd' along routes that you don't have to traverse to get to somewhere else. In the words of one local, "People just don't come to Yerington to get to somewhere else. They have to want to come to Yerington." Alternate US 95 and SR 208 are routes that traffic doesn't have to traverse to get from one place to the other... yet these are the only ways you'll ever find sleepy Yerington. Maybe it's for the best and perhaps this is why Yerington to this day, remains the same town it always has been. When Fernley and Dayton start catering to the hovercar, Yerington will always stay Yerington.
In between all three of these towns, Lyon is still a pretty remote place. Sure here and there you'll find small outcroppings of civilization, places like Silver Springs and Stagecoach along US 50, Wellington along SR 208 and Silver City on the way to the Comstock. But in western Nevada, this is a thing of the past. It is for this reason that Lyon remains a true outback in a populated western Nevada. Newcomers and transplants to Nevada, although so close to Reno and Carson find it shocking to see a herd of wild horses cantering past their backyards. If this isn't 'outback' material, I don't know what else to say. With population so spread out, Lyon makes the perfect place for another industry, legal prostitution. Lyon is among six counties in Nevada that allow legal prostitution within brothels. The difference is, Lyon has more than any other county in Nevada. Maybe this is a slap in the face to Reno and Carson, a sort of "I can do what you can't" attitude. Believe me, you feel it here on Lyon's soil. Or maybe it's because Lyon simply needs the money. Somehow, I think the former is the correct answer.
The Markers
Look on any map of Nevada, or this site's homepage and you'll find one thing you can't help but notice... Lyon County's oddly, almost freaky shape. Lyon's odd borders makes graphing the land difficult, but ecologically, allows it to creep into many areas of landscape in Nevada. Here are some facts you might not have known: Lyon County alone has two major river systems, the only county with all three Sierra-born rivers traversing its soil! The Truckee River scrapes the Lyon line toward the northern tip of the county, while the Carson completely cuts the county laterally in half. The Walker River flows northward from the south and leaves the county east of Yerington. Lyon also has two major mountain ranges... the Pine Nuts and Sweetwaters, two spines of rugged and very remote mountains that sit near the county's western border. So high and delightful are the Sweetwaters that among them rests a group of peaks over 13,000 feet, the entire range snow-laden all the way into July! These ranges are often referred as the last great wilderness in urban western Nevada. Take a few hours hike in these two ranges and you'll quickly see that reference come to life. Lyon has the agricultural Mason and Smith Valleys, the famed Pony Express Route along present-day US 50 and miles of open land to do whatever you like. Sit among the air and enjoy what Nevada has to offer. Lyon's borders stretch from the moist valleys near Bridgeport, CA north to the tip of the 40 Mile Desert near Fernley, amounting to a total of 120 miles, with lots to see in between. These, my friends, are the secrets you can unveil. In terms of the markers, they're just as varied as the county itself. Most of Lyon's 19 markers seem to concentrate on the 'transition' of Nevada, a time when Nevada's outback saw the first white man and the first 'incentive' to move westward. Since many of Lyon's markers are situated in Dayton, this might be the best base for your marker hunting. Or you can use Carson City, only six miles away, and tackle both counties in a few days. Either way, once you leave Dayton, you'll experience Lyon's unique 'outback' qualities. Outward from Dayton, markers scatter about, gathered along US 50 and a few that sit alongside US 95 Alternate headed south to Yerington. Don't forget about the few in the forgotten south end of Lyon and the few that are situated in Silver City along SR 342 headed to Virginia City! Yes, Silver City is technically and 'proudly' (as one local put it) within Lyon County. Whatever the choice and whatever your routine, this county will have you going everywhere, but hey... are we complaining?
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