For the few years I have lived in Topaz Ranch Estates I had many occasion to drive east on Topaz Ranch Road. There was a sign that always caught my eye as I drove down the road. It said "Berth of the Nations." I didn't know the people that lived at the top of the hill but I loved the sign, I loved the play on words and I was always fascinated with the house perched at the top of the hill and the wonderful rock work and old fashioned buildings on the property.
It was the home of Nyle Nation who died Sunday. Nation was 86, having just celebrated his birthday less than a month before, on June 21. He was a resident of TRE for 40 years and the second resident of the area, Walter Long being the first. He and his then-wife Beverly had purchased the 2 1/2 acres of property for $2,600 in 1967 and from there, Nation dedicated his time to his passion, exploring every square inch of Douglas, Lyon, Mono and Alpine counties to trace the history of mining in the area and the people who struggled to make a living in the pursuit of riches. All of his back country exploring led to the writing of his book, "The Pine Nut Chronicles," a beautiful history lesson for anyone wanting to know more about the area we live in.
Before coming to south Douglas County, Nation was career Navy, joining the service during World War II he was stationed on the destroyer USS Monson just four miles off Guadalcanal when his ship was sunk. With a crew of 360 aboard only 68 sailors survived. He retired as a chief data-system technician after 23 years of service, moved into a trailer in TRE, built his dream home on the property and worked an additional 15 years as a maintenance supervisor at Harrah's Lake Tahoe.
He was an avid rock hound taking a few classes in geology. This led to his fascination for the mining in the area. He collected rocks when he went on his excursions into the Pine Nuts and the Sweetwater Range. With his collection of rocks he terraced the hillside in front of his house creating lots of pathways winding around intriguing yard art. One of the more striking pieces is a ship's anchor set in rock with U.S.N. underneath it.
In 1991 he made a nine-year-dream a reality with the publishing of "The Pine Nut Chronicles" with a second edition of the book issued in 2002. He spent months researching records from old government archives to document the mining activities in the area from 1849 to about 1990. The end result of his work is an excellent reference book detailing the lives of the early residents of the area as well as the extensive mining that took place all around us.
About a year ago, Nyle knew he could no longer live alone and went to live at Carson Valley Residential Care in the Gardnerville Ranchos. Interestingly, he died just a few days after Senator Lawrence Jacobsen who wrote the forward to the book and whose family name appears quite often in it. Nyle will long be remembered for the legacy he left us all with the writing of his book. The book can be purchased at the Carson Valley Museum and Cultural Center in Gardnerville.
n In other news: The East Fork Fire and Paramedic Station 4 in TRE is planning a Disaster Preparedness Training Day. This event will be free to the public and will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 19 at the Topaz Ranch Estates Community Park building at the end of Carter Way. The event will include Marilee Smith who will offer a hands-on demonstration in the proper care and use of fire extinguishers, Station 4 volunteers will give demonstrations in auto extrication, Amerigas will be on hand to talk about propane safety, the seasonal crew who has been canvassing the TRE community to offer help in how to create defensible space as well as detecting possible property fire hazards will be on hand to answer questions, the East Fork cadets will have the smoke trailer, mostly for the kids, to help make a family plan for escaping a house fire. TREGID will there to talk about safe water usage in case of disaster and Jill Catlow will be on hand to explain the Sierra Saver Plan, a savings plan for households in case of need for ambulance transport. All this and much more useful information will be presented to heighten community awareness of public safety. Plan to make this an important part of your weekend. For more information, stop by East Fork Station 4 on Albite Rd or call 266-3377.
Until next week remember to keep on keepin' on.
