Museum lecture features Ellison

The Carson Valley Historical Society will be hosting the second lecture on local history, Thursday night.

The society is providing a series of talks by Nevada authors on the second Thursday of each month. The admission is free. In January, Nevada State archives manager Jeff Kintop provided local history buffs with a

presentation on how the records created in Carson Valley began Nevada's written history.

The February presentation will be by Robert W. Ellison, author of "First Impressions" and "The Territorial Lawmen of Nevada." He will be talking about who shot Carson Valley's first lawman. Ellison is a longtime resident with bachelor degrees in philosophy and psychology, a master's degree in curriculum and instruction and doctoral work in philosophy. He has been a longtime employee of Don Bently. His background also includes work as a fifth-grade teacher, a college philosophy instructor, a Douglas County lawman and a private business owner. For over two decades he instructed at the Nevada Peace Officer Standards and Training Academy and for some years at the Highway Patrol Academy. He is the author of numerous newspaper and magazine articles and his book "First Impressions" is considered the only history of the emigrant trail through Carson Valley. His "Territorial Lawmen of Nevada" is the first volume in a series that will create the baseline for the history of law enforcement in Nevada. It is a detailed look at the history of Nevada's territorial period. Ellison is married to Marion Ellison, a writer whose own book on Nevada history is a key source work. She also has numerous other publications to her credit. They have five children, 24 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. This should be another enjoyable evening for lawmen and history buffs.

The lectures are downstairs in the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center on Highway 395 in Gardnerville at 7 p.m.