2 minute read
Looking Back
ONLY AT NEVADAMAGAZINE.COM
In our archives, you’ll find great stories like this one, which first appeared in our February 1985 issue.
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THE CASE OF THE SKY HIGH PROSPECTOR
The question is, can a down-and-out Italian kid from the streets of New York come out West, stake his claim on the thoroughly picked-over mineral belt of Central Nevada, and live happily ever after in the almost-ghost-town of Austin? Back in the territorial days when “New York Times” publisher Horace Greeley issued his famous injunction, “Go West, young man,” the answer would likely have been yes. But that was more than a century ago, and the prospects didn’t seem so bright in the summer of 1969 when Al Lombardo hit town with precious little mining experience under his belt and 17 cents in his pocket. Fresh out of the Marine Corps, he had spent some time prospecting for gold in Alaska and was knocking around Nevada when his pickup truck broke down in Austin. “I didn’t have enough money to fix it,” recalls the 37-year-old Lombardo. “But I guess when you’re down and out of luck, when you hit bottom, you start pullin’ rabbits out of hats. That’s when you work best.” After looking for regular employment without much success, Al decided to strike out on his own as a self-employed prospector. Ed and Louise Vigus at the hardware store agreed to stake him with a pick and shovel, and for the most part he subsisted on a diet of spaghetti and beans while peddling his nuggets and rocks to passersby from a humble roadside shop.
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A STEP BACK INTO THE OLD WEST.
GHOST TOWNS & GUNFIGHTERS
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