Nevada, the "Silver State"

Nevada is officially known as the "Silver State" due to the importance of silver to its history and economy.

It is also known as the "Battle Born State", because it achieved statehood during the Civil War (the words "Battle Born" also appear on the state flag); as the "Sage-brush State", for the native plant of the same name; and as the "Sage-hen State".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada

Nevada ("snow covered"), capital Carson City, is the 7th most extensive, the 35th most populous, and the 9th least densely populated of the 50 United States.

Nevada borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast and Utah to the east.

Nevada is the driest state in the United States. It is made up of mostly desert and semiarid climate regions, much of it located within the Great Basin. Areas south of the Great Basin are located within the Mojave Desert, while Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada lie on the western edge. With the exception of the Las Vegas Valley, the average summer diurnal temperature range approaches 40 °F (22 °C) in much of the state.

About 86% of the state's land is managed by various jurisdictions of the U.S. federal government, both civilian and military.

Before European contact, Native Americans of the Paiute, Shoshone, and Washoe tribes inhabited the land that is now Nevada. The first Europeans to explore the region were Spanish. They called the region Nevada ("snowy)" due to the snow which covered the mountains in winter. The area formed part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and became part of Mexico when it gained independence in 1821.

The United States annexed the area in 1848 after its victory in the Mexican–American War, and it was incorporated as part of Utah Territory in 1850. The discovery of silver at the Comstock Lode in 1859 led to a population boom that became an impetus to the creation of Nevada Territory out of western Utah Territory in 1861. Nevada became the 36th state on October 31, 1864, as the second of two states added to the Union during the Civil War, after West Virginia.

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Nevada Speed Limits - Divided and Undivided Roads

www.speed-limits.com/nevada.htm

Unlike many states that allow higher speed limits on divided roads, Nevada has the same maximum speed limit for both divided and undivided roads: 70 miles per hour.

Undivided roads include most small backroads and local routes.

Divided roads must have a concrete median or buffer zone separating opposite lanes, and may have one or more lanes going in the same direction.

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Great Seal of the State of Nevada

Nevada was admitted as a state on October 31, 1864 by proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln. On February 24, 1866, the motto "Volens et Potens" ("Willing and Able") was replaced by "All for Our Country".

The Great Seal of the State of Nevada is derived from the Seal of the Territory of Nevada.
- Nevada's mineral resources are featured with a silver miner and his team moving a carload of ore from a mountain in the foreground.
- A quartz mill stands before another mountain.
- Transportation and communication are symbolized by a train steaming across the background, with telegraph poles spanning the distance.
- Agriculture is represented by a sheaf of wheat, a sickle, and a plow in the foreground.
- Nevada's natural beauty is symbolized by a brilliant sun rising over snow-capped peaks.
- The inner circle of the seal carries the motto "All for Our Country", and Nevada's entry into the Union as the 36th state is shown with 36 stars completing the inner ring.
- The perimeter of the seal proclaims "The Great Seal of the State of Nevada".

Mark Twain was said to have convinced the designer to make the two trails of smoke blow in opposite directions as a prank, which was later rectified when the mistake was realized.

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Highway Patrol, Nevada

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_Highway_Patrol

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U.S. 95, Walker Lake, Nevada

The lake is fed from the north by the Walker River and has no natural outlet except absorption and evaporation.

Walker Lake is approximately 12.7 miles long and 5 miles wide, with a maximum depth of about 83 feet (2011).

The lakebed is a remnant of prehistoric Lake Lahontan that covered much of northwestern Nevada during the ice age. Although the ancient history of Walker Lake has been extensively studied by researchers seeking to establish a climatic timeline for the region as part of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository study, this research has raised many puzzling questions.

Unlike Pyramid Lake, the lake itself has dried up several times since the end of the Pleistocene, probably due to natural diversions of the Walker River into the Carson Sink approximately 2,100 years ago. Also, this research found no evidence that the Walker Lake basin contained water during the Lake Lahontan highstand, although based on the surface elevation of the highstand evidenced elsewhere in the region it must have.

Lahontan cutthroat trout no longer occur in the lake and recent work by researchers indicates that the lake's Tui chub have declined dramatically and may soon disappear as the salinity levels are lethal to Tui chub eggs and young chubs. The decline of the lake's fishery is having a dramatic impact on the species of birds using the lake.

By 2009, the town of Hawthorne canceled its Loon Festival because the lake, once a major stopover point for migratory loons, could no longer provide enough chub and other small fish to attract many loons.

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