Nevada Central.
This road is a narrow gauge, 93 miles in length, and connects Austin with the Central Pacific at Battle Mountain. From Battle Mountain the road runs nearly south up the valley of the Reese River. There are many good farms in Reese River Valley, and good grazing ranges on the higher ground.
Battle Mountain.
Battle Mountain is a town of about 500 inhabitants, situated very pleasantly, and cheaply supplied with water by means of artesian wells of trifling depth. Its business is derived from the surrounding farming and grazing regions, from the Central Pacific Railroad, and from the several mining sections with which it has communication. It contains many good public and private buildings, and handsome cottages are numerous. The Central Nevadan, a sprightly weekly paper, is published in the town.
Austin.
Austin is the oldest town in Eastern Nevada, and the mother of mining in that part of the State. It is the county seat of Lander County. Austin was laid out in February, 1863. It is situated nearly upon the summit of the Toyabee Range of mountains, about six miles from Reese River, and is nearly in the geographical center of the State. It contains many good, substantial public and private buildings of brick and stone. Before the completion of the Central Pacific the overland stages passed through the town, when it had about 5,000 inhabitants, as it was also then the center of a rich mining region. The mines at and about Austin have produced many millions in gold and silver bullion. Like all other mining towns, Austin has had her periods of elevation and depression—her “streaks of fat and streaks of lean”—and this year (1889) seems to be getting out of a lean streak into a streak that shows a considerable amount of “fatty” matter. August 18, 1874, the town was nearly ruined by a cloud-burst which tore up the roadway and sidewalks of the main street, flooded buildings, and filled them with mud and sand to the depth of several feet. The damage done was estimated at $100,000. As the people had warning of what was coming, no lives were lost. In this the Austinites were more fortunate than were the people of Eureka in the month of July, in the same year, as there a cloud-burst not only did immense damage to the town, but also drowned fifteen persons. An excellent daily paper, the Reese River Reveille, is published at Austin.