Searchlight: The Camp that Didn't Fail

by Harry Reid

Deep in the desolate Mojave Desert in Nevada’s extreme southern tip lies a small mining town called Searchlight. This meticulously researched book by Searchlight’s most distinguished native son recounts the colorful history of the town and the lives of the hardy people who built it and sustained a community in one of the least hospitable environments in the United States. Its story encompasses both Nevada’s early twentieth-century mining boom and the phenomenal growth of southern Nevada after World War II. Searchlight is a valuable contribution to the history of Nevada and a lively account of life in the forbidding depths of the Mojave Desert.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 10 of 2023: Searchlight: The Camp That Didn't Fail by Harry Reid (1998, University of Nevada Press, 233 p.)

I drive through Searchlight, NV all the time, usually on my way to kayak on the Lower Colorado River. For me, it is usually for a bathroom stop or to purchase snacks or expensive gas at the Terrible's on the south end of town. I knew that its most famous son was Harry Reid (1939-2021), Nevada's senior senator and one-time Senate majority leader. Reid was the son of one of the hard-rock miners struggling to make a living from the earth.

This book chronicles the history of this mining town as it developed from the discovery of gold to booming mining camp to becoming a town that still lives in 2023. The narrative reads less like a chronological history of facts and more like a series of loving anecdotes of colorful characters. While roughly chronological, the chapters are grouped by subject.

One of the most intetesting aspects of the book were the tales of famous folks who lived in Searchlight. These included Edith Head (Oscar-winning film costume designer and the basis of the Edna Mode character in the Incredibles Pixar movies), James Cashman (Las Vegas politician and namesake of Cashman Field), and Bill Nellis (military pilot and namesake of Nellis AFB).

Reid concludes that "Searchlight never became a ghost town, but it tried." While Searchlight has had its share of failures and booms and busts, it never really disappeared like so many mining towns. It survives today as a moderately prosperous retirement and tourist community.

The Forward by Mike O'Callghan (former Nevada governor gives a brief overview of Reid's life, which the Senator did not cover in his book.

I will have to linger a bit more the next time(s) I drive through to examine its rich history.

Thanks to Jim Hanson for loaning me this book.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading it because my great-great grandfather owned/ran a large mine and lived here. He and my great-grandfather are mentioned and photographed in the book.
Mostly facts in the books, by no means a real page turner.