In the 1900 census he was a lodging house keeper. In 1910 he was running a second hand store on Railroad Street - the main street in Lovelock. In 1920 he was described as a proprietor of a Junk Store - still on Railroad Street
But he was also a miner. In the 1910's he had a borax claim about 4 1/2 miles east of Lovelock. The Emmons Gypsum Property comprised 8 full claims on 160 acres. It was estimated (by the owners) that a million tons of gypsum was exposed and ready for easy shipment. The gypsum was 4 miles from the Southern Pacific station of Kodiak which was the station just east of Lovelock. It was, without a doubt, the investment opportunity of a lifetime.
And Emmons was selling. He wrote to W. E. B. DuBois in 1928 pitching this investment: assays as high as 99.05%, 4 miles downhill to railroad, power runs near the property, used for plaster of Paris, fertilizer, and imitation marble. This is a worthwhile mention as DuBois was the first African American to earn a doctorate at Harvard and one of the founders of the NAACP.
Besides mining and a store, Emmons had a ranch of some sort. And that ranch was having trouble with flooding from the Humboldt River. The flooding was a direct result of mining and the Utica Bullion Mining Company Dam. The dam obstructed the flow of water from the Humboldt so the Utica could power its quartz mill. They complained as early as 1882 that his farmlands were being submerged by the waters backed up by the dam. Since there was no action taken, in 1884 he decided to do something about it.
Blow the Dam
His partner Robert Logan (the protagonist in part two), he blew up the dam! The Reese River Reveille reported the formation of a new lake - "The whole valley in the vicinity of White Plains is cover with water. A new lake, almost as large as the sink of the Humboldt, has been formed there by the rush of water from the Humboldt River since the dam was blown up." Emmons and Logan were found guilty, but I could not find their sentence.
To find out the rest of Robert Logan's story, read PART TWO of the Emmons Correspondence Papers.
But he was also a miner. In the 1910's he had a borax claim about 4 1/2 miles east of Lovelock. The Emmons Gypsum Property comprised 8 full claims on 160 acres. It was estimated (by the owners) that a million tons of gypsum was exposed and ready for easy shipment. The gypsum was 4 miles from the Southern Pacific station of Kodiak which was the station just east of Lovelock. It was, without a doubt, the investment opportunity of a lifetime.
And Emmons was selling. He wrote to W. E. B. DuBois in 1928 pitching this investment: assays as high as 99.05%, 4 miles downhill to railroad, power runs near the property, used for plaster of Paris, fertilizer, and imitation marble. This is a worthwhile mention as DuBois was the first African American to earn a doctorate at Harvard and one of the founders of the NAACP.
Besides mining and a store, Emmons had a ranch of some sort. And that ranch was having trouble with flooding from the Humboldt River. The flooding was a direct result of mining and the Utica Bullion Mining Company Dam. The dam obstructed the flow of water from the Humboldt so the Utica could power its quartz mill. They complained as early as 1882 that his farmlands were being submerged by the waters backed up by the dam. Since there was no action taken, in 1884 he decided to do something about it.
Blow the Dam
His partner Robert Logan (the protagonist in part two), he blew up the dam! The Reese River Reveille reported the formation of a new lake - "The whole valley in the vicinity of White Plains is cover with water. A new lake, almost as large as the sink of the Humboldt, has been formed there by the rush of water from the Humboldt River since the dam was blown up." Emmons and Logan were found guilty, but I could not find their sentence.
To find out the rest of Robert Logan's story, read PART TWO of the Emmons Correspondence Papers.