The Beginnings: Jacobsville
The beginning of Austin, starts with Jacobsville (also known as Jacobs Station and Jacobs Springs). Jacobsville, located seven miles west of Austin, was established in 1859, when Captain James Hervey Simpson, of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, surveyed and laid out a route from Salt Lake City to the new Mormon settlement of Genoa, on the Carson River. It was to become an Overland Stage Stop & Mail Station.
In 1860, it became a Pony Express Stop. In 1861, it was an office on the first Overland Telegraph line. In the same year, it became a stop on the Overland Mail route. When Lander County was formed (from Humboldt and Churchill Counties) December 19, 1862, it was the first county seat. It was the only “established settlement”. In January of 1863, it consisted of the residence of G.W. Jacobs and the canvas Occidental Hotel; by the end of the year it had grown to a population of 400. It had a post office, a court house, 3 stores, and 2 hotels. The county seat was moved to Austin in 1863. Austin was closer to the mining activity. The post office closed in 1864. The town was abandoned.
It was from Jacobsville, that, William Talcott, on May 2, 1862, set out for fire wood, when he discovered silver ore in Pony Canyon. His companion may have been Dennis Tierney, a teamster. It is said that Talcott’s pony kicked over a quartz stone bearing silver and gold. Samples of the ore were sent to Virginia City to be assayed. While awaiting word, Talcott and his compatriots organized the Reese River Mining District on May 10, 1862, to protect their claims.
Before the ore reached Virginia City – there was a stop at Felix O’Neil’s ranch. It was here, that the samples were examined by J.Q.C. Vanderbosch. He believed the specimens to be valuable, when the assays confirmed this, he immediately left for Jacobsville, with John Frost, Felix O’Neil and George Buffet. They arrived on December 18, 1862. They found a Mr. Marshall and William Cole living in a cabin at the site where the town of Clifton would develop. (This is where the current roping grounds are located). Marshall and Cole were mining the Highland Mary Tunnel in Pony Canyon. The next day, Vanderbosch and company explored Pony Canyon and located the Oregon claim. In the next couple of weeks, they also located the North Star, Northern Light and Blue Ledge claims. In January 1863, they returned to Virginia City to spend the winter and assayed their ore samples. The ore proved rich. The Rush to the Reese River began mid-January with a steady stream of prospectors, merchants and speculators.
Territorial law was present before the miners’ arrival. The laws were enforced by duly elected county officials. When the hordes of miners arrived, their basic governmental and legal needs were met thus the wild lawless days of the earlier mining camps were avoided. However, there were those who didn’t always obey the laws.
By the spring of 1863, the roads were crowded with people bound for the Reese River Mining District.
Clifton was established in December 1862. It was closer to Pony Canyon then Jacobsville, by five miles. By May of 1863, Clifton had grown to about 500. As there was no road into Pony Canyon, Marshall and Cole felt secure in charging high prices for lots.
In early 1863, David Buel, and others arrived in Clifton. Immediately Buel and his party established claims in Pony Canyon. They created a camp up on the slopes of Pony Canyon. S. F. Armstrong to survey boundaries for the new town site. On March 17, 1863, the plat was recorded at the Recorder’s Office in Jacobsville. Buel and his party then formed the Austin Town Company to promote the new settlement. Austin was named for one of Buel’s partners, Alvah Austin.
The next step was to build a road. Lots were exchanged for labor for the road. The first part of the road was built between Clifton and Austin (South Street, now partially abandoned but still visible behind the Chevron, Pony Canyon Motel) and was completed in May of 1863. Another road was built eastward and linked to the Overland Trail.
By the end of May, 1863, Austin boasted two hotels, two general merchandise stores, five saloons (with two more under construction) one billiard table, three blacksmith shops, one wagon repair shop, one variety store, three laundries, two brothels, one lodging house (with another under construction), one livery stable, two lawyers, four notaries, two express companies, one barber shop, one tailor shop, one sign painter, four carpenters, four stone masons, two adobe yards, one boot and shoe shop, one dairy, one sign painter, one printing shop and newspaper, the Reese River Reveille, and a population of about 450. Settlers continued to pour in and new businesses opened almost daily. Austin grew to 279 buildings by August 1, 1863. By late August the population was 1,100. Austin won the county seat, from Jacobsville, in September of 1863. Austin continued to grow.
The first Reese River Reveille newspaper was published on May 16, 1863. The paper was in operation for the next 130 years. The press was stopped in 1993. The original printing press is at the Austin Historical Society’s museum.
