[110]       

Wagon Jack Shelter

Churchill County
  39.30349, -117.88145

"By the looks of it, the surrounding terrain looks it would've made an excellent place where ancient people would have called home! On this trip, we decided to make the precarious climb up to Wagon Jack's cave. We found evidence of habitation in the cave in the form of hollowed out stones and even an animal carcass! Looks like predators even find they're way in here from time to time. This is the first time we've found a cave of this type UNFENCED and open for exploration by the general public. Let's keep it that way." -- Journal Entry, August 2007

Along SR 722 (Old Lincoln Highway) at Eastgate, 3 miles south of US 50

Original Date Visited: 8/19/07

Signed: Eastbound lane of SR 722

  • Marker 110 represents one of the many Western Shoshone camps of central Nevada
  • Marker 110 plaque
  • Marker 110

Exact Description:
The ten foot wide flat at the base of the cliff is the site of Wagon Jack Shelter. The name comes from the Shoshone Indian, Wagon Jack, who camped here about 1900, while working on an Eastgate Ranch. He was a leader of Indian rabbit drives in Smith Creek Valley, just to the east.

A brush and pole "house" was built on the flat about 1,500 years ago. The prehistoric remains, which were found here, are typical of most Great Basin people who subsisted on local deer, antelope, mountain sheep, small game, birds, seeds, nuts, and roots. Distinctive "Eastgate Series" projectile points found on this site have been valuable cultural indicators.

Marker 110 represents an ancient home and lifestyle in central Nevada.

Next Marker:

EDWARDS CREEK VALLEY

Related Links & Markers:

 Nevada Towns: Eastgate (Ranch) 

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