"(#103) I haven't been in Clark County but a few hours, and I run into my first MIA. Lovely. I knew full well going in Clark was going to be a thorn in my side because of the large amount of MIAs, but I didn't know just how difficult they were going to be. Let's just say I had a slap on the wrist today, but it didn't go without a bit of retaliation. I'm car camping tonight, a few minutes outside of the city just east of the canyon from Apex. Why? A much needed break from people. Lying in my truck bed the glow of the city radiates on the horizon, but if I cock my head just a bit, the glow dims just enough for a flurry of stars to glimmer overhead ... the perfect anecdote for a flustering day. At least I can forget about this MIA for the time being. It is now, and only now, that the stars go blue. How fitting." -- Journal Entry, March 2009

Gypsum Cave

Las Vegas & Clark County
36.259740, -114.890590

"Located off Interstate Highway 15 at Apex, south six miles."
Today, this marker is currently missing

Original Date Visited: 3/17/09
Revisited: 3/12/22
Signed: No

The Frustrating Findings of Marker 103
- Last Seen: May 2003 -

Sit back and relax yourselves, folks. This'll be a long one thanks to shenanigans and some very outrageous allegations.

- 103 - Gypsum Cave, or its supposed located off of Lake Mead Blvd is just a few skips away from the busy streets of North Las Vegas. Now in order to understand the ridiculous nature of this case you need to find this location on the map first and start by traveling east out of North Las Vegas on Lake Mead Blvd. At the edge of the city, SR 147 (commonly known as "Lake Mead Blvd.") suddenly transitions to a two-lane highway that climbs over a mountain range on its way south to Lake Mead. At Mile 7 from I-515, our pleasant drive suddenly meets a mysterious unsigned junction known locally as "PABCO Road." This is what you'll see below and it's here the drama begins.

Notice there is absolutely no signage whatsoever at this intersection. No control destinations. Nothing, but rest assured, you will find Gypsum Cave off of this road. Why hasn't Gypsum Cave ever been signed from SR 147 at this junction we'll never know. Anyway, travel a few hundred yards onto this unsigned road and you'll be shocked to find the road "CLOSED TO ALL VEHICLES." What was then many years ago are now liberally posted signs that read "Private Property", "Private Road," and "No Trespassing." We'll get to this in a bit.

The question is: do they mean it?

As such, I found myself in a sticky situation during the spring of 2009 during my initial conquering of Clark County. I knew going in that this marker was going to be a tough, if not impossible find. Still, in the business of being thorough, I started the search for this pesky marker. Nearing late afternoon, I accessed the turnoff for Apex from I-15: following the original directions of the SHPO as if it were a fine French recipe: "Apex interchange, six miles south." Apex Road itself is a deceiving little bugger. What we have is an unsigned, two-lane blacktop that doubles back around the mountain to cross the interstate on an overpass before continuing over a "Private RR Crossing" a few miles further. Hence, the only way to access it is by using Exit 58 and heading north on the Frontage Road for 1.3 miles to Pabco Rd. on your right. Here is what you'll see below.

The fact that Pabco Road at this point is barely two lanes wide, very inconspicuous and completely unsigned, definitely doesn't demarcate it as a public road. In fact, I find it a little off-putting. After crossing over the interstate, our mystery path winds its way through a shallow canyon for exactly six miles without signage or postings whatsoever for a control destination. This is just weird. The road just continues with no apparent destination in mind! To make it more frustrating, the entire six-mile length of road lacks any warnings of "Private Property" until it suddenly comes into view of the PABCO Gypsum Corporation, approximately 4.7 miles south of I-15.

It was a Sunday and I had specificallyplanned this conquering at this time so crowds wouldn't be an issue and my visit wouldn't interfere with the business doings in the area. Apparently I was wrong. Within five minutes of exiting the canyon an employee from the plant waved me for me to slow as he passed me. We stopped in the road and he asked me what I was doing and where I was headed. I told him who I was and specifically asked about "State Historic Marker 103, Gypsum Cave" to cover my own tail. Thankfully, he gave me a little lee-way considering how far I had driven (from Carson City) to capture it. According to him "the blue landmarker" was taken down to prevent "people like you" from viewing it. As far as he knows it was destroyed "six or seven years ago." This was in 2003. The man had a white polo shirt and no company logo on the big hemi he was driving: nothing at all branding him as an employee. Truly a bizarre scenario.

So, what's going on here?
Is this a Gypsum corporation or some outwordly Black Mirror world?

I'm marking this as another sad case of ignorance from people who fail to understand that history belongs to everybody.

Even if an historical site may lie on your (private) property, the historic marker itself belongs to everybody and contains valuble history that should be rightfully accessible to the public.

More importantly, and to offset any private land ownership issues, the SHPO needs to verify these inconsistencies or potential threats prior to the marker's installation. It's as simple as that. I looked into the workings of Pabco Gypsum and there were definitely around long before the marker's installation (2001-ish), thus, confirming that the SHPO placed it somewhere on Pabco Road without any thought or conscience to possible vandalism. It could also be a case of idiots driving cars and simply plowing into the marker. However, here's the kicker.

If we take the original directions from the SHPO ...

"Apex interchange, six miles south."

... We can log that distance from I-15. "Six miles south" probably refers to the Highway 91 Frontage Rd. junction because there's never been a direct off-ramp onto Pabco Rd. Therefore, we're logging that mileage from the intersection you see below.

From this exact spot, "six miles south" puts you approximately right here ...

36.269330, -114.895496
Why is this significant? Google Maps doesn't provide a Street View for this approximate GPS because *drumroll* ....

This is private property. Yup. Google Maps does not provide Street Views for lands that are deemed private, inaccessible to the public, or just otherwise too rural and remote. The fact that this location doesn't appear on Street View is clear evidence that this particular spot on Pabco Road today is a private road. Back in 2001, the SHPO got away with placing the marker here because at the time, this route traveled through BLM land. (And quite honestly, Gypsum Cave itself was close enough to the marker.) So, to clarify this fact, I made a few phone calls to all of the road departments in the Las Vegas region, including Clark County Roads and the Nevada Department of Transportation. As I suspected both NDOT (covering Clark County) and the Las Vegas Roads Department, officials told me that "PABCO Road is not owned by PABCO." As one official stated ...

"They tend to think they own it."

Case closed, right? Pabco Road became a private road allowed only by Pabco Gypsum Corporation employees. Unfortunately, it isn't the end. Thanks to the loss of this marker millions of people in the greater Las Vegas Valley may never know about the fascinating relics uncovered from the ancient past of this hugely historically important site. Due to the saltiness of Pabco Gypsum, evident by my encounter in 2009, any possible relocations of Marker 103 are completely out of the question. In fact, the SHPO lists this one as "Permanently Removed" on their website.

Update 2025!
The site "Destination West" (link below) has plotted this marker with the following GPS ...
36.231774, -114.882959
It's difficult to conclude whether these coordinates are legit because this particular spot seems to be a private intersection. This is the closest Street View that you can get to that corresponding GPS. Notice the sign that reads "Private Road."

Despite this, there is a semblance of hope here because this plot places the marker at a main intersection used by trucks near the actual Pabco shipping lanes. Even though that particular pin might be private, it doesn't mean any of the other roads are off-limits. Although it's far-fetched, this might be the most recent lead we've had in over ten years. It's refreshing to see others have been trying to find Marker 103.
What are your findings here? Send me an email!

Digging Deeper into the 103 Mystery

Here are the main problems I have with this case ...

1. Placement: When the SHPO chose this location, PABCO had dominated the region as they still do today. In fact, PABCO even lined both shoulders of the road with a barbed wire fence, but these fences were taken down for liability reasons and the protection of wild horses and burros. Although the road was still signed as "Private Road" at the time, people were allowed to use the road for access to and from the interchange at I-15. With that being said, and with a high probability of private property issues, why did the SHPO did even choose this location to begin with?

Gypsum Cave today is publically accessible by a dirt road leading to the cave, but parking can be a hit and miss. This seems to be the one spot (and loophole) in public access along the entire road. While it was logical to place Marker 103 along Pabco Road officials should've been more diligent here. Instead, why didn't the SHPO just place the marker at Gypsum Cave itself? The parking lot itself is open to the public. Why bother with placing it on this sketchy road??

2. Illusions: Here's what we got. Today, you'll see this sign at the dirt road leading to Gypsum Cave. This is asinine because I've confirmed that this dirt track is publically accessible and used as the primary launch point and hiking trail to Gypsum Cave.

In fact, here is a map that fellow blogger Ken's Photo Gallery has posted. Check out his findings in the link below.

Do you see the inconsistencies here?

As you can see, the actual Gypsum Cave (the blue arrow) seems to have a few visitors. I highly doubt PABCO officials fancy a red minivan (on the right edge of the photo.) If the site is truly "private" isn't this vehicle technically trespassing? No, because ... once again, Gypsum Cave is a public site, so no "Private Road" signs should ever be posted!

PABCO: Either enforce your signs or remove them!

According to PABCO, Gypsum Cave is "closed to the public" for liability reasons.

Again, not true. Gypsum Cave is on BLM land.

Additionally, even if the road leading to the cave is indeed "Private," enforcement is a hit-or-miss as is the case with the photo above and my encounter in 2009. Regardless, all of the falsities in this case certainly doesn't warrant a reason to remove the marker because it's not in Pabco's authority.

Conclusion

To wrap up this investigation, the alleged PABCO Road ("Private Road") is fully accessible to the public and commuters are allowed to use it to and from Interstate 15 despite the rampaint signage of private ownership. Most Nevada atlases still label this route as "Private Road" but rest assured that this road belongs to everybody! Even Google Maps notes it as Pabco Road, but the fact that it doesn't have a Street View of this relatively urban GPS still makes it a little suspect.

As it were, my little encounter was totally uncalled for as well as the removal of Marker 103. Today, roaming around for Marker 103 comes with a bit of a warning. Despite the recklessness of this section, none of this should inspire you to beat your chest in authority to retaliate against a PABCO worker who may try to stop you like they did me. Instead, be polite and respect their wishes. Leave if they ask and just reassure them you aren't there to loiter or trespass. Maybe with enough badgering PABCO will request to either close the road permanently, or remove their very confusing and abrasive road signage.

As far as the marker's future, it's highly unlikely we'll ever see a replacement for 103 simply due to the saltiness of the area. If there wasn't an issue, we surely would've seen a re-vamp of the MIA in Nevada's huge 150th sesquicentennial celebration in 2015. The SHPO purposely chose to bring back MIAs 139, 140, and 226 over this one. Clearly, they know it's an issue and have little resolve for it. My advice is to completely redo the marker and relocate it far away from this area to ensure it never goes missing again. Here are a few recommendations for this. What do you think?

Clark County Museum
Frenchman Mountain Trailhead, 6 miles west of Gypsum Cave
Ice Age Fossils State Park, North Las Vegas

Street View

Here's what you'll see!

Exact Description:
Gypsum Cave was once thought to be one of the oldest aboriginal sites in North America. The cave is 300 feet long and 120 feet wide and is filled with dry, dusty deposits in all six rooms.

When excavated in 1930-31, the cave yielded the skull, backbone, nine to twelve-inch claws, reddish-brown hair and fibrous dung of the giant ground sloth, a vegetarian species common in the more moist environment known here about 7,500 to 9,500 years ago. Bones from extinct forms of the horse and camel were also found.

Pieces of painted dart shafts, torches, stone points, yucca fiber string and other artifacts were found mixed in with the sloth dung. When the dung was dated at 8,500 B.C. by the radiocarbon method, it was believed the man-made tools were the same age. Two radiocarbon dates on the artifacts themselves, however, indicate that the ground sloth and man were not contemporaneous inhabitants of the cave. Man probably made use of the cave beginning about 3,000 B.C., long after the ground sloths had abandoned it.