The Cattle Industry
"Yet again I roll my eyes. Why set this one so far back from the restrooms? And wouldn't it fit much better on the eastbound lanes of the rest area? Two questions ... in a row ... for one historic marker." -- April 2009
![[187]](http://www.nv-landmarks.com/Landmark%20Photos/eu/shl187.jpg)
| At the Beowawe westbound Rest Area, 23 miles miles west of Carlin |
40.679979, -116.473893Original Date Visited: 4/22/08
Last Confirmed: 4/17/23
Signed: No
Notes: I've received many questions about this one over the years. The only way to access this marker is by traveling the eastbound lanes of I-80. Since most of you will be coming from Reno (westbound) this presents a problem. Leave the interstate at Exit 261 (SR 306 to Beowawe) then make a solid U-turn back onto westbound 80. Zoom the 1 mile to next immediate exit for "Rest Area."
Next, you'll find Marker 187 poorly placed and extremely hidden at the far west end of the rest area surrounded in a conclave of trees. During the summer, the marker is sometimes completely encroached by the foliage! This is a little troublesome because most people park right in front of the restrooms at the first immediate parking spaces and never once spot the marker. Plus, for all you eastbounders, you need to jump back onto the 80 for another 5 miles to the next exit at "Dunphy", Exit 254 to get back to the eastbound lanes. On a side note: don't be tempted to use the paved median here to cross the freeway, but please ... do not risk it! Troopers have caught onto commuters doing this to avoid the five-mile long diversion and you will be fined up to $400 for violating this rule. Emergency vehicles, NDOT, and State Troopers are the only ones allowed to use this crossover.
UPDATE: In recent years, Google Maps has listed the Beowawe Rest Area as "Temporarily Closed" and many of you have emailed me in shock reporting that both of these rest areas (west and eastbound) have been closed by NDOT. So, what's going here?
Well, I re-summoned a few of my colleagues at the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) shortly after investigating the Button Point Rest Area. Of course, they being avid marker hunters as well, poked around for the answer and got back with me after about a week. The Beowawe Rest Areas have always been difficult to maintain primarily because they are separate facilities on opposing sides of the interstate. Apparently, both the westbound and eastbound rest areas have become two separate entities, maintained by two different departments, but still overseen and funded by NDOT. This means that once maintenance begins on one of the rest areas, the other must remain open to serve the public. However, both rest areas were closed at the height of Covid (2020) and since then, one of them has always remained closed due to state funding. Of course, it would be the westbound rest area.
The westbound area sees significantly fewer commuters because most people have just left Carlin, a distance of over twenty miles, and hence, just like Button Point, the westbound stop was deemed as "unnecessary." I made a brief pass by of the Beowawe Rest Areas in 2023 and definitely confirmed that the westbound area was closed. Today, you'll find it eerily quiet with Marker 187 sadly withering away. Fortunately, NDOT did not remove Marker 187 so it remains to this day. Very minimal maintenance is done to the actual rest area which also means that the marker has now probably become an afterthought. Therefore, all of the photos that you see below took place during my original conquering in 2008 long before the closure of this rest area.
Unlike Button Point, there's nothing preventing you from driving into the rest area, and you'll have to settle for porta-potties instead of the open building. Feel free to take a breather from the freeway and use the picnic benches and pet areas.
Due to the uncertain future of this rest area, my advice is to relocate Marker 187 to "Dunphy," the next adjacent exit on westbound I-80. This is approximately Exit 254. Not only is it public land, but it's an instant "jump off and on" type of location, very much all of the I-80 markers across the state. Great examples include 63, 23, 239, 46, and 47. Moreover, Dunphy is actually historically important because it houses the largest cattle ranch in Nevada... exactly on-the-nose for the marker's relevancy.
Street View
Here's what you'll see!
Exact Description:
The numerous valleys of Nevada have supported a vigorous cattle industry since the 1850's. Beginning in the western part of the state, cattlemen ranged their herds throughout northern Nevada by the 1870's. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 was the catalyst that created a prosperous industry. Longhorns from Texas were driven to fertile valleys for feeding, then shipped as far as Omaha and San Francisco to market.
As the mining boom subsided, Nevada's ranches kept the state alive in the late 19th century. Improvements in breeding stock and winter feeding helped build vast ranching empires for hard working stockmen. Today, more than 90 per cent of Nevada's crop land is devoted to feed for cattle. For more than a century, Nevada has been a principal food producer for the nation.
COVERED IN MY I-80 ROAD TRIP
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