NEVADA, FLAG OF

U.S. state flag consisting of a dark blue field (background) with an emblem in the upper hoist corner including a wreath, a star, the name of the state, and the inscription Battle born. An early state flag, in use from 1905 to 1915, had silver and gold stars and the words silver, Nevada, and gold emblazoned against a dark blue field. The design had been recommended by Governor John Sparks and Adjutant General Harry Day to honour the mining industry of the state. The subsequent flag, which many felt to be too complex, featured a shield derived from the state seal. It included a railroad on a trestle, a team of four horses drawing a wagon, a mine, a sheaf of wheat, agricultural tools, and a sun rising over mountains. The design was completed by the name of the state, the motto All for our country, 18 gold stars, and 18 silver stars. The total number of stars referred to Nevada's status as the 36th state to join the Union (1864). In 1926 a new flag design was created by Louis Shellback III, an artist for the state highway department. At the hoist it featured a wreath of the state flower (sagebrush) surrounding a silver star and the motto Battle born, honouring Nevada's admission to the Union during the Civil War (186165). At the time of the flag's adoption in 1929, state representative C.C. Boak recommended that the name of the state be added to the emblem. Contrary to his wishes, however, the letters of the state name were arranged around the star. The current Nevada flag, which became official on October 1, 1991, reflects his intention, with the letters of the name shown in a single line beneath the star. Whitney Smith History Archaeological evidence indicates that prehistoric Indian settlements existed in Nevada more than 20,000 years ago. Cave dwellers left picture writings on rocks in southern Nevada, and Basket Makers and Pueblo Indians also flourished there. Explorers of the early 1800s found Mohave, Paiute, Shoshoni, and Washoe Indians at various locations within Nevada. Explorers and settlers Missionaries and fur traders were in the vanguard of the exploration of the Nevada area. The missionary travels of Francisco Garcs from New Mexico to California in 177576 were imitated by other Spanish Franciscans. In 1825 Hudson's Bay Company trappers explored the northern and central region, and two years later Jedediah Smith led a party of Americans into the Las Vegas Valley and across the Great Basin. By 1830 the Old Spanish Trail was bringing traders to the area from Santa Fe and Los Angeles, and in 1843 and 1845 John C. Frmont's explorations publicized the Great Basin and the Sierra Nevada region. During the 1840s pioneers followed the Humboldt ValleyDonner Pass route to the Pacific Coast, and the gold rush of 1849 greatly expanded migration through Nevada to California. Nevada, which came under U.S. sovereignty through the Mexican cession of 1848, was a part of California until it was incorporated into the newly organized Utah Territory in 1850. In 1849 a settlement was made at Genoa (then Mormon Station) in Carson Valley, but the population remained sparse until the discovery of the famous Comstock Lode in 1859. From that time on Nevada ceased to be merely a highway for gold seekers on the way to California. Virginia City became the most famous of all the Western mining camps, and the rapid influx of prospectors and settlers resulted in the organization of Nevada Territory in 1861. The American Civil War gave strategic importance to the new territory. President Lincoln realized that Nevada's mineral wealth could help the Union, and he also needed a Northern state to support the proposed antislavery amendments to the Constitution. Although Nevada Territory had only about one-fifth of the 127,381 persons required for statehood, Nevadans were encouraged to seek admission to the Union. Congress accepted the proposed state constitution and voted for statehood in 1864.