Orville and Wilbur started it all

Both yearning for flight

Treasure hunters, follow these clues

And search with all your might.

Explanation: This clue opens the hunt and pays tribute to this year’s Nevada Day theme – flight.

Two roads diverge

In the desert dust

The one less traveled

Is the one to trust

Explanation: Later in the hunt, after Fort Churchill is identified as the site of the treasure, this clue instructs the hunter to ignore the road into Fort Churchill State Historic Park and, instead, continue down Fort Churchill Road. It is dusty and bumpy, but the treasure lies along the side of this road.)

They stayed awhile

Stroud and Capone

But Fremont was

The first to own

Explanation: Robert Stroud, the Birdman of Alcatraz, and gangster Al Capone both served time in prison on Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. Explorer John C. Fremont, who named Pyramid Lake in 1844,became the first white man to own Alcatraz Island when he bought it for $5,000 in 1846. The commanding officer at Fort Churchill came to Nevada from Fort Alcatraz — Captain Joseph Stewart.)

Of three peoples

A name describes

The Northern, Southern

And Owens Valley tribes

Explanation: These are the three tribes of the Paiute people. Keeping the peace between the Northern Paiutes and white settlers was one of the major reasons that construction on Fort Churchill started in July of 1860.)

A mother’s tears

Eternal grief

Turned to stone

Is one belief

Explanation: This refers to the Stone Mother, which is a tufa formation at the lake. Paiute legend is that this is actually a mother turned to stone after she cried so many tears for her children. Her tears are said to have formed the lake itself. The Pyramid Lake War between the whites and the Paiutes is one of the major reasons that Fort Churchill was established.

Beneath the surface

Lurks a trace

Of things to come

And battles to face

Explanation: Williams Station, a Pony Express station near Fort Churchill, has been submerged under Lake Lahontan since 1911 when the Lahontan Dam was built. An incident at Williams Station on May 7, 1860, was the catalyst for the Pyramid Lake War.

An editor, Congressman

A true native man

Seized control of the game

And conveyed Marshall’s plan

Explanation: Nevada native Charles Hinton Russell had a diverse background. Among other things, he was editor/owner of the Ely Record, was a one-term Congressman, and traveled around the world as an aide to the Marshall Plan. He returned to Nevada in 1950 and successfully ran for Governor. Perhaps his most significant accomplishment was the creation of the Gaming Control Board. In 1957, while serving his second term, he proclaimed Fort Churchill as an official state park.

Across the prairie

Them wagons did roll

Settling in the west

Really took its toll

Explanation: The key word is “toll.” This refers to the toll bridge across the Carson River constructed during the winter of 1859-60 by Samuel Buckland, who operated Buckland’s Station near Fort Churchill. The fee was $2 for heavy wagons, $1.50 for light wagons, $1 for buggies, and 25 cents for pedestrians.

In January he swore by the sword

By August he was dead by the gun

In December he was memorialized

A generally sad ’61.

Explanation: In January 1861, with the Civil War raging, Union Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon was quoted as saying, “It is no longer useful to appeal to reason, but to the sword.” In August 1861, he was killed by gunfire in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in Missouri. In December 1861, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution of thanks for his heroic efforts. Today, four counties in the United States are named after him – including Lyon County, Nevada, where Fort Churchill is located.

Beginning in Woodstock

Rising in ranks

Keeping the peace

In honor and thanks

Explanation: Sylvester Churchill, for whom both Fort Churchill and Churchill County were named, was born in Woodstock, Vermont. He joined the Army after the outbreak of the War of 1812. He was promoted several times over the course of his career and was ultimately awarded the rank of brevet brigadier general in appreciation of his services during the Mexican-American War.)

Precious words

He carried then

We are not enemies

But friends

Explanation: This clue refers to Pony Bob Haslam, a Pony Express rider. It was at Buckland’s Station that another rider refused to relieve Pony Bob, which led to his most famous ride. While wounded, he raced 120 miles in 8 hours and 20 minutes carryingPresident Abraham Lincoln’s Inaugural Address, which included the line – “We are not enemies but friends.” A group use area at Fort Churchill is named after Pony Bob.)

Samuel wrote news

Of local import

And so we know Russell

Packed sand after court

Explanation: In 1864, a man named E.T. Russell was sentenced to pack sand at Fort Churchill after speaking out against the government in 1864. A story about the event was written for the Territorial Enterprise in Virginia City by Mark Twain – aka Samuel Clemens.

Alice was enchanted

No looking glass around

Just a regent and a patriot

Toiling to save a town

Explanation: Alice Baltzelle Attenbrooke was the 17th State Regent of Nevada, from 1941-1943. She was also a charter member of the Nevada Sagebrush Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, an organization comprised solely of women who can prove blood line descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence – aka a patriot. The DAR was instrumental in the restoration of the deserted and decaying Fort Churchill and, among their ranks, it was Mrs. Addenbrooke who was the most active. Unlike Alice in Wonderland, who only found enchantment through a looking glass, Mrs. Addenbrooke was enthralled by Fort Churchill and wrote a detailed history called The Enchanted Fort, published in 1968.

Air mail

In 26

Fly 210

From this fix

Explanation: The first commercial air mail flight in the nation was from Pasco, Washington, to Elko, Nevada, on April 6, 1926. “Fly 210” refers to flight coordinates and is a direct path from Elko to Fort Churchill.

Slow down, you’re here

Ahead of most

Here’s your sign

It’s 25, at the post

Explanation: The treasure is hidden 25 fence posts from the 25 mile-per-hour sign on Fort Churchill Road west of the entrance to Fort Churchill State Historic Park. A clever hunter would know the treasure could be found somewhere alongside this dusty, bumpy road by referring back to Clue No. 2.