Jen and Evan Cherpeski found the medallion after 12 clues under a rock in Kahle Park, Stateline.
Explanations for the 2021 Nevada Day Treasure Hunt Clues
Clue No. 1
Making an appearance in 2016
Joining seven from before
This year it won’t be
The place for the score In 2016
Explanation: The Nevada Day Treasure Hunt Committee added Pershing County to the list of seven other locales the medallion could be found. This clue tells hunters the medallion is not hidden in Pershing County.
Clue No. 2
We are rooting for you
To find the treasure
Use your wings At your leisure
Explanation: In Kahle Park there is a statute of a young boy with the quote “There are two lasting gifts we can give our children. One is roots the other is wings.” This clue tells hunters the medallion is hidden at Kahle Park in Stateline, Nevada.
Clue No.3
The medallion returns once more
To what is becoming a favored home
Not looking to explore new places
Or go too far to roam
Explanation: This clue tells hunters the medallion is hidden in a county, in which the medallion has been hidden previously.
Clue No. 4
The people from here
They managed to stay
Even though their home
Was taken away
Explanation:The Washoe or the “people from here as transliterated in older literature as Wa She Shu” live near Lake Tahoe. They adapted to the presence of ranchers and miners, and managed to stay in their home territory rather than being sent to reservations. The Washoe have withstood the test of time and continue to be near or on their aboriginal lands. Today many inhabit small tribal acreage sites, known as colonies, having lost all most all of their ancestral lands. This clue tells hunters the medallion is hidden someplace the Washoe have called home.6
Clue No. 5
Rogers and Christopherson
Were pioneers in their own right
Plunging into all twenty-two
To earn the limelight
Explanation: Fred Rogers was the first person to swim the length of Lake Tahoe, 22 miles, in 1955 and Erline Christopherson was the first woman to do so in 1962. This clue tells hunters the medallion is hidden near Lake Tahoe.
Clue No. 6
Named for a Greek God
And earning notoriety
Guilty of baldness
Don’t get anxiety
Explanation: Both Mark Twain and Dan DeQuille wrote about the strong west winds that blow over Lake Tahoe and called them a “Washoe Zephyr,” after the Greek god of the west wind, Zephyrus. In fact, Zephyr Cove was named after the Washoe Zephyr. Mark Twain wrote of the Washoe Zephyr that “the reason there are so many bald people there is, that the wind blows the hair off their heads while they are looking skyward after their hats” and that it is responsible for the disappearance of “chickens, and parasols sailing in the remote heavens; blankets, tin signs, sage brush, and shingles a shade lower; door-mats and buffalo-robes lower still; shovels and coal-scuttles on the next grade; glass doors, cats, and little children on the next; disrupted lumber yards, light buggies, and wheelbarrows on the next; and down only thirty or forty feet above ground was a scurrying storm of emigrating roofs and vacant lots.” This clue tells hunters the medallion is hidden near Lake Tahoe.
Clue No.7
Having had many names
Maheon is one we prefer
But only Baker Would concur
Explanation: Lake Tahoe has had many names over the years. One of the least popular names was Maheon Lake as published in Baker’s 1855 “Map of the Mining Regions.” Because the Nevada Day Treasure Hunt is put on by the Mahe family, obviously Lake Maheon would be the Nevada Day Treasure Hunt Committee’s favored name…and is appropriate any time a Mahe is on the Lake.
Clue No.8
Based on this Lady’s status
Rather than her rights
She no longer permits
Climbing to great heights.
Explanation: The Washoe tribe has always referred to Cave Rock as the Lady of the Lake because the profile of a woman’s face gazing out toward the lake is visible from the lake. The Forest Service’s management plan is designed to “protect the Cave Rock heritage resource” and in doing so, rock climbing is now prohibited. While this ruling is a step in the right direction, the Washoe Tribe points out that the Forest Service’s decision is not based on tribal rights to practice their tradition, but rather on National Register historic status, and that the management plan still allows other activities such as hiking and picnicking that adversely impact traditional cultural uses of the area. This clue tells hunters the medallion is hidden near Lake Tahoe.
Clue No. 9
The 1939 Harvard frat initiation
Would have helped the equation
Involving our host’s problem
With this giant invasion
Explanation: The goldfish is considered an invasive species in Lake Tahoe and some grow to a giant size. For many years American college students swallowed goldfish as part of a fraternity initiation process, which was first recorded in 1939 at Harvard.
Clue No. 10
When it lost 19
It gained three
But only for five
As you can see
Explanation: Kingsbury Grade use to be known as SR 19. When it became SR 207 in 1978, the three miles connecting Kingsbury Grade to SR 88 through Mottsville Lane were considered part of Kingsbury Grade. However, five years later, in 1983, the three-mile section was removed from the route. This clue tells hunters the medallion is hidden near Kingsbury Grade in Lake Tahoe.
Clue No.11
First toll master, then owner
He shot old Brown
Was exonerated
But had To pay to put him down
Explanation: Henry Van Sickle was the original toll master of the Kingsbury McDonald toll road. He also financed the road and eventually owned it before he sold it to Douglas County. Van Sickle and outlaw Sam Brown became enemies and Brown knocked on Van Sickle’s door and shot at him, attempting to kill him. Because Van Sickle was entertaining a large number of guests at the time and Brown was outnumbered, he ran. Van Sickle tracked him down and shot him in the chest, killing him instantly. He was exonerated with the court finding the “[d]eath by just dispensation of all-wise providence at his own expense.” The court, nevertheless, ordered Van Sickle to pay Brown’s funeral expenses. This clue tells hunters the medallion is hidden near Kingsbury Grade.
Clue No. 12
They discarded their belongings
On their way to Georgetown
But unlike the packers
You can keep yours and win the crown
Explanation: Kingsbury Grade was originally a trail that led to Georgetown, California. Salesman sold emigrants on the short-cut, but because the trail was narrow and not well-established, many had to discard their belongings at the trailhead. They became known as packers. This clue tells hunters the medallion is hidden near Kingsbury Grade.