Carole Lombard Catastrophe:
While traveling on a war bond tour in 1942, actress Carole Lombard was scheduled to travel from Indiana to her home in Los Angeles.
Although originally scheduled to return home by train, Lombard was so anxious to get back that she scheduled a flight last minute.
Her plane refueled in Las Vegas, and after a few minutes in flight crashed into Double Up Peak on Potosi Mountain, just outside Goodsprings.
Clark Gable:
Lombard's husband, Clark Gable, immediately flew to the Pioneer Saloon where the search party was headquartered.
Gable spent three grueling days at the Pioneer Saloon, waiting to learn if there were any survivors.
Tragically, all 22 passengers aboard the flight perished, including his beloved wife Carole Lombard.
When checking out the Pioneer Saloon today, visitors can learn more about this catastrophe in the Clark Gable Memorial Room.
Take it to a new level of immersion by checking out Clark Gable's alleged cigarette burns in the bar counter - a result of him nodding off while waiting for Lombard's search party to return.
THE PIONEER SALOON
GEORGE FAYLE MOVED TO SOUTHERN NEVADA FROM CALICO, CALIFORNIA,
IN 1904. HE SETTLED AT GOODSPRINGS JUNCTION, WHICH WAS LATER
RENAMED FOR HIS WIFE JEAN. IN 1912 HE MOVED TO GOODSPRINGS.
HE BUILT THE PIONEER SALOON IN 1913, LATER BUILDING THE FAYLE
GENERAL STORE AND THE FAYLE HOTEL. THOUGH HE DIED IN THE FLU
EPIDEMIC OF 1918, HiS VISION LIVED ON THROUGH HIS SALOON, STILL A
CENTER OF COMMUNITY LIFE. LATER OWNERS HAVE ALSO AFFECTED THE
COMMUNITY, NONE MORE SO THAN "POPPA DON" HEDRICK, WHO RAISED
MONEY FOR LOCAL CAUSES AND RAN A LOCAL AMBULANCE SERVICE.
DEDICATED NOVEMBER 4. 2001
QUEHO POSSE, CHAPTER 1919
E CLAMPUS VITUS
SATISFACTORY!
A deadly game of cards in 1915: An out-of-work minor named Paul Coski, was shot dead by Joe Armstrong, the poker dealer who caught Paul cheating.
The local newspaper headline and coroner's report are displayed in the saloon, next to 3 holes that go all the way through the original tin wall, which many believe are the original bullet holes from the shooting.
Like so many Nevada towns, Goodsprings owes its existence to a fortuitous combination of railroads and mining
Goodsprings Nevada:
Turn back the clock a century, and Goodsprings was where residents of Las Vegas went for their entertainment and shopping needs, not the other way around.
At its peak in 1916 Goodsprings had 800 residents. Stores, restaurants, churches, a theater, and nine saloons lined Main Street.
The Hotel Fayle, advertised as the 'finest in the West,' opened with great fanfare.
Cattle driver Joseph Good, for whom the town is named, settled in the area in 1868 with aspirations of milling ore.
But it wasn't until J.F. Kent, who founded the Yellow Pine Mining Company in 1901, that miners saw the real fruits of their labor.
Four years later, Las Vegas was founded as a major railroad hub.
By 1911, the lines reached Goodsprings, which set the mill town up for its most prosperous era.
The Hotel Fayle, symbolic of the boom, was erected five years later.
The two-story, 20-room hotel was named for Clark County commissioner George Fayle, who also built the Pioneer Saloon and the general store next to it in 1913.
From 1915 to 1925, local mines produced $25 million in ore
Lead was the cashcow mineral, important to the supply of ammunition for both World Wars, as it turned out.
In the teens it was one of the largest cities in Nevada
Sadly, Hotel Fayle burned down in 1966.
In 2007, the Pioneer Saloon was added to the State Register of Historic Places. It was an exciting milestone for the unincorporated town of 200,
Goodsprings is still considered to be one of the most productive mining districts in all of southern Nevada.
Part of the reason Goodsprings drew in so many prospectors wasn't necessarily for the amount of goodies in those hills, but the variety.
Impressively, lead, silver, copper, zinc and gold were all mined from the area, which subsequently prompted a boom after the railroad was brought to Goodsprings in 1910.
When visiting Goodsprings today, several historical buildings can be found throughout the captivating downtown area, including the Goodsprings Schoolhouse and remnants of mining camps.
The Pioneer Saloon:
The interior and exterior walls are stamped tin, manufactured by Sears and Roebuck, and thought to be one of the last [if not the very last] of its kind in the United States.
The solid wood Brunswick bar was manufactured in Maine in the 1860s, brought west to the formerly booming Rhyolite, and relocated to Goodsprings in 1913
The Pioneer Saloon also has the original stove - which still heats the building today - and dining tables that have been around since its opening day too.
The mahogany bar in the main saloon was built by Brunswick in Maine in 1886 and shipped around the horn of Africa to arrive in San Francisco and eventually worked its way to the Pioneer.
Pioneer Saloon 1942: Carole Lombard's plane refueled in Las Vegas, and after a few minutes in flight crashed into Double Up Peak on Potosi Mountain, just outside Goodsprings, Nevada. Lombard's husband, Clark Gable, immediately flew to the Pioneer Saloon where the search party was headquartered. Gable spent three grueling days at the Pioneer Saloon, waiting to learn if there were any survivors. Tragically, all 22 passengers aboard the flight perished.
