The First-Comers

Ten to fifteen thousand years ago, southern Nevada was green and well-watered. Snow covered the high mountains from which glaciers flowed. Lakes dotted the valleys and there were streams everywhere.

Many creatures lived there: woolly mammoths, American elephants, native horses, camels, buffalo, and ground sloths. There were also elk, deer, mountain sheep, and antelope.

The country would have been perfect for theses herbivores, but there were also the predators. Giant lions, saber- toothed tigers, dire-wolves, and coyotes roamed the countryside.

Such was this place when man first set foot here. These people probably drifted through Alaska from Siberia. These copper-hued people hunted herbivores and fought predators where no man had gone before. They were armed with the atlatl, or spear thrower and stone-tipped darts. They were skillful chippers of flint and obsidian.

Samples of obsidian knife blades on display in museum.

We do not know what these nomadic people looked like because none of their bones have been found. Evidence of their camps may still be found along former shore lines.

From tools left by them, we can tell these tribes were different from each other, so they were named by archaeologists by the places they have been found like the Tule Springs people, the Pinto Basin people, the Lake Mohave people, and the Gypsum Cave people. These are the first-comers in the Boulder Dam country.

Even though we know little of these people, as time goes on and more archaeological work is done, we may be sure more information concerning them will appear.

After the first-comers came, thousands of years apparently passed and the country grew drier and drier. Most of the ancient animals died of causes unknown. During this time, nomadic bands probably abandoned the desert wastes and migrated to better hunting grounds.