Where I Stand -- Ruthe Deskin: Spring Mountain Ranch offers relaxing trip into the past

I HAD ALMOST forgotten. There's a jewel of a place right in our own back yard. It's Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, one of the best-kept secrets in Las Vegas.

A few miles from the Las Vegas Strip, it's like stepping into another world.

The ranch and its surroundings are replete with history going way back to the 1830s when it was a campsite built along a creek that runs through the ranch. It became an oasis for travelers until the railroad came to Las Vegas in 1905. Today, it is a welcome site for picnics, outdoor concerts, plays, and living-history programs.

The area has hosted everything from raiding mountain men and Ute Indians to the famed Krupp diamond.

Mountain Man Bill Williams, a member of a raiding party, rested his horses at the ranch and visited several times. The site became known as "the old Bill Williams ranch."

Miners from the Potosi lead mines farmed the land prior to the Civil War, then abandoned their efforts.

In 1876, Sgt. James Wilson and his partner, George Anderson, filed on the property and named it the Sand Stone Ranch. Wilson remained until his death in 1906. Anderson left in the 1880s but left behind two boys he had fathered with a Paiute Indian woman.

Wilson raised the boys, who inherited the ranch when he died. They operated a cattle ranch for many years, but lost the property in 1919 when they were unable to pay off a mortgage.

In 1929 the ranch became the property of Willard George, a prominent furrier in Hollywood, who raised chinchillas in addition to cattle.

In 1944, the ranch was leased to Chet Lauck, famed for his character as Lum on the "Lum and Abner" radio show.

Lauck began construction of the main ranch house, and it became a vacation retreat for his family, as well as a boy's camp.

In 1955 Lauck sold the ranch to Vera Krupp, wife of German munitions industrialist Alfred Krupp von Bohlen un Halbach. The ranch was renamed Spring Mountain Ranch and was Vera Krupp's residence until 1967. Her bedroom and secret passageway are just as they were when she owned the ranch.

Hughes Tool Co. bought the ranch in 1967, and it was used often as a weekend getaway for Hughes executives.

My companion on this Fourth of July outing to the ranch was one of those who enjoyed the Hughes hospitality as a guest at the ranch.

Fletcher Jones and William Murphy bought the ranch for real estate speculation in 1972, planning to build a high-class condo and townhouse community, but they met with objections and finally sold the entire property to the Nevada Division of State Parks in 1974.

The beautiful setting at the foot of the Spring Mountain Range has been the locale for exciting history from the early 1800s to the present, and it is all told in the artifacts and historical exhibits at the old ranch house.

For a quick trip into the past and a relaxing day of recreation, I recommend a visit. Take the whole family and enjoy a picnic or ball game in the expansive play areas.

There is a charge for admission, but it's worth every penny.

The history of the annual Old-timer's Get-Together and Dinner doesn't go back as far as the Spring Mountain Ranch, but nostalgia reigns at both.

The affair this year will be the third annual since a group of locals got together and planned an event where old-timers could mingle, dine and enjoy an evening of entertainment.

This year the dinner will be held Oct. 4 at the Stardust hotel.

Anyone who has lived in Las Vegas for 30 years or more is eligible to attend. The cost is $30 per person.

Judging from the success of the previous affairs, planners are urging interested parties to make reservations early. Call Ken Johann at Johann Realty, 382-6336, to order tickets.

If previous dinners are an indication, the evening for greeting old friends and reminiscing will bring out a huge crowd and tickets will be at a premium.

Speaking of legends and nostalgia -- Freddie Glusman is certainly a Las Vegas legend, and he has created a fantastic atmosphere for recalling early days in our city at his new deli, Fredde G's. The food lives up to expectations.

Retiring -- or is it resigning? -- city manager Larry Barton has exited his job like a gentleman.

Forced out by city officials, he consented to remain until a replacement was found. In what could have been an acrimonious atmosphere, Barton retained his usual calm and steady demeanor until he left.

Thanks to Laurie Baker for reminding us that "the hardest decisions in life are deciding which bridges to cross and which ones to burn."

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