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Show by SHERRIL STEELE-CARLIN Photos by Gnthia A Delaney Battle Mountain, Battling Back Nevada vista: Flat grasslands extend for miles like a welcome carpet to distant mountains outside of Battle Mountain. Nobody said life would be easy out West and it isn't so those who stayed on alter the mines wore out and the railroad left had to come equipped with determination, ingenuity, laith, and pure grit. The people ot Battle Mountain, New, know al! about that. Located or! Interstate SO in north-cc-nrr.il Nevada, Battle Mountain is a small community clinging tenaciously tena-ciously to an uncertain existence. Since the 180, the towns history has Lxrn interwoven with mining and the railroad. Both industries still operate in Battle Mountain, but mining has been going through a recession reces-sion in recent years Many businesses have closed, and some residents have moved away. During the heyday ot mining in the- early lSl)Os. the town s population rose as high as (i."M0 Now it hovers at about .s,5(Xi. Battle Mountain is combating the typical "boom and bust cycle that traditionally follows the mining industry indus-try by trying to bring otlxr business to town. Tom Reichert, the new planner economic developer for Battle Bat-tle Mountain, iias only been on tlx- job a short time. "Vie have a lot of l.ind zoned commercial and industrial,' he says. ' We have tremendous transportation transporta-tion potential with Interstate SO. the railroad, and an ing on getting some federal and state grants to develop devel-op an infrastructure tor manufacturing and industry." Another area the tow n is exploring is tourism. "We know we're not a tourist destination," says Shar Peterson, director of the Battle Mountain Chamber Cham-ber ot Commerce. "We re trying to diversify- into other areas. We don't want to be a ghost town." The town recently lost the historic Trail of the -)9ers Interpretive Center to nearby Wells. Nev., qop. LPy) when Battle Mountain couldn't find :hc resources or staff to maintain the center, but townspeople towns-people remain determined to connect their community's commu-nity's past to its future. The historic Twenty-Five Ranch cookhouse recently was moved into town from the 140.000-acre working ranch and will serve as the Historical Society's Soci-ety's museum. The organization is raising monev to rehabilitate the building, while a walking tour of downtown that highlights the town's historic buildings build-ings is also being developed by the chamber. Twenrv-one Twenrv-one buildings are now on the circuit, including several that were moved in from old mining towns surrounding Battle Mountain. Out at Battle Mountain's airport, an airplane show- aiqxirt that can handle (Boeing) s jets. We're work- case is in the works. Sue Deming, the airport board's Nostalgic signs brighten the entrance to one of Battle Mountain's signature landmarks. sole member, is working to find grant money and volunteers volun-teers to open up a museum. Five old planes patiently await helping hands to undertake minor restoration, mostly just cleaning and polishing. "Newmont Mining has already committed to providing pro-viding manpower and some funding," Deming says of the company's help in getting get-ting the fledgling Battle Mountain Air Museum off the ground. There's interest - airport, including Amelia Earhart's landing in 1931. The legendary pioneering pilot was flying her part-airplane part-helicopter contraption, called an "autogyro," across the country and landed in Battle Mountain to refuel. The town also hosts several unusual annual events to coax visitors. Every June the Pony Express 1(X) auto road race takes oft from town. Promoters actually dose oft State Highway 305 between Battle Mountain and Austin, as racers running the 90-mile track take aim at the course record of mph. Even though the town has been through some rough times, things are looking up in Battle Mountain. The Owl Club, a landmark hotel casino restaurant, has reopened after being closed for nearly a year, and Newmont New-mont Mining is creating a new enterprise the Phoenix Proiect. considered one of the best undeveloped undevel-oped gold mines in North America in Copper Canyon, just outside town. Encouragingly, state economic eco-nomic developers toured the area recently and expressed interest in Battle Mountain's tourism possibilities. The boom-and-bust cycles have been weathered before, but this time it's just a little bit different. The town is fighting back, and one can't help but think Battle Mountain will thrive again thanks to the tenacity tenac-ity of its townspeople. Z- Sherril Stttt-Carin .i a fntlamt uriterfrtmi Raiu. Sn: r J r - j ij Battle Mountain is in the ''''i north-central part of the state, on 1-80. 220 miles "N 1 east of Reno. ng history to preserve at the t ' .. i m , i |