Elko Daily Free Press from Elko, Nevada • 5

Saturday, December 19, 1998 ELKO DAILY FREE PRESS, Elko, Nevada A5 Historic cabin nrisfakey. stro st service de ved by fore lXV- 1: i r- I Ar. but thought Buster had only been living there a few years," they reported. Buster Wilson died in a vehicle accident in 1972. A family named Coop, the report says, moved in and repaired the structure, pouring a concrete floor and putting concrete between the juniper planks to give it an adobe appearance.

The Coops abandoned the cabin in the late 1970s. "Since then, motorcycle groups, and party-goers have been using the site for according to the report Shearer and her sisters, who visited the cabin as young girls, were not interviewed for the report Nor was Jake Stone, a cowboy and longtime friend of Buster Wilson who said he has slept in the cabin "quite a few times." At his home in a rural area on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Stone, 63, recalled the days he helped Buster clean out dirt and vegetation from the spring so water would flow freely to the cabin from a system of pipes, providing water for drinking, horses and wildlife, and for a sweat lodge that was added to the cabin in the late 1960s or early 1970s. A skull from a bighorn sheep ram that he said Buster Wilson shot in the area at age 15 sits on a prominent place on a mantel in the room. Stone estimates the original Lost Cabin structure was more than 50 years old. The site, he said, had probably been used long before, perhaps for 100 years, by settlers and travelers through the area.

Stone said the U.S. Forest Service LAS VEGAS (AP) It stood as an outpost where Paiute descendants took refuge from the harsh winters and summers they spent tending cattle on the high desert ranges of the Spring Mountains. Wedged into a hillside at the foot of a spring, Lost Cabin was one of two shelters built by Buster Wilson or his legendary father, Tweed, who provided food and supplies to miners south of the mountains. That's how it was for nearly 70 years, according to Tweed's granddaughter, Gloria Wilson Shearer, 58, of Caliente. During that time, its plank boards, juniper beams and two rooms dug back into the earth endured the elements.

But in June, a VS. Forest Service crew tore it down by mistake. District Ranger Tom Kuekes said the raz ing by an elite fire crew from Black Mountain near Carson City came with no forewarning to archaeologists, history buffs and family members who six months later are scrambling to find out why. "It was a misinterpretation, a mistake," said Kuekes, who became district ranger in July, taking over for acting director Alan Pinkerton. "This is a good lesson for us.

We need to be real specific on what work is to be done." Pinkerton said he was unaware that the cabin had been destroyed until archaeologists visited the site in November and noticed that something was missing. Kuekes noted that the crew was told to clean up the cabin, not take it down. The destruction tugs at Shearer's heartstrings. She said a link to her The boys Tweed and Jim were adopted by James Bernard Wilson, who died in 1906 and was buried on the ranch, now Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. "They were probably the first ones who came to Vegas and settled in the early 1800s," Shearer said.

"It's very disgusting that they took it down without asking who it belonged to. It's our history." Her recollections help track the cabin's history. Shearer said Lost Cabin, to her knowledge, was built about the same time that a more signficant adobe was built at a higher elevation by Tweed and Jim Wilson sometime in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The cabins were used when they rounded up cattle. Tweed was 54 in 1930, and his son, Russell "Buster" Wilson, was 22.

Based on dates provided by Shearer, even if Buster Wilson built Lost Cabin in 1948 at age 40, the cabin this year would have been 50 years old, enough to classify it as a historic structure by government standards. Her dates conflict with a Nov. 15 report that Kuekes and archaeologist Kristi Tabaj sent to State Historic Preservation Officer Ronald James describing the Lost Cabin removal and the need to tear down the remaining, modern-day sheds and haul away the debris. The report states that U.S. Geological Survey maps from 1895, 1905, 1907, 1920 and 1930 "do not note a structure in the area during those times." The report goes on to say that the 1940 map that could have documented the presence of a cabin at the site could not be The Lost Cabin shown in this 1994 file photo.

The structure was one of two shelters built by Buster Wilson or his legendary father, Tweed, who provided food and supplies to miners south of the mountains. It stood as an outpost where Paiute descendants took refuge from the harsh winters and summers they spent tending cattle on the high desert ranges of the Spring Mountains. Wedged into a hillside at the foot of a spring. But in June, a UJS. Forest Service crew tore it down by mistake.

Being a shopping-mall Santa Oaus is not all fun and games beard and a genuine round belly no pillows needed. He makes $1,000 a week working 10-hour shifts seven days straight and his employer, Santa SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -Santa Claus is stressed out All those little monsters tugging on his white beard. All those toddlers screaming heritage a mart lett on trie lana- TIusTa St Louis company that sup- as their parents push them toward the located. The cabin eventually appeared on a 1957 USGS map, but the most recent U.S. Forest Service map, printed last year, doesnt show a structure at "Lost Cabin Spring." "The year the cabin was built is unknown but was obviously prior to 1957," the report states.

Archaeologists did interview a man by the name of Ray Swanton who they said delivered supplies to Buster Wilson at the cabin in the 1960s and 1970s. "He did not know when the cabin was built, should provide better access to such cultural sites. "Actually what they should be doing is building roads into them so people can go up and look at them," he said. The second cabin in the area, Tweed Wilson's adobe structure higher up the mountain, was still intact two months ago, but some wonder about its fate as well. The people who tore it down dont even know what they tore down," Stone said.

scape by her grandfather and her uncle is gone. Tweed Wilson, according to Shearer, was born Tweed Anderson in 1876. He was the son of George Anderson and a Paiute woman, Kayer, from the Panamint Mountains on the western edge of Death Valley in California. Kayer died in 1878, and George Anderson, a furrier, left Sandstone Ranch in Red Rock Canyon and his two sons behind. He died in California a year later.

plies Santas to malls in 44 states, puts him up in a hotel. Lowden, who has played the jolly old man for 22 years, doesnt even mind "pet night" One recent evening, he held a big gray rabbit sat next to Bam Bam the miniature horse and cuddled dozens of dogs from a German shepherd to a little shih tzu. Jim Bihm brought his boxer to see Santa. The dog slobbered over St Nick like a puppy. "Santa did a good job.

He was very patient" Bihm observed. the United States, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers in New York. Not everyone can do the iob without cracking. "It's stressful because you have to meet a new family every few minutes, not just a kid, but a whole family, and you have to be enthusiastic and upbeat," says Dr. David Yamins, a psychiatrist at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City.

"You have to be 'on' 10 hours straight" Howard Adelman, a clinical psychologist and family therapist in Cherry Hill, says: "A lot of these kids are nasty and wild. They're miserable and mean and this guy has to be pleasant" Bob Sincerbeaux, 68, a former Santa from Ossining, N.Y., has watched Santas walk off the job because they couldn't handle the stress. Sincerbeaux had no problem with the stress but couldnt handle the bugs he caught from the little buggers who sat on his lap during two years as Santa. He quit after catching bronchitis the first year and coming down with pneumonia the next year. "You're holding on to these kids, germs blowing all over the place," Lowden, like most Santas, usually gets a flu shot Lowden is in demand because he is a "natural Santa" with a real white big guy.

Ho, ho, ho! At least no one has wet on Santa's red suit so far this holiday season. "It's a stressful job, but I enjoy it," says Bruce Lowden, sweating in his fed suit as children line up at the Maine Mall. "This is my thing in life to do. Everyone has a purpose." There's more to being a shopping mall Santa than giving a few hearty "ho-ho-hos" and a smile for the camera before sending the little darling back to Mommy and Daddy. There are the crowds, the pressure, the physical toll.

And the kids can be naughty, not nice. "I've been kicked and bruised by kids who dont want to sit on my knee. I usually try to grab their legs if they're kickers," says Lowden, who guesses 500 to 800 kids sit on his lap each day on weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Kids also tug constantly on his beard, which is real. Once, Lowden says, a child urinated on him, forcing a quick change of costume.

Lowden has six outfits, just in case. 1 During the holiday season, an average of 11,000 children will visit Santa at each of the 1,800 enclosed malls in UNR eyes funds to buy lodge MARKET PLACE, SCOREBOARD ftj iy SPOBtSL6UNGE.il bought the $50 million property from New York mutual fund tycoon Jack Dreyfus last year. Del Webb will trade the land to the government for public land near Las Vegas that it wants to develop. While agreements still have to be signed, "I feel very confident well get this nailed down," said Scott Higgin-son, vice president of government and public affairs. There are some very strong commitments." Environmental concerns have prompted the university to abandon plans to build the station at the estate's existing boat house, but there is room elsewhere for the facility, Hunter said.

Togher with the Desert Research Institute, UNR scientists hope the Whittell station will boost the campus to the forefront of research activities at Tahoe. "It would be a tremendous step forward for the institution," UNR president Joe Crowley says. "We will become a national if not international player at the lake." UNR also plans to operate a conference center at the estate, built by flamboyant real estate tycoon George Whittell in the late 1930s. The estate was bought by Dreyfus in 1972 after Whittell's death. Students, teachers and the public would have access to the conference center.

University plans also call for guided tours to showcase the property's historical, architectural, cultural and biophysical elements. Dreyfus also owned another estate in Zephyr Cove, south of the Thunder-bird Lodge, that is the subject of a separate land exchange. That deal, involving 46 acres and another lakeside mansion, is now being probed by the U.S. Inspector General's Office. The controversy over the Zephyr Cove deal has caused those involved in the Thunderbird Lodge deal to be extremely careful, Higginson said.

"We really believe this exchange, when it's completed, will be one you can set on the mantle," he said. CARSON CITY CAP) The University of Nevada, Reno, is close to getting about $14 million to buy the historic Thunderbird Lodge on Lake Tahoe's east shore and build a research center nearby. Two undisclosed foundations have promised funding that will more than cover the $10 million needed to buy the lodge1 and other buildings at the former Whittell estate. The remaining $4 million will go to building a lab, maintenance and other expenses. "We have commitments for more than that now," says Ken Hunter UNR's vice president of research and academic affairs, adding that the deal should be wrapped up within three months.

Through a complex land exchange, the U.S. Forest Service is expected to gain ownership of 140 acres of estate land just south of Sand Harbor. Using the $14 million in donations, UNR would buy the estate's buildings from the Del Webb Corp. which Jk JK rfiGOLDSTTIKE rWew yeaiiTs i Eve 3 Mion jpf1U PDfC Creek a II pa iimc Legends cf 111 a 1. 1 ua day; i uvi Country 'nation behind ILurW Mario I Place at 4:00 pm fei lmpencnatcn Billy Cay Cyras Wyncnna Judd Frankie Mcreno Band 1 iCcLctcd will be Club Max Shoutcm VvLatesx Fire 1 A Player's Club Members bonfirekl a Nativitv Win More In December! During the month of December, Ptayeri Club Members can receive the following incredible values just for playing at the 15 Seen? and Santa Red Lion Gold Country Casinos: ft.

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