Newspaper List
Beatty Bullfrog Miner – Beatty, Nevada [was called the Bullfrog Miner during first two months of publication – not to be confused with the Bullfrog Miner, of Rhyolite, Nevada]
Inyo Independent – Independence, California
Inyo Register – Bishop, California
Rhyolite Herald – Rhyolite, Nevada

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Aurora, Nevada

Newspaper Articles

1899

Inyo Register, January 26, 1899
Summary: E.T. Greeley, an old resident of Aurora, Nevada, committed suicide in Bodie on the 16th by shooting himself.

1908

Inyo Register, January 30, 1908
Summary: Death of Mrs. Martin [Marden?], who was a pioneer resident at Bridgeport and Aurora.

Inyo Register, June 4, 1908
"ANOTHER PIONEER GONE: FRANK SHAW PASSED AWAY AT NOON TUESDAY.”
Summary: Early resident of Aurora, Nevada; Adobe Meadows and Independence, California.

Inyo Register, June 25, 1908
"PIONEER PASSES AWAY."
Summary: Death of I.P. Yaney, of Bishop. He was 88 years old at death. Came to Aurora in 1863. Moved to Bridgeport, then in 1867 he moved to Bishop. Also lived at Benton between 1876 and 1879.

1909

Inyo Register, January 28, 1909
“J.S. MCGEE’S LIFE ENDED: RESPECTED PIONEER DIED SUDDENLY AT HIS HOME.”
Summary: John Simpson McGee. Born in Texas August 23, 1846. Lived at Aurora, Nevada, during its boom period. He and his brothers came to Owens Valley in the earliest days. Participated in the Indian wars during that time. Elected Inyo County Sheriff in 1884 and served one two-year term. Afterward, he left Pleasant Valley and moved to San Mateo, California, where he lived the remainder of his life.

Inyo Register, April 15, 1909
"SHOTGUNS AND PIONEER LAWYERS"
Summary: Death of Judge Theron Reed in Siskiyou County, California. Judge Reed formerly lived and worked in Bridgeport, Benton, Aurora and Independence.

Guest Documentary
William E. Carder
Gunfighter of Aurora
By
Cecile Page Vargo

A lonesome tombstone, cracked and fallen to the ground, appears cast aside & forgotten amongst the pinyon pines and sagebrush of the cemetery in the ghost town of Aurora, Nevada. The word “assassinated” is included in the engraved inscription on the marble stone that was so lovingly erected by the man’s wife in December of the year 1864. “William E. Carder, Native of Tennessee, ‘I will avenge saith the Lord’”William Carder came to the California goldfields in the 1850’s, as so many men were inclined to do in those days. His claim to fame was not the gold he found, but his reputation as a gunfighter. An escapade robbing a Chinese miner of several hundred dollars of gold dust got him arrested at least once, but the evidence against him was insufficient to convict him, and he went on to other crimes., as well as help to prevent a few more from being committed.. In the golden foothills of the western side of the Sierras, Carder was chosen second in command of the posse that tracked down the killer of the Columbia city marshal, John Leary, and eventually captured the murderer himself. William Carder fought on both sides of the law.

At some point in time William Carder married a woman named Annie, and was stepfather to her son. By the time the son was 8 they were living in Aurora, Nevada. How he supported his family at the time is not recorded, but he had apparently decided to pursuit his reputation as a feared gunmen. Stories told by R. K. Colcord, “Reminiscences of Life in Territorial Nevada” claimed that Carder “could push his hat off the back of his head, draw, and put a bullet through it before it reached the ground.” The Esmerelda Union noted that “Carder’s only method of fighting, was with deadly weapons, in the use of which he was probably more expert than any other man on the Pacific Coast….His quickness and proficiency in the use of deadly weapons were almost beyond belief, and his remarkable coolness and bravery rendered him the terror of the community.”When he was not busy gunfighting, he could be seen gambling and drinking in the saloons of Aurora.

On February 2, 1864, in the wee hours of the morning, Carder was seen in the Porter Saloon on Antelope Street playing poker with John Daly and some of his gang. Included in the group was the notorious John “Three-Fingered Jack” McDowell. McDowell had immigrated to New York during the 1840’s from Ireland. He fought in the Mexican War, then joined the rush for gold to California as Carder had. He shot his way around the Tuolomne County mining camps, moved on to Virginia City, then to Aurora. On this morning the boys argued over the money at stake. Carder laid his hand on his revolver and let it be known that anyone who contradicted him was a “damned liar.” McDowell jumped up and replied “Fight, you son of a bitch, fight.” Carder backed down.

In the fall of that same year, Carder left Aurora with a man named Moses Brockman. They were headed to the Montgomery mining district to conduct business of some sort. When they returned to Aurora, Carder arrived first, and Brockman showed up later. Brockman had been asked by Carder to bring a horse with him from Adobe Meadows. When Carder realized Brockman did not have the horse, he threatened to whip him. Over the next days, Brockman kept on the lookout for Carder. Carder was next seen on Saturday, December 10, provoking quarrels amongst the peaceful citizens of Aurora. The Esmerelda Union reported that he outrageously abused them “by slapping them in the face, kicking them, pulling their ears and twisting their noses.” He also was noted as going around threatening to kill Brockman. Rather than sit and wait for to be killed by Carder, Brockman hid in an unused doorway near the entrance to the Exchange saloon and waited with a buckshot loaded double barrel shotgun. At half past 11 as Carder strolled out of the Exchange, Brockman shot Carder in the neck “tearing a most shocking hole” which killed Carder instantly. Afterwards, Brockman laid down his gun and surrendered to city marshal, John Palmer.

The day following Carder’s shooting by Brockman, the coronor’s inquest was held. It was determined that Brockman was a sober, industrious law abiding miner, who had been threatened by a man who was an expert gunfighter. Had Brockman not gone after Carder first, he would have been the dead man instead. The jury, and most of Aurora’s citizens felt that Moses Brockman was justified in shooting William Carder. Roswell Colcord thought “the killing of Bill Carder was a necessity.” Carder’s wife, Annie, thought differently and decided the killing of her husband was an assassination and the Lord would avenge her husband’s death. She ordered the marble tombstone that is nearly buried in the ground on top her husband’s grave in an almost forgotten part of the Aurora cemetery. Whether the Lord avenged Annie Carder’s husband’s death, is unknown as of September 2003, nearly 139 years after the actual event.

Aurora Cemetery Headstones
Plaque in front of cemetery:
“A Plea from each one of us as a silent majority - as you are so once was I - As I am soon will be when these words you see - Remember me - Remember me. Amen. Please do not desecrate or violate graves. S/Mineral County Citizens.”

W.M. Boring
“Sacred to the Memory of W.M. Boring. A Native of Tennessee. Died August 1872. Aged 48 years. Nevada State Senator.”

Mary N. Reid
Died November 2(?), 1879
Aged 25 years

Larkin Smith
Died December 13, 1877
Aged 70 years, 10 months, 22 days.

Grave w/names missing
Husband and wife
Deaths - 1877 @ 43 years of age; 1880 @ 46 years of age

Mary Williams
Native of Ireland
Died May 1, 1892
64 years of age

Henry Williams
Native of Ireland
Died 1890
65 years of age

Juliette Camberlain
Wife of D.S. Chamberlain
Died October 10, 1878
Age 20 years, 9 months and 22 days

Edwin R. Wood
Native of Philadelphia
Died October 13, 1896
Age 50 years, 9 months, 8 days

Laurie Wood
Daughter of Edwin and Mena Wood
February 6, 1881 - August 25, 1887

William H. Ball
Native of Hollis, New Hampshire
July 16, 1833 - January 30, 1902

John McKeough
1815-1904

Georgia Hatch
Wife of G.H. Hatch
Died October 18, 1879
Aged 31 years

Anna L. Booker
Wife of J.G. Booker
Died April 14, 1896
Aged 27 years

E.P. Davis
Native of Massachusetts
Died July 31, 1887
Age 71 years

Allen E. Conelly
|January 15, 1915 - November 13, 1990
[Note: Originally misspelled on this page. Contacted and corrected by a descendant 11/28/04]

Wanda Conelly
November 13, 1916 - October 11, 1985

Evelyn Boerlin
1912 - 1912

Clayton Davis
1896 - 1987

Elsie Davis
1899 - 1995

Pearl Marden
Child of Horace and Lizzie Marden
Died February 23, 1878
Aged 2 years
[Link takes you to Cecile Vargo's EXPLORE HISTORIC CALIFORNIA website with detailed info written by Peggy Lee about the Marden family and the deaths of their children]

Daisy Marden
Child of Horace and Lizzie Marden
Died February 26, 1878
Aged 4 years
[Link takes you to Cecile Vargo's EXPLORE HISTORIC CALIFORNIA website with detailed info written by Peggy Lee about the Marden family and the deaths of their children]

Dick Marden
Child of Horace and Lizzie Marden
Died February 16, 1878
Aged 6 years
[Link takes you to Cecile Vargo's EXPLORE HISTORIC CALIFORNIA website with detailed info written by Peggy Lee about the Marden family and the deaths of their children]

Frank Mardin
Child of Horace and Lizzie Marden
Died February 20, 1878
Aged 8(?) years
[Link takes you to Cecile Vargo's EXPLORE HISTORIC CALIFORNIA website with detailed info written by Peggy Lee about the Marden family and the deaths of their children]

James Mardin
Child of Horace and Lizzie Marden
Died March 9, 1865
Aged 7 years, 9 months
[Link takes you to Cecile Vargo's EXPLORE HISTORIC CALIFORNIA website with detailed info written by Peggy Lee about the Marden family and the deaths of their children]

Hoddie Marden
Child of Horace and Lizzie Marden
Died March 29, 1884
Aged 18 years
[Link takes you to Cecile Vargo's EXPLORE HISTORIC CALIFORNIA website with detailed info written by Peggy Lee about the Marden family and the deaths of their children]

R. Barlow
Brother of Richard Barlow
1865 - 1917

Richard Barlow
1825 – 1884
Brother of R. Barlow

Adeline M. Chambers
March 5, 1886 - January 4, 1917

Alonzo H. Patterson
1830 – 1905
Native of Belfast, Maine

Baldwin Schneidiger
Native of Long Island, New York
1822 - February 28, 1902

John Compston
November 10, 1845 - July 26, 1900

Rachal Wichmann
Wife of Jacob Wichmann
Died February 18, 1881
Aged 40 years, 6 months

Jacob Wichmann
Died March 11, 1881
Aged 31 days

Harry Gallagher
1886 - 1905

Thomas C. Sharpe
1849 – 1923
Owner of Fletcher Station 1870 - 1918

Maggie M. Sharpe
1860 - 1903

Elwood S. Sharpe
1901 - 1913

Adelaide D. Reid
1902 – 1918

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Page Revised: 02/21/2006