User:Sagebunny/Life in Indian Springs, Nevada

Indian Springs and Life During the 1950s and Early 1960s
One of the town's main roads, "Sky Road," was named by [William J. Brady http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10697&page=382], in memory of his friend Sky, who was also an Indian Springs resident. The road was paved (most roads were not). In the summer heat, the tar would soften, and if you walked on the road, your feet would sink down a little. Many people in Indian Springs lived in trailers. Desert tortoises (which were called "turtles") would wander through the residents' yards. Sometimes, a snake or iguana would visit! Many Indian Springs residents worked at the Nevada Test Site (this was during the era of weapons testing--even above-ground nuclear testing).

Indian Springs had one school. "Mr. Boam" was a principal there.

The artesian spring: the land surrounding the creek and lake (a small, muddy, carp-infested lake) was called "The Ranch." It was privately owned. The owners rented out old ranch houses...they allowed the tenants to pick blackberries--one or two pie's worth per family. Also, the owners allowed a tanker truck from the Nevada Test Site to fill up (regularly) with fresh water from the creek/spring, for the workers at the Nevada Test Site to drink. Regularly. The problem was that the same truck was also used to haul leaded gasoline to the site. So, the drinking water was contaminated with gasoline. (The ranch owners didn't know about the contamination; they were doing a good thing.)

In the vernacular of I.S. residents, Las Vegas was called "town." If you were driving to Las Vegas, say, for a twice-a-month grocery trip, you were "going to town." (People liked to shop at Vegas Village or Wonder World in "town.")

If you visit Indian Springs today, you will see trailers from an era gone by. Look for the "Atomic View Trailer Court"! Some of the same people who lived in Indian Springs during the 1950s still live there today. Maybe, if you look intently, you can see a daddy returning home from the "Site" with his Geiger counter, and with glass bottles that he turned purple, and brown, by radiating them.