Of Sagebrush and Slot Machines - This Curious Place Called Nevada

“There has been nothing ordinary about the history of the State of Nevada. Throughout its existence Nevada has been home to unconventional lifestyles that were often at odds with mainstream America.” —Introduction

A place of stark contrasts between city and wilderness, Nevada became a state in 1864 amid a storm of controversy and national strife. Its subsequent acceptance of prostitution, easy divorce, and gambling—all recognized by state statute—produced widespread moral condemnation. Its harsh climate, low population, and early discoveries of vast reserves of silver further added to the state’s historic contradictions. Finally, its traditions of slow demographic and economic growth were dramatically reversed in the latter 20th century with the explosion of the gambling industry.

The works in this third edition of Of Sagebrush & Slot Machinesspan this century and a half of Nevada’s history. University of Nevada, Reno historians Richard Davies and Scott Casper have once again captured the unique flavor of the Nevada experience in this meatier, more modern collection of 18 excerpts from works by writers famous and obscure on the subject of the Silver State. Intercultural conflict, rural childhood, environmental explorations, and political and social controversies are probed in these pages, taking the reader beyond the neon glow most Americans picture when they think of Nevada and into a land of hidden cultural richness and complexity.