EVELYN MOUNT AND HER HUSBAND LEON MOVED TO RENO IN 1976 AND BEGAN COLLECTING FOOD DONATIONS OVER THE HOLIDAYS FOR PEOPLE IN NEED. FOR THE PAST 42 YEARS (AND NOW IN HER 90’S), SHE AND A GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS HAVE FED THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF NORTHERN NEVADANS. EVELYN AND LEON FOUNDED THE EVELYN MOUNT COMMUNITY OUTREACH CENTER IN 1979. LEON PASSED AWAY 2002. EVELYN MOUNT HAS BEEN A BEACON OF HOPE AND GOOD THROUGHOUT MY ENTIRE LIFE. SHE HAS MADE ME AND COUNTLESS OTHERS CHOOSE TO BE A LITTLE MORE THOUGHTFUL AND CARING. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO DONATE TO EVELYN MOUNT COMMUNITY OUTREACH CENTER. THE GOOD PEOPLE THERE ARE ALWAYS IN NEED OF HELP. THE ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER ARE: 2530 CANNAN ST RENO, NEVADA 89512 (775) 331-3257 YOU CAN ALSO FIND THEM ON FACEBOOK.
BERTHA, AN INDIAN ELEPHANT AT JOHN ASCUAGA’S NUGGET, WAS THE LONGEST-RUNNING CASINO ACT IN NEVADA HISTORY, RUNNING FROM 1962 TO HER DEATH IN 1999 AT THE AGE OF 48. SHE WAS BORN IN 1951 IN THE WILD IN INDIA AND CAPTURED IN 1956. BERTHA PERFORMED CIRCUS TRICKS AND LIVED IN THE ELEPHANT PALACE AT THE NUGGET FOR 37 YEARS AND MET THE LIKES OF THE BEATLES AND LIBERACE. WHICH TO HER PROBABLY DIDN’T MEAN MUCH. DURING HER LIFE AT THE CASINO SHE WAS JOINED BY TINA, WHO ARRIVED IN 1979 AND WAS TRANSFERRED OUT IN 1989, AND THEN BY ANGEL, FROM 1989 TO 1999, WHEN SHE WAS SENT TO THE FORT WORTH ZOO. I REMEMBER FEEDING PEANUTS TO BERTHA AS A YOUNG CHILD AND THOUGH IT WAS A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE FOR A BOY TO COME INTO SUCH CLOSE CONTACT WITH SUCH AN AMAZING AND POWERFUL ANIMAL FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD, I CHOOSE TO PICTURE HER NOT HAVING DIED IN A PARKING LOT IN SPARKS, NEVADA, BUT STILL RUNNING RAMPANT AND FREE THROUGH THE DESERT.
PEACEMAKER JOHNSON SIDES WAS A PAIUTE CHIEF FROM RENO WHO EARNED THE OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT TITLE OF US PEACEMAKER FOR HIS WORK TRANSLATING AND NEGOTIATING BETWEEN THE LOCAL TRIBES AND THE WHITE SETTLERS. HE WAS MONUMENTAL IN GETTING THE RAILROAD BUILT THROUGH THE AREA AND EARNED ‘FREE RIDES FOR LIFE’ ON THE TRAINS FOR THE PAIUTE PEOPLE. ORPHANED AS A CHILD, JOHNSON SIDES WAS TAKEN IN AND RAISED BY THE SIDES FAMILY, THUS ADOPTING THE SIDES FAMILY NAME. WHILE LIVING ON THE FAMILY'S RANCH, JOHNSON LEARNED TO SPEAK FRENCH AND ENGLISH. HE ALSO SPOKE MULTIPLE INDIAN DIALECTS. JOHNSON WAS KNOWN FOR WEARING AN ARMY UNIFORM AND ARMY FIELD HAT. HE IS BURIED IN THE HISTORIC HILLSIDE CEMETERY BY UNR. RENO WOULDN’T BE HERE IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE MEDIATION AND PEACEKEEPING SKILLS OF CHIEF JOHNSON SIDES DEALING WITH THE DROVES OF STRANGERS MOVING TO HIS NATIVE LAND. HE DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO ACCEPTING AND WORKING WITH ALL PEOPLE AS THE POPULATION OF IMMIGRANTS STEADILY GREW AROUND HIM.
FROM RACING, TO MOGULS, TO FREESTYLE, GLEN PLAKE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST SKIERS OF ALL TIME. THE FACE OF ‘EXTREME’ SKIING HE IS ALSO IS A FULLY CERTIFIED L3DT PSIA INSTRUCTOR/ AMGA APPRENTICE MOUNTAIN GUIDE AND IS A MEMBER OF THE US NATIONAL SKI HALL OF FAME. ESPN HONORED HIM AS ‘THE PIONEER OF ACTION SPORTS’. HE IS ALSO A NATIONAL CHAMPION WATERSKIER, HAS WON MULTIPLE TITLES IN OFF-ROAD RACING INCLUDING THE BAJA 1000 AND 500, THE DAKAR RALLY AND IS A 508 ENDURANCE CYCLING SOLO FINISHER. GLEN STARTED A SKI FOUNDATION, RG2 FOR MOUNTAIN GUIDES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO LEARN NECESSARY SURVIVAL SKILLS. GLEN AND HIS WIFE KIMBERLY ARE BASED HERE IN NORTHERN NEVADA BUT CONTINUE TO TRAVEL THE WORLD, AND KILL IT. I HAD A GIANT POSTER OF GLEN PLAKE BLASTING OUT A ROCKET AIR OFF OF A GIANT CLIFF ABOVE MY BED GROWING UP. HE’S JUST THE RADDEST DUDE OUT THERE.
ED CARLSON WAS A FREE SPIRIT KNOWN AS THE WAVER WHO LIVED IN RENO FROM THE 1970’S TO 2007. HE SPENT EVERY DAY WALKING AND WAVING AND SMILING TO PASSING MOTORISTS THROUGHOUT NORTHERN NEVADA AS WELL AS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. HE SOLD ‘PET ROCKS’ AND SPREAD A MESSAGE OF LOVE TO EVERYONE HE CAME IN CONTACT WITH. HE DIED IN 2012 AT THE AGE OF 75. AS A CHILD, SPOTTING HIM ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND WAVING BACK TO HIM FROM THE BACK OF MY MOM’S STATION WAGON WAS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING MOMENTS OF ANY TRIP INTO TOWN FOR ME AND MY SIBLINGS. IN HIGH SCHOOL, MY MOM GAVE ME A PERSONALIZED SIGNED COPY OF HIS BOOK ‘I WALKED TO THE MOON AND BACK AND ALMOST EVERYBODY WAVED’ THAT I STILL OWN TO THIS DAY. THOUGH TORMENTED WITH HIS OWN PERSONAL PROBLEMS AND DEMONS, THE WAVER DECIDED TO TRY IN THE ONLY WAY HE KNEW HOW TO SPREAD LOVE AND KINDNESS TO THE WORLD AROUND HIM. MORE PEOPLE COULD STAND TO BE LIKE ED CARLSON.
JOHN ARTHUR JOHNSON (MARCH 31, 1878 – JUNE 10, 1946), NICKNAMED THE GALVESTON GIANT, WAS AN AMERICAN BOXER WHO, AT THE HEIGHT OF THE JIM CROW ERA, BECAME THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION. HE FOUGHT ‘THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY’ VS. JIM JEFFERIES ON JULY 4, 1910, AT A RING BUILT JUST FOR THE OCCASION ON EAST 4TH STREET IN DOWNTOWN RENO. JOHNSON DOMINATED THE FIGHT. THE FIGHT BECAME AN ALLEGORY FOR RACISM IN AMERICA AND SET OFF RACE RIOTS THAT EVENING ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. IN ALL, RIOTS OCCURRED IN MORE THAN 25 STATES AND 50 CITIES. AT LEAST TWENTY PEOPLE WERE KILLED, AND HUNDREDS MORE WERE INJURED. ON OCTOBER 18, 1912, JOHNSON WAS ARRESTED ON THE GROUNDS THAT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH LUCILLE CAMERON (A WHITE WOMAN WHO LATER BECAME HIS WIFE) VIOLATED THE MANN ACT AGAINST "TRANSPORTING WOMEN ACROSS STATE LINES FOR IMMORAL PURPOSES”. JOHNSON WAS CONVICTED BY AN ALL-WHITE JURY IN JUNE 1913, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE INCIDENTS USED TO CONVICT HIM TOOK PLACE BEFORE PASSAGE OF THE MANN ACT. HE WAS SENTENCED TO A YEAR AND A DAY IN PRISON. HE FLED THE COUNTRY FOR 7 YEARS. JOHNSON RETURNED TO THE U.S. ON JULY 20, 1920. HE SURRENDERED TO FEDERAL AGENTS AT THE MEXICAN BORDER AND WAS SENT TO LEAVENWORTH PENITENTIARY TO SERVE HIS SENTENCE IN SEPTEMBER 1920. HE WAS RELEASED ON JULY 9, 1921. JOHNSON WAS POSTHUMOUSLY PARDONED ON MAY 24, 2018 (COINCIDENTALLY WHILE I WAS PAINTING THIS PAINTING) JACK JOHNSON FOUGHT, LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY, TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL MEN ON THE PLANET WHO DID WHAT HE WANTED TO DO WITH GRACE AND POISE WHILE DARING ANY MAN TO TRY AND STOP HIM IN A TIME WHEN ALMOST ALL OF WHITE AMERICA TRIED TO STOP HIM.
GEORGE SPINNER WAS FROM QUEENS, N.Y., BUT HE GREW UP IN CALIFORNIA'S SAN FERNANDO VALLEY. FROM THERE, THE FAMILY MOVED TO TUCSON, ARIZ. HE LIVED IN RENO FOR DECADES AND WAS A REGULAR AT NU YALK PIZZA, IN ITS PREVIOUS LOCATION AT EAST MOANA AND KIETZKE, WALKING THERE FROM HIS SOUTH VIRGINIA STREET APARTMENT, USUALLY CARRYING A SKATEBOARD. SPINNER HAD TOURETTE'S SYNDROME, A NEUROLOGICAL CONDITION THAT CAUSES INVOLUNTARY OUTBURSTS AND MUSCLE TICS OR SPASMS, DIAGNOSED WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 3 YEARS OLD. HE MADE IT TO ABOUT MIDDLE SCHOOL AND WAS NEVER ABLE TO WORK. HE WAS ALSO LEGALLY BLIND. GEORGE SPINNER WAS A LOCAL LEGEND AND RENO FIXTURE WHO WOULD TALK TO ANYONE WHO WOULD APPROACH HIM. ASK ANY LOCAL OF A CERTAIN AGE AND ODDS ARE HE WILL BE FONDLY REMEMBERED. HE PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 68 IN 2014. SKATEBOARD GEORGE WAS A CONSTANT PRESENCE IN MY LIFE GROWING UP AND RENO DOESN’T HAVE THE SAME SAME SOUL WITHOUT HIM KICKING HIS BOARD AROUND HIS OLD HAUNTS.
VELMA BRONN JOHNSTON, ALSO KNOWN AS WILD HORSE ANNIE, WAS AN ANIMAL WELFARE ACTIVIST THAT SINGLE-HANDEDLY LED A CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE ERADICATION AND CRUELTY TOWARD OUR WILD HORSES AND BURROS. SHE WAS BORN IN RENO, NEVADA IN 1912. IN 1923 SHE CONTRACTED POLIO AND WAS CONFINED TO A FULL-BODY CAST FOR SIX MONTHS, LEAVING HER SLIGHTLY DISFIGURED AND IN CONSTANT PAIN THROUGHOUT HER LIFE. DRIVING TO WORK ONE DAY, IN 1950 JOHNSTON WAS FOLLOWING A TRUCK OVERCROWDED WITH HORSES AND SAW BLOOD DRIPPING FROM THE BACK. SHE FOLLOWED IT TO A SLAUGHTERHOUSE AND UPON LEARNING THEY WERE FREE-ROAMING HORSES GATHERED FROM NEVADA'S VIRGINIA RANGE SHE IMMEDIATELY TOOK ACTION. ON SEPTEMBER 8, 1959, HER DEDICATED CAMPAIGN RESULTED IN THE FEDERAL LEGISLATURE PASSING PUBLIC LAW 86-234 WHICH BANNED AIR AND LAND VEHICLES FROM HUNTING AND CAPTURING FREE-ROAMING HORSES ON FEDERAL LAND. THIS BECAME KNOWN AS THE WILD HORSE ANNIE ACT. NOT SATISFIED, ANNIE KEPT FIGHTING AND IN 1971, THE 92ND UNITED STATES CONGRESS UNANIMOUSLY PASSED THE WILD AND FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS ACT OF 1971. THIS ACT PROHIBITED CAPTURE, INJURY, OR DISTURBANCE OF FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS. JOHNSTON DIED AT AGE SIXTY-FIVE ON JUNE 27, 1977. SHE IS BURIED ALONGSIDE HER PARENTS, HUSBAND AND BROTHER IN THE MOUNTAIN VIEW CEMETERY IN RENO, NV. WILD HORSE ANNIE FACED DISADVANTAGES HER ENTIRE LIFE AND STILL SINGLE HANDEDLY SAVED OUR BEAUTIFUL WILD HORSES AND BURROS FROM THE ATROCITIES OF WASTEFUL AND UNCARING HUMANS. SHE EMBODIES WHAT A NEVADAN SHOULD BE.
THE ‘AMAZING’ JERRY CRAMBONE WAS A STAPLE AT KING SKATE COUNTRY (NOW THE ROLLER KINGDOM) IN THE 80’S AND 90’S AND BECAME WELL KNOWN IN RENO FOR REXING. HE HAS WON MULTIPLE TROPHIES AND COMPETITIONS, HIS FAVORITE ROUTINE BEING SET TO BOB SEEGERS ‘STILL THE SAME’. AMAZING JERRY CLAIMS TO HAVE ROLLER-SKATED DOWN GEIGER GRADE (A TREACHEROUS, WINDING MOUNTAIN ROAD FROM VIRGINIA CITY TO SOUTH RENO), AMONG OTHER DARING FEATS, THOUGH THE ONLY KNOWN EVIDENCE IS FROM HIS AUTO-BIOGRAPHICAL ILLUSTRATED BOOK (WHICH CAN ACTUALLY NOW BE FOUND ON INSTAGRAM @THEAMAZINGJERRY). JERRY NOW LEADS A RECLUSIVE, SOLITARY LIFE IN HIS VAN AND AT THE TIME OF THIS PAINTING, AT LEAST, HIS WHEREABOUTS WERE UNKOWN. JERRY WAS A ROOFING BUDDY OF MY DAD’S BACK IN THE 80’S AND I STILL VIVIDLY REMEMBER THE FEW TIMES HE WAS AT MY CHILDHOOD HOME. HE WAS ALWAYS SCABBED UP AND BRUISED FROM EITHER FALLING OFF A ROOF OR CRASHING DURING ONE OF HIS ROLLER-SKATE STUNTS. HE WAS DEFINITELY A BIT ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES BUT I APPRECIATE THAT HE FOUGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO BE HIMSELF EVEN WHEN SOCIETY MIGHT HAVE FOUND HIS ACTIONS FRIVOLOUS AND COMICAL. I THINK A LIFE BUCKING THE NORM AND LIVED TRUTHFULLY TO ONE’S SELF IS AS STRONG AND EMPOWERING A POLITICAL PROTEST ONE CAN MAKE.
WOVOKA, ALSO KNOWN AS JACK WILSON, WAS THE PAIUTE RELIGIOUS LEADER WHO FOUNDED A SECOND EPISODE OF THE GHOST DANCE MOVEMENT. HE WAS BORN IN THE SMITH VALLEY AREA SOUTHEAST OF CARSON CITY, NEVADA, AROUND 1856 WITH THE BIRTH NAME QUOITZE OW. WOVOKA CLAIMED TO HAVE HAD A PROPHETIC VISION DURING THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF JANUARY 1, 1889. THE VISION ENTAILED THE RESURRECTION OF THE PAIUTE DEAD, AND THE REMOVAL OF WHITES AND THEIR WORKS FROM NORTH AMERICA. WOVOKA TAUGHT THAT IN ORDER TO BRING THIS VISION TO PASS, THE NATIVE AMERICANS MUST LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY AND PERFORM A TRADITIONAL ROUND DANCE, KNOWN AS THE GHOST DANCE. INTERPRETATIONS OF WOVOKA’S TEACHINGS SPREAD THROUGH TRIBES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND ULTIMATELY LED TO THE US GOVERNMENT FEARING A REBELLION OF NATIVE AMERICANS. THIS FEAR LED TO THE MASSACRE OF AN ESTIMATED 300 LAKOTA MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN AT WOUNDED KNEE CREEK IN SOUTH DAKOTA. ONE OF THE WORST BLIGHTS ON AMERICA’S HISTORY. WOVOKA DIED IN YERINGTON ON SEPTEMBER 20, 1932, AND IS BURIED IN THE PAIUTE CEMETERY IN SCHURZ, NEVADA. WOVOKA HAS ALWAYS BEEN PORTRAYED AS A POLARIZING ‘MESSIAH’ FIGURE IN HISTORY BUT ULTIMATELY HE WAS FIGHTING FOR HIS PEOPLES CIVIL RIGHTS AND BELIEFS. THE ONLY VIOLENCE THAT ERUPTED FROM THIS DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO HOLD ONTO HIS PEOPLE’S WAY OF LIFE WAS SOLELY FROM THE US GOVERNMENT’S SIDE. WOUNDED KNEE WAS ONE OF THE LAST CRUSHING BLOWS OF A CONTINENT WIDE GENOCIDE.
