According to several accounts Uncle William traveled through the area known today as Dayton, Nevada, perhaps on his way to California gold country. A couple of accounts credit him with being a part of a party of travelers that discovered gold in a stream here and named the location Gold Canyon or Cañon. Although we’ve found online references and images of historical markers, actually finding them in the field today wasn’t too easy. It seems that Dayton is a town that time forgot. The few locals seem to we aware of their history but haven’t invested great effort in marketing it. Cooler weather and perhaps a welcoming coffee shop or eatery would have invited us to stay longer and try to figure out whether Uncle William, Abner Blackburn, or someone else was the first European American to find the precious yellow metal here in the Washoe, the area that ultimately became famous for Virginia City and the Comstock Lode silver mine.
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