History

It is estimated that the first humans inhabited Great Basin National Park over 10,000 years ago.

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History Details

It is estimated that the first humans inhabited Great Basin National Park over 10,000 years ago. About 1,000 years later, Pueblo cultures moved into the area, displacing its original inhabitants. In 1859, a group of Mormons established a settlement in Snake Valley and just when they thought that life would continue in a quiet, solitary way, gold was discovered Osceola in 1871. By 1873, Osceola was a fully functioning and successful gold mine. Ab Lehman was fascinated by the area and the gold mines and "discovered" the first of many caves in Great Basin. He liked his find so much that he decided to commercialize the area and conducted the first cave tours began in 1885. After the cave tours began making money, cave ownership changed a few times as the Nevada Forest Service fought to protect the area above ground. Finally, on October 27, 1986 Great Basin was declared a National Park and the Lehman Caves were incorporated into the park.

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