Churchill County plans new historical exhibit

Monday, July 12, 1999 | 2:22 a.m.

The Churchill County Museum Association plans the exhibit this fall thanks to a recent $152,300 grant from the Reno-based E.L. Wiegand Foundation.

It will focus on three facets - the marsh itself, the tribes that lived there and the immigrants who crossed the frontier 150 years ago.

The 45-foot long exhibit will help represent the continuity of history in western Nevada, Museum Director Jane Pieplow said.

"The story is there but it's chopped up," Ms. Pieplow said. "And really, history is a flowing thing. By combining these three things, we have a better story."

Researchers are gathering information from workers at the Stillwater Wildlife Refuge and members of the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe to help make the exhibit as authentic as possible.

Visitors should feel like they are walking through a section of the Stillwater Wetlands, Peiplow said.

Eight-foot high murals will depict the surrounding landscape.

Across from the marsh area will be a replica of an Indian "tule" hut as it would have appeared in the late 1800s. A tule canoe, used for hunting and traveling along the marsh, accompanies the hut.

Passing through the marsh, visitors will be transported through a diorama of the 40 Mile Desert, complete with artifacts and displays of various plants that grow there. The remains of an old wagon will help demonstrate the mode of transportation used by early settlers.

Brian Wignall of the Las Vegas-based Lincoln Studios West will serve as the primary designer. He designed an interactive map and an irrigation model for last year's Newlands Project exhibit.