Historic Cabin of Nevada Gunslinger Opens

	Longstreet cabin. Click on image to enlarge. USFWS photo

After suffering decades of neglect, the restored Nevada pioneer cabin of Andrew Jackson “Jack” Longstreet, a western folk legend, opened to the public on October 22.

The stone cabin, which had deteriorated and almost collapsed, was revealed in its original state at an open house on the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. It will be used as an interpretive site, bringing to life the cultural and natural history of the refuge.

Longstreet tried to avoid the law by living in remote places like Ash Meadows, and was reputed to “settle arguments with a gun, and champion those who could not protect themselves,” according to the Death Valley Forum. His cabin, located beside one of the refuge’s warm water springs, was built in 1896.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received a Nevada Historic Preservation Award this spring for the cabin restoration because “it will enhance the experience of visitors to the refuge and illustrate Nevada’s historic past.” The project, which has taken several years, has been funded by a grant from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act.

For more information, contact Lou Ann Speulda, Historian, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (775) 861-6335.