University of Nevada, Reno
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Embezzlement and the Nevada Highway
As the State of Nevada sold bonds to finance the construction of new parts of the highway system in the 1920s, the state government and local banks became embroiled in scandal. A group of men had embezzled from the State Treasury to try to make fortunes by investing in mining stocks, only to lose everything.
Left Image: Front page headlines, May 1927, with the announcement of the embezzlement and arrest of Malley, Cole, and Clapp. Governor Balzar and George Wingfield also issued statements to the newspapers as damage control; courtesy Newspaper Archive [1]. Right Image: Highway map of the state of Nevada, 1929, showing the location of routes 5 & 6 in southern Nevada connecting the still fledgling city of Las Vegas to Goldfield and nearby communities; courtesy of the Mary B. Ansari Map Library, University of Nevada, Reno [2].
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William Walker’s Rise and Demise in South America
As America expanded, filibuster William Walker led a military campaign to take over the country of Nicaragua with plans to annex the territory as a slave state in support of the southern cause. In the process he made an enemy of Cornelius Vanderbilt and British colonial forces.
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Generalisimo Santa Anna Attempts a Coup
Santa Anna, famed Mexican military commander of the Battle of the Alamo, led a troubled political career as President of Mexico. While living in exile later in his life, scam artists convinced him the American government would back his military conquests to retake the Mexican presidency.
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George Graham Rice: The Jackal of Wall Street
George Graham Rice was an interesting figure in the mining history of Nevada. After operating scams based on western mining stocks, he wrote the boldly titled book My Adventures With Your Money while imprisoned for mail fraud.
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Left Image: Headlines from G.G. Rice’s imprisonment on the charge of mail fraud for using the postal service in his stock schemes, 1910; courtesy Newspaper Archive [7].