Winnemucca, Nevada

Episode 131 / 8 August 2019 / 138 min / full

A Killer So Innocent

"We're going up to Winnemucca, Nevada; it's in Humboldt County, northern Nevada." about 0:06:54

The case: Murders of Charles Bady and James Robertson (September 1988). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2019

Population

7,870

Median age

29.6

Median household income

$69,562

Median home value

$202,800

Two-bedroom rent

about $961

Cost of living

101.7

Religious

48%

Property crime

▼ about 10% below average

Violent crime

right at average, just a drop low

History, in brief

• Named for Chief Winnemucca, chief of the local tribe, who had a camp near the town; loosely translated, Winnemucca means 'one moccasin'. about 0:10:36
• The chief's daughter, Sarah Winnemucca, campaigned for education and fair treatment of the tribes; the family learned English, and she worked as an interpreter, scout and messenger for the United States Army in the late 1870s. about 0:12:11
• Sarah Winnemucca published an autobiography in 1883, the first written by a Native American woman, based on lectures she gave in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. about 0:12:37
• The Central Pacific Railroad reached the town on September 16th, 1868, and the town grew from there. about 0:12:55
• Basque immigrants began arriving in the mid-1800s, drawn by mining, and worked as sheep herders; Winnemucca calls itself the most Basque town in America and holds an annual Basque festival. about 0:14:46
• Basque immigrants founded the Martin Hotel and the Winnemucca Hotel, both associated with groups of Basque sheep herders who owned them. about 0:16:29
• On September 19th, 1900, Butch Cassidy's gang robbed the First National Bank of Winnemucca and got away with $32,640. about 0:16:39
• The town had a large Chinatown in the late 1800s and early 1900s, founded by railroad workers; in the 1890s about 400 Chinese people lived there out of a population of 1,100. about 0:17:10
• Winnemucca has a legal brothel district, smaller now than in the 1980s, known as the ring circle or the line; sex workers must register with the local police and register their vehicles. about 0:17:46
• Residents are employed by mining companies and gold mines, a trailer company with about a hundred workers, and an airport industrial park. about 0:18:14
• Winnemucca Farms operated the world's largest potato dehydration plant until 2013; the area remains one of the largest potato farming areas in the world. about 0:18:57
• Winnemucca is home to the Buckaroo Hall of Fame and Heritage Museum. about 0:19:58

The reviews read out

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