Battle Mountain.

Battle Mountain. Battle Mountain’s name derives from the mountain range to the southwest where in the 1850s some California emigrants were allegedly ambushed by a band of Native Americans.As a town, Battle Mountain sprung into existence in January 1870.  In October 1868, the railroad established the Reese River siding here, and made Argenta, five miles eastward, its principle station and point of departure for the busy mining camps to the south.

 However, early in 1870, the station at Argenta was moved to this location, and the Reese River siding was renamed Battle Mountain Switch.  Stage and freight roads north and south teemed with “mud wagon” stages and massive freight wagons.From 1880 to 1938, Battle Mountain was the operating headquarters for the Central Nevada Railway, as well as the Battle Mountain and Lewis Railroad from 1881 to 1890.

  The town’s first copper boom developed in 1897, in the Galena (Battle Mountain) range.  Battle Mountain steadily outgrew the mining town of Austin to the south, until voters moved the county seat here in 1979.