Dayton, 1866, TWO Nevada Firsts

Dayton, Lyon, Nevada

Cover Date: December 18, 1866

This cover is far more than a nice story with a little Nevada connection. William Prows just may be a very important historical footnote in Nevada history! Or two important historical footnotes!!!
William Prows is a window on early Mormonism.

William Prows became a very early Mormon immigrant to the Utah Territory.  He arrived there with the Brigham Young lead Mormon Battalion.  The Mormons were being persecuted in their home in Illinois and had taken refuge with the local Native Americans.  They were negotiating with the American government and President James Polk to help them finance moving the entire Mormon nation to the Utah Territory.
  • Then the Mexican-American war broke out.  Brigham Young saw three positives about this:
  • Troops were paid a year’s salary in advance which would be given to the church to finance this trip
  • Many Mormons would start moving West
  • It would be good PR to show that the Mormons were Americans and supported this war.

The Mormon battalion enlisted 500 troops.  They marched 1900 miles to war ending up in Southern California.  Their only battle was against a pack of wild bulls that had gored two of their soldiers.

One of these 500 enlisted men was William Cook Prows.  He served his time and probably even re-enlisted for another 6 months.  Circa 1850 he headed back to Salt Lake City and the new home of the Mormons.  The trek took them up to Sacramento, over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and through Nevada.

He would eventually end up in Juarez, Mexico with many other Mormon families that were fighting against those who persecuted polygamists. And, yes, William had two wives, at the same time, who gave birth to children in the same years. Prows would pass away there in 1893.

This cover is addressed to William Prows and it is written that it is from Alma Prows from Dayton, Nevada. There is some sense to this as William had a sister named Alma!  Also, William was living in Millard County, Utah Territory in 1860 and 1870.

This is a nice story,  Historically interesting.  Some Nevada connection.  
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William Prows was born in Virginia on June 11, 1827. When he was fourteen years old, his father converted to Mormonism.  

There are two stories about William that make his connection to Nevada of immense importance.  William married his first wife Lodesky Ann Roberd on April 14, 1850 according to the many family trees on ancestry.com. Half of those trees have the marriage taking place in Salt Lake City. But the other half have the marriage taking place near Mary’s River.  Mary’s River is now called the Humboldt River. Even if he didn’t marry in Nevada, he most likely proposed to his wife in Nevada.

This means that this must have been one of the first (or maybe even the very first) marriages in Nevada. Remember in 1850 there were less than 1,000 people living in the area now defined as Nevada and almost all of them were men. The only reason to be living in this area would be to prospect for gold or to man a way station for all those 49ers heading to the gold fields of California. There just weren’t many women!

The second story revolves around his trip from San Diego to Salt Lake City after he had been mustered out of the army. On they way home the company he was travelling with would have passed through Dayton, Nevada (where the cover is from). While in Dayton he is rumored to have been the first person to find gold in Nevada.  The Davis History of Nevada gives a timeline on Nevada mining. The first entry is, “Gold discovered in Dayton by William Prouse, Twenty to one hundred men engaged in gold washing.” (Prows is often speller Prouse.)

Other historians point to a different Mormon traveler.

At the minimum these stories tell us William Prows was a very, very early traveler through Nevada. They tell of a story of a persecuted religion, polygamy, early romance on the Humboldt River before it was the Humboldt River, and the discovery of gold in Nevada.

But they may also give us the man who was responsible for these historically important facts!
Post Office Dates: January 15, 1861 - June 12, 1862     Utah Territory
                               June 12, 1862 - October 31, 1864     Nevada Territory
                               October 31, 1864 - present                Nevada

William had a sister named Alma. It would make sense that this cover is from her.

Notice that there is no stamp. Just a 'No. 7' written where the stamp should be.