Tag Archives: Carson City
A war story of three Nevada veterans
The following story was told to me by Robert Laxalt shortly before he passed away several years ago. At the time I was doing some work on his irrigation system at his home in Washoe Valley. Robert’s wife, Joyce, told me Robert wanted to meet with me because he knew I had written a book and Robert always was interested in writers and writing. He was very ill at the time, but we had a delightful conversation.
Robert asked if I was related to a Bill Cassinelli. I told him Bill was a cousin of my father, Raymond. He then told me that Bill Cassinelli, Paul Laxalt and another fellow I knew named Leon Etchemendy all had served in World War II together. Paul Laxalt was Robert’s brother. Leon Etchemendy worked at the Nevada Department of Transportation at the same time I worked there in the 1980s. Both Paul and Leon were from Carson City. Bill had been born and grew up in Reno. Somehow, the three of them ended up in the Aleutian Islands under attack by the Japanese.
Apparently, the three men had never met before. As they introduced themselves to each other, they were surprised to learn that they all came from western Nevada. The time came when Bill Cassinelli took a hit from a Japanese shell, which took off one leg. With the assistance of Laxalt and Etchemendy, Bill was taken out to a medical facility where they were able to save his life, but not the leg. Bill was a frequent visitor to the ranch where I grew up in Sparks. Before the war, he had been an avid baseball player. After his return, he continued to be a fan of the game. We often attended games at the old Threckels Ballfield on East Fourth Street in Reno in the 1940s.
Bill and his wife, Clara, a cousin of my grandmother, Edith Cassinelli, moved to Stockton, Calif. Paul Laxalt later became governor of the state of Nevada. Leon Etchemendy and Bill remained close friends. Leon and I both worked at the Department of Transportation in Carson City during the 1970s and 1980s. He remarked how unusual it had been that two Bascos and an Italian from the same area just happened to end up in the same place at the same time during the war.
Phallic pestle unearthed in Carson City
A pestle is a long piece of stone intentionally shaped to be used in a bowl-shaped piece of stone called a mortar.
Between May 2008 and January 2009, I was working as an inspector on the section of the Carson City Freeway Bypass from US Highway 50 to Fairview Drive. Before the project began, I attended a public open house of the project site to see the archaeological excavations being performed by the Louis Berger Group, Inc., consulting archaeologist hired by the Nevada Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. It appeared that the project route passed over a known prehistoric site that included a large Indian village that had been occupied for over one thousand years between 425 AD and 1470 AD.
The Louis Berger archaeologists discovered over 150 prehistoric features such as houses, storage pits, fire hearths, roasting pits and activity areas. The site represents one of the largest prehistoric villages ever discovered in northern Nevada. Thousands of prehistoric artifacts were uncovered during the scientific excavations, indicating the various daily activities which the people living there performed. These artifacts included projectile points, scrapers, manos, metates, mortars and pestles. I submitted a resume of my qualifications to help identify the artifacts but my offer was not accepted.
Several months after the archaeological field work was completed, construction began on the project. I was contacted by PBS&J Consulting Engineers to be an inspector for several phases of the work. I was told that the Louis Berger Group archaeologists had completed their field work and even though there was a possibility some artifacts may still remain undiscovered, they had sufficient material to complete their report. One of my assigned duties was to inspect the installation of highway lighting components along the freeway ramps north of the Fairview interchange. This included grading, trenching and installing conduits and concrete lighting system footings.
Having developed an eye for spotting arrowheads and other traces of ancient habitation, I noticed some charcoal remnants of old fire pits along the west slope of the Fairview exit ramp. As work progressed on the lighting system, I picked up a few broken projectile points and a 4” piece of a stone pestle that appeared to have been broken by excavation equipment. It appeared to have both ends broken off and the breaks seemed to be recently done. I had discovered many fragments such as this in the past and did not consider it of much importance. I put the stone in my toolbox and forgot about it for several days.
A stone pestle is a long piece of stone intentionally shaped to be used in a bowl shaped piece of stone called a mortar. The Indians used these tools to grind up seeds, cattail roots and other food items they had gathered. These have been found in several different sizes ranging from a few inches to a foot or more in length. After a few days I found another piece of the same pestle near where the first one was found. This one was about 7” in length and fit perfectly onto one end of the first piece.
The amazing thing I noticed about this second piece of the puzzle was the shape of the end, which resembled a male appendage. This surely perked up my interest and I made an all-out effort to find the last piece so I could reassemble the entire artifact. Sure enough, after a few more days of carefully inspecting the slope, I found the third and final piece and was able to connect the three together with stone masons epoxy. The resulting completed artifact was a whopping fifteen and one half inches long and weighed seven pounds.
I looked online and found that such artifacts are very rare and are called “Phallic Pestles.” I found several photos of similar items, but without bragging, I can honestly say that none of those shown were as long as mine. Because I found the pestle on state property, I felt an obligation to take it to Eugene M. Hattori, curator of anthropology at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City. Gene was the archaeologist who was called in to excavate the 500 Carson City coin dies I had found at the old mint building back in 1999. He confirmed that the item was a genuine phallic pestle and said that to his knowledge, it was the first one ever reported from Nevada.
I agreed to make a donation of the amazing artifact to the “Under One Sky” exhibit at the museum with the understanding that it would be placed on public display and not hidden away in some storage room where no one would ever see it again. The Museum is expanding their Native American display area and the pestle will be displayed when the expansion is completed.
Dennis Cassinelli 