Nevada History: On The GO! – Josie Reed Pearl: The Remarkable Story of an Early Woman Miner (Off-site, SVL)

November 7, 2026, 1 – 2:30 pm Speaker: Richard Dorman, historian and geologist This presentation explores the fascinating story of Josie Reed Pearl, an early woman prospector and one of Nevada’s most colorful figures, remembered as the “Queen of the Black Rock Desert.” Josephine’s family would move to San Luis, New Mexico Territory, where she developed an interest in mining at a young age. By 1890, she moved to Crede, Colorado, to be with her sister. Josie would work as a waitress for a boardinghouse, where she would meet and eventually marry mining engineer Lane Pearl in 1892. The couple traveled west, working mining camps in places like Goldfield, Nevada, and Ward, White Pine County. When Goldfield’s boom collapsed in 1910, the couple moved to Ward, where Lane Pearl died in 1918 from the Spanish flu. Josie would move around Nevada, finding work in restaurants and boardinghouses, and continuing to prospect. In 1922, Pearl acquired several mining claims in the Columbia Mining District in Humboldt County. She built a cabin in Cove Canyon near the Black Rock Desert, where she lived for almost forty years. Our speaker will share new, previously unknown facts about Josie Pearl. Speaker Bio: Richard H. Dorman is a man of many passions, including history, music, theater, and geology—interests he enthusiastically shares with others. His deep fascination with the history of Jarbidge, Nevada, and the last stagecoach mail robbery in 1916 led him to uncover and revive the stories of several women whose contributions had long been overlooked or forgotten. An active performer, Mr. Dorman appears in productions at the White Stage Theater in Winnemucca and participates annually in San Francisco’s Dickens Fair, where he performs with multiple choral ensembles and lectures on paleontology. He is also a skilled historical costumer, creating reproduction garments for a variety of performing groups. Richard Dorman, speaker Mr. Dorman earned a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the Mackay School of Mines at the University of Nevada, Reno in 1976. His career in mining and mineral exploration spans more than 46 years and includes extensive work with sediment-hosted mineralized deposits across Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, and Nevada. He has held senior positions in the industry, including Vice President of Exploration at Universal Uranium Ltd., and has worked with companies such as Getchell Gold Corporation, Hunt Oil, Coastal Chemical Corporation, Dyno Nobel, Atlas Minerals, and Plateau Resources Add to calendar Google Calendar iCalendar Outlook 365 Outlook Live