I received the following email from Kenneth Sweet. If you have any information, please post it. Thanks, Billie From: "Kenneth Sweet" <sweetk1940@sbcglobal.net> To: "Billie C. & Anita 'Jean' Reynolds" <r3346@sunset.net> Subject: Re: Greetings Date: Monday, October 09, 2006 4:52 PM Billie, I just finished reading all the material you sent me. Great! That was the first time, I had read anything on the Pyramid Lake Indian battles. I had heard about them but hadn't read anything about them. The information I have on Alanson Nightingill and the Truckee Rangers came from a newspaper obituaries/biography on Nightingill. He was a Nevada State political official. The newspaper, I have is The Daily Appeal from February 15, 1870. It was written on Nightingill's death in 1870. I also have some other information and sources on the 1860 expedition into Surprise Valley by Captain Nightingill and is 24 men. Tami Grove wrote an interesting article about the early settlement in Surprise Valley. It was titled A Collective History of Early Years of Settlement in Surprise Valley. (Secondary source) her primary source was from the Humboldt Register, May 2, 1863 through December 1, 1876. Here are a few excerpts from the Humboldt Register and the global article This report is from the Humboldt Register cut from a reprint made by the Sacramento Union on September 1, 1863, but the report is incorrect as to the discover. In July, 1860 the same Valley had been entered by Captain Nightingill and his company of 23 man the Valley is found described in DeGroot's map as "Nightingill Valley," though it was incorrectly named by Nightingale the same as stated in the Humboldt Register by the Houghton's party--"Surprise." So it's likely that individuals crossing the Valley in the westward movement were Surprised by this Valley. However, it didn't get listed as Surprise Valley until the Houghton's party surveyed the boundary line between Nevada and California in 1863. The Humboldt Register does give the the Nightingill party credit for formally recognizing/discovering Surprise Valley. Of course the Indians discovered it first and the immigrants on the Applegate Trail crossed the Valley before 1860 and the Nightingill group. Also, Peter Lassen was in there in the late 1840s trying to discover a better route that led to Fandango Pass. A Robert Peace mentions in his book MODOC COUNTY the discovery of Surprise Valley and the Nightingill party. Finally, in The Political Graveyard: Index to politicians, I found the following obituary/information on Alanson Nightingill. Nightingill,Alanson W. (1826-1870)---of Nevada, born in Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio, May 17, 1826. Went to California for the 1849 Gold Rush; delegate to the Nevada State Constitutional convention, 1863 Nevada State Comptroller, 1864-66 died in Carson City, Nevada, February 12, 1870. Burial location unknown. (Excerpt) Alanson Nightingill (one in Ashland, Ohio 1826-1870. Lead a party of 23 man into surprise Valley on a mission in 1860. They called this beautiful valley "Nightingill Valley" later to be named by the Houghton party "Surprise Valley" Nightingale and his party are credited for the discovery of Surprise Valley. The only other white men intering the Valley before 1860 were early emigrants of the Applegate Trail that crosses Surprise Valley. Jesse Robert Sweet was one of those 23 man in the Nightingill party that saw this beautiful valley for the first time. Each of the men were given land grants of 160 acres. Jesse Sweet staked his 160 acre claim out just north the Lake City, California, where the present day Cockrell ranches located, interesting that the car rolls are descendents of Jesse Sweet. ~~~~~~ Billie C. & Anita 'Jean' Reynolds Family Researcher of "The Last Frontier" Modoc County, California --- Our outgoing mail is checked by ZoneAlarm AntiVirus.