Settling of Panaca

On May 6, 1864, Francis and Jane Lee arrived with their large family and a nephew, Samuel F. Lee, and his family, at the site of Panaca where they diverted water from a warm spring to their nearby camp. At the time, Panaca was in Washington County, Utah Territory. The following year, 1865, Church Apostle Erastus Snow sent several additional families to strengthen the new settlement and appointed John Nebeker as the presiding elder.  

In 1866 the U.S. Congress adjusted boundaries and Panaca became part of the State of Nevada. The settlers experienced adversity in these early years. Local Paiute people launched a series of raids and residents of Panaca nearly abandoned the site, as the miners in nearby Pioche did. The tensions between white settlers and Paiute natives also caused Church leaders to abandon the settlement at Clover Valley. Those in Panaca elected to stay due to Jane Lee’s impassioned reminder to the group that they had been called to settle Panaca and she planned to stay, even if no one else did. 

By 1869, miners returned to Pioche and established a new mine at Bullionville. Initially, these nearby mining communities were a source of concern for the Latter-day Saints of Panaca. They worried that the miners, known for their loose morals, might cause trouble for their community. However, the settlers and miners found a common need for one another. Residents of Panaca began to make a comfortable living for themselves by selling supplies to the miners.