BOB MCCRACKEN Nye County History Lina Sharp Collection Nye County prospector and rancher Hubert Welch is pictured in 1968 high in the Grant Range overlooking Railroad Valley with his prospecting outfit, consisting of tools, camping gear, and two burros. Advertisement

A number of character types handed down to us from the Western frontier have taken on a certain mythical status. They are composites of fact and fiction that serve as filters through which we view ourselves and our country's past.

Ranked in order of their importance, I suggest the main frontier characters types are the cowboy, the lawbreaker (rustler, bank robber, etc.), the prospector, the sheriff, and the bar girl/prostitute.

Both in myth and in reality, they tended to be loners, individuals residing at the margins of society. Two of the top figures in this frontier cast list, the cowboy and the prospector, were central players in the frontier's two most important industries, ranching and mining.

The prospectors discovered the gold, silver, copper and so forth that led to the founding of communities. Without someone to find the gold and silver, there would have been no development of the West as we know it.

The cowboys raised the cattle -- not sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits or llamas -- that fed those communities.

Prospectors' discoveries led to the founding of a large percentage of the communities in the far West. Every major community in Nye County can trace its origin to the discovery of nearby minerals.

The only town that one might quibble about is Pahrump, which does not owe its origin to a nearby mineral discovery. Yet, Pahrump's proximity to a number of mining communities in the area made possible the development of the first ranches in the valley.

There were important differences between prospectors and cowboys.

Most cowboys were basically landless, itinerant wage laborers. Typically, a cowboy's only possessions were his horse and saddle, if that, and most cowboys had little hope of ever making it big. Moreover, as wage laborers, cowboys were not as free as their myth would have us believe.

There were many things a good cowboy had to know -- horsemanship, skills with a rope, and knowledge of cattle and how to survive on the range. A greenhorn could not step right in and be a cowboy; it took some learnin'.

On the other hand, almost anyone could be a prospector. He might not be a very good one, but he could try it.

Many in the West prospected on a part-time basis and some were very successful, such as Jim Butler, who discovered silver at what became Tonopah.

Others made a career out of it. Frank "Shorty" Harris, legendary in the Amargosa area, was a prospector of this type.

Most career prospectors, like cowboys, were landless, owning a burro or two, a camping outfit, and perhaps a few mining claims. Unlike riding herd, prospecting, whether part-time or as a career, came with no wage guarantee.

But a prospector always stood a chance of making it big like Jim Butler or Ed Cross, co-discoverer of Rhyolite (with Shorty Harris).

Many a would-be prospector headed out into the hills, hoping to find gold nuggets scattered about. That was what many of the first gold-seekers who arrived in Colorado in 1859 seemed to expect.

With hopes of quick riches dashed on the hard rocks of reality, many returned east only days after arriving, having learned that gold was easy to dream about but, almost without exception, extremely difficult to find, even under the most favorable conditions.

Following the discovery of gold in California in 1848, knowledge rapidly accumulated on how to prospect. Books appeared instructing wannabe prospectors on the essentials of the trade.

One of the best was titled "Prospecting for Gold and Silver in North America" by Arthur Lakes. First published in 1899, it went through a number of editions. One of my prized possessions is a copy of Lakes's book autographed by its original owner and including his place of residence -- Rhyolite.

Lakes was an interesting figure in the history of Western mining.

He was one of the leading geologists of his era and published numerous books and scores of articles on mining and geology. He taught for many years at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo., and the library there is named after him.

Remarkably, Lakes did not start his career at the school as a geologist. Initially he was the art teacher there, with only a side interest in geology.

When the professor who taught geology there died, Lakes took his place and went on to a brilliant career in the field. He always illustrated his books and articles with the most wonderful etchings of the mines and rock formations he studied.

In his book, Lakes suggests that "to save a vast amount of time and labor," the would-be prospector acquire as much knowledge as possible related to the discovery of minerals. He recommends a course atat a "school of mines to learn the elements of geology, minerals, assaying, etc."

Time should also be spent working in several mines located in the district to be prospected in order to understand the nature and occurrence of gold and silver in his area.

He says a beginner should also learn the "practical use of the pick, [hand] drill, and blasting powder."

Lakes pointed out that a prospector needed an outfit. He recommended blankets (many desert prospectors only had a single blanket) and the proper attire, including a pair of jeans, a change of woolen underclothing and socks, heavy boots, a soft felt hat, three or four large colored handkerchiefs, buckskin gauntlets, and toilet articles, all carried in a strong canvas bag.

A rifle or shotgun and a revolver and plenty of ammunition were also necessities, not to mention a pipe and tobacco.

Lakes prescribed a prospector's pick, a regular pick, a gold pan, a long-handled shovel, a heavy hammer, drill steel, an iron spoon, blasting powder, and fuse, along with an eight-inch wrought-iron frying pan, a coffee pot, tin cup, spoon, fork, matches in a tin box, pocket compass and a spy glass or field glasses.

Recommended provisions included bacon, flour, beans, coffee or tea, salt, pepper, and a box of yeast powder (note he did not include sugar among his necessities). A few cooking lessons "will be advantageous" before starting, he suggested.

Lakes advised having a burro or horse to transport the outfit. A horse or burro to ride was optional.

The life of the prospector, Lakes says, "offers many attractions to one who is restless and loves to roam, and loves to find something new, and is not afraid of considerable hardship."

I'll leave it to Shorty Harris, who made more than one big discovery in the Amargosa area, to summarize, with his characteristic joie de vivre, the benefits of the life of a prospector.

Quoting from my play "Short Man, The Life and Times of Frank 'Shorty' Harris," he said, "People have asked me, 'What is it about prospecting -- you've got nothing to show for it.' It's the game, man -- the game. I've done good for a fellow like me. I've never wanted for anything. Just sittin' here talking to you, I'm losing a million dollars a day. My only regret is I didn't start sooner. When I go out, every time my foot touches the ground, I think, 'Before the sun goes down I'll be worth 10 million dollars.' Think of the ledges of gold just setting there in the mountains waiting for me to find them."

Shorty Harris fits the myth of the western prospector to perfection and that is the basis of his being remembered.

I have no doubt he spoke the many words he is credited with. But we remember his words today because they fit the myth and not the other way around. How much of Shorty and the other prospectors is fact and how much is fiction is difficult to say.

Celesta Lisle Lowe, granddaughter of Dad Fairbanks, an Amargosa-area pioneer, once told me that Shorty Harris took room and board with her family for a time when she was growing up. "What kind of person was Shorty?" I asked. "I thought he was just an old windbag," she replied.

Remember director John Ford's great film, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," starring John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart?

Near the end of the picture, facts are presented that contradict the myth surrounding Jimmy Stewart's character. A reporter asks how the press should handle the story.

The reply: "This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

When it comes to Shorty and his fellow prospectors, that advice sits easy with me.