The Wadsworth Store

George A. Wadsworth and Elizabeth Broadbent Wadsworth

The Wadsworth Store as it looked in the early days, except now bearing the sign

N. J. Wadsworth and Sons General Mercantile

This picture was taken at least twenty years after my father, James, had quit running it.

It had been vacant all those years and was falling into disrepair.

It is the same building I remember as a child, except then it would have been painted and in good condition, with the surrounding grounds neat and tidy.

There is a little building on Main Street in Panaca. It has stood in the same spot for as long as I have lived, from before my father was born in 1888. It was there when the road that ran in front was dirt, filled with ruts from the many wagons that traveled it and the teams that pulled them. It was there when the early settlers of Panaca were still struggling with Indians and Outlaws. It has stood there through bitter cold and blistering heat and has survived several floods that threatened to wipe out the little town. It survived through at least three great depressions in the country.

I don't know the exact date it was built, but do know that it was built by James Allen Wadsworth, my father's uncle and his namesake. I have not been able to find the date James built it, but I know that he owned and operated it for years before he died in Panaca on January 3, 1887, at the age of 38. The store at that time was known as The Wadsworth Store. It served the ranchers and farmers of Panaca and the outlying ranches, as well as many of the miners in the area, with the goods necessary for their homes and businesses. It was a gathering place where the men could get together to share information or just to tell a good story.

In those early days of Panaca, George A. Wadsworth and his sons were farmers, cattlemen, merchants, and freighters. At that time, prior to the railroad, freighting was a lucrative business and good freighters were in great demand. The Wadsworth men were strong men with the best wagons and quality horses and mules to pull them. There was ore to be hauled from the silver mines in Pioche to the smelters and kilns in Bullionville and Bristol, Nevada, and Milford, Utah. There was a run to deliver supplies to the gold camp in Delamar, Nevada, and load the wagons with supplies to be brought back. There was wood to be chopped and hauled to fuel the smelters and kilns in the mining towns and camps.

George's son, Nephi John, my grandfather, was credited with hauling the first load of lumber into Pioche from Salt Lake City, Utah. He forwarded and hauled freight from terminals in York, a railroad station now part of Salt Lake City, Utah, to Bamberger, a station 12 miles below Caliente. He had a contract with Wells Fargo to tranport a safe that was constructed like a huge iron ball and weighed more than 8 tons. In addition to fine horses, he had a team of ten mules that he drove with a jerk line. Nephi's son, James Allen, my father, hauled freight and wrote in his history of driving his first freight wagon with a two horse team from Panaca to Delamar when he was 7 or 8 years old. This was in a group of several other freight wagons.

Changing stations and feed yards were necessary to keep the wagons running smoothly and the horses and mules rested, shod, and healthy. George and Nephi owned and operated feed lots and changing stations in Panaca and Milford, Utah. Nephi also sold Mitchell wagons, said to be one of the best wagons built at that time.

After James' death, the store was operated by my grandfather, Nephi John Wadsworth, brother of James. It became the N. J. Wadsworth & Sons General Mercantile. But, that is another story.

To Be Continued. . . .