David Dotta was born in 1887 in Elko but his family lived in Carlin for a few years. His father identified his occupation as a farm laborer in the 1900 U.S. Census taken in Carlin. Dotta would eventually go on to become the mayor of Elko for a number of years and share a unique relationship with the star, Bing Crosby. In addition to living in Carlin when he was a young boy, Dotta also married a native Carlin girl, Rosa Sperlich. Rosa and David married in 1921. Rosa’s family remained in Carlin and the Dottas were regular visitors to the community.
In the Elko Independent newspaper of February 8, 1973, David Dotta talks about Carlin Canyon and how the community of Carlin spent a day working on improving the road between Elko and Carlin. The following is the article retyped for us to enjoy!
David Dotta Recalls Travel by Automobile Sixty Years Ago
By David Dotta
A trip through the Carlin Canyon always reminds me of a grade that existed just 14 miles west of Elko, way back in 1913 – a grade that was so steep and sidling and rocky that it is a wonder that no automobile ever slid off of the road and into the river.
The automobiles of those days had but little power and were very temperamental – if they were too hot or too cold or not working just right for other reasons, they would get stuck before reaching the top of the grade and the driver could do nothing except back all the way down to the bottom and try a new start – a move that was very dangerous.
Carlin people who owned cars wanted to drive to Elko to do their shopping, banking and to attend to other business. Getting to Elko was no problem, but all were afraid of climbing that grade on their way back home – particularly if they were loaded – that is, if the cars were loaded – not the people.
Big Highway Department
Elko county’s highway department consisted of Knox Crane, two horses and a wagon. He did a good job, but all of his time was taken in fixing broken bridges and taking care of other emergencies – leaving him no time to work on larger projects or improving existing roads.
Under the circumstances, the Carlin people who were interested in getting the grade improved, decided that the only way was to do it themselves – so, it was decided to hold a Sunday picnic up in the canyon and invite all those who were capable to do a day’s work, to be there with their picks and shovels to go to work.
A date was set and Elko people were also invited to be there all prepared to do their part.
As near as I can remember, about 33 people were there from Carlin, including three or four women who came to take care of the lunches. Only four of us showed up from Elko, including my father and me, but my father rounded up a Lawrence Gruppi, an Italian strong man, who was an expert at handling picks, shovels, and crow bars. He worked hard all day long and, probably, got as much done as any two or three of the rest of us – but there were many other good diggers, all of whom pitched in to do the very best they could to make the effort successful.
There was an abundance of beer on hand which was said to have been donated by Joe Isola, who was the owner of the Overland Hotel. It was a life saver during the heat of the day, but no one drank too much – it was not a drinking party by any means – just a group of people who thought of nothing except to get the job done.
The effort resulted in getting the high side of the road cut down all of the way – just a few inches but it was enough to make the road more level and reduce the danger of sliding off into the river. Many good sized rocks were dug out and the holes were filled with dirt and gravel. Even the women got into the act by digging and raking out small rocks.
At the end of the day, all of us tried our cars out by climbing up on the grade and every one reached the tope without having any trouble – it was all low gear work, of course, but no one expected to make a high gear grade out of it.
It was a tired bunch at the end of that day, but there was satisfaction of having accomplished what we started out to do.
It was a rather remarkable job done, in my opinion, considered it was done by a group of people from all walks of life who had the courage and the ambition to tackle a job like that.
None of us, at the time, even dreamed of ever seeing those hills leveled off, those massive bridges across the river, and those eight million dollar tunnels that are being drilled through the mountain.
I was the youngest one of the group that met at that picnic, which included members of old time families and new comers who were railroad employees – I may be the only one of the whole group that is left.