Washoe County

Located in the northwestern corner of Nevada, bordering Oregon to the north and California to the west, Washoe County was a crossroads for miners seeking riches in the California Gold Rush and later in the neighboring Comstock Lode. Occupied by the Wassau (or Washo) and Paiute Indians, Washoe County was explored by John Bidwell in 1841 and John C. Fremont in 1844. Settlers began to arrive in the area claimed by Utah Territory as part of Tooele County in 1852, and it became part of Carson County in the Nevada Territory in 1854. Washoe County became one of the original nine counties in the Nevada Territory in 1861 and expanded to its current size with the addition of Lake or Roop County land in 1864.