Located approximately one mile south are the remains of a typical stage station of the period 1843-1869, an era of transition between the arrival of the first emigrant wagon trains and the completion of the trans-continental railroad.

Desert Well Station, which was later known as Nelsons, achieved a measure of fame when Mark Twain wrote of his experience there in Roughing It. The original site featured two wells, an inn, and corrals. One of the wells was used exclusively by camels brought to the Nevada desert to haul salt to the mines on the Comstock.

Citation from Nevada Division of Water Planning