'Women of the Wild West' featured in this weekend's Wild West tours

"Women of the Wild West" will be the theme of Saturday's Wild West Tour, a 1.5-mile walk through Carson City's historic district that will bring to life Carson history with live shootouts and characters from the past.

Among the women who will meet walkers will be Hannah Clapp, founder of the first private school in the state, and Margaret Ormsby, who became a successful businesswoman after her husband, Maj. William Ormsby was killed on a battlefield near Pyramid Lake during the Paiute Indian Wars.

"There have always been a lot of women involved in Carson City and we thought it would be fun to feature them," said Candy Duncan, executive director of the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Tours will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and run every half-hour with the last group leaving Telegraph Square at 2:30. The tours are open to everyone, with tickets costing $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and children 12 and under. The event is free for kids under 6. The event, which usually accommodates 30 to 40 people on each tour, is expected to sell out, Duncan said.

Visitors this year will be invited into five historic Victorian homes and shown more than 20 houses. The 90-minute trek will also feature museums and buildings.

The tour will offer an inside look at the Rinkle Mansion, inhabited by Mathias Rinkle, a butcher, from 1875 to 1876. The home had "many of the most modern labor-saving devices of that time," Duncan said.

Also featured will be a walk-through of the Ferris Mansion, built in 1969 by George Washington Gale Ferris, father of the inventor of the Ferris Wheel.

Mrs. Ormsby will reappear from the past at the Ormsby-Rosser House, and the Cohn House, built by Indian curio shop owners Abe and Amy Cohn in 1914, will be open for viewing by tours.

Life and culture from the 1800s will be recreated as gun shootouts, acted by the Nevada Gunfighters, will break out in the streets. Historical reenactments, provided by Bruka Theater actors, will liven the tour.

Sponsored by the visitor's bureau and the Carson City Redevelopment Agency, the Wild West Tour inaugurates the season for walking the Kit Carson Trail, a 2.5 mile route along sidewalks painted with a blue line and marked with inlaid bronze medallions.

Groups will leave from the corner of Telegraph and Curry streets. Call 1-800-NEVADA-1 for information.

IF YOU GO

What: "Women of the Wild West" Wild West Tour

When: 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Tours leave every 30 minutes from Telegraph and Curry streets

Cost: $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and children 12 and under, free for kids under 6.