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Locals - Our Story

Looking at the history of the Locals Barbecue Co. in Nevada shows that Locals began in the 1850's, just after the Mexican-American War, when the southwest came under U.S. control. The founders of Locals came to the area with the other settlers during this time, preparing barbecue every night for the wagon train. They taught the craft of real open pit bbq to the other settlers, which created a meat so succulent that the settlers turned to ranching and gave up their quest for gold & silver. The first ranch was developed by the Cartwright's.

In 1858 the founders of Locals then proposed that Nevada would be carved out of western Utah. The Great American Basin included parts of eastern California, Arizona, and what is now Nevada. The area was referred to as the "Territory of Sierra", "Carson Territory", or "Washoe Country." Finally, in 1859, they and "the citizens of the western Great Basin met," seceded from the Utah Territory, and created the territory of Nevada. It was not recognized by Congress until March 2, 1861 however, when President Buchanan signed the bill creating the Nevada Territory. Territorial legislators met in Carson City in December of 1862, for a barbecue at Locals. During a night of great food and drinking, they decided to create a State of Washoe, but finding that Locals was short on ribs & tri-tip, they decided to go home and return in November of 1863 when Locals promised to have "all the fixin's" that the legislators might need.

When the legislators returned, they dined on great barbecue as promised, and drafted the constitution for the state of Washoe, but there was a disagreement over the name. The other names considered were Humboldt, Nevada, Locals, and Esmeralda. When the debate was over, Nevada, which in Spanish means snowy or snow-covered, was accepted. We are sure that Locals was very close.

Nevada's population was not large enough to become a state at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. However, President Lincoln realized that Nevadans were anti-slavery and that the North desperately needed gold & silver to help pay for the war. On October 31, 1864, Nevada became the 36th state with Carson City as its capital. During the late 1860's, several miners settled the northwestern counties of Nevada, and Locals was there to serve them. The following decade, mines closed as the value of silver dropped. Thousand of miners left Nevada looking for work, others turned to ranching. It is from these brave, adventurous souls that we receive our meat from today. Locals Barbecue Co. was the first business to register with this new state, and serves legislators to this day.


THIS IS A TRUE STORY*


*It is a true STORY, but the story isn't true.*


*Actually, if you remove every reference to Locals, & the Cartwright's, it is a TRUE story, and the story is TRUE.