The Paiute oral traditions describe a race of giants who lived along the shores of ancient Lake Lahontan, a massive body of water that covered most of Nevada at the end of the last ice age. According to the accounts, these giants were aggressive, and after prolonged conflict, the Paiute drove them into a cave and set fire to the entrance. What makes this more than folklore is the physical evidence. In the 1930s, newspaper archives from the Lovelock Times documented discoveries made by a rancher excavating near what is now the Black Rock Desert, the site of the annual Burning Man festival. He uncovered skeletal remains described as giant in scale. At the peak of Lake Lahontan, the water in that desert basin was roughly 500 feet deep. Along the high watermark, caves were carved into the rock, and in the early twentieth century, mummies were discovered inside one of them. Not just one or two, but many. The evidence was documented in local newspapers at the time, and those original articles still exist in archived form. The question is whether these discoveries represent an unknown chapter of human history or something else entirely.
Ready to go deeper into the evidence and explore the landscapes where these stories originated? Join the Scablands, Geometry and Rift Valley Tour, October 4th to 10th, 2026, and walk the ground where catastrophic floods and ancient mysteries intersect: https://contactatthecabin.com/scablands/