Dixie Reid

“A BABY GIRL ARRIVED to cheer the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Reid. Mother and child are reported to be progressing nicely at the Miners’ Hospital.” —Tonopah Times-Bonanza, June 23, 1911.

The death of a child, no matter the cause, is a tragedy. In the rough and raw mining camp of Tonopah, where death was common and often sudden, none struck more deeply than that of Dixie Reid.

Dixie was the daughter of William A. and Agnes Cody Reid, who had been married on July 14, 1909, at Lucky Boy, Nevada. William was a partner in a local blacksmith shop, and the birth of their baby girl brought a rare note of joy to their young household.

At the turn of the twentieth century, infant mortality was tragically high, even in established communities, and far worse in isolated mining camps where medical care was limited and household safety standards were still evolving.

That joy lasted only a few months.

In the early morning hours of November 11, 1911, less than twenty weeks old, Dixie was found dead in her crib, her tiny body still warm. She had choked on a pacifier left with her the night before. The loss was accidental, devastating, and irreversible.

Dixie Reid was buried from the family residence near the Midway Mine. Her grave lies among many others in the Old Tonopah Cemetery, a quiet reminder of how briefly some lives passed through the camp, and how deeply they were mourned.