About the Author (S. M. H.)
Although my initial interest in the Letters from Cornucopia was the Blonger brothers, they turned out to be only bit players in the slow-motion melodrama penned by S. M. H. The Blongers are mentioned in just eight letters, and in contrast to later events, the boys were apparently nothing less than solid citizens. Sam didn't race any horses, let alone bust any heads, and if Lou was running faro tables or petty cons, S. M. H. was not inclined to write about it. Instead, he wrote, "The Blonger Bros., Sam and Lew, who keep The Palace and patronize the State, are fixtures here and can be relied upon for square drinks." The real star of the epistolary turned out to be not a thieving band of desperados nor the incredibly patient citizenry of Cornucopia, but rather S. M. H. himself, and the mystery was his name.
The writer's identity was no secret to the men and women he name-checked in nearly every letter. But 150 years later, turning his initials into a name required some detective work. He could have used made-up initials, of course, and in two of the letters they were reversed: "H. M. S." instead of "S. M. H." This appears to be a play on the well-known abbreviation for "Her Majesty's Ship". It most certainly did not stand for "shaking my head."
Through the first several letters, S. M. H. did not give any clues to his identity other than his initials. Finally, in letter 12, he dropped another hint, mentioning that the law business in Cornucopia was good and that a client of his had been sent to jail (not so good!). In letter 19, he cut his correspondence short to go to court. After that, hints appeared more frequently and oblique references from previous letters started to make sense. In time, cross-referencing with other sources, the picture became clear. S. M. H. was Stephen M. Henley, who worked in a law office in Cornucopia. That helped to explain the many Latin phrases in his correspondence.
Other sources showed that Henley was born in Indiana in 1838, probably in Clark County where he was listed in the 1850 census with his parents. Soon after he and his older brother moved to Paskenta, in northern California, where they raised livestock. Some sources state that Henley moved to Cornucopia in 1873. However, it's clear from letter 1 that when he arrived in June of 1875, he was a newcomer.
Once S. M. H.'s identity was resolved the correspondence showed he had no qualms about using his platform in the Silver State to promote himself, incognito. In letter 22, he declared Steve Henley the "chief whip" of Hogle's saloon and asked patrons to "Call on Steve." In letter 34, he wrote that "Steve Henley says that he thinks he can do business in this camp a while longer." By letter 37, he had gathered the nerve to give himself a sly endorsement in the election of 1876: "Steve Henley looks more like the coming Democratic Sheriff than ever." Those plans soon changed when he was chosen as the Democratic candidate for Elko County clerk. He lost by 10 votes.
By election time the Blongers and many others had already decamped for the next boomtown in nearby Tuscarora. Ever hopeful, Henley hung on for more than a year, before finally giving up on Cornucopia and setting up shop as an assayer in the rival camp. By that time he had patched up his relationship with the editor of the Elko Independent, who published a glowing testimonial for his former rival as he ran for public office once again:
We are today authorized to announce our friend, S. M. Henley, as a candidate before the Democratic Convention for the office of Recorder of Elko County. Steve, as he is familiarly known, is an old resident of the County, having assisted at the introduction of this place into its first habiliments as a town. He subsequently built the Palisade Hotel [at the mining camp of Palisade], conducting the same until the Northern mining excitement . . . drew him to Cornucopia and where he remained until accepting a position as assayer and smelter at the works of the Grand Prize Company in Tuscarora, which he now holds. Mr. Henley is, as everyone knows, an honorable man and a square Democrat, and is thoroughly qualified to fill the position to which he aspires. . . . [A] better selection as a candidate for the position, the Democratic Convention will find it difficult to make. A genial, whole-souled gentleman, honest and capable, he is wanting in no essential element requisite to secure favors at the hands of the public.
Henley was elected in 1878 and again in 1880 and 1882, before being turned out of office in 1884. He married in 1880 and eventually moved with his wife to Mountain View, California, where he died in 1917. Henley had no children to keep his memory alive. Instead, his memorial is this slice-of-life snapshot of a long-forgotten mining camp in the hills of northeastern Nevada.