billryan
billryan
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April 22nd, 2019 at 3:07:23 PM permalink
Roland Wiley was a bit of a nut. Moving to Nevada, he spent three years as it's District Attorney before becoming a local gadfly.
Later in life he began construction of what he imagined would become a spiritual retreat for visitors to Las Vegas.
Buying a box canyon outside of Pahrump, he had huge grotto dug into the sides of the canyons and converted two small caves into working bathrooms, at a time when outhouses were still popular. A replica of the famous Christ of the Andes was built, along with a series of suspension bridges, meditation paths and strings of lights that changed patterns.
For some reason, Mr Wiley felt his canyon needed more sizzle. Enter Quehoe.

Quehoe was, depending who you ask, a mad killer or an early day Billy Jack. A half breed who never knew his father and whose mother died early, Quehoe was destined for problems. It is said he shot and killed his half brother when he was bet $20 he wouldn't do it, and killed a hundred year old blind man for not dying sooner. Every time a body turned up, he was blamed and parents warned their kids that Quehoe would come for them. Dozens of posses pursued him but he'd always escape them.
In 1940, his remains were found in a cave.and it's thought he died from multiple snake bites.
A fight broke out over what to do with the body, so the Sherriff put it on display in a glass coffin inside the Clark County Courthouse.
Next it was bought to a funeral home where the crowd so so great, that they moved the body out into the sun so more people could see it.
It turns out no one paid for the glass coffin so the body was kept in storage for three years while court cases proceeded. Finally, the Police Chief stepped in and paid for the coffin, giving him ownership. What followed was even stranger. The Police Chief was a member of the Elks Lodge that ran the annual Helldorado Days and donated the body to the festival. For the next fifteen years, Quehoe was put on display in a paper mache replica of his cave. Then someone stole his body and dumped it into the Bonanza Wash.
Meanwhile Roland Wiley had completed his site outside of Pahrump,but was having trouble drawing crowds to it. He looked into buying the death car of Bonnie and Clyde but decided what his spiritually themed canyon really needed was the grave of Quehoe, boogie man of the Colorado. Exactly how Mr Wiley came into Quehoes body is unclear but soon he was laying in a fabulous grave with a headstone, at the entrance of the canyon.
Mr Wiley died and his heirs gave up any claim to the land. Cathedral Canyon still is there. The statues look like they were blown up, little remains of the bridges and pathways. The grotto's sit bare and Quesoe rest in his lonely grave.
It's a little more than an hour from Summerlin and a.nice easy hike.from the parking lot. Some websites say it's private property but we had no problems.
The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction is supposed to make sense.
vegas
vegas
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Joined: Apr 27, 2012
April 22nd, 2019 at 9:52:32 PM permalink
That was an interesting story and one I had never heard before.
50-50-90 Rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there is a 90% probability you'll get it wrong
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