The Stewart Indian School, established in 1890, sits on a 110-acre campus southeast of Carson City, Nevada. During its active years, the campus held over 60 structures, some still standing today. Originally, these buildings were wooden, but over time, Hopi stonemasons, alongside Native students, crafted enduring stone structures, including the school’s administrative building, erected in 1923. This building now houses a museum dedicated to preserving the stories of those who lived, learned, and struggled here. Known for their distinctive masonry, the buildings represent a bittersweet legacy of resilience and forced cultural assimilation.

The Stewart Indian School was one of the many American Indian boarding schools aimed at erasing Indigenous language and culture. For nearly a century, children were removed from their families, subjected to harsh discipline, and required to work, unpaid, to maintain the campus. When the school finally closed in 1980 due to federal budget cuts, its legacy had already left an indelible mark on about 30,000 Native children and their families.

Today, the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum honors these children with exhibits of first-person accounts, photos, and artifacts that document both the school’s painful past and the resilience of those who survived it.

The museum offers visitors a powerful glimpse into the complex legacy of Stewart, using artifacts, exhibits, and recorded interviews with alumni to highlight stories of hardship, survival, and triumph. Beyond the museum walls, visitors can also immerse themselves in Native culture through art, storytelling, and craft demonstrations. A gift shop offers authentic Native American goods - beaded jewelry, artwork, and tribal crafts, all crafted by local artisans and tagged with the artist's tribal affiliation.

For those wanting a more personal experience, the Stewart campus has a self-guided audio tour. This free tour takes visitors on a 0.6-mile walk through the grounds, with stops at 20 locations where former students and staff share memories tied to each building. Visitors can access the audio guide by calling (775) 546-1460 and following the signs scattered across the historic site.

The Nevada Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Academy opened its doors in Carson City in 1965, setting standards and conducting training for peace officers throughout Nevada.

By 1992, it merged with the Nevada Highway Patrol Academy to form the Northern Nevada Law Enforcement Academy (NLEA). Today, NLEA provides a range of essential law enforcement training courses, from firearms to defensive tactics, ensuring the readiness and professionalism of Nevada's peace officers.

Interestingly, the Stewart Indian School campus has been the site of eerie tales and inexplicable experiences. Officers and trainers at the nearby POST Academy have also reported strange occurrences over the years. After hosting a team of ghost hunters on the premises, stories of apparitions, inexplicable sounds, and eerie happenings circulated through the academy. And while stories like these are easy to brush off, they come with a degree of authenticity, passed down by people who have spent years in disciplined service.

A retired POST Academy instructor, someone I trust, recently shared some old photos with me. According to him, these were captured years ago, after ghost hunters visited the academy and spent a couple of days investigating. He admits he can’t confirm the authenticity of the photos - screenshots taken from a computer years ago - but he says that strange things happened on that campus.

I trust the retired police academy instructor who gave me the photos, but I remain a bit of a skeptic.

I lived in Missouri from about age 11-15 years old. Missouri is known as the "Show Me" state.

I need to see it with my own eyes to believe it.