Nevada is fortunate to have individuals choose Nevada as their home, and who make substantial contributions to the state. Denys typifies that woman. Taking over a run-down gas station located on the Nevada-Utah border in the late 1970s, she has turned it into a productive restaurant, motel, and gas station complex. Denys is also a co-founder of the Great Basin National Heritage Area, the only national heritage area in Nevada. Denys also founded the Annual “Old Sheepherders’ Gathering,” an event that partners with The Great Basin Heritage Area in hosting members of the West Desert Sheepherding Industry for a January weekend of storytelling, poetry, music, and dinner. This event provides a venue for recording an important historical facet of Nevada’s colorful history.
Denys Koyle was interviewed, May 5, 2017, by the Nevada Women’s History Project as part of the The Women of Nevada Highway 50 project. This video was funded by the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust.