Yerington Monday: Fernley’s Wigwam Restaurant

Fernley’s Wigwam Restaurant

Just fifty-plus miles down to road on Alt 95 is Fernley, another city in Lyon County. Every time we traveled to Reno for business or pleasure, we would pass this wonderful restaurant-museum. As I kid I loved it and consider it with fond childhood memories.

The homey and comfortable restaurant features an All-American menu and the decor incorporates Native American artifacts and western art throughout the dining room.  The mood is like home.

For many locals the restaurant is a Fernley icon and a place where city and county politicians congregate to discuss affair of state and families celebrate birthdays and reunions.

A laminated placard inside the restaurant illustrates how the Royels feel about their customers, friends and Fernley.  It reads:

“Life in Fernley has been good to us.  There is a lot to be said for a small town.  To the outsider, we may look like just a wide place in the road.  But don’t let that fool you. On the inside we always have a peace of mind, because we know we are never alone.”

Mary & Moe Royel

Mary moved to Nevada from Tennessee with her mother.  She recalled back in 1949 they were “having a hard time in Tennessee.” and a family friend encouraged them to move to Nevada where they might find “a better life.”

Moe was originally from Montana The family moved to Nevada when he was 3 months old. His family spent a short time in Goldfield moving to Wadsworth, where his father served as principal at that school.  He attended school in Wadsworth and Fernley, where he played football, basketball and track. He is noted in the Fernley High School Hall of Fame for his athletic abilities.

Beginnings

The restaurant began as a small drive-in called the Dainty Cone in 1961 and featured soft ice-cream cones.  Back then, Mary was the sole owner of the establishment.  She owned a similar shop in Reno that was maing $300 a day and then decided to expand to the rural are.

Once the restaurant was up and running, the Dainty Cone included a menu of hamburgers for 35 cents and coffee and ice-cream cones for 10 cents.

Additions

Two years later, Mary met Moe, and in 1964, they were married.  The pair decided to expand the drive-in to include an addition for dining,  Business was thriving until, during that same year, Interstate 80 was constructed and traffic bypassed Main Street, which resulted in a drop in customers to the ice-cream stand and disaster struck the Royels.  “You could have shot a cannon down Main Street,”  said Moe of the isolated street back in 1964. He noted that prior to the opening of the interstate they were making $52 a day, but afterwards they made an estimated $15 per day.

Still the couple set out to construct an addition to the Dainty Cone; and Moe recalled that in order to retain the eatery, they took jobs cleaning houses on the side.  

Wanting to add a room for indoor dining, they went to a bank n Reno to borrow the money to build the addition.  The bank said they didn’t loan money eat of Sparks, so the industrious couple decided to build the structure regardless.  Mary & Joe traded food and their prized artifacts for construction material.  They traded hamburgers for dirt. As well as their Centennial pistols, arrowheads and silver dollars for construction material.  “We traded anything we had to get the room built,” said Mary

Then on Dec 5 1965, the new addition on the Dainty Cone was opened.  With the opening of the extra space the establishment became a favorite hangout of teenagers and many locals.  

Mary and Moe dubbed the old-timers who sat at the round tables inside the dining area as “Knights of the Round Table.”  “The old-timers of Fernley and Wadsworth sat around the round table, and it continues today,”  Moe noted, “except that now, it's just a different group of old-timers.”  Once a week, Mary would cook stew or spaghetti for the “knights of the round table, and it was then they decide to further enlarge their restaurant.

In 1984, the couple decided to open a full service restaurant and renamed the Dainty Cone to Mary & Moe’s Wigwam.  It became symbolic of Fernley’s growth.

 

 

Museum

With more space and an expanded menu, the Wigwam also took on a new venture to include a museum collection that included a vast array of Native American artifacts from the northwest regions of Nevada.  People in Nixon (Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation) gave them a lot of tribal artifacts.  Many of the tribal elders nurtured their appreciation of native American heritage and donated to their museum collection.  The museum includes artifacts that are estimated to be as old as 10.000 years and it features arrowheads, pottery, woven baskets, cradle-boards and more.

Casino

By 1994, Fernley began a growth spurt and the Wigwam also expanded to include a casino, bar, and more dining room space.  To celebrate the expansion, the Royels invited Walker River Tribal member Allson McMasters to bless the restaurant.  The grand opening also included traditional Indian dancers from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.  The Tribe presented Mary and Joe with a plaque for “helping to save and preserve their heritage” through their private museum.  The plaque still hangs inside the restaurant.

The Wigwam displays the largest privately owned collection of Indian artifacts that Moe enjoyed collecting during his life. The business is the second oldest establishment in Fernley other than Hanneman’s Chevron station.

Mary and Moe retired in 2005 to enjoy their pride and joy, the "Five Springs Ranch", south of Gerlach, NV, where they spent much of their time.

Mary & Moe's Wigwam

255 West Main St

Fernley, NV 89408

(775) 575-2573

Morris "Moe" Royels
August 17, 1940 - April 15, 2014

Morris "Moe" Royels, a well respected Fernley resident and restaurateur, passed away at home on April 15, 2014, with his loving family by his side after a valiant battle with pancreatic cancer.

Moe was born to Clarence Thomas and Margaret Joy Royels on August 17, 1940 in Conrad, Montana. The family moved to Nevada when he was 3 months old. He attended school in Wadsworth and Fernley, where he played football, basketball and track. He is noted in the Fernley High School Hall of Fame for his athletic abilities.

He also participated in other school activities including playing the role of Teddy Roosevelt in "Arsenic and Old Lace". He was offered a scholarship to the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, CA., but upon receipt of scholarships to the University of Nevada, he decided to attend school, not to pursue an acting career.

Moe joined the army in 1959 where he served in the Korean War as a Sergeant. he was a 2nd class gunner earning expert status with the M1 rifle. He developed his cooking skills preparing meals for the commissioned officers. He was honorably discharged in 1961.

Moe married his first wife, Mary Prather Aratibel in 1964. They operated the Dainty Cone which they expanded twice and later renamed the Wigwam in 1984.

The Wigwam displays the largest privately owned collection of Indian artifacts that Moe enjoyed collecting during his life. Mary and Moe retired in 2005 to enjoy their pride and joy, the "Five Springs Ranch", south of Gerlach, NV, where they spent much of their time.

In 2011 he married the love of his life, Ellen, who also shared his love of the desert country. They enjoyed traveling and four wheeling and outings with the Black Rock Desert Rats.

Moe never met a stranger he didn't like. He was kind and generous to all, and a well known icon in the community. He prepared and served many meals for memorials and community events to show his appreciation for the Fernley, Wadsworth and Nixon Communities.

Moe is survived by his beloved wife, Ellen, step-son Gregory Voss (Carla) and grandson, Vincent, of Charlotte, North Carolina; A sister, Beth Mortensen, nephew Joe (Cindy) Mortensen, niece Marge (Rich) Rhyno of Fernley, NV; and nephew, George (Linda) Mortensen of Yerington, NV. His passing will leave a great void in the lives of many Northern Nevadans.

You are invited to join his family for a celebration of his life on Friday, April 25, 2014 at 11:00 am, at the Fernley High School Gym.

Moe's dream was to have a museum to display his extensive collection, so in lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the Moe Royels Museum Fund at Wells Fargo Bank.