During a trip through Arizona in 1914, Fredrick Snyder, superintendent of the Stewart Indian School (SIS), had seen examples of Native American stone masonry and was impressed with the workmanship. When he became superintendent of the Stewart Indian School in 1919, he imported both the masonry style (which morphed into the Stewart Vernacular style) and Native American stonemasons to work at the school.
His importance to both the SIS and Carson City was such that the road leading to the school was renamed Snyder Avenue. It was originally Stewart Avenue. However, the street name was changed in the late 1950s – early 1960s.
While at Stewart, the Native American stonemasons learned the locally-unique Stewart Vernacular style of masonry using the protocol established at the school.
According to the Wikepedia Web site, Vernacular architecture is slightly different than other architectural styles. It is the native method of construction used by local people, usually using labor-intensive methods and local materials, and usually for small structures such as rural cottages. It varies from region to region even within a country, and does not rely on national styles or technology. As western society has developed, vernacular styles have mostly become outmoded due to new technology and to national building standards.
Many of the buildings at the Stewart Indian School were built using either Rhyolite or multi-colored Nevada native stones. Some of the Native American stonemasons, especially the Wungnemas, set the stones with mortar that either had brick or coal dust mixed into it. This gave the mortar a pink or a black tinge. The style was locally influential in Northern Nevada.
Mr. Snyder was somewhat of a rock hound in that he, his friends, the students and the local businesses making deliveries to the school, would go out in the desert around Carson City to collect the rocks used in the buildings at the school and around town.
Mr. Snyder also implemented a Residential Construction Program*, where the staff and students would be contracted to build local residences, walls and landscape features. This program generated income for both the school and the students while providing the student apprentices with on-the-job training. We know that the master stonemasons and the student stonemasons from the school participated in this OJT program. We think that it’s possible that the master carpenters, plumbers and electricians and their students also participated in this program.
These Native American stonemasons built many – if not all of – the buildings at the Stewart Indian School, all of which are still standing today. The Stewart Indian School is on the National Registrar of Historic Places, thus ensuring that the work of the Native America stonemasons will be preserved for future generations to admire and study.
While vernacular architecture may have become outmoded in most of the country, the Stewart Vernacular style of masonry is still highly prized in Northern Nevada and California. People who own a Stewart Vernacular house, wall, planter, fireplace, chimney or landscape feature, consider themselves lucky – lucky that they own a piece of history and lucky that there are still Native American stonemasons actively working in Nevada and who can repair these pink stone creations.
The Second World War saw the decline of the building program at the Stewart Indian School – the shortage of building materials, the gas rationing and the drafting of the young men made it impossible to maintain Fredrick Snyder’s grand plans for the school. After the War, the program was not able to recover its pre-war momentum and many of the stonemasons sought work elsewhere. The instructors and students became self-employed stonemasons seeking work locally or returning to their home states to work as stonemasons. Their stone, brick or cinderblock creations are their legacies and their gifts to us.
A side note: There are no known photographs of Frederick Snyder. If you have a photograph of him, we’d love it if you would share it with the Stewart Indian Museum or us.
*Our name for the program. Research has yet to reveal the program’s working name.
