Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in Schurz, NV

Schurz is a census-designated place in Mineral County, Nevada, and the only town on the Walker River Indian Reservation.

As of the 2020 census, Schurz had a population of 656, nearly unchanged from 658 at the 2010 census, and the CDP had 315 households according to the explicitly labeled 2020-2024 American Community Survey estimate.

Schurz is named for Carl Schurz, the German-American statesman who served as United States Secretary of the Interior from 1877 to 1881.

The tribal headquarters of the Walker River Paiute Tribe are located in Schurz, and the tribe reported approximately 2,500 tribal members.

The Walker River Indian Reservation's land base was established by a recommendation from an Indian agent in 1859 and confirmed by an executive order in 1874 by President Grant, and the reservation spans about 325,000 acres across the Nevada desert east of Yerington and north of Hawthorne.

The reservation covers 529.97 square miles, with the bulk of it, 72.68 percent, in Mineral County and portions in Lyon and Churchill counties.

Schurz stands on the Walker River just northwest of Walker Lake, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 95 and U.S. Highway 95-A, about two hours southeast of Reno.

Wovoka, the creator of the Ghost Dance that was important in the 19th century, is buried in Schurz.

Weber Reservoir, an impoundment of the Walker River, is located upstream of Schurz and provides irrigation water for farms on the reservation, where alfalfa is the major crop.

Schurz Elementary School, part of the Mineral County School District, serves the community's younger children, and 69 of the school's 72 students were American Indian in 2020.