On October 4, 1862, Nevada's Territorial Enterprise reported that a petrified man had been found in nearby mountains. The body was said to be in a sitting posture, leaning against a mountainside to which it had become attached.

The brief news report eventually appeared in newspapers throughout the world. However, it was pure fiction. It had been written by a young reporter, Samuel Clemens, who would later be better known as Mark Twain.