A version of this article first appeared in the Reno Gazette Journal on April 11, 2004.

The folklore is that the hillside letters found in the American West were created to help early 20th-century airplane pilots navigate and identify communities, presumably when the aviators could see the letters during daylight, with good weather, and no snow cover.

The truth is the hillside letters are first and foremost symbols of school and community pride dating back to 1905. Early-day pilots found the hillside letters useful at times; however, any aeronautical value associated with the school and community letters came after the fact.

Folklorist Andrea Graham in the September-October 1987 issue of Nevada Magazine wrote an excellent article on the subject of hillside letters in Nevada titled "If I

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